document: The Senate today confirmed conservative civil rights official Clarence Thomas as a federal appeals judge , brushing aside complaints about his record from some liberal and senior citizens groups . The Senate had planned to take a roll call on the nomination but changed course at the last minute and confirmed Thomas on a voice vote . Thomas , 41 , will be a judge on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia . As chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over the last eight years , he has been one of the most visible black officials in the Reagan and Bush administrations . Thomas , a critic of quotas and affirmative action to fight hiring discrimination , has been highly praised by conservatives . But liberals have criticized his record . It became clear Monday night that Thomas ' critics had failed to muster enough support to defeat his nomination . `` I am prepared to concede that Mr. Thomas is going to be confirmed , '' said Sen. Howard M. Metzenbaum , D-Ohio , a leading critic . The only other opponent to materialize in the debate was Sen. David Pryor , D-Ark. , chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging , who complained that the statute of limitations on 15,000 age-discrimination cases before the EEOC ran out without any action being taken while Thomas was in charge . `` Those cases might as well have been sent to Beijing , '' Pryor said . `` They might as well have been sent to Bulgaria . They might as well have been sent to Romania . ... It 's too much to overlook . '' Pryor said , however , that Thomas was virtually guaranteed to win confirmation and added that he wished the nominee well in his new post . Danforth , Thomas ' chief Senate supporter and former employer , said he could vouch for the nominee 's abilities as a lawyer . `` I hired him twice , '' Danforth said . `` People say , ` Do n't you ever make a mistake ? ' Well , yeah , but not twice . '' Sen. Alan Simpson , R-Wyo. , dismissed complaints that Thomas had failed to cooperate with the Aging Committee several years ago when former Sen. John Melcher , D-Mont. , was chairman . Simpson said the panel 's investigation of the employment commission was flawed to begin with . `` They wasted a lot of time trying to nail Clarence Thomas , '' he said . Thomas was born in poverty in rural Georgia , worked his way through college and is a graduate of Yale Law School . Before becoming chairman of the commission , he worked under Danforth in the Missouri attorney general 's office and in the Senate as well for the Monsanto Corp. . Civil rights forces have been divided over the nomination . The Alliance for Justice , a liberal court-watcher group based in Washington , and several senior citizens groups have been critical . But the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People did not take a stand on the issue .
extractive_keyphrases: clarence thomas federal appeals judge black officials nomination columbia senate
abstractive_keyphrases: u.s. circuit court