Tom Harkin

Mr. HARKIN

Mr. HARKIN. He was criticized for his lack of experience because he had been in private practice for 5 years out of law school, and the rest of that time he was a law professor. Now he is on the Eighth Circuit.

Mr. HARKIN. Yes.

Mr. HARKIN. Since this may be my only opportunity today, I will do it, as I will every day we are in session. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Judiciary Committee be discharged from further consideration of the nomination of Bonnie J. Campbell, that after the two rollcall votes at 4:30----

Mr. HARKIN. I agree with that.

Mr. HARKIN. I am just pointing out what the Senator from Alabama, who is a member of the Judiciary Committee, said.

Mr. HARKIN. I appreciate that.

Mr. HARKIN. I was not saying anything about the Senator from Utah. I was just pointing out, as he just did, some good judges on the appellate level never had trial experience.

Mr. HARKIN. I yielded to him.

Mr. HARKIN. I wanted to finish--that the Senate proceed to this nomination, with debate limited to 2 hours equally divided and, further, that the Senate vote on this nomination at the conclusion of the yielding back of time.

Mr. HARKIN. I just point out, J. Harvie Wilkinson is another judge in the Fourth Circuit. Again, he never had any courtroom experience either. I am just pointing out, the Senator from Alabama yesterday, on the same TV show, said Bonnie Campbell was nominated too late. Nonsense. Gobbledy-gook. Bonnie Campbell was nominated on March 2 of this year. The four judicial nominees who were confirmed just last week were nominated after Bonnie Campbell. Why didn't Senator Sessions from Alabama stop them from going out of committee? They were nominated after Bonnie Campbell. Three of them were nominated, received their hearings, and were reported out of the committee during the same week in July. Bonnie Campbell had her hearing in May, and she has since been bottled up in committee. I keep pointing out, in 1992 President Bush nominated 14 circuit court judges. Nine had their hearing, nine were referred, and nine were confirmed--all in 1992. I guess it was not too late when the Republicans had the Presidency, but it is too late if there is a Democrat President. Here is the year: 2000. Seven circuit court judges have been nominated; two have had their hearing, one has been referred, and one has been confirmed--one out of seven. So who is playing politics around this place? The Senator from Alabama said the Judiciary Committee is holding hearings, just as they did in the past. In 1992, there were 15 judicial hearings; this year, there have been 8. The Senator from Alabama also said some Republican Senators claim Bonnie Campbell is too liberal. But Bonnie Campbell has bipartisan support. Senator Grassley, law enforcement people, and victims services groups also all support her. Is that the test?

Mr. HARKIN. Thirty seconds.

Mr. HARKIN

Mr. HARKIN. Yes.

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, it has now been 218 days--218 days that the Judiciary Committee of the Senate has had Bonnie J. Campbell's name there and not reported her out. She has had her hearings. Her paperwork is done. Yet she sits bottled up in the Senate Judiciary Committee. I understand that later today--or maybe early next week--there will be a unanimous consent request to bring up for consideration and pass the Violence Against Women Act. It is a very good bill, a good law, that has done a lot to help reduce domestic violence in our country. But we have an interesting dichotomy here. There will be a line of Senators out here talking about how they are all for the Violence Against Women Act. It will go through here like greased lightning. But when it comes to the person who has been in charge of implementing the provisions of the Violence Against Women Act, the person who has been in charge of the Office of Violence Against Women since its beginning in 1995--because it was created by the Violence Against Women Act--when it comes to that person who is widely recognized all over America as the one person who has done more to implement that law than anybody else--when it comes to that person, they say, no, we are not going to let her be reported out of the Judiciary Committee. That is Bonnie Campbell. It is all right to have the Violence Against Women Act but, no, it is not all right to have her sit on the court of appeals--the one person who knows this law intimately, the one person who has led the fight in this country against domestic violence and violence against women in general. Bonnie Campbell has not been treated fairly by this Senate, by the Republican leadership, and by the Senate Judiciary Committee. I have heard all the arguments--including the one that she she wasn't nominated until this year. Mr. President, she was nominated in early March. She had her hearing in May. Yet the other day we reported four judges out, all of whom were nominated later than Bonnie Campbell. Three were nominated in July, had their hearing, and were reported out all in the same week. Yet Bonnie Campbell sits there, 218 days today. It is not as if the appeals courts are full. We have 22 vacancies on the appeals courts. And we need more women serving on the appeals court. Out of 148 circuit judges, 33 are women--22 percent. Yet the Republican leadership in this Senate and on the Senate Judiciary Committee will not let Bonnie Campbell's name come out for a vote. If somebody on the other side wants to vote against her, for whatever reason, that is their right. It is their senatorial privilege and even their responsibility, if they feel deeply about it, to do so. But I don't believe it is anyone's responsibility, nor even a right, to hold that name bottled up in committee when she is fully qualified. I have not heard one Senator say Bonnie Campbell is not qualified for this position--not one. I have heard no objections raised at all. She is supported by both the Senators from Iowa--a Republican Senator, Mr. Grassley, and by me, a Democrat. So there has been strong, bipartisan support. Again, she is a former attorney general of the State of Iowa and now head of the Violence Against Women office. Yet they won't report her name out. Yes, they will let the Violence Against Women Act come through, and we will hear wonderful speeches about it, I am sure, from the Republican side. The House of Representatives, last week, voted for the Violence Against Women Act, 415-3. Does anybody believe they would have voted that overwhelmingly if the only person who has run that office had done a bad job and had not enforced the law fairly and equitably and brought honor to the law and the position? Absolutely not. By that 415-3 vote, they were saying Bonnie Campbell has done an outstanding job.

