Senate Confirms Thomas as Federal Judge
The Senate today confirmed conservative civil rights official Clarence Thomas as a federal appeals judge, brushing aside complaints about his record from some liberal and senior citizens groups. The Senate had planned to take a roll call on the nomination but changed course at the last minute and confirmed Thomas on a voice vote. Thomas, 41, will be a judge on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia. As chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over the last eight years, he has been one of the most visible black officials in the Reagan and Bush administrations. Thomas, a critic of quotas and affirmative action to fight hiring discrimination, has been highly praised by conservatives. But liberals have criticized his record. It became clear Monday night that Thomas' critics had failed to muster enough support to defeat his nomination. ``I am prepared to concede that Mr. Thomas is going to be confirmed,'' said Sen. Howard M. Metzenbaum, D-Ohio, a leading critic. The only other opponent to materialize in the debate was Sen. David Pryor, D-Ark., chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, who complained that the statute of limitations on 15,000 age-discrimination cases before the EEOC ran out without any action being taken while Thomas was in charge. ``Those cases might as well have been sent to Beijing,'' Pryor said. ``They might as well have been sent to Bulgaria. They might as well have been sent to Romania. ... It's too much to overlook.'' Pryor said, however, that Thomas was virtually guaranteed to win confirmation and added that he wished the nominee well in his new post. Danforth, Thomas' chief Senate supporter and former employer, said he could vouch for the nominee's abilities as a lawyer. ``I hired him twice,'' Danforth said. ``People say, 'Don't you ever make a mistake?' Well, yeah, but not twice.'' Sen. Alan Simpson, R-Wyo., dismissed complaints that Thomas had failed to cooperate with the Aging Committee several years ago when former Sen. John Melcher, D-Mont., was chairman. Simpson said the panel's investigation of the employment commission was flawed to begin with. ``They wasted a lot of time trying to nail Clarence Thomas,'' he said. Thomas was born in poverty in rural Georgia, worked his way through college and is a graduate of Yale Law School. Before becoming chairman of the commission, he worked under Danforth in the Missouri attorney general's office and in the Senate as well for the Monsanto Corp. Civil rights forces have been divided over the nomination. The Alliance for Justice, a liberal court-watcher group based in Washington, and several senior citizens groups have been critical. But the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People did not take a stand on the issue.
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