Chris Vance, Chairman

www.wsrp.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Pedro Celis

Sept. 26, 2002 (425) 703-0186

Chris Vance

(206) 575-2900

Cantwell urged to approve Hispanic judicial nominee

Seattle, WA – The chairmen of the state’s leading Hispanic Republican organization and the state GOP are urging U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) to approve the nomination of Miguel Estrada, President Bush’s pick for the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals.

Cantwell sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is holding a hearing today on Estrada. The Judiciary Committee must approve judicial nominees before their nomination can go to the Senate floor for a confirmation vote. Estrada’s nomination has been stalled in the Democrat-controlled Senate for the past 16 months.

Estrada earned the highest possible rating of “Well Qualified” from the American Bar Association. He has been praised by prominent Democrats such as Seth P. Waxman, Solicitor General under President Clinton, and is supported by a number of Hispanic groups including the Hispanic National Bar Association.

Pedro Celis, who chairs the Washington state chapter of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly, called on Cantwell to vote in favor of Estrada’s nomination.

“Senator Cantwell and her Democrat colleagues must not sacrifice Miguel Estrada for the sake of scoring partisan points against President Bush,” said Celis. “Mr. Estrada is clearly qualified to serve on the D.C. Court of Appeals, based on the widespread bipartisan support he has earned in the legal community.”

“And beyond his superb legal qualifications, Estrada has shown his ability to rise above adversity,” Celis noted. “He came to this country as a Honduran immigrant who barely spoke English, then went on to graduate from Harvard Law School and serve in both Democrat and Republican administrations. He is a role model not just for Hispanics, but for all those who seek the American dream.”

State GOP chairman Chris Vance said Democrats will find it hard to oppose Estrada, given the nominee’s impressive credentials and support.

“As partisan as Senator Cantwell and the other Democrats on the Judiciary Committee have been in the past, I can’t imagine them going so far as to reject Miguel Estrada,” said Vance. “He deserves a fair nomination process.”

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