Text 15231, 58 rader
Skriven 2005-09-12 22:15:00 av Jeff Binkley (1:226/600)
Ärende: Senate
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It will be fun to watch the democrats get punished for their 
exploitation of Katrina...

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http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20050912-031431-6476r.htm

Contentious start to Roberts hearings
By Charles Hurt
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
September 12, 2005 


It took less than an hour before Senators considering federal Judge John 
G. Roberts Jr.'s nomination to the Supreme Court fell into disagreement 
over Hurricane Katrina. 
    In their opening remarks, the two top Democrats on the Senate 
Judiciary Committee invoked the tragedy as a reminder of the gap between 
rich and poor and the need for a Supreme Court that wants to close that 
gap. 
    "Today, the devastation, despair facing millions of our fellow 
Americans in the Gulf region is a tragic reminder of why we have a 
federal government, why it's critical that our government be 
responsive," said Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, Vermont Democrat and ranking 
minority member of the panel. 
    "We need the federal government for our protection and security, to 
cast a lifeline to those in distress, to mobilize better resources 
beyond the ability of any state and local government -- all of this for 
the common good." 
    Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, the Massachusetts Democrat, said lessons 
should be learned from the hurricane. 
    "The powerful winds and flood waters of Katrina tore away the mask 
that has hidden from public view the many Americans who are left out and 
left behind," he said. "As one nation under God, we cannot continue to 
ignore the injustice, the inequality and the gross disparities that 
exist in our society." 
    Within moments, the office of Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Republican and 
member of the committee, issued a statement accusing Mr. Leahy and Mr. 
Kennedy of using the victims of the hurricane "in an attempt to score 
political points." 
    "I believe the American people will see this for what it is," said 
Mr. Cornyn, according to the statement. "We ought not to appropriate a 
national tragedy in a misguided effort to further a political interest 
of any sort." 
    Wendy Long, counsel for the conservative Judicial Confirmation 
Network, accused the Democrats of "exploiting the national tragedy." 
    "Reasonable, fair-minded Democrats should prevail on their more 
extremist Senate colleagues to back off these inappropriate tactics," 
she said. "Grandstanding, deception and cavalierly playing politics with 
the human tragedy wrought by the hurricane will not endear Senate 
Democrats to the American people." 
    The Cornyn statement went on to predict: "Others likely will make 
similar attempts in a bizarre effort to link Judge Roberts to the 
tragedies in the Gulf of Mexico. But Katrina victims should not be used 
to score political points."

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