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Estrada Asks for Nomination to be Withdrawn
Aired September 04, 2003 - 14:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Republicans say Miguel Estrada never had a chance. For 28 months Senate Democrats managed to filibuster his appointment to a federal appeals court and now the Hispanic conservative is giving up the fight. CNN's Dana Bash joins us now from the White House. Hello, Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Miles. Well as you know, the whole partisan battle over judicial nominees is not new to this administration but it has certainly been one of the biggest fight between this administration and the Democrats on Capitol Hill in general.
And Miguel Estrada really topped the list in terms of whom they have been fighting over. He was nominated 28 months ago. And today he wrote President Bush saying that he is requesting he withdraw his nominations because he has just been in limbo, he said, too long. And he needs to get back to his family and continue his private practice here in D.C. He was nominated, of course, to be on the appellate court here in the District of Columbia, the federal court of appeals.
And he is somebody who the Democrats said that wasn't necessarily a fit for the bench because they said they didn't know enough about Miguel Estrada. Therefore, they filibustered his nomination.
Now the president issued a harsh statement today against the Democrats. He said, quote, "Mr. Estrada received disgraceful treatment at the hands of 45 United States senators during the more than two years his nomination was pending. Democratic senators repeatedly blocked and up or down vote that would have led to his confirmation. The treatment of this fine man is an unfortunate chapter in the Senate's history."
So the president clearly making the point that Miguel Estrada could have passed the Senate had there not been a filibuster. But Democrats had their own press conference this morning saying that they are not a rubber stamp for this president and this is an example of the force that they will use to make sure the president sends up judicial nominees that they say are in the mainstream. And this, they say, is the White House's fault.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: Miguel Estrada is an unfortunate victim of a White House policy of not cooperating with the Senate and stonewalling in the appointment of judges. As long as the administration continues to do this, we will continue to block the judges they nominate that are far beyond the mainstream or those judges that refuse to answer questions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Now, this, of course, has political ramifications. Miguel Estrada is a Honduran immigrant, he came here from Honduras. And he is somebody who the Republicans say could have been a real benefit to the bench because he is Latin American. That is somebody that the Republicans certainly have been courting that particular community.
Democrats say that it is not relevant where he is from or what his ethnicity is. Rather, they say what is relevant is that they did not think they had enough information to appoint him and to pass his nomination out of the Senate.
This is not going to be end of the fights. There are other judges like Priscilla Owen and Judge Pryor who are also pending in the Senate. Democrats say they are not giving up the fight against judges like those -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: CNN's Dana Bash at the White House. Thanks very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired September 4, 2003 - 14:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Republicans say Miguel Estrada never had a chance. For 28 months Senate Democrats managed to filibuster his appointment to a federal appeals court and now the Hispanic conservative is giving up the fight. CNN's Dana Bash joins us now from the White House. Hello, Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Miles. Well as you know, the whole partisan battle over judicial nominees is not new to this administration but it has certainly been one of the biggest fight between this administration and the Democrats on Capitol Hill in general.
And Miguel Estrada really topped the list in terms of whom they have been fighting over. He was nominated 28 months ago. And today he wrote President Bush saying that he is requesting he withdraw his nominations because he has just been in limbo, he said, too long. And he needs to get back to his family and continue his private practice here in D.C. He was nominated, of course, to be on the appellate court here in the District of Columbia, the federal court of appeals.
And he is somebody who the Democrats said that wasn't necessarily a fit for the bench because they said they didn't know enough about Miguel Estrada. Therefore, they filibustered his nomination.
Now the president issued a harsh statement today against the Democrats. He said, quote, "Mr. Estrada received disgraceful treatment at the hands of 45 United States senators during the more than two years his nomination was pending. Democratic senators repeatedly blocked and up or down vote that would have led to his confirmation. The treatment of this fine man is an unfortunate chapter in the Senate's history."
So the president clearly making the point that Miguel Estrada could have passed the Senate had there not been a filibuster. But Democrats had their own press conference this morning saying that they are not a rubber stamp for this president and this is an example of the force that they will use to make sure the president sends up judicial nominees that they say are in the mainstream. And this, they say, is the White House's fault.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: Miguel Estrada is an unfortunate victim of a White House policy of not cooperating with the Senate and stonewalling in the appointment of judges. As long as the administration continues to do this, we will continue to block the judges they nominate that are far beyond the mainstream or those judges that refuse to answer questions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Now, this, of course, has political ramifications. Miguel Estrada is a Honduran immigrant, he came here from Honduras. And he is somebody who the Republicans say could have been a real benefit to the bench because he is Latin American. That is somebody that the Republicans certainly have been courting that particular community.
Democrats say that it is not relevant where he is from or what his ethnicity is. Rather, they say what is relevant is that they did not think they had enough information to appoint him and to pass his nomination out of the Senate.
This is not going to be end of the fights. There are other judges like Priscilla Owen and Judge Pryor who are also pending in the Senate. Democrats say they are not giving up the fight against judges like those -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: CNN's Dana Bash at the White House. Thanks very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
