Overview

I hope that we will be able to make significant progress today on the nominations and legislative items on the agenda. We have been able to include a few items of interest to members of the Committee from both sides of the aisle and many bipartisan matters that merit broad support.

Nominations

I am pleased that the Committee is preparing to consider and report favorably the judicial nominees from this week’s hearing. I wish the Committee were also considering the nomination of Bonnie Campbell to the 8th Circuit. She has completed the nomination and hearing process more than 60 days ago and is strongly supported by Senator Grassley and Senator Harkin from her home state. The Republican nominee for President said that the Senate should act on nominees within 60 days and here is a nominee who cannot get a Committee vote within 60 days of her hearing.

Likewise, the Committee is burying the nomination of Allen Snyder to the District of Columbia Circuit. That is a shame. Mr. Snyder is by all accounts an outstanding lawyer. I recall that he clerked for Justice Rehnquist. I understand that some Republican members have been delaying and voting against nominees who clerked for Justice Brennan. Well, I would hope they would at least be consistent and give Mr. Snyder some credit for having clerked for Justice Rehnquist.

I am glad to see a U.S. Attorney nominee listed but cannot for the life of me understand why we have not reported the nomination of Loretta Lynch to be U.S. Attorney in New York. This highly qualified and experienced prosecutor should be confirmed without further delay.

I am glad to see at least two of the nominees for the Parole Commission included on the agenda. I wish we would move forward with them all. Of course, it hardly matters if we are just reporting these nominations and the Republican leadership in the Senate is not according them any attention. We have some Executive Branch nominations still pending on the Senate Calendar without action now for over four months.

Legislation

On the legislative calendar, it looks like the Chairman is drawing the curtain down on this period of having moved a number of consensus items. I regret that the end of this productive period and will do what I can to continue to make progress. We will not make progress on legislation as flawed as H.R. 2372, the Private Property Rights Implementation Act.

We should be able to report the Federal Judiciary Protection Act, S.113, reintroduced by Senator Gordon Smith last year. Both Senator Thurmond and I have cosponsored this legislation, which was reported favorably by this Committee last Congress.

We should be able to report the bipartisan legislation to strengthen our abuse and neglect courts by reported Senator DeWine’s bill. In that connection I note that the Antitrust Subcommittee met earlier today to report unanimously the NOPEC bill, S. 2778. I hope that we can make progress together on that bill without delay..

On the issue of internet security, the Chairman and I have had our staffs meet with White House staff on this important matter and we are trying to work cooperatively. I look forward to reviewing the Administration’s legislative proposals in this area and to working with the Administration and all interested Senators to make progress this year.

I will have more to say about individual items as we proceed today.

I am very disappointed that Republican objections have prevented us from moving the Campbell-Leahy bulletproof vests legislation since it was reported a month ago. I was encouraged by House passage of the companion legislation by a vote of 413-3 just yesterday. Why the Senate has not acted during the last several weeks remains a mystery shrouded in the Senate Republican cloakroom.

I was pleased that last night the Senate was willing to pass the substitute we all worked out to Senator Thurmond’s fugitive task force bill, S.2516. A few days ago we were able to clear and pass the waiver of loyalty oath for disabled persons bill, S. 2812, introduced by Senators Hatch, Dodd, Feinstein and DeWine. Yet somehow the Campbell-Leahy-Hatch bulletproof vest bill has been held back for unspecified reasons by anonymous Republicans. That is too bad. It is a good bill. It is a good program. It is an important problem.

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