Contact: Stacey Holliday, Concerned Women for America, 202-488-7000 ext. 126

WASHINGTON, July 11 /Christian Newswire/ -- Concerned Women for America (CWA) says that the U.S. Senate needs to end the detention of Jim Haynes’ nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. President Bush nominated Haynes on September 29, 2003. The Senate Judiciary Committee referred his nomination to the full Senate on November 19, 2003.  However, a two-year filibuster has held Haynes hostage on the Senate floor, keeping him from receiving an up or down vote. Today, Haynes will endure a second hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

A graduate of Harvard Law School, Jim Haynes has served faithfully as General Counsel of the Department of Defense (DOD) since 2001.  He is DOD’s chief legal officer and serves as the legal adviser to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. 

“It’s past time for obstructionist politics to end,” said Jan LaRue, CWA’s Chief Counsel.  “For two years Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) and Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) have led the charge in thwarting Haynes’ nomination by denying him an up-or-down vote.

“It is a sad state when the judicial process is so marred that an exceptional candidate like Haynes is denied the courtesy of a fair vote. Senate leadership has a duty to stop wasting valuable time and move the confirmation. The American people expect more from their representatives than an unwarranted, drawn-out filibuster. They expect a fair and prompt confirmation process because they want qualified judges on the federal bench. They deserve a judge like Jim Haynes.”

Concerned Women for America is the nation’s largest public policy women’s organization.