Bush Defends Miers Nomination, Christian Leaders Express Support
President Bush defended his Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers at a Rose Garden press conference Tuesday, leaving many Christian leaders in support of the president's decision despite their uncertainty of Miers' judicial philosophy.
President Bush defended his Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers at a Rose Garden press conference Tuesday, leaving many Christian leaders in support of the president's decision despite their uncertainty of Miers' judicial philosophy.
"Yesterday I nominated an outstanding individual to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States," said Bush. "Over the past three decades, Harriet Miers has built a stellar record of accomplishment in the law. She's been a model of service to our country and to our citizens."
Dousing questions of cronyism and expressing full confidence in his decision, Bush said, "I picked the best person I could find."
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"I'm interested in people that will be strict constructionists, so we – and I've told that to the American people ever since I started running for office," he stated. "And there should be no doubt in anybody's mind what I believe a judge – the philosophy of a judge. And Harriet Miers shares that philosophy."
President of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission Richard Land expressed his steadfast trust in Bush's nomination.
"This president has kept no promise more faithfully than his promise in 2000 and again in 2004 that he would nominate only strict constructionist, original intent jurists to the Supreme Court," said Land to the Baptist Press. "In the face of unprecedented obstructionism, led especially by former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle in the last term, this president has held fast to his promises and nominated scores of sterling and extremely competent judges."
Gary Bauer, president of the pro-family organization American Values, also backed the president's decision.
He said he has a "great deal of confidence in President Bush and his judicial selections."
Miers began serving as Bush's personal lawyer in the 1980s before becoming staff secretary to the president in 2000. In 2003, she was promoted to deputy White House chief of staff and later in February 2005, named White House counsel.
"I've known her for more than 10 years. I know her character; she's a woman of principle and deep conviction," stated Bush.
Roberta Combs, president of the Christian Coalition, spoke along the same lines as she applauded Miers as nominee to the high court.
"I trust that she will be an excellent addition to the high court and all Americans will be proud of her," said Combs in a statement released Monday.
As most of Miers’ written records from the White House are not made available to the Senate, many have said they would have to wait until the confirmation hearings before fully supporting the high court nominee.
"He has given us a nominee with even less of a written record than Chief Justice John Roberts," said Bauer. "I, along with millions of other Americans, will wait until the confirmation hearings in order to have a better sense of her judicial philosophy."
Nevertheless, others continued to show undivided support.
"I do not know Harriet Miers. I do know President Bush and his commitment to a federal judiciary that lives within its constitutional assignment and interprets the law and doesn't write it from the bench," Land said. "If the president trusts Harriet Miers to fulfill his campaign promises to the American people, then I trust Harriet Miers until I am given compelling evidence to the contrary."
President Bush has asked the Senate to confirm Miers' nomination by Thanksgiving.
