PFAW wants me the THANK Salazar

[serryjw]

because he sent a letter to Bushit requesting he pull his Judicial nominee........WHAT about Salarzars VOTING recond since he has been in the Senate?... It SUCKS!
quote...
Dear All:



A group by the name of Colorado Coalition for Fair Justice is passing around a sign-on letter thanking Sen. Salazar for his bold leadership in sending a letter to President Bush requesting that he withdraw all of the judicial nominations that were previously blocked in the Senate last year. Because of this gesture, Sen. Salazar is getting heat from inside and outside Colorado and we need to stand up and defend him for taking this challenge.



The letter being sent around has over 15 organizations signed on, but has no Latino organizations. I think it’s important that we show the Hispanic community’s support by signing on to this letter that I’m attaching. If you would like you organization to be added to the letter, please respond to this email and state that in the body of the email.



We need you to respond by COB Monday, March 14, because we would like to release this letter to the press on Tuesday, March 15th.



If you would like to write an individual letter to the editor and would like a sample template for the letter please email me.



Also, you can sign a petition in support of the filibuster that we are going to deliver to Sen. Salazar in April. To sign that petition click on this link below:



http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=17698



If you have any question please call me at 1-800-326-7329 ext 2316



Su Siempre Servidor,





Guillermo Nicacio





Senate Democrat asks Bush to withdraw judicial candidates

Wednesday, March 2, 2005

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A freshman Senate Democrat urged President Bush on Tuesday to withdraw all of his renominated judicial candidates, a blow to Republicans who had hoped to get the lawmaker's support to break possible filibusters.

Colorado Democrat Ken Salazar, who some Republicans had suggested might be willing to vote with them for certain nominees, wrote Bush asking him to withdraw all of the candidates Democrats blocked in the Senate during the president's first term.

"The decision to renominate these individuals will undoubtedly create the animosity and divisiveness ... that is not helpful to our nation and will sidetrack our collective efforts to work on other crucial matters," Salazar, a former Attorney General in Colorado, wrote.

The development coincided with the Senate Judiciary Committee's first hearing for one of those blocked nominees, William Myers, once the top lawyer at the Interior Department.

The committee chairman, Sen. Arlen Specter, put Myers first because the Pennsylvania Republican hoped that Salazar and some Democrats would support his nomination.

The Senate has 55 Republicans, 44 Democrats and one Democratic-leaning senator. Specter needs 60 votes to ensure Democrats cannot block Myers. "I count 58 votes," Specter said Tuesday before Salazar's announcement.

But Myers' nomination is one that Salazar is asking the president to abandon. A spokesman for Salazar said the senator had not decided how he will vote on Myers or any other nominee.

But withdrawing Myers and the other blocked nominees "would be a recognition that the Congress and the president must work on those matters where we can find common purpose," said Salazar.

If Republicans have more than 50 votes for Myers, he should be confirmed, said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tennessee. "The country deserves a system that allows us to give advice and consent, because that's our obligation. And we should be able to vote for him on the floor up or down," he said.

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid did not see much hope for Myers and other renominated candidates. "We're going to treat them just the same as we have in the past," said Reid, D-Nevada.

At the hearing, Myers tried to convince Democrats that he would be a fair and impartial judge if confirmed for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which oversees cases from nine states in the West.

Liberal and environmental groups complain about what they say is his advocacy for mining and cattle interests.

"As a lawyer, I was an advocate of my clients," Myers said. "If I was to be confirmed, I would be an advocate for the law."

Few Democrats seemed convinced.

"I believe Mr. Myers to be the most anti-environment nominee sent to the Senate in my time here," said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont. Added Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York: "Your record screams 'passionate activist.' It doesn't so much as whisper 'impartial judge."'

Terrence W. Boyle, a former aide to retired Sen. Jesse Helms, R-North Carolina, gets a hearing Thursday for his nomination to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based on Richmond, Virginia.

On Tuesday, the committee will consider the nomination of Thomas Griffith, former counsel to the Senate during the impeachment of President Clinton, for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.







________________________________________
Guillermo Nicacio
Senior Organizer - Latino/Hispanic Projects
People For the American Way/PFAW Foundation
2000 M Street, NW Suite 400
Washington, DC 20036
1-800-326-7329 ext 2316 * [e-mail]


end quote.......

[PROGRESSIVE1]

1. We should ALL send him our SINCERE thanks for this...

however, we should also send a warning to him that he better act like a Democrat or else he WILL LOSE our support!

[Sandpiper]

2. Congrats to Ken "Nighthorse" Salazar

On his first time opposing Bush since joining the Senate.

[hiley]

3. I asked them to support the

filibuster however I don't really feel like thanking Senator Salazar right now either. His voting record since January has sucked, you are so right about that.

Did you receive this response from Sen. Salazar, I thought it a little defensive ?

From Salazar below:
Thank you for contacting me regarding the nomination of Judge Alberto Gonzales to be the next United States Attorney General.

I voted to confirm the nomination because Judge Gonzales, in communications to me:

· Disavowed the use, and acknowledged the illegality, of torture;

· Agreed to work on revisions to the Patriot Act to protect civil liberties;

· Stressed his understanding and appreciation of the independent role of the Attorney General as the chief lawyer for all of the people of the United States, and;

· Supports equal opportunity for all Americans.

Judge Gonzales wrote the following to me:

“I do not condone torture in any form. I confirm to you that the United States of America does not condone the torture of anyone by our country or by anyone else. The laws of the United States and the international obligations of the United States prohibit torture in all its forms. These international obligations include the Geneva Conventions, which I consider binding upon the United States. I reaffirm to you that, if confirmed as Attorney General, I will enforce these laws and international obligations aggressively to prohibit torture in all its forms.

“I pledge to do so for two reasons. These are the laws of the United States, and I am obligated to uphold these laws. And, secondly, any action by the United States that undermines the Geneva Conventions threatens the safety and security of our troops.�

Thank you again for your comments.


Sincerely,

Ken Salazar
United States Senator