Note: This posting is being made with the permission of Diane Gramley, President of the American Family Association of Pennsylvania
NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 18, 2005
CONTACT: Diane Gramley 1.814.437.5355 or 1.814.271.9078
PRO-FAMILY GROUP REMINDS SENATOR SPECTER OF STATEMENTS HE MADE TO BECOME CHAIRMAN OF THE SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
(Philadelphia) -- The American Family Association of Pennsylvania (AFA of PA), a statewide pro-family group, notes that the process for judicial confirmation continues to be stalled as the filibuster of President Bush's judicial nominees remains in place, but also notes that Senator Arlen Specter may hold the key. The day after the November 2004 election, Senator Specter described Roe vs. Wade as "inviolate" and compared its importance to the Brown vs. Board of Education case that desegregated public education. He added that "the president should be mindful of these considerations" when sending up nominees. This statement led to an effort to stop Senator Specter from becoming the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee
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"At that time the AFA of PA and other pro-family, pro-life organizations around the nation decried his statement and noted that someone holding such a position would not use his influence to get a fair up or down vote on President Bush's pro-life judicial nominees, " Diane Gramley, president of the AFA of PA said today.
Responding to the backlash, Senator Specter issued several statements. The AFA of PA is reminding Senator Specter of those statements and is asking him to keep his word.
Senator Specter's statement immediately after the November 2004 AP story:
"Contrary to press accounts, I did not warn the President about anything and was very respectful of his Constitutional authority on the appointment of federal judges.
"As the record shows, I have supported every one of President Bush’s nominees in the Judiciary Committee and on the Senate floor. I have never and would never apply any litmus test on the abortion issue and, as the record shows, I have voted to confirm Chief Justice Rehnquist, Justice O’Connor, and Justice Kennedy and led the fight to confirm Justice Thomas.
"I have already sponsored a protocol calling for a Judiciary Committee hearing within thirty days of a nomination, a vote out of Committee thirty days later, and floor action thirty days after that. I am committed to such prompt action by the Committee on all of President Bush’s nominees.
"In light of the repeated filibusters by the Democrats in the last Senate session, I am concerned about a potential repetition of such filibusters. I expect to work well with President Bush in the judicial confirmation process in the years ahead."
[end of statement]
If Senator Specter is truly concerned about a repeated filibuster by the Democrats then it is time for him to step forward and support the Constitutional Option of a simple majority vote on all President Bush's judicial nominees.
"An end must come to the unprecedented judicial filibuster, never before used as a partisan blocking tool until 2003 and 2004 -- never before used to block judicial nominees with majority support. All President Bush's judicial nominees deserve an up or down vote," continued Gramley.
But one cannot ignore the fact that during Senator Specter's fight to claim the chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee, he was supported by Planned Parenthood for his stand on abortion. The Log Cabin Republicans endorsed him during his re-election campaign and came to his defense last fall during the controversy over his warning to President Bush. They endorsed Specter because of his sponsorship of homosexual special rights bills.
And according to a March 7, 2005 article by Robert Novak, "Conservative misgivings about Sen. Arlen Specter's rise this year to become chairman of the Judiciary Committee were validated last week. Without consulting the Republican leadership, Specter launched a procedure that undercuts party strategy for confirming President Bush's judicial nominees. Ironically, however, Democrats are so intransigent that not even Specter's temporizing has moderated them so far."
"If Senator Specter is ' very respectful of his (President Bush's) Constitutional authority on the appointment of federal judges' as he stated in November 2004, then it is time for him to step up to the plate and work to restore the Constitutional Option. He must support Senator Bill Frist's efforts to see President Bush's nominees get an up or down vote. The Senate's constitutional authority gives them the role of advisor and reviewer, not blocker of a President's judicial nominees. The next few days will reveal whether Senator Specter really believed what his statements made in the fall said," Gramley concluded.
In a letter sent to President Bush during the heated debate over Senator Specter's chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the AFA of PA stated:
"During the Senator's hotly contested fight in the Primary, he (Specter) gave the impression that he shared your concerns and values on issues that are important to all Americans. Is this to be a repeat of his broken promise of 1986? During that Primary he promised to support all President Reagan's judicial nominees, but almost immediately after his election he played a key role in defeating the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Robert Bork. The reason: Judge Bork failed to view the Constitution as a "living, growing document, responsive to the needs of the nation." Judge Bork believed in a strict interpretation of the Constitution and shares your views against judicial activism. Obviously a view not shared by Senator Arlen Specter."
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