smith of idaho to the trott seat. at the same time, another nominee was pending in the senate to fill a vacancy on the other idaho seat on the ninth circuit. regrettably, senate democrats used the long-standing senate rules that were available at that time to block the confirmation of both idaho nominees. the reason given by the california delegation for blocking the randy smith nomination to the trott seat made clear that the objections had nothing to do with judge smith's qualifications and that they were willing to support his confirmation to the other idaho seat. the nelson seat, which is ultimately what happened. as such, the california delegation blocked randy smith's anonymous to the trott seat, not because they believed he was not qualified but because they wanted the seat moved to california, and he was not a californian. the so-called trott seat on the ninth circuit has been held by five different judges, including judge trott, since it was first created in 1935. the first judge to hold that seat was from or

the question that arose was because the previous judge, a man by the name of steven trott, he spent his entire legal career in california before joining the reagan administration, he was licensed to practice law in california, he was supported by the two republican senators from california, and blue slips for his nomination were sent to california. now, what am i trying to do? i'm trying to say this was a california judge for the ninth circuit. now, what has happened, since then, is because he moved his home to idaho once he was a judge, idaho or some of the representatives from idaho tend to believe that voila, this is now an idaho seat. it is not an idaho seat. i explained last week that california has less than its proportional share of ninth circuit court judgeships, and idaho has its fair share. senator crapo, who came to the floor and spoke about this, said nothing about population or caseload to illustrate why this judgeship should move to california. this has been a long-standing attempt to take this seat away from california. when i came to the floor before, i outlined the whol