US Senate, a Polish Joke

Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) has placed a "hold" on President Bush's nomination of Julie Finley as ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Mrs. Finley is well qualified. She has been a strong and active advocate in Washington for the expansion of NATO, the integration of Turkey into the European Union and the spread of democracy to countries of the former Soviet Union.

But on the grounds that Mrs. Finley is pro-choice on abortion, Senator Brownback has exercised the Senate's Polish procedure and figuratively cried "I oppose".

One senator can hold up a nomination by just noting his or her objection. As did Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Ca.) when she put a hold on the Bolton confirmation.

The holder's identity is supposedly secret and his or her motive need not have anything to do with the nominee's qualifications.This arcane practice does have a precedent in history. James Michener, in his book Poland, writes" The incredible Liberum veto, by which one man in a Seym (parliament) of hundreds could negate and prorogue the entire work of the Seym by merely crying ' I oppose' was a major cause of Poland's disappearance from the map of Europe."

You might say the U.S. Senate has become a "Polish Joke."

The Wall Street Opinion Journal has an interesting op-ed regarding the Senate "hold."