Pro-Abortion Groups Plan Filibuster to Block Confirmation
of Miguel Estrada to U.S. Court of Appeals for D.C.
WASHINGTON (Feb. 1,
2003) -- NARAL and other pro-abortion groups are urging senators to filibuster
to block confirmation of Miguel Estrada, President Bush's nominee to the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. This court is generally
considered to be second in importance only to the Supreme Court.
Miguel Estrada was nominated by President Bush nearly two years ago. The
American Bar Association's review committee unanimously rated Estrada as "well
qualified," but the Senate Democratic leadership blocked his confirmation until
they lost their majority.
On January 30, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved the nomination on a
10-9 party-line vote. The full Senate will take up the nomination on Tuesday,
February 4. Because a majority of senators would vote to confirm Estrada,
pro-abortion groups are pushing for a filibuster to block confirmation.
In a January 31 e-mail alert, NARAL said that Estrada "has pointedly
refused to answer the Senate's questions on his view of Roe v. Wade."
The pro-abortion group Feminist Majority said in a January 31 alert, "This
is the first test of the filibuster strategy -- if we can block this vote, we
will be sending a strong message to President Bush, telling him that we won’t
stand by while he stacks the courts with right-wing, reactionary judges.
Estrada has not demonstrated commitment to women’s rights or civil rights and
has refused to answer questions about his commitment to abortion rights or basic
civil rights."
If a filibuster does develop, which now seems likely, it will require 60
votes (out of 100 senators) to "invoke cloture" and end the filibuster. Such a
vote could occur as early as Thursday, February 6, or at any time thereafter --
perhaps repeatedly.
There are currently 51 Senate Republicans. If all 51 Republicans vote for
cloture, pro-cloture votes from nine Democrats will still be required.
Therefore, Democratic senators especially -- regardless of their positions on
abortion -- should be targeted for phone calls, e-mails, and faxes with messages
expressing clear opposition to any filibuster against Miguel Estrada.
Here are the action items:
* Use the zip code finder or state map at the Legislative Action Center (www.nrlc.org)
to call up information on your two U.S. senators, then send the recommended
e-mail message or a similar message to each of them.
* The profile of a senator on the Legislative Action Center often includes
a published fax number (use the tab for "Elected Officials," then the button for
"Info" on a specific senator, and then read the "Contact Information"). Where
this is available, fax the senator a letter with a message along the lines
suggested below.
* Call the nearest in-state office of each senator and register your
opinion in support of Miguel Estrada. Phone numbers for a senator's in-state
offices are usually listed in a senator's profile information at the NRLC
Legislative Action Center (again, use the tab for "Elected Officials," then the
button for "Info"), or may be obtained from local information.
* It is also good to call the senators' Washington, D.C., offices. All
senators' offices can be reached through the Capitol Switchboard at
202-224-3121, but during big fights the switchboard is sometimes jammed, so it
is better to obtain the direct number for each senator's office from the NRLC
Legislative Action Center profiles or another source.
* Please e-mail responses received from any senator (especially any
Democrat) to Legfederal@aol.com, or fax
them to 202-347-3668.
The basic message:
By phone or letter, the basic message is simple: "I urge you to support
the nomination of Miguel Estrada to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District
of Columbia. There should be no filibuster against this well-qualified nominee,
but if a filibuster begins, I urge you to vote for cloture. Please write to
inform me how you will vote on the Estrada nomination."