Orrin Hatch

Mr. HATCH

Mr. HATCH. I will be happy to, without losing my right to the floor.

Mr. HATCH. Without losing my right to the floor, I will be happy to yield.

Mr. HATCH. Let me address the Chair then in answering this question. Miguel Estrada, without one thing against him--and by the way, Judge Paez had plenty of things against him that indicated he was not only an activist judge but ruled without regard to the law. There were some legitimate concerns on our side, even though I believed he should have a vote and he ultimately did, unlike Miguel Estrada. Let me tell you something, I have not seen one legitimate, substantive reason to not give Miguel Estrada the same privilege that, yes, it took time to do and I had to fight it through and there were all kinds of problems; some were very justified problems----

Mr. HATCH. A simple majority. It says we have the power of advising and consenting. It does not say we have the power to advise and filibuster or obstruct, which is what is going on here.

Mr. HATCH. This is correct.

Mr. HATCH. I agree, justice delayed is justice denied, and this is a very important court. The problem is our friends on the other side just do not want a conservative Hispanic appointed by a Republican President on that court.

Mr. HATCH. I agree 100 percent with the distinguished Senator from Virginia.

Mr. HATCH. That is correct.

Mr. HATCH. For a question.

Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I say to the Senator, that is absolutely true.

Mr. HATCH. It is time to give Miguel Estrada the same privilege that we gave to Judge Paez.

Mr. HATCH. It certainly looks that way to me. One argument is that he is not Hispanic enough. That is ridiculous. Others have said he hasn't had any judicial experience. I think we have more than blown that away. I don't think any reasonable person would make that argument. Yet I have heard argument after argument that he doesn't have any judicial experience. I agree that some special interest groups, and others that have been criticizing Mr. Estrada, think all minorities have to think alike. If you are a minority, if you don't toe the liberal line, they don't want anything to do with you. That is the problem here. I don't think my colleagues are against Mr. Estrada because he is Hispanic. No, it is because he is a Hispanic Republican, and they think conservative, who may not agree with some of their more liberal ideas. It seems to me that this is fundamentally un-American. I don't think there is anyplace in our system for this type of thinking. Miguel Estrada reached his views by examining all the facts and coming to his conclusions, and to suggest that he or anyone else has to arrive at a certain political bent--and one only--is simply not fair. He is not being treated fairly here. I don't think anybody who watches this or looks at it, or understands it would think he is being treated fairly. He is just not.

Mr. HATCH. Yes.

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

Mr. HATCH. I will be happy to yield without losing my right to the floor.

Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, as you can see, there is no fairness in this process. This is the first filibuster for a circuit court of appeals nominee in the history of this country. The majority leader has been very fair in granting extra time. The other side said they have debated it long enough. We have always voted up or down at this juncture, and the minority is unfairly filibustering this nominee for the first time in history, this Hispanic-American nominee who has climbed every step of the way into the American dream. They are taking an attitude and a position that takes away from that American dream.

Mr. HATCH. Well, let's just be honest about it. Considering a nomination for a judgeship like it is being done here would become just a methodology for anybody. If you didn't get the papers you wanted from some source or other in the Federal Government--and it might even include the Senate--then you can hold up judges just as they are doing here. Look, that would----

Mr. HATCH. Put it this way. If one of my excellent staff people was nominated to a Federal judgeship and somebody tried to pull that one over on me, I would raise such cane that it would blow the lid off this building, and I think anybody else would, too. You can imagine how the Solicitor General's Office must feel for this type of an inappropriate request for a confidential, privileged matter that they have to keep that way if they want to not chill honest discourse within the Solicitor General's Office. This is absurd. That is what they are pinning their hat on here. Let me tell you, if that is what it comes down to, it is going to be hard to get any judge through that one or the other side has a difference with in the slightest degree. There is no reason to disagree with Mr. Estrada. I have not heard one legitimate, good reason--not one yet.

Mr. HATCH. Well, I have to say that the Solicitor General's Office is one of the most important offices in the country. This is the advocate for our country. These opinions are extremely important. They want the best opinion they can get from the people who serve there and write the opinions, as Miguel Estrada did. By necessity, they have to be confidential and privileged because, otherwise, the Solicitor General's Office would not function as well on behalf of the American citizens. So in all honesty, if our friends on the other side were to prevail in forcing any administration, or if we would do so later because they do so now, then that means no privileges will be respected in the executive branch of the Government. Now, if we start doing that, I have to ask you, where does it end? Does it end where the opinions our staffs give us at our request have to be given up if they are nominated?

Mr. HATCH. That is correct. And three Democrat Solicitors General reviewed these materials and had access to them, and they have nothing but praise for the work of Mr. Estrada.

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

Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I think we ought to give the----

Mr. HATCH. You are correct.

Mr. HATCH. As you know, Senator, you did that. We respect your credibility. I think both sides respect your credibility, as we should. You did make a very formal and important statement on behalf of Miguel Estrada.

Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I am happy to yield for a question without losing my right to the floor.