Partisan Rhetoric May Have Ignited Arizona Shooting, Leahy Hints

By Mario Trujillo

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) called a mass shooting that occured over the weekend in Arizona tragic, and suggested that “seething rhetoric” might have spurred alleged gunman Jared Lee Loughner.

“The seething rhetoric has gone too far. The demonizing of opponents, of government and of public service has gone too far,” Leahy said during a speech at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. “Our politics have become incendiary and we all share the responsibility for lowering the temperature. That is the responsibility we all have to keep our democracy strong and thriving.”

The shooting, which occurred at a townhall-style event hosted by Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), left six dead and eight others injured, including Giffords, who remains in critical condition at a Tuscon area hospital. FBI officials have determined that Loughner, 22, attempted to assasinate the three-term Congresswoman.

In addition to his remarks on the shooting, Leahy, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, unveiled his upcoming agenda for his committee, and listed a number of issues he said both parties should work on together.

Among them are fighting fraud, Freedom of Information Act reform, patent reform and reauthorization of parts of the USA Patriot Act that are due to expire next month.

Leahy also called for reforming the process by which the minority in the Senate can delay the confirmation of judicial nominees, and criticized Republican Senators for placing holds on nominees who had been confirmed almost unanimously by the committee.

The Senate didn’t confirm any judicial nominees between Sept. 13 and Dec. 16, leaving 19 favorably reported nominees to go unconfirmed to end the 111th Congress, according to Leahy’s office. Those nominees must now go through the process again in the new Congress.

“We cannot ask people to take on public service as a judge, then subject them to needless unexplained, humiliating, partisan delays in the confirmation process,” Leahy bemoaned.

Leahy cited Chief Justice John Roberts when saying the stalls have helped contribute to the crippling case loads in overburdened courts around the country. Leahy appealed to his counterparts to step back and reevaluate the nomination process of the last Congress.

“Vote yes; Vote no; But don’t vote maybe by holding them up,” he said.