Mike Levin: “Senators Helms, Kennedy, Jeffords, all of us--not all of us, many of us at times--have said we should not vote on a…”

“Senators Helms, Kennedy, Jeffords, all of us--not all of us, many of us at times--have said we should not vote on a nomination until relevant documents have been obtained by the interested Senator, relevant to that confirmation process. We have supported those Senators in getting those documents. It has been an institutional position that Senators should be able to get documents that relate to a confirmation of a particular nominee. These are documents which relate to this nomination or may relate to this confirmation process. We don't know until we see the documents, but we do know two things, that Mr. Flory was a Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Feith office and he was actively involved in the discussions and the matters to which these documents pertain and that he is named in a number of the documents we have been able to obtain as being involved in this subject matter. That much we know. That is more than enough, it seems to me, for this body to insist that these documents be made available before we vote on his confirmation. Finally, he is in office now. We are not blocking him from going into that office. He got a recess appointment. To reiterate, there is nothing novel or unique about holding up a nomination in order to obtain information that is being withheld by executive branch officials. This defense of Senate prerogatives goes back a long way, probably to our beginning.…”