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

WASHINGTON, Dec. 13 /Christian Newswire/ -- In a speech delivered today at Georgetown University Law Center, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) expressed his intention to "repair real damage done to our system of government over the last few years."  Concerned Women for America (CWA) said that from all indications, Leahy, who will chair the Senate Judiciary Committee in the 110th Congress, will continue to obstruct the President's judicial nominees from having a fair, up-or-down vote unless they fit Leahy's activism scorecard.

"Leahy spent 99 percent of his speech bashing the President in order to lay a cracked foundation for pushing the left's political agenda through Congress," said Jan LaRue, CWA's Chief Counsel.  "He spent about 30 seconds of his speech talking about judicial nominations and criticized the President for 'failing to work with the Senate on "consensus nominees."'  What a joke coming from a man who opposed the confirmation of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court and a host of other qualified nominees.

"Leahy continues to make the same old, unconstitutional power grab of the President's authority to nominate judges.  If he wants bi-partisan cooperation, he should stop acting as if he's co-President.  The Senate's duty in the appointment role is to vote on the President's nominees.  Senators have no authority to co-nominate.

"Who repairs 'damage' with a sledge hammer?" LaRue asked.

Concerned Women for America (CWA) is the nation's largest public policy women's organization.