41.   Barrientos had joked that she simply consider it training for her upcoming confirmation hearings.

42.   Battles over conservative nominees such as Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas turned confirmation hearings into nationally televised spectacles.

43.   Biden, the ranking Democrat on the panel, said all eight Democrats on the committee have been joined by two GOP members who want a confirmation hearing held.

44.   Biers FLORIDA -- Former Florida Rep. Pete Peterson sailed through Senate confirmation hearings on his nomination for Ambassador to Vietnam.

45.   Both Democrats and Republicans praised the nomination during his confirmation hearing before the Judiciary Committee early in the day and from the Senate floor Monday afternoon.

46.   A confirmation hearing is not a traditional forum for complete frankness.

47.   A confirmation hearing for Estrada seems weeks away.

48.   A major low point was his widely criticized performance during the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Metzenbaum said.

49.   A Zeigler spokesman said the bankruptcy court is expected to conduct confirmation hearings in December.

50.   Albright, daughter of a Czechoslovak diplomat who moved to the United States after World War II, sailed through her confirmation hearings.