President Bush on Saturday used his weekly radio address to answer critics that Supreme Court nominee Harriet E. Miers lacks familiarity with the kinds of issues she would face as a Justice. Buffeted by conservative commentators’ calls for her to withdraw for lack of qualifications, the President said his White House Counsel has an “overall range of experience” that is equal to that of any Court nominee “in the last 35 years.” (The text of the radio address can be found here.)
On the specific question of whether she has handled constitutional law issues, Bush was explicit: “As counsel, Ms. Miers addresses complex matters of constitutional law, serves as the chief legal advisor during regular meetings of the National Security Council, and handles sensitive issues of executive-congressional relations, among many other essential duties.”
Before the President’s address, there were new reminders that conservatives are troubled about the seeming gap in her background on dealing with constitutional questions. Sen. Jeff Sessions, an Alabama Republican and a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a statement: “Generally, I think you want somebody [for the Supreme Court] that’s well-versed on these cases and the Supreme Court jurisprudence. She will not have that experience. There’s just no doubt about that.” Robert H. Bork, himself a onetime Supreme Court nominee, dismissed Miers’ nomination on television, calling it a disaster and giving as one of his reasons that she “has no experience with constitutional law whatever.”
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