Notice that those who support Bush’s appointment of Pickering identify Pickering as a pro-life judge. Bush makes another sneaky move to serve the religious right. mjh
Bush Installs Pro-Life Judicial Nominee Foiling Filibusters by Pro-Abortion Senators
Following years of bickering and stall tactics by pro-abortion Senators, pro-life judge Charles Pickering has finally been installed to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals today. President Bush got around the stalling tactics of the Senators who refused to allow his nomination to come up for a vote, by making a recess appointment which is valid until January 2005.
American Life League (ALL) was the first group to advocate for recess appointments. Joseph R. Giganti, ALL’s director of media and government relations commented on the Pickering appointment saying, “Clearly the White House has realized that the militant, pro-abortion zealots in the Senate will neither listen to reason nor recognize the limit to their own power in this matter.” Guganti added, “The president has four more days to make more recess appointments. We hope he will take advantage of this opportunity to ensure that pro-life judges are appointed to the bench.”
Gary L. Bauer, Chairman of the Campaign for Working Families commented on the move saying, “It is unfortunate that the president was forced to take such action in response to Senate radicals like Ted Kennedy, Hillary Clinton and Tom Daschle, who are desperate to maintain the liberal stranglehold over our federal courts, but we are pleased to see him do so. Frankly, it was long overdue. Hopefully, today’s surprise move signals a renewed commitment by the White House to spotlight the Senate’s liberal obstructionists who are abusing Senate procedures and running roughshod over the Constitution.”
FRC Praises Recess Appointment of Charles Pickering to Federal Bench
In response to news that President Bush will use his recess appointment authority to place Charles Pickering on the federal bench, Family Research Council (FRC) President Tony Perkins released the following statement:
“This is a bold and necessary move by President Bush. Left-wing groups and their allies on the Senate Judiciary Committee have worked overtime these past three years to besmirch the character and record of Mr. Pickering. Charles Pickering is exactly the type of judge this country needs on our federal bench.
“Perhaps this move by the President will show Planned Parenthood, NARAL, People for the American Way and all the other extremist groups on the left that their allies in the Senate — Sens. Chuck Schumer, Ted Kennedy and John Edwards — will not be able to use their obstructionist tactics to unconstitutionally deny President Bush his power to place qualified jurists on the federal bench.
“At a time when our courts at every level are over stepping their bounds by sanctioning same-sex marriage and infanticide and stripping us of our religious freedoms, President Bush has taken the first step to ensure that our federal courts are filled with jurists who understand their role is to follow the Constitution, not reinvent it.”
“The National Organization for Women is outraged by George W. Bush’s installation of Charles Pickering on the federal appeals court while Congress is in recess,” said NOW President Kim Gandy. “We’re no longer surprised by the underhandedness of this President-Bush apparently thinks that he can act unilaterally wherever and whenever he pleases.”
“NOW has vigorously opposed Pickering’s nomination to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals for more than two years, and the Senate Judiciary Committee rejected this foe of women’s rights once before,” said Gandy. “We will certainly work to ensure that this unmerited appointment is overturned when the next Congress takes office in January 2005.”
Pickering, a district court judge from Mississippi, has a long record of opposing civil rights and civil liberties, demonstrating significant judicial activism from the bench. He was an opponent of the Equal Rights Amendment and has expressed his support for a constitutional amendment banning abortion. As a state senator, Pickering repeatedly voted against measures that would expand electoral opportunities for African Americans after passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965.
“Bush’s total disregard for the Democratic members of Congress who rightfully blocked Pickering’s nomination, his disregard for the women of this country and for democracy in general are appalling,” said Gandy. “All the more reason for women’s rights supporters to get active and to vote Bush out of office in November.”