Thomas Daschle: “we are in the midst of a disturbing slowdown in the confirmation of judicial nominations, especially when the nominees…”

“we are in the midst of a disturbing slowdown in the confirmation of judicial nominations, especially when the nominees are women or minorities. A few days ago, on June 22, the Senate finally confirmed, by a vote of 56 to 34, Susan Oki Mollway, a Japanese-American nominated by President Clinton almost 3 years ago to serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii. Ms. Mollway was first nominated in the 104th Congress and was renominated again in the 105th Congress. She was favorably reported out of the Judiciary Committee, not once but twice. It took 3 years for Republicans to bring her nomination to the Senate floor despite the fact that a judicial emergency was declared in her district. I am particularly concerned about the lack of progress in the consideration of Hispanic judicial nominees before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Of the 36 judges confirmed in 1997, none were Latino, although six Latinos had been nominated. Thus far in 1998, 2 of the 26 judges confirmed were Latino and five are currently awaiting confirmation. It took the Senate 32 months to confirm Ms. Hilda Tagle, the only Hispanic woman the Senate confirmed this year. Why are the nominations of these qualified individuals taking so long? These nominees and the American people deserve an explanation. The nominations of Emilio Cividanes, Richard Paez, Jorge Rangel, Annabelle Rodriguez, and Sonia Sotomayor have been pending before the Senate for months.”