Mr. HARKIN. I think that is a great idea.

Mr. HARKIN. I agree with the Senator from Vermont, my great friend who does an outstanding job on the Judiciary Committee. He is absolutely right. Governor Bush said we ought to have a 60-day deadline. He should pick up the phone, as my friend said, and call the Republican leadership. He is the leader of the Republican Party. Unanimous Consent Agreement Mr. President, I will, as I do every day, ask unanimous consent to discharge the Judiciary Committee on further consideration of the nomination of Bonnie Campbell, nominee for the Eighth Circuit Court, and that her nomination be considered by the Senate following the conclusion of action on the pending matter, and that the debate on the nomination be limited to 2 hours equally divided, and that a vote on her nomination occur immediately following the use or yielding back of that time.

Mr. HARKIN. I hadn't made that point, but yes, that is true. If we had a vote, I daresay maybe one or two may have a problem for some reason, but I think it would be overwhelming.

Mr. HARKIN. Exactly.

Mr. HARKIN. I agree.

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I intend to make my point every day. And as you can see, an objection to bringing Bonnie Campbell's name out of the Judiciary Committee so we can have a debate and vote is made every time on the Republican side. That is who is holding this up. It is a darn shame that this is being done to a person who has led an exemplary life, done an outstanding job in public service both as attorney general of Iowa and now as head of the Violence Against Women Office in the Department of Justice. It is not right, it is not fair. So every day that we are here I will continue to ask unanimous consent to bring her name out. Before I yield the floor, once again, I will point out that in 1992, when there was a Republican President and a Democratic Senate, 9 circuit court judges had their hearings; there were 14 nominated in 1992, during an election year, and 9 had hearings. Of all those who had hearings, they were all referred and all confirmed--one as late as October of 1992, a couple in September, and a couple were in August. When the shoe was on the other foot, when there was a Republican President and a Democratic Senate, we had the hearings. Everyone who had a hearing during the Bush Administration got a vote in Committee. All but one got a vote on the Senate floor. Well, Bonnie Campbell had her hearing. All the paperwork is done. Yet she has been referred. Every single one was confirmed in 1992. Well, this is the year 2000 and we have had seven circuit court judges nominated this year. One has had a hearing and was referred and was confirmed. That is one out of seven. In 1992, it was 9 out of 14. Tell me who is playing politics around this place. Tell me who wants to play politics with the circuit courts. It is not our side. It is the other side. In 1992, as I said, we had nine circuit judges nominated and confirmed. This year, there was only one. No. 1, it is a flimsy argument to say because she was nominated this year it is too late. No. 2, it is a phony argument that, well, it is a circuit court and maybe George Bush will win the election and, therefore, we will put Republicans on there instead of somebody such as Bonnie Campbell. In 1992, as I pointed out, when the roles were reversed, we confirmed nine circuit court judges that year. We could have said the same thing: Bill Clinton may win, so don't confirm them. But we didn't do that. I believe the right course of action to follow is to report those out, let them have a debate. If people want to vote one way or the other, that is their right. I will continue to take this floor every day until we adjourn sine die, or whatever we do here. I will begin to use every means at my disposal to get her name out of the Judiciary Committee and make sure she is treated fairly by this Senate and that at least we have a vote. I yield the floor. Unanimous Consent Request--S. 3059

