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What's up with Senator Specter? 11/9/2004 We wanted you to have the most up-to-date information about Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pennsylvania) and his candidacy for Chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The nine Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee announced on Thursday, November 18, their support for Sen. Specter for the committee chairmanship. The support means that Specter will likely assume the position in January.
However, the good news is that the firestorm you, Concerned Women for America (CWA) and many others helped fuel over the past two weeks means that Sen. Specter's hands are tied. He has pledged, in writing, to help President Bush's nominees through the Judiciary Committee quickly so floor action can be promptly scheduled.
In his November 18 press release, Sen. Specter said, "I have voted for all President Bush's judicial nominees in committee and on the floor and I have no reason to believe that I'll be unable to support any individual President Bush finds worthy of nomination." He also added, "I have not and would not use a litmus test to deny confirmation to pro-life nominees."
Specter also stated that he would use his best efforts to stop any future filibusters and, he concluded, "I would not support a committee action to bottle up legislation or a constitutional amendment, even one which I personally opposed, reserving my own position on the floor."
Now, we know from many years of experience that Sen. Specter is not a man of his word. But because he came under such fire, and because his colleagues on the Judiciary Committee have him bound by agreements and stipulations, we are reasonably satisfied with this outcome since it means Sen. Specter is not free to behave in whatever manner he pleases. His colleagues have made sure of that, and any failure on Specter's part to uphold his commitments could result in his removal from the chairmanship.
Despite the Republicans' unanimous support, the chairmanship will not be confirmed until Sen. Specter has been formally approved through a secret ballot vote by Senate Republicans in January. Concerned Women for America will use Sen. Specter's statement to hold him responsible for any deviations from his promises. He has declared his intentions and CWA will hold him accountable for actions that result in obstruction within the judiciary committee.
CWA made this clear in our Nov. 19 press release. Click here to read it.
We are so thankful for your help as a grassroots member of CWA. None of this would have been possible without you, and now Senate Republicans have really felt the heat of upsetting their base.
For the sake of those coming into this late, we are preserving (below) the action items we asked you to take.
Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pennsylvania) celebrated President Bush's victory by announcing that he plans to impose what amounts to a pro-abortion litmus test on judicial nominees to the highest court in the land. On the day after the president's victory, Specter "bluntly warned newly-re-elected President Bush … against putting forth Supreme Court nominees who would seek to overturn abortion rights or are otherwise too conservative to win confirmation." (Associated Press, 11/3/04).
Concerned Women for America (CWA) responded by sending a letter to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tennessee) saying "Sen. Specter has signaled in advance that he does not intend to conduct the Judiciary Committee in a fair and impartial manner. Therefore, he has disqualified himself from consideration for that position."
Senator Specter is in full "spin mode" trying desperately to say he didn't mean what he said. Which is the public to believe, Senator Specter's flip or his flop? Clearly, he cannot be trusted. As CWA chief counsel Jan LaRue told today's Washington Post, "he's a desperate man trying to pull himself out of a hole he dug himself into."
CWA has also sent a letter to Senator Rick Santorum (R-Pennsylvania) urging him "to talk to Senator Specter and encourage him graciously to withdraw his candidacy for the chairmanship [of the Senate Judiciary Committee] so that we can enter the 109th Congress firmly united behind the agenda for which the American people so resoundingly voted last week."
Take Action
1) Please contact Republican Senators (phone numbers below) with the following simple message: "Senator Specter has disqualified himself from the chairmanship of the Judiciary Committee. Please do all you can to make sure he is not in that influential position. Please urge Senator Specter to withdraw himself from consideration as Judiciary chairman."
2)Please contact Senator Rick Santorum (R-Pennsylvania) to let him know that his colleague from Pennsylvania, Arlen Specter, has disqualified himself from serving as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Urge Senator Santorum to ask Senator Specter to withdraw himself from consideration as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Senator Santorum's Washington office phone is 202-224-6324. If Senator Santorum's voice mailbox is full, try calling his state offices in Pennsylvania:
Why are we asking you to call Senator Santorum?
Because: 1. both he and Sen. Specter are from Pennsylvania; 2. pro-life Sen. Santorum helped pro-abortion Sen. Specter win a tough primary against a principled pro-life candidate, so Specter owes a debt of gratitude to Sen. Santorum. It's a matter of Sen. Santorum calling in the debt; 3. Sen. Santorum is chairman of the Republican Conference (i.e., all the Republican senators) and can influence his fellow senators.
Senator Santorum obviously has the desire and the potential to be a major national leader. And just as obviously, it was in furtherance of those ambitions that he worked above and beyond the call of duty to help Senator Specter win a very narrow victory this year in his primary election against a strong conservative. Senator Specter owes his political life to Senator Santorum. If Senator Santorum asks Senator Specter to withdraw himself from consideration as Judiciary Committee chairman, then Senator Specter would have little choice but to comply with that request.
And, if Senator Santorum realizes that his own political future depends upon removing Senator Specter from consideration for that position, then he would do so.
3) By phone or e-mail, please contact the Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee (listed below) and tell them that Senator Specter disqualified himself from becoming Chairman of the Judiciary Committee.
If you call by phone, urge them to urge Senator Specter to withdraw from consideration. Tell them that if Sen. Specter refuses to withdraw, then they should NOT vote for Senator Specter. Urge them NOT to make any commitments to vote for him in the next Congress.
To contact the senators by e-mail, simply click on their names below. A suggested e-mail text, which you can easily copy and paste into your own blank e-mail, is:
Dear Senator, Senator Specter has disqualified himself from the chairmanship of the Judiciary Committee. As a Republican member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, please do all you can to make sure he is not in that influential position. I am a member of Concerned Women for America and I look forward to hearing back from you. Thank you.
Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee:
Here are helpful links with more information. The two letters from CWA to Senator Santorum and Senator Frist will give you additional talking points and are useful one-page summaries of the issues at hand. The National Review Online editorial is also an excellent summary.
Senator Specter Said
CWA Responded
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Concerned Women for America 1015 Fifteenth St. N.W., Suite 1100 Washington, D.C. 20005 Phone: (202) 488-7000 Fax: (202) 488-0806 |
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