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Senate Confirms Ashcroft And Norton
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"...HCI and the
so-called 'Million' Mom March... spent enormous
amounts of money on their failed attempt to defeat one of the
most qualified candidates for Attorney General this country has
ever seen..." |
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Interior
Sec. Norton |
Pres. Bush and
A.G. Ashcroft |
The partisan, special-interest led attacks on two of President
Bush's cabinet nominees fell well short of their objectives when
Gale Norton was confirmed as Secretary of the Interior on
Tuesday, and John Ashcroft was confirmed as Attorney General on
Thursday. Ashcroft's confirmation was the last one needed to
complete Bush's cabinet.
Norton withstood attacks from radical
"environmentalist" groups and the NAACP and AFL-CIO (a strange
mix of allies, whose only apparent unifying issue is they
supported Al Gore's losing bid for the Presidency), and was
confirmed on a 75 - 24 vote. Those voting against Norton were all
Democrats.
The attacks on Ashcroft were far more public, and involved
several anti-gun extremist organizations, including HCI and the
so-called "Million" Mom March (MMM).
These groups spent enormous
amounts of money on their failed attempt to defeat one of the
most qualified candidates for Attorney General this country has
ever seen. One relatively obscure group, the Violence Policy
Center, even went to the outrageous length of demanding Ashcroft
resign his NRA membership. Apparently, VPC doesn't like the idea
of the nation's "Top Cop" belonging to an organization that
supports the nation's law enforcement community in word and deed.
And while there was little question regarding Ashcroft's
qualifications to be Attorney General, numerous Democratic
Senators launched personal, public attacks against his character
during hearings, and then voted against him. Some voted against
confirmation, perhaps, because they are so entangled with the
extremist groups that opposed Ashcroft, and others admitted they
wanted to fire a "shot across the bow" of President Bush.
U.S.
Senator Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), one of HCI's biggest allies,
tried his best to paint the Ashcroft vote as something other than
a crushing defeat, warning it will "set the tone for many of the
upcoming issues that will face" the U.S. Senate. U.S. Senator Kit
Bond (R-Mo.) was much closer to the truth, noting that several
Democrats explained they voted against Ashcroft because they
feared liberal groups would hurt them at the polls if they did
not.
All 50 Republican Senators deserve our thanks for voting to
confirm Ashcroft, but eight Democrats also deserve a special
thanks for rising above the partisan atmosphere that Democrats
like Schumer seem committed to preserving. Democrats voting to
confirm Ashcroft were:
John Breaux (La.);
Robert Byrd (W.Va.);
Kent Conrad (N.D.);
Christopher Dodd (Conn.);
Byron Dorgan (N.D.);
Russ Feingold (Wisc.);
Zell Miller (Ga.); and
Ben Nelson (Neb.). If you would like to thank these or any of the 50
Republican Senators for confirming an immensely qualified
candidate for Attorney General, rather than questioning his
personal religious and ideological beliefs, you can find contact
information by using the "Write Your Reps" tool at
NRAILA.org, or
by calling the Grassroots Division at (800) 392-8683.
Also be
sure to let those who voted against Ashcroft know how
disappointed you are that they caved in to the pressure of the
anti-gun extremists. Remind them that you will remember their
vote the next time you go to the polls.
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