On the same
day that a federal judge whose family was assassinated
testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee about courthouse
safety, Sen. Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) described
Democratic efforts opposing some of President Bush’s
judicial nominees as “leadership-led use of Cloture
vote to kill, to defeat, to assassinate these nominees.”
Federal Judge Joan Lefkow was a target
for assassination, and her husband and mother were murdered
in February of this year. Democratic Whip Sen. Dick
Durbin (D-IL) hammered Frist's comments and asked they
be struck from the Senate record.
Durbin remarked, "When words are expressed during
the court of the debate that those of us who oppose
these nominees are setting out to 'kill, to defeat or
to assassinate these nominees, those words should be
taken from this record. Those words go too far."
The senators' comments follow. The transcripts are
not yet believed to be published online.
###
MR. FRIST (10:04 AM): MR. PRESIDENT, THE -- IN RESPONSE,
THE PAEZ NOMINATION -- WE'LL COME BACK AND DISCUSS IT
FURTHER, AND ACTUALLY I'D LIKE TO COME BACK TO THE FLOOR
AND DISCUSS IT, AND IT REALLY BRINGS TO I BELIEVE A
POINT WHAT IS -- IS THE ISSUE. AND THE ISSUE IS THAT
WE HAVE LEADERSHIP-LED PARTISAN FILIBUSTERS THAT HAVE
OBSTRUCTED NOT ONE NOMINEE BUT TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE,
SIX, SEVEN, EIGHT, NINE, TEN IN A ROUTINE WAY. THE ISSUE
IS NOT CLOTURE VOTES PER SE. IT'S THE PARTISAN LEADERSHIP-LED
USE OF CLOTURE VOTE TO KILL, TO DEFEAT, TO ASSASSINATE
THESE NOMINEES. AND THAT'S THE DIFFERENCE. CLOTURE'S
BEEN USED IN THE PAST ON THIS FLOOR TO POSTPONE, TO
GET MORE INFORMATION, TO ASK FURTHER QUESTIONS. BUT
IN EACH AND EVERY TIME, THE NOMINEE, INCLUDING PAEZ,
GOT AN UP-OR-DOWN VOTE ON THE FLOOR OF THE UNITED STATES
SENATE, WHERE ALL 100 SENATORS COULD VOTE "YES"
OR "NO" AND CONFIRM OR REJECT. AND PAEZ GOT
AN UP-OR-DOWN VOTE. AND THAT'S ALL THAT WE ASK ON THE
FLOOR, THAT PRISCILLA OWEN, THAT -- THAT JUSTICE BROWN
GET A SIMPLE VOTE. APPROVE, DISAPPROVE, CONFIRM, REJECT.
MR. PRESIDENT, I YIELD THE FLOOR. (Senator Bill Frist,
5/18/05, Senate Floor)
SEN. DURBIN (11:40 AM): SO WHEN WORDS ARE EXPRESSED
DURING THE COURSE OF THE DEBATE THAT THOSE OF US WHO
OPPOSE THESE NOMINEES ARE SETTING OUT TO ‘KILL,
TO DEFEAT OR TO ASSASSINATE’ THESE NOMINEES, THOSE
WORDS SHOULD BE TAKEN FROM THIS RECORD. THOSE WORDS
ARE INAPPROPRIATE. THOSE WORDS GO TOO FAR. AND LET ME
REMIND THOSE WHO FOLLOW THIS DEBATE, AS I SAID EARLIER,
THE MAJORITY LEADER IS A GOOD MAN, A HUMANE MAN, A SENSITIVE
MAN WHO HAS BEEN CLOSER TO LIFE AND DEATH THAN ANY OF
US IN THIS CHAMBER, AND I BELIEVE THOSE WORDS, IF GIVEN
TO HIM, WERE INAPPROPRIATE, AND IF THEY WERE SAID IN
A CARELESS MOMENT, I'M SURE THEY DO NOT REFLECT HIS
HEART, BUT LET US TAKE CARE DURING THE COURSE OF THIS
DEBATE TO IF I DISAGREE WITH ONE OF THESE NOMINEES OR
ANY JUDGE AS TO THEIR OPINIONS, IT'S NOT GOING TO REFLECT
ANYTHING ON THEM PERSONALLY. (Senator Dick Durbin, 5/18/05,
Senate Floor)
