Support swells for Indian-American

A group of 21 influential US lawmakers demanded confirmation of Indian-American legal luminary Srikanth Sri Srinivasan's nomination to the country's second highest court. The demand was made in a letter sent, on Wednesday, to the Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid by the lawmakers led by Indian-American Congressman Ami Bera in support of Srinivasan's nomination to the DC Circuit Court.

Chandigarh born 46-year-old Srinivasan, if confirmed, would become the first South Asian to serve as a federal circuit court judge. His nomination was unanimously been confirmed by the Senate Judiciary Committee. He now awaits Senate confirmation, which is expected to vote on Thursday.

"Sri Srinivasan would be an outstanding judge for the court of appeals. He has worked in the US Solicitor General's office three times for both Republican and Democratic administrations and argued 24 cases before the Supreme Court," the Congressmen said in the letter.

"As members of Congress, we value the importance of having diversity on the court. Representation of Indian Americans within our judicial system is overdue," the lawmakers wrote in their letter, which was penned by Bera, the only serving Indian-American lawmaker in the current Congress.