Harry Reid. (202) 224-3542 Patrick J. Leahy (202) 224-4242 Edward M. Kennedy (202) 224-4543 Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (202) 224-5042 Herbert Kohl (202) 224-5653 Dianne Feinstein (202) 224-3841 Russell D. Feingold (202) 224-5323 Charles E. Schumer (202) 224-6542 Richard J. Durbin (202) 224-2152

Who is blocking the nominations?

Minority Leader Daschle and Ranking Member Leahy have been stonewalling President Bush's nominees putting "justice at risk in America." President Bush called on the Senate to end this vacancy crisis by confirming his judicial nominees.

Here are some "talking points" you can use when you contact the Senators on the right.

• President Bush has addressed the vacancy crisis by nominating 100 individuals to serve as federal judges. The first 11 of these nominees were submitted to the Senate more than one year ago on May 9, 2001.
  
  
• The Senate has confirmed only about half of the President's nominees, and only 9 of the President's 30 circuit court nominees.
  
  
• The Chief Justice of the United States, William Rehnquist, has also called on the Senate to confirm President Bush's nominees saying the situation is "alarming." Thirty-eight of the judicial vacancies are "emergencies" as defined by the Judicial Conference of the United States.
  
  
• The President's nominees are men and women of distinction and accomplishment. They are solidly within the mainstream of American legal opinion, and they share a principled commitment to follow the law, not legislate from the bench.
  
  
• All pending nominees thus far have received either a well-qualified or qualified rating from the American Bar Association, which Senate Democrats have termed the "Gold Standard."