A Letter to the Senators

A copy of the following was sent to U.S. Senators Cornyn and Hutchison of Texas, and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist:

The debate over President Bush's judicial nominees is coming to a head. I write you this note to urge you to support the constitutional right of the President to appoint judges, and to bring the nominees to the full Senate for a vote.

I have voted Republican for 20 years. Now that the Democrats no longer have a majority, they have acted as though they still have control of Congress, violating the limits of the "advise and consent" duties given by the Constitution. They do this by threatening to filibuster. It is important that elected Republicans make decisions based on principle, and not out of fear. You have shown great courage in this area, and I commend you.

I decided to write you based -- of all things -- on an article on the National Public Radio (NPR) website. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4575047

As much as it danced around the subject, NPR (no conservative bastion) could not give historical precedent for the current Democratic tactic. The closest it came was the 1968 nomination of Abe Fortas to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. However, the telling sentence is this, directly from the article: "An effort to cut off debate and proceed to a vote on the nomination failed to receive a majority, let alone the two-thirds vote then required for cloture." In other words, they tried to do the very thing that they now want to block.

With the national conversation raging over the limits of the courts, and the powers of judges, it is vital that President Bush have the same right to choose judges as previous Presidents have had. Unworthy candidates will be denied on the Senate floor, where the decision belongs.

Please support Senator Frist's decision to exercise the "constitutional" option, and bring the vote to the full Senate.