I was delighted to see the four outstanding judicial nominations from the October 26, 1999 hearing on the agenda. I regret that the Committee did not act favorably on them today, but hope that they will each finally be reported on Thursday at our next meeting.

Judge Virginia Phillips and the people of California have seen her nomination stalled for a very long time-- more than 17 months ago. She is nominated to fill one of the 20 judicial emergency vacancies around the country. The Judiciary Committee received a letter recently from Chief Judge Hatter of that District Court for the Central District of California in which he implored the Senate to act promptly on the nomination of Judge Virginia Phillips. Judge Hatter notes that the Eastern Division of the Central District is one of the fastest growing areas in the nation and has only one judge with a “staggering caseload.” He explains that the reassignment of cases to Los Angeles from San Bernadino “results in a large number of litigants, witnesses, lawyers, and law enforcement officers having to travel to Los Angeles, some sixty (60) miles away, by way of the most traffic congested roads in the United States.” I thank Chief Judge Hatter for his letter and want him to know that I, for one, understand. Those who say there is no judicial vacancies problem ought to consider Chief Judge Hatter’s perspective and the problems created for thousands of people each year in his District.

I thank the Chairman and all members of the Committee for clearing the Executive nominations on the agenda today. I am especially delighted that the Committee agreed unanimously to report Kathryn Turman to head the Office for Victims of Crime and that we have finally been able to report the important nominations of Q. Todd Dickinson and Anne Chaser to be the Commissioner and Assistant Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks. In addition, I thank the Chairman for working with me to report Melvin Kahle to be the United States Attorney for the Northern District of West Virginia.

I noted last week that we have scores of Executive nominations before the Committee and before the year ends the Committee should report as many of these nominees as possible. I regret that we have been unable to clear the nominees to the Board of the State Justice Institute, the Parole Commissioners, the other U.S. Attorneys and U.S. Marshals, and David Ogden to head the Civil Division-- not to mention the longstanding nomination of Bill Lann Lee to head the Civil Rights Division. I will continue to work on these matters but do regret that these positions, these nominees and their families are apparently being left in limbo for the coming months.

In addition, of course, we still have 30 judicial nominees who need hearings. I am still working toward at least one more confirmation hearing for these judicial nominees before our final business meeting so that they can be reported and considered by the Senate before we adjourn this year.

Stalled on the Senate Executive Calendar awaiting final action by the Senate are nine judicial nominees including Judge Richard Paez and Marsha Berzon. The Senate has confirmed only 25 judges all year. Last year the Senate confirmed 66 judges. I will be working with the Chairman to see whether we can help the Majority Leader find a way to have these nominations considered before we adjourn this year.