Patrick Leahy: “Latino labor leaders made this point: They say Mr. Estrada is a stealth candidate whose views and qualifications have…”

“Latino labor leaders made this point: They say Mr. Estrada is a stealth candidate whose views and qualifications have been hidden from the American people and from the Senate. He has refused to answer important questions about his views and his judicial philosophy. They say it would be simply irresponsible to put him on the bench, and that is true. To go back to some of the judges my good friend from Utah, the senior Senator from Utah, has talked about, Judge Richard Paez was a man strongly supported by his home State Senators. He was supported by every single Hispanic organization, and he was made to wait 1,500 days for a vote. I think a lesser person would have said: I am not going to stand, I am not going to do it. But with the very strong support he had from the Hispanic community, he did not want to let them down. He did not want to let down his family. I talked with him many times during that time and encouraged him to stay with it. Elections came and went and he held on. Finally, he was given a vote. President Clinton had to get reelected as President to have this happen. When we hear how great it was that they put him through finally, after 5 years of total humiliation, and that is 5 years during which he was endorsed by every single Hispanic organization that spoke, he was allowed to come to a vote, but almost 40 Republicans voted against him.”