Tom Harkin: “As I have almost every day we have been in session, now, for the last few weeks--I brought up the issue of Bonnie…”

“As I have almost every day we have been in session, now, for the last few weeks--I brought up the issue of Bonnie Campbell, who has bipartisan support, who has had her hearing in the Judiciary Committee, yet has not been reported out for a vote. This is it. We had 7 nominations for circuit court judges, 2 had their hearings, one was referred, and one was confirmed--one out of 7 this year. Yet in 1992, when there was a Republican President and a Democratic Senate, we had 14 nominations for circuit court judges in the election year, 9 had a hearing, 9 were referred, and 9 were confirmed. Everyone who had a hearing got confirmed, and that was during the election year. Yet this year we only got 1 out of 7. One of those stuck in there who has had the hearing is Bonnie Campbell, who headed the Office of Violence Against Women ever since it started. She has done an outstanding job at that. We passed the Violence Against Women Act. We reauthorized it by an overwhelming vote in the House and Senate. I think that is a testimony to the fact that Bonnie Campbell has done such an outstanding job of running that Office of Violence Against Women. She was nominated in March, had her hearing in May, yet she has been sitting there ever since. It is unfair to her. It is unfair to make her sit bottled up in that committee.”