Democratic Senators Seek Specific Papers
Relating to Supreme Court Nominee

…Judiciary Panel Members Set Document Priorities
To Expedite Review Process

WASHINGTON (Tuesday, July 26)  -- The Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday sent a letter to President Bush seeking specific documents written by Supreme Court nominee John Roberts while he worked in the White House Counsel’s office for former President Ronald Reagan.  The letter is the first request by Democratic senators for information relating to the record of Judge Roberts.  

The letter is attached and below.  A PDF version is also available.

The Honorable George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Washington, D.C.  20500

Dear Mr. President:

We are disappointed that the White House appears to have so quickly moved to close off access by the Senate to important and informative documents written by Supreme Court nominee John Roberts while he was at the Department of Justice.  According to news reports today, your Administration may be preemptively protecting thousands of documents not even requested yet by the Committee – documents that could very well hold important information necessary to evaluate Judge Roberts’ judicial philosophy and legal reasoning.

While many documents are being delivered today from Judge Roberts’ work for Attorney General William French Smith at the Reagan Justice Department, it is far too early to determine whether these documents are relevant, adequate, or even helpful.  It may be that this group of documents, along with the upcoming hearings, will give us enough information to fulfill our constitutional duty to advise and consent on this nomination.  But it would be premature for either the Senate or the White House to make that determination now.  Judge Roberts spent some four years working for President George H.W. Bush, and it may very well be that documents from that time will be helpful to the Committee as well.

 It is our hope that the confirmation process moves swiftly and smoothly over the coming weeks.  We can assure you that no Senator is attempting to unduly delay the proceedings.  We intend to work with Chairman Specter if and when further requests for documents or information appear appropriate.  But in the meantime, we believe that judgment should be withheld on which and how many documents regarding this nominee might be released to the Senate.  The history of past nominations is varied but clear – each confirmation process is different, and the type and number of documents shared between the White House and the Senate has depended on the nature of the debate, the needs of the Committee, and a cooperative negotiation between the Senate and the White House.  A blanket statement that entire groups of documents are off limits is both premature and ill advised.

Finally, it is our understanding that many more publicly available documents will soon be sorted and delivered to the Committee.  In the interests of speeding up the process, we have attached a list of the document areas within that group we feel would be most helpful to the Committee.  To the extent your staff can assist in expediting the delivery of those documents, we would be grateful.

Sincerely,

Patrick Leahy
Edward Kennedy
Joseph Biden
Herbert Kohl
Dianne Feinstein
Russell Feingold
Charles Schumer
Richard Durbin

ATTACHED:

Particular matters of Interest:

JGR/ Law of War

            JGR/ Texas Redistricting

            JGR/ Abortion

            JGR/ Acid Rain

            JGR/ Affirmative Action Correspondence

            JGR/ Appointee Correspondence 1985

            JGR/ Appointee Memos, Clearance, Announcements, etc.

            JGR/ Appointments Clause

            JGR/ Asbestos Legislation

            JGR/ DC Chadha

            JGR/ Change in Presidential Term

            JGR/ Civil Rights Commission

            JGR/ Comparable Worth

            JGR/ Conflicts of Interest

            JGR/ Death Squads Investigation – SSCI

            JGR/ DOJ Daily Reports

JGR/ EECO

            JGR/ Equal Opportunity in Education

            JGR/ Ethics

            JGR/ Exclusionary Rule

            JGR/ First Amendment

            JGR/ Flag, American

            JGR/ Independent Counsel

JGR/ Iran Emergency

            JGR/ Jones, Bob – Univ. Decision

            JGR/ Judges

            JGR/ Legal Services Corporation

            JGR/ Pardons

            JGR/ Political Activity

            JGR/ Pro Bono

            JGR/ Reagan – Bush Rallies Guidance

            JGR/ Recess Appointments

            JGR/ School Prayer

JGR/Supreme Court

            JGR/ War Powers

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