By JESSE J. HOLLAND
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Republicans pushed Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy to increase the speed of judicial and U.S. attorney confirmations, saying "there is no higher priority" _ after fighting terrorism, that is.

Only six judges _ three federal appeals court and three U.S. district judges _ have been confirmed by the Senate this year. There are 107 vacancies and 48 Bush nominees who have not yet been confirmed.

Bush sent four new nominations to the Senate on Friday:

_Julia S. Gibbons to be a U.S. Appeals Court Judge in the 6th Circuit.

_William H. Steele of Alabama to be a U.S. Appeals Court Judge in the 11th Circuit.

_C. Ashley Royal of Georgia to be a U.S. District Judge in Georgia.

_Phillip R. Martinez to be a U.S. District Judge in Texas.

"In our view, once the anti-terrorism legislation is completed, there is no higher priority than filling the vacancies that exist in our federal courts," the nine GOP senators on the Judiciary Committee said. "And because of the recent tragic events, the other priority is confirmation of U.S. Attorney nominees."

Republicans have complained most of the year that the Senate has not moved quickly enough on Bush's nominations.

"At a time when we're fighting terrorism, we believe that it's important that our judiciary branch is fully staffed," said Ron Bonjean, spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss.

Democrats say the committee, now under their control, is moving more quickly on Bush's nominees than the GOP-controlled committee did with former President Clinton's nominees.

Leahy, D-Vt., has said that in 1993, Clinton's first year, the first U.S. Appeals Court judge was not confirmed until September.

"This has been a tumultuous and unprecedented year in the Senate but our numbers still compare favorably to recent years," Leahy spokeswoman Mimi Devlin said. "Despite the committee's focus on the anti-terrorism legislation, we are ahead of the pace for confirmation and hearings of judges during the first year of the Clinton and the first Bush administrations."

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On the Net:

Senate Judiciary Committee: http://judiciary.senate.gov

Justice Department list of judicial nominees: http://www.usdoj.gov/olp/judicialnominations.htm