Center Release to Senate Judiciary Committee

In the release reproduced here, Jeffrey Mazzella wrote," "...Miguel Estrada is an inspiration to not only young Hispanics, but to all who believe in the American dream,"

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, Virginia—The 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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