February 4, 2003
To: SENATOR [Kennedy]
From: [Blacked out]
Subject: Judges, Judiciary Issues, Meeting with Civil Rights LeadersEstrada
The Senator-to-Senator conversations continue and things appear to be going well. That being said, we've heard that Breaux will support Estrada, Landreiu is a problem, but many are focused on her. Bayh is also on the fence. Edwards spoke with him without much luck, and Senator Bayh, Sr. is going to speak with him, too. Would you be willing to speak with him, as well? I understand he has some substantive questions that we've been trying to answer through his staff, but he's also concerned because he doesn't want to be like the Republicans or part of a witch hunt. I think you-- speaking from 40+ years of experience-- can help him understand how the process has changed and why it's important to focus on Estrada (he refuses to answer questions, and we know of his temperament/ideological problems, he'll fly to the Supreme Court and we won't be able to stop him). Do you want to speak with Bayh?
You should also know that Wad spoke with Kerry and told him that they want him to take a leadership role on this issue. Kerry agreed but wants to speak with you. I think you should encourage Kerry to speak on the floor. Do you agree?
Judiciary Hearing (Wednesday 9:30 AM) & Exec (Thursday 9:30 AM)
Hearing As you know, there will be a nominations hearing on Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. [Blacked out] put a memo in the bag on Moday evening-- the nominee is Jay Bybee (9th Cir.). Not surprisingly, Bybee is an awful nominee. As the memo outlines, he has serious immigration, gun control, tribunal/detainee problems. We believe you should attend the hearing and ask him questions. I know that the Powell speech begins at 10:30 and there will be press associated with it. But, if you could drop by the hearing for 15 minutes (@11:30) to ask Bybee questions, it would be very, very helpful. We know this is a marathon and not a sprint and that we have to choose our battles, but we also feel that it's important to ask that bad nominees questions at the hearing. Bybee shouldn't get a complete pass and at this point, only 2 or 3 Democrats can attend the hearing.
Exec. There will be a Judiciary Exec on Thursday at 9:30. I don't think you need to attend, but you should know that (a) we expect Sutton, Roberts and Cook to be on the schedule and held over and (b) the nasty concel/carry gun bill (the one you fought at the end of last year) will also be on the schedule. We'll have it held over, but this means we should discuss your strategy for next week.
Conversation with Daschle - Estrada and Beyond
- Tom, thanks so much for your hard work on the Estrada nomination. You have done a terrific job rallying the caucus. Because of you, I think we will be successful.
- I know this is hard work, and it's difficult getting the caucus to stick together around the issue of judicial nominations. Accordingly, I hope we can develop a long-term strategy that acknowledges the importance of the issue and the problems associated witha filibuster strategy.
- Given Bush's plan to pack the courts, there are many bad nominations coming down the track. I know we can't fight all of them, but we should have a short list of consensus nominees we agree to filibuster.
- I'm concerned that after this fight, several in our caucus won't be willing to filibuster again, and Bush will fill the courts with conservatives. If we develop a long-term strategy, we can let members vote for many nominees because we've all agreed that from time to time, we have to stick together. What do you think?