Jeff Johnson, CNSNews.com
Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2003

Asked in an exclusive interview with CNSNews.com about threats by her Democrat colleague, senior New York Sen. Charles Schumer, to filibuster the confirmation of Miguel Estrada, Clinton would not say whether she supported using procedural maneuvers to block judicial nominees.

"I support the concept of the Senate playing its constitutional role of 'advise and consent,'" Clinton said Thursday. "And where that is not possible - because the majority is taking the position that information does not have to be shared with the appropriate committee members, that questions don't have to be answered, that certain areas cannot be explored - that troubles me deeply."

The Senate continued deliberations on Estrada's nomination to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on Monday. Estrada received a unanimous "well-qualified" rating from the American Bar Association. He is a graduate, with highest honors, of Columbia College and Harvard Law School. The Honduran immigrant served as assistant solicitor general in the U.S. Department of Justice for five years.

'Some Kind of Secret Judiciary'

Echoing complaints by Schumer and other Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Clinton told CNSNews.com that senators did not have enough information about Estrada to make an informed decision.

"And I think that, that goes not just to the constitutional obligations of the Senate that should be followed," she said. "But it goes to whether or not we're going to have some kind of secret judiciary where people are elevated to our highest courts without ever having to answer questions from elected representatives."

Estrada answered questions from the Judiciary Committee, during his Sept. 26, 2002, hearing and in response to hundreds of standard questions asked of all nominees in writing and additional written interrogatories from Democrats on the committee.

As CNSNews.com previously reported, Schumer criticized Estrada for answering "I will follow the law" when asked to predict how he would rule on cases involving controversial topics such as abortion and states' rights under the Tenth Amendment.

"If we confirm Miguel Estrada, we're ratifying a 'don't ask, don't tell' policy for judicial nominees," Schumer said. "By remaining silent, Mr. Estrada only buttressed the fear that he is a far-right stealth nominee."

Schumer said he is "scared about what will happen" if Estrada is confirmed.

'Latinos They Can Control'

In a letter to Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, U.S. Civil Rights Commissioner Jennifer Braceras blasted Democrats for lumping Hispanic Americans together as if they all shared the same political ideology.

"Contrary to the assumptions of the Democratic leadership, the Latino community is truly diverse; we come in all colors, religions, and, yes, political inclinations," Braceras wrote. "Yet the Democratic leadership has decided that the only 'genuine' Latinos are those they can control. Anyone else is simply unacceptable, a renegade to be extirpated as not truly 'Hispanic.'

"The effort to stigmatize as unfit for public office an eminently well-qualified Latino simply because he has failed to pledge allegiance to the liberal orthodoxy is an affront to the diverse Latino community of this nation," she warned. "It promises to do lasting damage to the American polity and ultimately undermine the Democratic Party's efforts to maintain a base in the Hispanic community."

Senate Republicans attempted to call Estrada's nomination for a vote last week before the Senate adjourned, but Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., objected to the "unanimous consent request" that would have allowed the Senate to vote.

Before the confirmation debate continued Monday, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., offered Democrats the opportunity to speak on the nomination until late Monday evening and into Tuesday morning if they chose to do so, but under one condition.

"As long as we're having good participation, that is important, that is additive - not just listening to people just because they want to get up for an hour, which looks like a filibuster to the American people - as long as we're working in good faith to come to what I hope will be a fair up-or-down vote in a reasonable period of time, 'games' are not in order, are not to be played," Frist said.

Frist: 'We Expect No Filibuster'

Frist said he hoped Democrats would use the opportunity to express their views but not try to take advantage of it to attempt a filibuster as Schumer had previously threatened.

"At the end of the day, though, we expect no filibuster - and, again, that's a decision you'll make on your side - because the American people deserve better," Frist continued. "If there is insistence on a filibuster, we will use everything within our power, being in the majority, and the Senate rules to bring this to an up-or-down vote."

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