WASHINGTON — William G. Myers III, who served for two years as the Interior Department's top lawyer, is to appear today before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which for the second time in two years will consider whether he should be confirmed as a judge on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Myers, an Idaho lawyer and a longtime lobbyist for mining and cattle companies, is among 10 judicial candidates whose nominations were blocked by Senate Democrats last year but were resubmitted by President Bush this month. His is the first of the nominations to be considered again by the committee because Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), the committee chairman, believes Myers has the best chance for confirmation.
But Myers' nomination is again being opposed by formidable foes, including Native American and environmental groups.
At a news conference Monday, Tex G. Hall, president of the National Congress of American Indians, urged the Senate to reject Myers.
Myers' "shameless and blatant disrespect for federal laws protecting American Indian sacred sites and his blatant disregard for the government-to-government consultation process" the Interior Department is supposed to engage in with tribes "has forced us to take an unprecedented stand," Hall said. The opposition to the nomination, Hall noted, marked the first time the group had taken a position against a judicial appointment.
"He is a threat to our culture," said Hall, whose organization represents more than 250 tribes.
As the Interior Department's solicitor -- the top legal job -- from July 2001 to October 2003, "Myers was very lopsided in his favoritism for the mining interests.... He was unable to be impartial," Hall said.
Myers' nomination is also opposed by most major environmental organizations in the country -- including the National Wildlife Federation, which also participated in Monday's news conference -- as well as many civil rights, labor and women's groups.
Responding to comments from the news conference, Justice Department spokesman John Nowacki said Monday that Myers was "a well-qualified nominee whose record and experience would be an asset on the 9th Circuit." Myers also was supported by the National Cattlemen's Beef Assn., for which he served as director of federal lands in the 1990s.
