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AUDIO: Sen. Maria Cantwell on Trump nominee and tribal sovereignty

Tuesday, February 26, 2019

By Acee Agoyo

Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Washington), spoke in opposition to the nomination of Eric Miller to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in a speech on the U.S. Senate floor on Tuesday.

"He has spent much of his career fighting against the interests of tribal governments and tribal sovereignty," Cantwell said of Miller, who was nominated for a spot on the appeals court by President Donald Trump.

"He has argued against tribal fishing rights, challenging tribal sovereignty, and fighting against the protection of Native American religious and traditional practices," said Cantwell, who serves on the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.

As an attorney in private practice, Miller has represented a slew of clients who worked to undermine tribal rights. Tribes in Washington state, along with the National Congress of American Indians, are opposing his nomination

Cantwell noted that the Senate Committee on the Judiciary has handled the nomination in an unusual fashion. During the last session of Congress, the panel held a confirmation hearing for Miller during a recess period, when almost every member was away from Washington.

As a result, Miller was only subjected to five minutes of questions about his record and his qualifications, according to Cantwell. Democrats requested a second hearing but were rejected, she said.

Amid the concerns, Miller's nomination stalled. But Trump reignited the debate when he resubmitted the nomination in the 116th Congress. Republicans, who control the Senate, quickly took the matter up again.

Despite the controversy, the Senate is expected to approve Miller for a lifetime seat on the 9th Circuit, which hears a significant number of Indian law cases from states in the West. He survived a procedural vote on Monday, with a final vote scheduled for Tuesday.

The full text of Cantwell's remarks follow:

Mr. President, I rise in opposition to a vote we're going to be having very soon: the confirmation of Eric Miller to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
As a United States Senator, I take my obligation to advise and consent on judicial nominations very seriously. And Mr. Miller's confirmation process has, I believe, gone against long-standing Senate traditions, norms, and the role of advise and consent to his nomination.
This nomination has proceeded over the objection of both myself and my colleague from Washington, Senator Murray. And for more than a hundred years, this process of conferring with senators, allowing them to advise and consent on judicial nominees from their home state, has been our process.
Since 1936, only eight judges have been confirmed when one home-state senator objected. And in every case, confirmed nominees have been supported by at least one senator from the states they have been nominated from. And to this day, no circuit court judge has ever been confirmed despite opposition from their home-state senators. But all that would change with Mr. Miller if he is confirmed.
His confirmation hearing was held during a recess last Congress when the vast majority of senators were back in their states. In fact, only two members of the United States Senate were present at the hearing, and neither one of them were Democrats. Mr. Miller was questioned for less than five minutes. Five minutes. And when the Judiciary Committee Democrats requested another hearing, that request was rejected.
So, confirming Mr. Miller without a full vetting by both Democrats and Republicans is the wrong way to proceed on a lifetime appointment. Moreover, confirming Mr. Miller without approval from Senator Murray and I also continues to set a damaging precedent.
I do have legitimate concerns about Eric Miller's nomination. He has spent much of his career fighting against the interests of Tribal governments and Tribal sovereignty. He has argued against Tribal fishing rights, challenging tribal sovereignty, and fighting against the protection of Native American religious and traditional practices. So, it is no surprise that [organizations supporting] 573 tribal nations around the United States, including the National Congress Of American Indians, oppose Mr. Miller's confirmation.
So I urge my colleagues to stop this process and oppose the confirmation to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Eric Miller, an attorney nominated to a judgeship on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, defended his record on tribal law, telling the Senate Committee on the Judiciary on October 24, 2018, that he would respect tribal sovereignty as a judge. Photo by Daniel Perle / Cronkite News