Courtesy of a Vote

As we reach the end of the congressional session for 2006, there are still 25 judicial nominations pending in the Senate.

For more than two hundred years, even the most controversial of presidential judicial nominees had been given the courtesy of a vote. During the past several years however, Senate Democratic leadership has broken tradition, routinely obstructing nominations from coming to a vote.

The effect was not only to deny these nominees a confirmation vote, but also to prevent the Senate from exercising its constitutional "advise and consent" responsibility. I'd like to take a moment to review two pending judicial nominees - one who has been waiting the courtesy of a vote for over a decade.

Terrence W. Boyle was first nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in 1991 and no action was taken on his nomination at that time. On May 9, 2001, Judge Boyle was nominated again to the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and he has been re-nominated in every subsequent Congress.

Last year, Judge Boyle finally received a hearing on March 3, 2005 and he was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee on June 2005. No floor action was taken on his nomination because of the threat of a Democratic filibuster. Once again, he had to be re-nominated on September 5, 2006, after his nomination was returned to the President during the August recess.

Judge Boyle has been a member of North Carolina's legal community since 1974 and has been a federal judge since 1984. He has the support of both Republican and Democratic North Carolinians, and many have attested to his reputation as a fair-minded and thoughtful judge. Yet, Senate Democrats have continually refused to allow an up-or-down vote on his nomination.

Another distinguished judicial nomination is that of Peter Douglas Keisler, who was nominated to be a U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Columbia Circuit on June 29, 2006. A hearing by the Senate Judiciary Committee was held for his nomination on August 1, 2006.

Mr. Keisler is another outstanding nominee with a distinguished record. He has served proudly as an Assistant Attorney General Civil Division, for the Justice Department and has defended the constitutionality of statutes and the lawfulness of government regulations, policies, and decisions. I am hopeful that this outstanding nominee will be confirmed in a reasonable amount of time and not meet the same obstructionism that has faced Judge Boyle.

There is a bit of good news on the nominations front. The President has nominated Mary Peters to become Secretary of Transportation. A fellow Arizonan, Mary Peters has a long and distinguished career of public service, not only in her capacity leading the Arizona Department of Transportation, but also at the helm of the Federal Highway Administration. I hope my colleagues will give her a swift review and confirmation.

And while I can understand my Senate colleagues and I may not always agree on the merits of nominees, we should at very least, show the courtesy to them by allowing them an up-or-down vote.