Nominee May Come From Outside the Judiciary - (I hope President Bush doesn't take this bait!)

The four senators who met with President Bush at the White House Tuesday morning discussed a number of potential Supreme Court nominees, but Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said he thinks they've agreed not to name those names.

"We have a long ways to go," Reid (D-Nev.) told reporters after the breakfast meeting at the White House. He said President Bush has hundreds or thousands of names to go through and "he didn't give us any names."

Nevertheless, Reid added, "There were a lot of names discussed at the meeting, of which we're not going to talk about any of those names. I think that's an agreement that we have, and we'll stick by that."

[The names of women and Hispanics did come up, Sen. Patrick Leahy later told Fox News.]

Reid said there's been enough "discussion, debate and contention on judges." He said he hopes to avoid that scenario in the weeks ahead.

Reid said the friendly relationship between the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee - Sens. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and Pat Leahy (D-Vt.) -- have "set an example" of how Reid and Sen. Frist should get along.

"I feel comfortable and good that we are going to be able to have someone who is a consensus candidate. I certainly hope so," Reid concluded.

Sen. Arlen Specter, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, called it a "very productive session," with President Bush listening to the "advice" offered by senators.

Specter said it's possible that the Supreme Court nominee will not come from the traditional circuit courts.

Speaking for himself, Specter said it "would be good to have some diversity" on the Supreme Court, and he mentioned the possibility of having a former senator on the court, as has happened in the past.

"That was one item that the president listened [to]," Specter said. The U.S. Constitution does not require a Supreme Court justice to be an attorney or a judge.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, called Tuesday's meeting with Bush a "first step" in the consultation process, and he also seemed to back the idea of selecting someone from outside the "judicial monastery."

Leahy said whoever the nominee is, it must be somebody who would "unite us and not divide us" and somebody who would garner bipartisan support.

"That would be a great thing to do for the integrity of the court, for the comfort level of the country, because after all, the court is there for every one of the 280 million Americans, not there for any special interest group on the right or the left."

Leahy called this an important decision, and he alluded to the possibility that there may be similar decisions ahead -- an oblique reference to the widely discussed possibility that Chief Justice William Rehnquist may also retire soon.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said senators made it "very clear" to the president that they're ready to engage in a "fair" process that "treats the nominee with dignity and respect and that will be conducted in a timely way."

Specter told reporters, "The word ought to go out that the special interest groups vastly overstate their influence" in the selection process; and that much of what they're doing is "counterproductive, and a lot of the times, insulting."

Frist said there's a general agreement that the goal is to have a nominee on the court by early October.

Sen. Reid told reporters there is no timeline for the president to name someone. "I would hope he would do it in the next couple of weeks," Reid said, adding that it's up to the president.

Senator Fred THOMPSON (R)
Tennessee
2000 Score - 92
Previous Year's Score - 84
Lifetime Score - 86
Years of Service - 7

Property Rights, S. 625 (Roll Call Vote No. 3).
The Senate voted to kill an amendment overriding local owner-tenant laws and permitting delinquent tenants to remain in occupancy during bankruptcy proceedings.
The bill was defeated (54-43)
ACU supported this bill
This member voted in support of ACU's position

Education Savings Accounts - Passage, S. 1134 (Roll Call Vote No. 33).
The Senate passed a bill allowing families to save up to $2,000 per child annually tax free for educational expenses in public or private school. The bill also would extend a tax exemption for employee-provided education expenses.
The bill was defeated (61-37)
ACU supported this bill
This member voted in support of ACU's position

Tax Cuts, S.Con.Res. 101 (Roll Call Vote No. 68).
The Senate defeated an amendment deleting all tax cuts in the Congressional Budget Resolution.
The bill was defeated (44-56)
ACU opposed this bill
This member voted in support of ACU's position

Fiscal 2001 Budget Resolution - Adoption, H.Con.Res. 290 (Roll Call Vote No. 79).
The Senate adopted a five-year budget plan that includes $147.1 billion in tax cuts.
The bill was defeated (51-45)
ACU supported this bill
This member voted in support of ACU's position

Gas Tax Suspension - Cloture, S. 2285 (Roll Call Vote No. 80).
The Senate failed to limit debate on a bill that would suspend the 4.3 ¢/gallon federal gas tax surcharge from April 15 through Jan. 1, 2001. If the national average gas price reached $2/gallon, the remaining 14.1 ¢/gallon federal tax would also be suspen
The bill was defeated (43-56)
ACU supported this bill
This member voted in support of ACU's position

Marriage Penalty Tax - Cloture, HR 6 (Roll Call Vote No. 82).
The Senate failed to limit debate on an amendment that would essentially eliminate the federal tax penalty on married couples. 60 votes were needed.
The bill was defeated (53-45)
ACU supported this bill
This member voted in support of ACU's position

Education Policy, S. 2 (Roll Call Vote No. 90).
The Senate defeated an amendment that would further nationalize education policy in the U.S. by establishing standards and funding programs.
The bill was defeated (45-54)
ACU opposed this bill
This member voted in support of ACU's position

