[Statement of Mr. Dumas, National Chairman, Republican Black Caucus]
MR. DUMAS: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, members of the Committee on the Judiciary, my name is George Dumas, national chairman of the Republican Black Caucus, RBC. We, the members of the Republican Black Caucus, would like to place in the record our organization's unanimous support of the nomination of Judge Clarence Thomas for confirmation as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States.
Mr. Chairman and members of this committee and each member of the full Senate, we respectfully request each of you to fully support the confirmation of this great American, one of America's brightest and most devoted public servants. Our country needs his experience, his wisdom, his judicial and constitutional expertise, as well as his ability to rise above politics of party, of race, of sex, of religion or national origin.
In our opinion, Judge Clarence Thomas is a national role model, a splendid example of accomplishments despite insurmountable odds. His life mirrors my life. I was born in Eupora, Mississippi, where picking cotton was a way of life. During my early childhood, my parents moved our family to East St. Louis, Illinois, and shortly after arriving there they separated.
My mother struggled to rear and educate four children on welfare, which at that time was called Aid to Dependent Children, ADC. By the grace of God, hard work, self-help, education, church and community role models, such as black ministers, doctors, lawyers, business leaders and teachers that lived in our community, we succeeded against the odds. Today, I am a successful entrepreneur. Because of this background, I can identify with Judge Clarence Thomas.
Some past national role models that immediately come to mind are Presidents Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, all great men. President Abraham Lincoln is credited with abolishing slavery. Today, Abraham Lincoln is honored as one of our country's greatest presidents.
President John F. Kennedy said, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country." Judge Clarence Thomas is reviving that spirit of service ignited by President Kennedy. Over 24 years ago, President Lyndon B. Johnson nominated Judge Thurgood Marshall, a truly great American, to the Supreme Court of the United States. Today, President George W. Bush has nominated Judge Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court of the United States. President Bush continues that tradition of recognizing the best person for the position by nominating Judge Thomas.
Each of these presidents dared to dream great dreams, and they dared to be different. Their ability to dream great dreams and stand by their commitments, to see their dreams become a reality, is the essence of the elements that have made America great. Judge Thomas also dares to dream great dreams and to be different.
Our nation owes these great presidents and the great Justice Thurgood Marshall much gratitude. Our United States Senate owes President Bush and the American people a vote of confirmation of Judge Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court of the United States.
An ABC poll presented last Monday night, September 16, 1991, revealed that 63 percent of all Americans approve of the confirmation of Judge Clarence Thomas, including 61 percent of African Americans and 61 percent of women. This is an approval rating increase of five to seven percentage points for African Americans.
Mr. Chairman and members of this committee and the full Senate, you have heard a great volume of testimony in favor and against this nomination. Some individual testimony has caused confusion. However, the central issue is that the President of the United States has nominated Judge Thomas, a highly qualified jurist of high moral character with integrity and independence.
We do not know why some people are against him. We do not now need to know how he will vote in the future. The fact is the American people have approved of this confirmation, as indicated by the latest ABC poll. We ask of you to vote to confirm this great American judge, this positive role model for our nation.
We, the members of the Republican Black Caucus, RBC, thank you for this opportunity to testify before you during these historical proceedings. God bless Judge Thomas. God bless this committee and the full Senate. God bless the President of the United States, and God bless America.
SENATOR THURMOND: [Presiding.] The Chairman will be back in a moment. He asked me to go ahead.
I want to take this opportunity first to welcome you here. I think it is very thoughtful of you and very considerate to come here and use your talent and time to express yourself on a very important nomination.
There is no more important nomination that could be made in the United States than to the Supreme Court. These nine men have unusual power. Next to the President of the United States, they are the most influential people in this country, and I appreciate your coming here and expressing yourselves.
Now, I believe, Ms. Ellen Smith, you are with Concerned Women for America, is that correct?
MR. E. SMITH: Yes, Senator.
SENATOR THURMOND: Your representatives have testified here on a number of appointments and have done a fine job.
Mr. King, you are with the Professional Bail Agents?
MR. C. KING: Yes, sir.
SENATOR THURMOND: Just what is that organization?
MR. C. KING: Sir, our responsibility is to save taxpayers money.
SENATOR THURMOND: Is what?
MR. C. KING: Save taxpayers money.
SENATOR THURMOND: To get people out on bail, so they don't have to keep them in jail?
[Laughter.]
MR. C. KING: We take them out and we see to it that they get back.
SENATOR THURMOND: See that they get back.
And the third is Mr. Jenkins. You are CHairman of Montgomery County Black Republican Council?
MR. JENKINS: Yes.
