Orrin Hatch

Mr. HATCH

Mr. HATCH. Sure.

Mr. HATCH. All giants of the law and none of whom had prior judicial experience.

Mr. HATCH. I am not aware of anyone. I have heard remarks on the floor by colleagues on the other side that they are concerned he may not uphold all of their believed decisions. But he has said he would uphold precedent, that he would abide by the law as enunciated by the Supreme Court, and that he would examine everything as thoroughly as he could, do the very best job he could to be fair. He has said exactly the right things you would want a circuit court nominee to say.

Mr. HATCH. There have been some who have been concerned about that because of Mr. Bender's comments. But Mr. Bender, when he was his supervisor at the Department of Justice, gave him rave reviews in all categories. Now, I think the contemporaneous rave reviews, which Mr. Bender tries to get out of now, should take precedence over his partisan comments made long after the fact.

Mr. HATCH. Without losing my right to the floor.

Mr. HATCH. Not really. Not really. Not really, other than some who relied on Mr. Bender's comments. And I might add that Mr. Bender worked for Seth Waxman, who rebutted what Mr. Bender said, and put his reputation on the line as a Democrat former Solicitor General, and speaks very favorably on all of those issues with regard to Mr. Estrada. I would certainly give much more credibility to Mr. Waxman than I would to Mr. Bender, who I think has acted reprehensibly under the circumstances.

Mr. HATCH. Without losing my right to the floor.

Mr. HATCH. That is right. By the way, when the ABA does its review, it is looking for every one of those qualities. It is looking for people who would rebut those qualities. It is looking for people who both support him and are opposed to him. It is looking for people who say he does not have the right temperament, or he does not have the right intelligence, or he does not have the right integrity, or he does not have the right health. The ABA goes into all of that. So does the administration. And so do we as Senators if we want to. In this particular case, virtually everybody who worked with him gives him high raves.

Mr. HATCH. Without losing my right to the floor.

Mr. HATCH. Yes, Paul Bender has. But he----

Mr. HATCH. He did, indeed, and he received rave reviews for his work at the Solicitor General's Office in the Clinton administration by a Democrat Solicitor General.

Mr. HATCH. That was my experience with the Clinton administration. I don't know of any rightwing ideolog----

Mr. HATCH. I certainly agree with that. Mr. Waxman, who is a highly regarded and respected lawyer, was the Solicitor General--one of them. Mr. Estrada worked under three Democrat Solicitors General who saw his work product. Mr. Waxman is highly respected. I doubt he would put his reputation on the line, as he did, by vouching for Mr. Estrada if he were not absolutely convinced he would be a fair and unbiased Federal judge. That is none other than Seth Waxman, the Solicitor General in the Clinton administration. I don't understand all this argument by the other side and why a filibuster of this highly qualified person who has the highest rating of the American Bar Association, their gold standard. I have to say I have to admit it is a good standard at this point, too. They are doing a fair job. It isn't just because of Mr. Estrada I say that. I have been saying it for a couple of years. But one time I wasn't very pleased with it.

Mr. HATCH. I would be delighted to, without losing my right to the floor.

Mr. HATCH. My colleagues on the other side who don't know Miguel Estrada--there is only one person who has given their criticism, and that was Professor Bender from Arizona State University who I think has more than been rebutted here on the floor.

Mr. HATCH. Without losing my right to the floor.

Mr. HATCH. Not one. Nobody could. We know how bright he is.

Mr. HATCH. Absolutely none. And that is one reason it is a fishing expedition--because they want to see if they can find something for which they can criticize him. But not only did they wait 615 days to hold a hearing--which they controlled, they chaired, they questioned-- but they also allowed for written questions afterwards. And only two of them--the Senator from Illinois and the Senator from Massachusetts-- prepared written questions for him, which he answered, which we put into the Record today. Frankly, I do not know of anyone who could point out any defect in this man's character and his ability to be a great circuit court of appeals judge.

Mr. HATCH. Without losing my right to the floor.

Mr. HATCH. Sure, without losing my right to the floor.

Mr. HATCH. I yield for a question.

Mr. HATCH. That is generally the viewpoint around here.

Mr. HATCH. I am not quite sure. I have a statement to make, and I want to get that in the Record. I would like to take any questions my colleagues have on either side of the aisle. This is an important issue. So it is 10:30 at night. It is nothing to me. I am fighting for Miguel Estrada.

Mr. HATCH. The filibuster comes from the word filibustero, which is Spanish. It is a word for pirating, by taking improper control, in this case of the Senate. I hope I am saying that right. I think I am pretty close.

Mr. HATCH. Wait a minute, I feel I have been unfairly attacked by the Senator, by someone who knows the process and I think ought to be fair and I think normally is.