An Email From Senator Frist

Dear Friend:

Thank you for contacting me regarding the judicial nomination process. It is an honor to serve in the United States Senate.

As Majority Leader, ensuring that President Bush's judicial nominees receive fair treatment is one of my top priorities. Each of the President's nominees that has been brought before the full Senate has been well-qualified and deserving of approval. The Constitution's "advice and consent" clause clearly gives the Senate the prerogative to accept or reject any of the President's judicial nominations. Unfortunately, a minority of Senators are using Senate rules to stop the confirmation of many of these nominees and thwart the will of the majority. Before the minority's unwise and dangerous filibusters, no judicial nominee with majority support had ever been denied an up or down vote in the Senate. We must restore civility to the Senate and return to a tradition of over 200 years -- giving judicial nominees a fair vote.

I have already taken several steps to address this attack on our Constitution, Senate history, and the judicial system. On June 5, 2003, I proposed a narrow change to Senate rules that would prohibit long term filibustering of judicial nominees. On November 12 - 14, 2003, I held the Senate in session for almost forty straight hours — the longest continuous debate in over 10 years — to force the minority to defend their actions. On April 28, 2005, I proposed holding 100 hours of debate before a vote on each nominee as a way to end the impasse by allowing ample debate but finally allowing each nominee the courtesy of a vote. This proposal also ensured that no judicial nomination could be indefinitely delayed in committee. However, this balanced and fair approach was dismissed out-of-hand by the minority in favor of continued obstruction.

Please visit my Senate website at http://frist.senate.gov for further information regarding the judicial confirmation process and history. Rest assured, I will continue to fight for fair treatment of the President's judicial nominations in the 109th Congress. Anything less is unfair to the nominees, the President, the integrity of the judicial system and the American people.

Sincerely,

William H. Frist, M.D.
Majority Leader
United States Senate

P.S. Please visit http://frist.senate.gov to register for my e-mail newsletter.