FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jeffrey
Mazzella
703.535.5836
January 30, 2003
CENTER TO
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE:
SEND MIGUEL ESTRADA TO THE SENATE FLOOR
ALEXANDRIA,
VirginiaThe Center for Individual Freedom today urged the
members of the Senate Judiciary Committee to send the confirmation
of Miguel Estrada, one of President George W. Bush's nominees to
the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, to the chamber floor for an up-or-down
vote by all 100 Senators. Estrada is slated to be the first Hispanic
ever to serve on the D.C. Court of Appeals.
"The
time has long passed for the Senate Judiciary Committee to act on
the confirmation of Miguel Estrada," said Jeffrey Mazzella, the
Center's Sr. Vice President of Legislative Affairs. "Despite a
unanimous well-qualified rating from the American Bar Association,
once the 'gold standard' of Judiciary Democrats and distinguished
academic and professional career, Estrada's confirmation has been
held in limbo for more than 21 months."
Miguel
Estrada is an American success story. Born in Honduras, he immigrated
to the United States at age 15 knowing virtually no English. He
took the SAT in English two years later, then was accepted to and
graduated magna cum laude from Columbia College. He aced
his way through Harvard Law School -- again graduating magna
cum laude. He clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony
Kennedy, worked as Assistant Solicitor General in the U.S. Justice
Department during the Clinton Administration and is now a successful
partner in the law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in Washington
DC. Estrada has argued 15 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.
"Simply
put, Miguel Estrada is an inspiration to not only young Hispanics,
but to all who believe in the American dream," said Mazzella. "Yet,
like so many of his fellow nominees, Estrada has been branded 'controversial'
by a well-funded loose-knit coalition of liberal fringe groups that
has made it priority number one to defeat the confirmation of all
of the president's nominees who have promised to uphold the rule
of law. This coalition, and the Senators who continue to parrot
its talking points, has not provided one shred of evidence to the
contrary. Instead of working to alleviate the crisis in the courts,
they are undermining the constitutional integrity of the process
and destroying the efficacy of the federal judiciary."
The
Center has dedicated a portion of its website to the confirmation
process entitled "Confirmation Watch," where it provides
an up-to-date list of judicial nominees awaiting confirmation by
the Senate and frequently highlights the credentials of the nominees.
Confirmation Watch can be accessed by visiting www.cfif.org.
Founded
in 1998, the Center for Individual Freedom is a non-partisan, non-profit
organization with the mission to protect and defend individual freedoms
and rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. The Center does
not and will not endorse any of the judicial nominees. Our purpose
on this issue is to encourage the timely fulfillment of the Senate's
constitutional duty to the confirmation process.
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