Senator urges moderate pick for high court

RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
7/6/2005 11:43 pm

U.S. senators should be considered by President Bush to fill the vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said Wednesday.

Reid, D-Nev., also said he and Bush have talked privately to ensure that the appointment of the successor for Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor does not reach the level of partisan squabbling that has epitomized the debate over recent judicial nominations.

“I know that I won’t get someone who I will jump up and down and cheer for,” Reid told a group of employees at the Reno Gazette-Journal. “But there are many fine and conservative jurists out there.

“I had lunch at the Supreme Court 10 days ago and at my table were (associate justices) Sandra Day O’Connor, (Antonin) Scalia and (Stephen) Breyer,” Reid said. “They said what they would like to see is the president pick someone who has not been a judge. And what I have said to anyone who will listen is what I think he should do is pick one of the senators.”