Senate Republicans on Tuesday rejected proposals that would have given individual senators a greater role in deciding who gets to sit on federal appeals courts.

The Republican conference voted after a heated debate on proposals that would have given conservatives more influence in opposing President Clinton’s nominees for the federal bench.

Instead, the Senate Republicans approved a largely symbolic resolution that condemns “activist judges” on the federal bench and calls for the Republicans to scrutinize judicial nominees closely to prevent anyone from being confirmed who might become that kind of judge.