Bush nominee in Arkansas deserves support

To the editor:

Once again, Tom Daschle and pro-abortion Democrats, along with their allies NARAL and Pro-Choice America, are attempting to scuttle President Bush's latest judicial nominee, Leon Holmes, by publishing fact sheets allegedly exposing Holmes' "hostility to reproductive rights" and his views on the law and "women's equality."

Holmes is in reality being attacked because he was once president of Arkansas Right to Life and because of his orthodox Catholic views on marriage and family. The Constitution forbids any religious test for public office.

The American Bar Association says that Holmes is "well-qualified." He has also been endorsed by his two U.S. senators. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette writes that Holmes "has a rare blend of qualities that he brings to the law: intellect, scholarship, conviction, and detachment. A reverence not just for the law, but for ideas, for the life of the mind. He will bring distinction to the bench."

Because Daschle has been the leader in blocking all of Bush's nominees as well as a vocal opponent of this country's efforts to rid the world of Saddam Hussein, recent polls indicate that his future as a senator may be in jeopardy.

Please call your senators in Washington and urge them to support confirmation of Holmes to the federal bench in Arkansas.

CHRISTINE E. STEPHENS

Cape Girardeau