U.S. Troops in Kosovo, S. 2521 (Roll Call Vote No. 105).
The Senate killed an effort to impose limits on the deployment of ground troops in Kosovo beyond June 2001.
The bill was defeated (53-47)
ACU opposed this bill
This member voted in opposition to ACU's position

Federal Election Commission Nomination - Confirmation of Brad Smith (Roll Call Vote No. 107).
The Senate voted to confirm the nomination of Bradley A. Smith of Ohio to the Federal Election Commission. Smith is opposed to federal control of the political process.
The bill was defeated (64-35)
ACU supported this bill
This member voted in support of ACU's position

Strategic Nuclear Weapons Systems, S. 2549 (Roll Call Vote No. 119).
The Senate voted to restrict the ability of the president to dismantle existing strategic nuclear weapons systems.
The bill was defeated (51-47)
ACU supported this bill
This member voted in support of ACU's position

Campaign Finance Disclosures, S. 2549 (Roll Call Vote No. 122).
The Senate defeated an attempt to stop the Internal Revenue Service from requiring disclosure of the membership of certain political and policy organizations.
The bill was defeated (42-57)
ACU supported this bill
This member voted in opposition to ACU's position

Defense Spending, HR 4576 (Roll Call Vote No.126).
The Senate voted to kill an attempt to divert $1 million in defense spending into federal education programs.
The bill was defeated (83-15)
ACU opposed this bill
This member voted in support of ACU's position

Military Abortions, S. 2549 (Roll Call Vote No. 134).
The Senate voted to kill and amendment that would have provided abortions in military hospitals.
The bill was defeated (50-49)
ACU opposed this bill
This member voted in support of ACU's position

Hate Crimes, S. 2549 (Roll Call Vote No. 136).
The Senate voted to expand the definition of "hate crimes" and extend the role of the federal government in investigating and prosecuting them.
The bill was defeated (57-42)
ACU opposed this bill
This member voted in support of ACU's position

Ergonomic Standards, HR 4577 (Roll Call Vote No. 143).
The Senate voted for an amendment prohibiting the Occupational Safety and Health Administration from issuing regulations in the area of ergonomics.
The bill was defeated (57-41)
ACU opposed this bill
This member voted in support of ACU's position

Medicare Lockbox, HR 4577 (Roll Call Vote No. 163).
The Senate voted to create a Medicare and Social Security "lockbox, preserving year-to-year surpluses in these programs from use in other areas.
The bill was defeated (54-43)
ACU supported this bill
This member voted in support of ACU's position

Morning After Pill, HR 4577 (Roll Call Vote No. 169).
The Senate refused to kill an amendment stopping the use of federal funds to distribute the "morning after" pill on school grounds.
The bill was defeated (41-54)
ACU supported this bill
This member voted in support of ACU's position

Submarine Missile Program, S. 2549 (Roll Call Vote No. 177).
The Senate voted against an amendment that would have killed the Trident II submarine-launched missile program.
The bill was defeated (81-18)
ACU supported this bill
This member voted in support of ACU's position

Missile Defense System Testing, S. 2549 (Roll Call Vote No. 178).
The Senate killed an amendment that would have imposed unreasonable standards on the development of a national missile defense system.
The bill was defeated (52-48)
ACU supported this bill
This member voted in support of ACU's position

Estate Tax Repeal. HR 8 (Roll Call Vote No. 180).
The Senate voted down an amendment that would have maintained the "death" tax while easing its effect in some cases.
The bill was defeated (46-53)
ACU supported this bill
This member voted in support of ACU's position

Gas Tax Suspension, HR 8 (Roll Call Vote No. 183).
The Senate voted no to suspend the entire federal gas tax of 18.4 ¢/gallon for 150 days.
The bill was defeated (40-59)
ACU supported this bill
This member voted in support of ACU's position

Taxation of Social Security Benefits, HR 8 (Roll Call Cote No. 188).
The Senate voted to reduce the percentage of Social Security benefits that are taxable from 85 percent to 50 percent, which was the level up until 1993.
The bill was defeated (58-41)
ACU supported this bill
This member voted in support of ACU's position

Estate Tax Repeal - Passage, HR 8 (Roll Call Vote No. 197).
The Senate vote to phase out the "death" tax by 2010.
The bill was defeated (59-39)
ACU supported this bill
This member voted in support of ACU's position

National Monument Designations, HR4578 (Roll Call Vote No. 208).
The Senate defeated an amendment that would have prohibited the designation of national monuments without congressional approval.
The bill was defeated (49-50)
ACU supported this bill
This member voted in support of ACU's position

Prohibit Funds for Kyoto Treaty, HR4578 (Roll Call Vote No. 211).
The Senate passed the Interior Appropriations bill including a ban on the use of any of the money to implement the Kyoto "Global Warming" Protocol, which has never been submitted to the Senate for ratification.
The bill was defeated (97-2)
ACU supported this bill
This member voted in support of ACU's position

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