SENATOR BIDEN: [Presiding.] Why don't you ask what his responsibility is?
[Laughter.]
SENATOR THURMOND: How many members of the county council are there?
MR. JENKINS: There are 19 members of the Montgomery County Central Committee, and they represent 120,000 Montgomery County voters.
SENATOR THURMOND: 120,000 voters.
MR. JENKINS: Yes.
SENATOR THURMOND: How many black members and how many white members?
MR. JENKINS: We have 56 members of the Black Republican Council.
SENATOR BIDEN: If I could interrupt for a minute, he represents a party organization, not an elected public organization. It is not the county council.
SENATOR THURMOND: So, yours is a party organization and not the county council?
MR. JENKINS: That's right.
SENATOR THURMOND: I see. Thank you very much.
Dr. Dumas, you are the National Chairman of the Republican Black Caucus, as I understand.
MR. DUMAS: That is correct, sir.
SENATOR THURMOND: How many members have you in that?
MR. DUMAS: At this time, Senator, we have several hundred members and we are a grass roots organization and we are trying to make sure that African-American people get a chance to participate in the democratic process in this country by belong to more than the Democratic Party. We believe that we should have more African-Americans in the Republican Party, and so our mission is to make that happen.
At this juncture, sir, I would like to thank you and your staff. Your staff was really tremendous in assisting me in being able to be at this hearing today, so I would like to thank you and the Chairman so much.
SENATOR THURMOND: We are very glad to be of assistance.
Now, where do you live?
MR. DUMAS: Sir, I live in Fairfax, Virginia.
SENATOR THURMOND: Fairfax County?
MR. DUMAS: Yes, sir.
SENATOR THURMOND: Now, I am not going to ask you a lot of questions, nit-pick over issues and one thing and another. It all boils down to this, whether or not this man is qualified to be on the Supreme Court. It all boils down to that. You can say what you please about all of these other questions, but that is all that counts.
Now, I am going to start with you, Ms. Smith: In your opinion, is Judge Clarence Thomas, by reason of integrity, professional qualifications and judicial temperament and other qualities you feel important to be on the Supreme Court, is he qualified to be on the Supreme Court?
MR. E. SMITH: Senator, without hesitation, I can say that we believe that Judge Thomas is qualified to serve on the Supreme Court.
SENATOR THURMOND: The answer is yes?
MS. E. SMITH: Yes.
SENATOR THURMOND: Mr. King?
MR. C. KING: The answer is yes, and we see many, many judges.
SENATOR THURMOND: Mr. Jenkins?
MR. JENKINS: Yes, Senator.
SENATOR THURMOND: Dr. Dumas?
MR. DUMAS: The answer is yes, Senator.
SENATOR THURMOND: As I understand, all of you feel that he is qualified to be on the Supreme Court.
MR. DUMAS: That is correct.
SENATOR THURMOND: The next question is: Do you know of any reason why this committee and the Senate should not confirm him for the Supreme Court? Ms. Smith?
MS. E. SMITH: I know of no reason, Senator.
MR. C. KING: None, Senator.
MR. JENKINS: No, I do not, Senator.
MR. DUMAS: I know of no reason, Senator.
SENATOR THURMOND: As I understand, all of you say no, that you know of no reason why he shouldn't be.
Well, you have answered the questions correctly.
[Laughter.]
You made good answers, and I have a feeling that the committee and the Senate, too, will confirm the position you have taken.
I want to thank you again for your presence. I wish you well, and God bless you.
SENATOR BIDEN: Before the Senator starts asking me questions, what I will do is thank you, as well, and particularly you, Mr. King, for making the long trip. Obviously, you feel strongly about the nomination. It is good to have you here and all of you here.
I am not going to dismiss the committee, but I will dismiss this panel. Thank you very much.
Now, we have no more public witnesses. The Senator from South Carolina is recognized.
SENATOR THURMOND: Mr. Chairman, as we come to the conclusion of this hearing, I want to make a few observations: First, I want to congratulate you, as Chairman of this committee, for the fair manner in which you have conducted the hearings. I appreciate the equitable, thorough job that you have done throughout these two weeks.
SENATOR BIDEN: Thank you, Senator.
SENATOR THURMOND: Next, I want to say that these hearings, in my opinion, have been comprehensive. Judge Thomas was before the committee for five days, testifying for some 25 hours. We have heard from approximately 100 witnesses and, without question, the hearings, in my opinion, have been very thorough and complete.
Next, I want to comment on the testimony given by Judge Thomas. Judge Thomas displayed the intellectual capacity to sit on the Supreme Court. His answers showed a keen sense of fairness and a sincere willingness to be open-minded.
