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The editorial, “A bad air decision” (Aug. 4), aptly discussed a 4th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling against North Carolina by three judges “from Maryland, Virginia and South Carolina, underscoring the fact that North Carolina remains under-represented on this court as nominees James Wynn and Albert Diaz are stalled during their U.S. Senate confirmation proceedings.”

On Aug. 5, the Senate finally confirmed Judge Wynn and three district judges. The question remains: Why has Sen. Richard Burr’s impotent support for Judge Diaz not convinced his fellow Republicans to allow a floor vote during the more than six months since the Judiciary Committee voted 19-0 to approve Diaz on the same day it approved  Wynn?

A new Public Policy Polling survey found that 58 percent of North Carolina voters said that the U.S. Senate should vote as soon as possible on both judges.

Burr’s only answer has been to suggest absurd and impractical cloture votes to end the non-existent debate on Diaz. Cloture for each nominee can require 60 hours of debate; all 44 pending judicial nominations could take up to 2,640 hours.

Glenn Sugameli
Washington, D.C.

The writer is staff attorney, Judging the Environment.