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CITIZENLINK BREAKING NEWS:
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Focus Action Launches Ad Campaign to Stop Judicial
Filibusters
by Wendy Cloyd, editorial coordinator

SUMMARY: Nineteen senators in 14 states are being targeted
in newspaper and radio ads designed to end the Democrats'
obstruction of President Bush's federal court nominees.

Focus on the Family Action is launching a nationwide
advertising campaign this weekend to put an end to the
Democratic filibusters that have blocked several qualified
men and women from being seated on the federal bench.

Nineteen senators are being targeted in newspaper and
radio ads that will begin running Sunday in 14 states --
the message being that the American people have had enough
of qualified judges being denied even an up-or-down vote
on their nominations.

"What we have witnessed these last three years is an
unprecedented manhandling of Senate tradition," said Dr.
James C. Dobson, chairman of Focus Action.  "Never before
in 216 years has the Senate employed a filibuster against
judicial nominees who clearly have enough support to be
confirmed.

"Senate Democrats are not just filibustering these
nominees -- they are filibustering democracy itself."

Most of the ads, produced in conjunction with FRC Action
and several state family policy councils, will, by name,
speak to those Democratic senators still set on abusing
filibusters to stall Bush's nominees. A few of the ads go
a step further, targeting Republicans who have not yet
committed to vote for party leadership's plan to enact the
"constitutional option": returning to Senate tradition by
re-establishing 51 votes -- not the 60 required to end a
filibuster -- as the threshold for confirming a judicial
nominee.

The print ads, which call on senators to "Stop the
Nonsense," will run in about 50 newspapers and have the
potential to reach nearly 9 million subscribers.

"We've seen enough nonsense on the federal courts," the
ads state, "from judges who demonstrated no mercy for
Terri Schiavo, no humanity in protecting the practice of
partial-birth abortion, no decency in declaring obscenity
statutes unconstitutional and no respect for our own
Constitution when they quote laws of foreign countries and
even an unratified U.N. treaty.   . . . It's time to call
them on it."

Tony Perkins, president of FRC Action, called the
Democrats' abuse of filibusters "an affront to the
American people and a willful disregard of the
Constitution."

"Our founding document is clear," he said. "Judges are
confirmed by the vote of a majority of senators -- not the
supermajority now imposed by the minority party."

The newspaper and radio ads will run in the following
states, targeting the following senators. The newspaper
ads will begin appearing Sunday, while the radio ads will
begin being broadcast next week:

Maine: Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins
Arkansas: Sens. Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor
Nebraska: Sens. Ben Nelson and Chuck Hagel
North Dakota: Sens. Kent Conrad and Byron Dorgan
Indiana: Sens. Evan Bayh and Richard Lugar
Florida: Sen. Bill Nelson
New Mexico: Sen. Jeff Bingaman
South Dakota: Sen. Tim Johnson
Louisiana: Sen. Mary Landrieu
Virginia: Sen. John Warner
Colorado: Sen. Ken Salazar
Nevada: Sen. Harry Reid

Radio ads only will run in Alaska (Sen. Lisa Murkowski)
and Oregon (Sen. Gordon Smith).

Amanda Banks, federal issues analyst for Focus on the
Family Action, said it's imperative that residents of
those states use the contact information in the ads to
lobby their senators.

"If Democratic senators do not hear from their
constituents, there is no question they will continue to
obstruct the president's nominees," Banks said. "If
Republicans don't hear from their constituents, they're
likely to allow the Democrats to continue unconstitutional
tactics.

"With a Supreme Court nominee potentially right around the
corner, we must convince the Senate to act now and restore
the constitutional duty of senators to offer advice and
give consent to judicial nominees. That means a fair,
up-or-down vote in the Senate."

The ad campaign is just one aspect of pro-family efforts
to end the filibusters. FRC Action is also hosting the
"Justice Sunday" simulcast, a live, nationwide event on
April 24 to engage values voters in the all-important
issue of reining in out-of-control courts.

The event, to be held at Highview Baptist Church in
Louisville, Ky., will be broadcast in churches throughout
the nation. Speakers include Dr. James Dobson and Chuck
Colson -- among others.

TAKE ACTION/FOR MORE INFORMATION: To view the newspaper
ads, visit the Focus on the Family Action Web site. You
can also find links to the radio ads there, as they become
available.

http://www.focusaction.org/activities/a0000069.cfm

In addition, visit the FRC Action Web site to learn more
about how you can participate in Justice Sunday. You can
register to participate and download a flier to hand out
to your church and community to let others know about this
opportunity to take a stand against judicial filibusters.

http://www.frc.org/

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FAMILY NEWS IN FOCUS STORIES:
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To listen online to the radio versions of these stories,
click on the link below:
http://www.oneplace.com/Ministries/Family_News_in_Focus/
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No Senate Vote Yet on Key Judicial Nominees
by Bill Wilson, Washington, D.C., correspondent

SUMMARY: Will Arlen Specter live up to his promise to
allow votes on judicial nominees? It's still unclear after
a critical committee session Thursday in the Senate.

Questions remain whether Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa.,
chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, will keep his
promise that every judicial nominee of President Bush will
receive a fair vote -- something the president asked for
in his State of the Union address.

"The Constitution also gives the Senate a responsibility,"
Bush said. "Every judicial nominee deserves an up-or-down
vote."

With those words, however, the president set off a
firestorm. Conservative Senate Republicans pressured the
more liberal Specter, R-Pa., into a public promise to
support Bush's judicial nominees as a condition to
becoming the chairman of the powerful Judiciary Committee.

Thursday's committee meeting was the first real test of
whether he would hold true to his word. But two of the
more controversial conservative nominees -- Justices
Priscilla Owen and Janice Rogers Brown -- failed to pass
muster, as none made it out of committee, while three
others passed by voice vote.

Not to worry, said Mike Broomus, press secretary for a top
committee member, Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala.

"I guess there's nothing sinister about it," Broomus said.
"These nominees came up today, and the normal procedure is
that they come up the first time and the standard
procedure is they are always held over for a week and then
next week they would be on the agenda again and presumably
be voted on."

Judicial activism has become a flashpoint issue with the
president, and the White House is sure to be keeping an
eye on the next Judiciary Committee meeting.

There are 47 vacancies on the federal bench. Only one
nominee has been approved since January, and even if the
nominees clear the committee, a Democratic filibuster
likely awaits them at the Senate floor.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: To learn how you can help stop
judicial filibusters -- and why it is very important to do
so -- please see the CitizenLink article, "Help End
Judicial Filibusters."

http://www.family.org/cforum/extras/a0036085.cfm


"Children learn what they live"