He has substantial experience. He served as Assistant Attorney General in Missouri, he served as Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the Department of Education, he served as Chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and he has served 18 months on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.
I want to say, too, that Judge Thomas deserves a lot of consideration. He has overcome difficult circumstances early in his life, and this gives him a clear understanding of and sensitivity to the plight of minorities and the less fortunate.
I think he is a man of great compassion. Then, too, the testimony of Judge Thomas and those who testified on his behalf convince me that he should be confirmed for a position on the Supreme Court.
Finally, Mr. Chairman, I again want to commend you for your efforts to insure that these hearings were conducted fairly, and I look forward to swift committee action, so that the full Senate can act on this nomination as soon as possible.
Thank you.
SENATOR BIDEN: Thank you very much, Senator, for those kind remarks and for your summary.
Let me conclude these hearings by stating a few things:
I would like to thank my colleague for how attentive they have been to the hearings and the attendance over by what I think, by anyone's standards would be a relatively long period of time, has been exemplary.
I would also like to thank the staff. You get to see a lot of the staff that advises us sitting behind us who go into great detail and have worked with us for literally tens, if not hundreds of hours in preparation for these hearings on both sides of the aisle.
But there are staff persons who are in the back there who actually mechanically have kept this whole operation going, as well as doing a good deal of work, and I would like to take this opportunity to mention just some of their names:
Stacy Ainbinder, Peter Bynum, Sean Clegg, Ken Dean, Anthony Dunn, Tammy Fine, Kevin Howard, David Kowal, Don Long, Lisa Rothenberg, Anne Rung, Phil Shipman--and Phil is the fellow who has kept this all rolling, including keeping the doors open and closed and moving people in and out, thank you, Phil--Justin Tillinghast, Ben Turner, Joel Vengrin, Pam Yonkin. I have left out somebody here, Kathleen Sakelaris, as well.
I also want to publicly thank--no pun intended--public broadcasting for covering these hearings, from the beginning to the end, allowing what I am told is millions of Americans to make their own judgments about the nominee, about the witnesses who have testified and about the committee, in terms of whether or not the process is fair or adequate.
So, I would like to thank, on behalf of the Senate, public broadcasting, both public TV and National Public Radio, for their willingness to do what they have done. It is getting hard and harder for television networks to cover a lot of things, because of costs and judgments they have to make, and I think public television and public radio and CNN is of great service to the people of this country, and I want to thank them.
Lastly, there will be a number of questions by folks, as well as the press, as to when we are going to move on the nomination. Senator Thurmond and I will confer on that, but it is my hope and expectation that the Judiciary Committee will have what we refer to as an executive session.
That is a fancy way of saying we will sit down and hash out the nomination and actually vote, each of us will vote and make a recommendation to the Senate, whether to report favorably or unfavorably the nomination to the Senate, and I hope we can do that by next Friday, although that is not a certainly at this point, because of Senate schedule and because of committee rules and regulations relating to how much time must pass between the end of a hearing and an executive session, but I expect we will be able to do that.
After that point, the committee will then report to the floor of the Senate this nomination, one way or another, one way or another meaning favorably or unfavorably, and, depending on the Senate schedule and the constraints of time to file minority and majority reports, so the Senate has not only the record, but also the reports of the members of the committee and their recommendations.
I have spoken to the majority leader and, in a timely fashion, it will be taken up, although it is too early to predict when that will occur. But we are not looking way into the future, by any stretch of the imagination.
Again, I thank everyone from the public to the staff to the press to my colleagues for their cooperation, especially to the camera persons who are up there. They are probably so happy what I am about to do.
This hearing is adjourned.
SENATOR THURMOND: Mr. Chairman?
SENATOR BIDEN: This hearing is reconvened.
[Laughter.]
The Senator from South Carolina is -- I'm so accumstomed to him having been the Chairman for so long, he would rather say the last word.
The Senator from South Carolina.
SENATOR THURMOND: Thank you. I don't think I can get in the last word with you around, but I will try.
[Laughter.]
Mr. Chairman, in addition to expressing my appreciation to the people that you have mentioned, and I do so, I would also like to express my appreciation to some of those on the Judiciary Committee who were here full-time: Terry Wooten, Melissa Riley and John Grady were here full-time and have been there throughout the entire hearings.
I would like to thank Duke Short, my administrative assistant, who also did double duty, by looking after my office and being here and overseeing this situation.
In all of these instances, I appreciate the work of the staff. The Senators have so much work to do now that they could not get along without competent and dedicated staff members, and we appreciate the service of yours and mine, both.
SENATOR BIDEN: The committee is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 3:10 p.m., the committee was adjourned.]