Hatch Says Lee's Nomination Dead

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, Nov. 14) -- The Clinton Administration hasn't signaled its next step yet in the Bill Lann Lee nomination fight, but Sen. Orrin Hatch has some advice: Forget Lee, and send the Senate a new nominee to head the Justice Department's civil rights division.

"I would suggest instead of whining and moaning and groaning about it, look for another position for Bill Lann Lee and we can support him," Hatch (R-Utah) said.

But if the White House continues to push for Lee's confirmation, that will be "a loser for them," the Judiciary Committee chairman said.

On Thursday, committee Democrats blocked a vote to forestall a certain rejection by the committee, and Hatch returned Lee's nomination to the White House.

Lee's supporters want Clinton to resubmit Lee's name, but Hatch said Clinton should "find somebody for this position who will build a consensus." During the confirmation hearings, Hatch and other Republicans criticized Lee's position on affirmative action, while supporters said he was fully qualified and would follow existing case law on the subject.

The White House indicated Clinton still wants Lee, a 48-year-old civil-rights lawyer, in the job.

"It [the job] is not going to be filled by someone who subscribes to the fairly far-right thinking of those in the Senate that want to interpret the Constitution according to their whim, not according to the rulings of the Supreme Court," said presidential spokesman Mike McCurry. "The president believes that in Bill Lann Lee we have someone who fully understands the rulings by the court."

In Other News:

Friday Nov. 14, 1997

• FBI Overlooked Evidence Of China Influence-Buying
• Chung Talks, But Off The Record
• Clinton Discusses Drugs, Trade With Mexican President
• Hatch Says Lee's Nomination Dead
• Breaking Old Habits
• Court To Consider Harassment Issue
• Congress Adjourns For The Year
• Congress Approves Adoption Change
• Congress Increases Foreign Aid
• Business Left Over By Congress
• Clinton Vetoes Congress' 'Veto'
• Congress Scraps Down To The Wire

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