Mr. Norm Foster stated categorically (Dec. 24) that no Republican minority has ever conducted a filibuster against a Democratic majority nominee.

There is an important difference between a filibuster by a minority party that is able to muster the necessary votes to defeat a cloture motion and one that is unable to do so.

Here are a few cases in point where the inability to prevent cloture accounted for dropping plans to filibuster.

After announcing their intention to filibuster the nomination of Rosemary Barkett to the 11th Circuit in 1993, a cloture motion was filed. Lacking the votes to defeat cloture, the Republicans accepted a time agreement and the cloture petition was withdrawn. Barkett was confirmed.

When a filibuster to block the nomination of H. Lee Sarokin to the 3rd Circuit in 1994 was threatened, cloture was invoked and Sarokin was confirmed.

In 2000, Sen. Bob Smith led a filibuster to block confirmation of Richard Paez and Marsha Berzen to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Cloture was invoked and both were confirmed.

Therefore, although Mr. Foster says otherwise, the Republican Party did, indeed, engage in failed filibusters of judicial nominations to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. And the reason those attempts were not successful is that, unlike 2003, sufficient votes for cloture were obtained to shut off debate, thereby requiring a vote on the nomination.

It is not fair to imply that one party misused the filibuster but when the shoe was on the other foot, the other party did not.

Louis Scolnik, Lewiston

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