Maria Cantwell: “over the last 3\1/2\ years, the Senate has approved 198 of President Bush's judicial nominees: more than were confirmed…”

“over the last 3\1/2\ years, the Senate has approved 198 of President Bush's judicial nominees: more than were confirmed during President Reagan's first term, more than confirmed during the first President Bush's term, and more than were confirmed during President Clinton's second term, when the other party controlled this body. The reality is that the Senate has made remarkable progress approving this President's nominees. Today, there are fewer Federal judicial vacancies than at any time in the last 14 years. This is true because both sides of the aisle have been able to work together to identify talented, qualified, experienced nominees-- nominees who can put their own ideologies aside and uphold the law. We have a bipartisan selection process that has worked very well for Washington state. Members of Washington State's legal community, the White House, and my colleague Senator Patty Murray and I worked together to review a group of applicants. I am proud of our work. This cooperative approach has produced a number of highly qualified judicial nominees--including two who were confirmed just last month--and I believe it is a sound model for other States. Unfortunately, the nomination before us today--that of William Myers to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals--represents a break with this spirit of cooperation and fairness.…”