Orrin Hatch: “Well, keep in mind, Miguel Estrada is a partner in the very prestigious law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. But he got…”

“Well, keep in mind, Miguel Estrada is a partner in the very prestigious law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. But he got there by clerking--to get a clerk's position in a Federal court is a very high honor. To be editor of the Law Review at Harvard is one of the highest honors any law school can offer. But then he becomes a clerk to Amalya Kearse on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, which is one of the great circuits in this country. She is a great judge. And then he later became a clerk to Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court, and is still one of his best friends and advisers, and vice versa. And, of course, he has become a partner in one of the great law firms in this society. He has tried all kinds of cases, 15 before the Supreme Court, winning 10. When the ABA, which my friends on the other side have called the gold standard, did their thorough investigation of Miguel Estrada, they came to the conclusion he is unanimously well qualified, the highest rating the American Bar Association can give. That is in spite of all of the impediments this young man has had coming up through the ranks from Honduras to this country to college to law school to these various positions. By the way, I didn't mention he worked in the Solicitor General's Office giving very effective opinions for both the first Bush administration and the Clinton administration.”