Wednesday, October 24, 2001

Republicans hold up appropriation bill
By Jesse J. Holland
Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Republicans have again blocked a major appropriations bill, looking for Democratic assurances that more of President Bush’s judicial nominees will be confirmed before the end of the year.

Senate Majority Leader Thomas Daschle, D-S.D., tried to force GOP senators to move forward with the foreign aid appropriation bill Tuesday but could not find the 60 votes. Democrats hold a 50-49-1 edge.

Republicans say Democrats are deliberately holding up Bush’s nominees this year, a charge that Democrats made against the GOP-controlled Senate last year under former President Clinton.

The Senate has approved eight judges this year, with more than 50 nominees still pending. There are 110 vacancies in the federal judiciary system, including 39 positions that have been open so long the courts have classified them as “judicial emergencies.”

To pressure Democrats to approve more judges, Republicans have been holding up the Senate’s consideration of the foreign aid bill. It is one of the 13 spending bills that were supposed to be finished by Oct. 1, the beginning of the government’s fiscal year, but were not.

The government is operating in the meantime under the same priorities established by Clinton and lawmakers a year ago.

“We have to fulfill our responsibilities as the United States Senate and take action on these nominees,” said Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., a leader of the Republican blockade.

“And until we’re able to do that, it is our view that we should call a time-out on other certain portions of the Senate business so that we have the ability to take those nominations up and bring them to the floor.”

Democrats say they’re moving as fast as they can. Four more U.S. District judge nominees were to be voted on Tuesday and two U.S. Appeals Court nominees are pending in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Senior Democrats have criticized Republicans for linking the foreign aid bill to more judicial confirmations. “I don’t see why appropriations should be held up because of nominations,” said Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., who chairs the Appropriations Committee. “What does the one have to do with the other?”

Democrats say holding up the foreign aid appropriations bill could hurt America’s efforts to fight terrorism overseas.

The foreign aid bill has “hundreds of millions of dollars to reduce poverty for basic education, housing and other efforts in the poorest countries, which helps eradicate breeding grounds for terrorists,” said Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev. “For them to tell us that we can do it later is pure poppycock.”