WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Sam Brownback today called on the Senate Judiciary Committee to promptly move to schedule hearings and votes for federal appellate court nominees who have been denied fair process.

"The Senate must act now to end the judicial emergency the country is currently facing," said Brownback. "While I hope it doesn't happen, I fear Senate business may come to a complete standstill if we do not start holding hearings and having fair up-or-down votes on judicial nominations. Appointments to federal district and circuit courts are important and long-lasting, yet many qualified nominees have not yet been confirmed. Judge Robert Conrad, for example, is one such nominee who has waited over 250 days for a Senate confirmation hearing."

Robert Conrad, who the Senate previously confirmed to a federal district court judgeship, has now been nominated to a seat on the Fourth Circuit. Conrad's nomination is supported by both home-state senators, and he meets the American Bar Association's highest standard of "unanimously well-qualified." As of yet, however, the Judiciary Committee has not scheduled a nomination hearing for him.

One third of the positions on the Fourth Circuit are currently vacant, and the seat to which Judge Conrad has been nominated has been deemed a "judicial emergency" by the Administrative Office of the Courts.

Brownback continued, "I urge my colleagues, especially Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy and Ranking Member Arlen Specter, to work out a way to get through these judicial nominations. Right now, we are nowhere close to approving a reasonable number of circuit court judges, and America wants us to get our work done."

Brownback is a member of the Judiciary Committee.