Congressional Black Caucus
"The Conscience of Congress since 1969"
www.congressionalblackcaucus.net

(Washington, D.C.)- U.S. Rep. Melvin L. Watt (D-N.C.), Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), expressed regret that the Supreme Court Chief Justice nominee John Roberts rejected a request to meet with representatives of the CBC.  In a letter to Judge Roberts dated August 25, 2005, Chairman Watt and Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton, the Chair of the CBC’s Judicial Task Force, requested that Judge Roberts meet with them as the official representatives of the CBC.  A copy of the letter is attached.

“The members of the CBC are especially disappointed that Judge Roberts would not meet with us because we viewed the meeting as a critically important opportunity to make an impartial assessment of him as a person and to talk to him about particular concerns we had about his record on issues of great importance to the African American community, including civil rights, justice, equality and affirmative action,” noted Chairman Watt.  “We especially wanted to hear from him firsthand about the stance he has taken on affirmative action and about his efforts to limit the effectiveness of the Voting Rights Act when the Act was last renewed.” 

In conclusion, Rep. Watt said, “The Congressional Black Caucus will still make every effort to assess Judge Roberts’ nomination fairly, but we will certainly have to consider his refusal to meet with representatives of our important constituency a substantial mark against him in our evaluation.”

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August 24, 2005

The Honorable John G. Roberts
Nominee, Associate Justice to the U.S. Supreme Court
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Judge Roberts:

Congratulations on your nomination to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States.

Throughout our history, the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) has played a vital role in evaluating and informing our constituencies and the members of the United States Senate of our assessment of nominees to the federal bench.  The members of the CBC have considered this function an essential part of our mission because the federal judiciary, and most especially the U.S. Supreme Court, has played an indispensable role in the continuing stride of African Americans toward full equality and equal justice under the constitution and laws of our country. 

In light of our historical mission and role, the members of the CBC have instructed us to request that you meet with us, as the representatives of the CBC, as part of the CBC's efforts to make a thorough and fair assessment of you as a nominee to the Supreme Court.  We are aware that you may be planning to meet with the lone Senate member of the CBC, Senator Barack Obama, to enable him to make an assessment of your nomination as a Senator accountable to the citizens of Illinois he ably represents.  We fully support the importance of that meeting for his constituents.  However, the CBC also believes that it is essential for us to meet with you to enable the CBC to make an independent assessment of your nomination based on criteria that the CBC has developed over the years that more particularly takes into account the national constituency represented by the CBC.

To expedite scheduling of the requested meeting, we request that you or your representative contact Paul Brathwaite, Executive Director of the CBC.

Thank you for your consideration of this request and we look forward to hearing from you and meeting with you as part of this important process that no doubt will have such critical implications for you, for African Americans and for our country far into the future.

Sincerely,

Melvin L. Watt                            Eleanor Holmes Norton

Chair, CBC                                 Chair, Judicial Nominations Taskforce

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