Fwd: [WCD] Senate opens discussions about Pryor
James Nimmo
EXCERPT: Sessions cited examples of how Pryor has enforced the law even when it ran counter to his beliefs. An example he gave was Pryor's refusal to challenge a law that prohibited high school coaches from leading their teams in prayer.
"He also made it clear that he would prosecute protests at abortion clinics," Sessions said.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, also defended Pryor.
Dalla...@aol.com wrote:
From: Dalla...@aol.com
Date: Sat, 26 Jul 2003 23:42:28 EDT
Subject: [WCD] Senate opens discussions about Pryor
To: women-cli...@barf.org
Senate opens discussions about Pryor
By Ana Radelat
Montgomery Advertiser
WASHINGTON -- The Senate began its debate Friday on the nomination of Attorney General Bill Pryor for a seat on a federal appeals court, but GOP leaders pushed back a showdown vote on the nomination to allow more time to lobby key swing votes.
Republicans had planned to schedule a vote to end debate on the nomination Tuesday, but it may not come until Wednesday or Thursday, said Nancy Wall, press secretary to Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Mobile, Pryor's mentor and main champion.
"We want the debate to continue," Wall said.
Pryor, President Bush's choice to fill a lifetime position on the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, has become Bush's most controversial judicial candidate. Dozens of interest groups and most Democrats have criticized Pryor's conservative views on abortion; separation of church and state; and civil, gay and workers' rights. The attorney general is also under scrutiny for his fund-raising activities for the Republican Attorneys General Association, which raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Republican National Committee.
It may be difficult for the GOP to muster the 60 votes needed to end an expected Democratic filibuster. The last two times Republican leaders sought to end a filibuster -- the term for extended debate -- on a controversial judicial nominee, it gathered only 54 votes.
Support for Pryor may be even weaker, since several GOP moderates, including Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, say they're uncertain they'd vote for him.
Sessions took to the Senate floor twice Friday to promote Pryor, portraying opposition to him as anti-Catholic.
"Some of those (Catholic) beliefs are getting him into trouble," Sessions said.
But Sessions also insisted that as a federal judge, Pryor would be able to separate his personal beliefs from his interpretation of the law.
"He's a man who would flourish as a court of appeals judge," Sessions said.
Sessions cited examples of how Pryor has enforced the law even when it ran counter to his beliefs. An example he gave was Pryor's refusal to challenge a law that prohibited high school coaches from leading their teams in prayer.
"He also made it clear that he would prosecute protests at abortion clinics," Sessions said.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, also defended Pryor.
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