Orrin Hatch: “I rise today in support of Justice Lavenski Smith to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Before I speak directly about…”

“I rise today in support of Justice Lavenski Smith to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Before I speak directly about him and his nomination, however, I would like to take just a moment to explain where the Senate stands on its job of considering and confirming President Bush's judicial nominees during this Congress. The Senate has not confirmed a single judge since May 13, exactly 9 weeks ago today. This is nothing short of irresponsible considering the vacancy rates and backlogs around the country. There were 31 vacancies in the Federal courts of appeals when President Bush sent us his first 11 circuit nominees on May 9, 2001, and there are 31 today. We are barely keeping pace with the rate of attrition. The Sixth Circuit is half-staffed with 8 of its 16 seats vacant. The DC. Circuit is two-thirds staffed, with 4 of its 12 seats sitting vacant. Meanwhile, seven of President Bush's first 11 nominees have not even been scheduled for hearings--despite having been pending for 432 days as of today. A total of 23 circuit court nominations now sit pending for those 31 vacancies. But we have confirmed only 3 circuit judges this year, and only 9 since President Bush took office. It is bad enough that the Judiciary Committee has been slow to even begin the process of consideration by scheduling hearings. It is even worse that the Democrat leadership can't do what is necessary to move the 17 judges that are still pending for a floor vote.”