Mr. HARKIN. Yes.

Mr. HARKIN

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I object.

Mr. HARKIN

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, an issue I will be talking about every day is the issue of judgeships and the fact that we still have our judges bottled up, especially Bonnie Campbell, who has now been waiting 217 days to be reported out of the committee. Yet we just had some judges approved this week who were nominated in July, had their hearing in July. They were approved. But Bonnie Campbell still sits in the Judiciary Committee. It is not right, it is not fair to her, it is not fair for our judicial system. Bonnie Campbell has all of the qualifications to be a judge on the Eighth Circuit. A former attorney general of Iowa, she did an outstanding job there. Since 1995, she has been the first and only director of the Office of Violence Against Women in the Department of Justice which was created by the Violence Against Women Act of 1994. Again, she has done an outstanding job. There has been some good news. During that period of time, domestic violence against women, in fact, has decreased. But the facts are we have a long way to go. In 1998, American women were the victims of 876,340 acts of domestic violence. Domestic violence accounted for 22 percent of violent crimes against women. During those same years, children under 12 lived in 43 percent of the households where domestic violence occurred. We have to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act. Last week, the House passed by 415-3 the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. Again, I doubt they would have passed it so overwhelmingly if its only person charged with enforcing that law had done a bad job in running the office. I did not hear one comment on the House floor, nor have I heard one here, that in any way indicates that Bonnie Campbell did not do an outstanding job as head of that office. She did do an outstanding job and everyone knows she did. So now we're hearing that the Violence Against Women Act will be attached to something else and pass the Senate that way. Yet perhaps the one person in this country who understands this issue and this law better than anyone else is Bonnie J. Campbell, who has directed that office for the last 5 years. We need people on the courts and on the bench who understand that law and can apply it fairly across our Nation. That is why we need Bonnie Campbell on the Eighth Circuit. Right now we have quite a lack of women serving on our circuit courts. Frankly, the number of women on our circuit courts is appalling. We need more women on our circuit courts. And we need to confirm them here. Of the 148 circuit judges, only 33 are women--22 percent. That, in itself, is scandalous. Bonnie Campbell should be added to that list. Again, it doesn't seem right that Bonnie Campbell would get a hearing back in May and then remain bottled up in Committe. Lets go back to the presidential term of George Bush. During that time, every single district and circuit nominee who got a hearing--got a vote in Committee. And all but one got a vote on the Senate floor. Yet we are not allowed to vote on Bonnie Campbell's nomination on the floor. So as I said, it is not fair to her. It is not fair to the judicial system. It is not fair to the advise and consent clause of the Constitution to hold her up. Mr. President, I will again, today, as I will do every day, ask unanimous consent to discharge the Judiciary Committee of further consideration of this nomination. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to discharge the Judiciary Committee from further consideration of the nomination of Bonnie Campbell, the nominee for the Eighth Circuit Court, that her nomination be considered by the Senate immediately following the conclusion of action on the pending matter, that the debate on the nomination be limited to 2 hours equally divided and a vote on her nomination occur immediately following the use or yielding back of that time.

Mr. HARKIN. I ask unanimous consent to wrap it up in about 2 minutes.

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, again, every day I will come out and ask unanimous consent to get Bonnie Campbell's name out of the committee and on the floor for a vote. Yet the objections come from the Republican side of the aisle. Why, I don't know. As I said, no one has said she's not qualified. If someone wants to vote against her to be on the Eighth Circuit, that is that Senator's right--obligation, if it is a vote he or she feels in conscience that he or she must cast. But, again, I say, give her a vote.