CWA Says, ‘We’re Not Wild About Harry’     5/10/2005

Audio Commentary by: Jan LaRue Chief Counsel Click titles to stream, or right click icon to download. Sen. Harry Reid Bad Nominees Priscilla Owens Democrats Will Take the Blame

Washington, D.C. – Concerned Women for America (CWA) reacts to Sen. Minority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nevada) recent statements about Sen. Majority Leader Bill Frist’s (R-Tennessee) intent to end the Democrats’ refusal to give President Bush’s judicial nominees a vote in the Senate.

“Maybe if Sen. Reid listened to his own statements about the log jam he’s causing, he’d get a clue about why he’s the minority leader instead of the majority leader,” said Jan LaRue, CWA’s chief counsel.

According to the Los Angeles Times on May 10, Reid said, “A number of Democrats will vote against confirmation on the floor. But we know the difference between opposing nominees and blocking nominees. We will oppose bad nominees, but we will only block unacceptable nominees. …One reason why the White House won’t send new judges to the Senate is that they don’t want to give Senate Democrats a chance to continue to demonstrate that we are reasonable.”

CWA’s LaRue: “Maybe one reason the White House won’t send any ‘new’ judges to the Senate is because they can’t stop laughing long enough to figure out why ‘bad’ nominees are separate from ‘unacceptable’ nominees. Or maybe it’s because they’re not going to subject any more excellent nominees to such shameful and unreasonable behavior.”

According to U.S. News and World Report (May 16 issue), Reid’s spokesman’s response to this week’s push by conservative groups to end the phony filibusters is: ‘The Republicans are going to know the difference between a cooperative minority and an uncooperative minority.”

LaRue said: “Priscilla Owen will no doubt be surprised to hear that Harry and company have been ‘cooperative’ during the four years she’s been denied a vote on her confirmation.

“Reid’s spokesman also said, ‘Senate Democrats are united in their belief that the U.S. Senate will not be turned into a rubber stamp for the president.’

“A no vote on a nominee is the antithesis of a rubber stamp and Reid knows it, but refuses to give the majority of senators who want to vote a chance to do so. If Reid doesn’t end this sham, he and his fellow Democrats will take the blame and the heat when Republicans do,” LaRue concluded.

For Information Contact:
Valerie Mosher
(202) 488-7000
media.cwfa.org

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