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“JUDGESHIPS” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the Senate section on pages S9927-S9928 on Oct. 5, 2000.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
JUDGESHIPS
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.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Smith of Oregon). Is there objection?
Mr. MACK. Mr. President, I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
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.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The 10 minutes of the Senator has expired.
Mr. HARKIN. I ask unanimous consent to wrap it up in about 2 minutes.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. HARKIN. So it only seems fair and right we bring her out here and have a vote. If people want to vote one way or the other, that is fine. But it is not fair, 217 days.
I will end my comments again by saying the standard bearer of the Republican Party, Governor Bush of Texas, has stated there ought to be a 60-day deadline on judge nominations, in other words 60 days from the day nominated to the time they get a vote in the Senate. I endorse that. Bonnie Campbell has been sitting there 217 days. Let's bring her out for a vote.
I will yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Florida.
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