WHEREAS Senator Arlen Specter is presumed to be the next chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, with enormous power over the appointment of federal judges; and
WHEREAS Senator Specter led the way in the destruction of Judge Robert Bork, thus enabling the transformation of the confirmation process into a mechanism to exclude judges who respect the Constitution more than political pressure; and
WHEREAS Senator Specter has consistently worked to mute the voice of the people in sensitive social issues; and
WHEREAS Senator Specter recently took the occassion of the President\'s re-election to warn the President that he (the President) should be mindful not to nominate any judges who might consider returning the debate over abortion to the people:
THEREFORE we the undersigned believe that Senator Specter\'s recent words are wholly consistent with his past conduct in the Judiciary Committee; and
THEREFORE we the undersigned believe that Senator Specter is demonstrably biased in his assessment of judicial nominees, and thus threatens the independence of the judiciary; and
THEREFORE we the undersigned believe that requiring \"caution\", before the fact, on the part of the President and his potential nominees is an overt threat and is antithetical to our system of separate and independent branches of government; and
THEREFORE we the undersigned believe that Senator Specter\'s past conduct and recent statement demonstrate a disregard for the voice of the electorate; we are thus
RESOLVED that we demand of the Republican leadership of the United States Senate not only to appoint another to chair the committe, but to remove Senator Arlen Specter from the Judiciary Committee of the United States Senate.