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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: jackhach who wrote (492503)	11/14/2003 11:07:45 AM
From: laura_bush	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769668

Dems Succeed in Halting Action on Owen By JESSE J. HOLLAND Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP)--After two straight nights of often droning, sometimes angry debate, the Senate returned to normal order Friday, with Democrats maintaining their filibuster on a judicial nominee they say is too conservative for the American mainstream. With a 53-42 vote, Democrats succeeded in stopping further action on President Bush's nomination of Texas judge Priscilla Owen to a seat on a U.S. appeals court. Sixty votes were needed to end the filibuster and bring on a final confirmation vote. It was the fourth time Republicans have failed to advance the Owen nomination. Despite the nearly 40 hours of exhaustive debate on what the GOP says is Democratic obstructionism on judges, they failed to win a single new Democratic vote. As in past votes, only two Democrats, Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Zell Miller of Georgia, voted with the Republicans. The Senate was also voting to break Democratic resistance to two other nominees, and Republicans, who hold 51 seats in the Senate, conceded they would fall short as they have on a dozen previous votes on controversial appeals court nominees. ``I don't see a way out,'' said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who called for an extra nine hours of debate Thursday night and is considering suing the Senate to ban judicial filibusters. ``Nobody is going to change their votes.'' Democrats say they warned the GOP that the round-the-clock debate--launched at 6 p.m. Wednesday and continuing nonstop through 9:30 a.m. Friday--wouldn't succeed in breaking their filibuster. ``I'm terribly disappointed that we are spending the time of this institution on something like this when we need to be spending what little time we have on so many other questions,'' said Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn. The Senate was also voting on California judges Carolyn Kuhl and Janice Rogers Brown. Owen, who wants a seat on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, had already lost three filibuster votes, while Friday's votes were the first scheduled for Brown and Kuhl. Brown wants a seat on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and Kuhl a seat on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. Bush brought all three women to the White House Thursday to demand their confirmation. ``I have told these three ladies I will stand with them to the bitter end because they're the absolute right pick for their respective positions,'' Bush said. ``The senators who are playing politics with their nominations are acting shamefully.'' With the blocking of Kuhl and Brown, Democrats will have stopped six Bush nominees: Owen, Brown, Kuhl, Mississippi judge Charles Pickering, Alabama Attorney General William Pryor and Hispanic lawyer Miguel Estrada. Estrada dropped his nomination after losing nine filibuster votes. The Senate has confirmed 168 Bush judicial nominees. The GOP considered the nonstop debate a victory, saying Americans now are focused on what they called the Democrats' ``unconstitutional filibusters'' of judicial nominees. Instead of allowing the Republicans to use their 51 votes to confirm nominees, Democrats have used procedures that required Republicans to come up with 60 votes to advance the president's choices. Republicans have yet to hit the 60-vote mark on controversial nominations. ``For the first time, people are paying attention to an issue that a lot of people feel passionate about,'' said Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., adding that his office has been flooded with calls from supporters. ``Now the general public is becoming aware of it and I think it will become much more of a discussion point and an important one.'' Democrats also said they won the debate by showing that the GOP is focused on the wrong issues, spending two legislative days talking about judicial nominees instead of finishing bills revamping Medicare and energy policy, not to mention eight overdue spending bills, in time to adjourn by Nov. 21. ``I think people are amused and wondering why the Senate isn't working on more important things,'' said Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota. AP-NY-11-14-03 1019EST statesman.com