Confirm Pending District Court Nominees, the Surgeon General, and EAC: Stay in Session Until Done
Recipient: U.S. Senate
View the PDF of this letter here.
Dear Senator,
On behalf of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 200 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States, we strongly urge the Senate to stay in session until the district court nominees pending on the floor, the Surgeon General, and the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) are voted on by the Senate.
If this backlog of judicial nominees continues into next year, it will hinder the ability for the Senate to do other essential work and delay the confirmation of new nominees to fill more vacancies. Furthermore, because nominations expire at the end of a Congress, the failure to confirm these nominees leads to inefficient use of government resources, from duplicative paperwork to repeated committee hearings and votes. We strongly believe that the continued delay in confirmation of these important nominees will needlessly heighten partisan tensions, and make it far more difficult for the federal government to serve the public interest in any respect, the consequences of which are all but certain to continue into the 114th Congress and beyond.
Further, at a time when Ebola is still running rampant in West Africa, it is unconscionable that the U.S. Senate has not confirmed the position that is entrusted to watch over the health of Americans.
For these reasons, in the remaining days of the 113th Congress, we strongly urge you to proceed with confirmation votes on the federal district court nominees, the Surgeon General, and the EAC. Thank you for your consideration.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Nancy Zirkin at [email protected] or 202-466-3311 or Sakira Cook, Counsel, at [email protected] or (202) 263-2894.
Sincerely,
Wade Henderson
President & CEO
Nancy Zirkin
Executive Vice President