[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 131 (Friday, September 26, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10050-S10052]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                           EXECUTIVE CALENDAR

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate 
immediately proceed to executive session to consider the following 
nominations on the Executive Calendar: No. 108, No. 256, No. 257, No. 
260 through 262, No. 278 and No. 290 through 303, all nominations on 
the Secretary's desk in the Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, 
Navy and the Public Health Service.
  I further ask unanimous consent that the nominations be confirmed, 
the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, any statements relating 
to the nominations appear at this point in the Record, the President be 
immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate then return 
to legislative session.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The nominations considered and confirmed en bloc are as follows:


                       inter-american foundation

       Jeffrey Davidow, of Virginia, a Career Member of the Senior 
     Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be a Member 
     of the Board of Directors of the Inter-American Foundation, 
     for a term expiring September 20, 2002.


                             the judiciary

       Marjorie O. Rendell, of Pennsylvania, to be U.S. Circuit 
     Judge for the Third Circuit.
       Richard A. Lazzara, of Florida, to be U.S. District Judge 
     for the Middle District of Florida.


                         department of commerce

       Robert L. Mallett, of Texas, to be Deputy Secretary of 
     Commerce.
       W. Scott Gould, of the District of Columbia, to be Chief 
     Financial Officer, Department of Commerce.
       W. Scott Gould, of the District of Columbia, to be an 
     Assistant Secretary of Commerce.


                       inter-american foundation

       Nancy Dorn, of the District of Columbia, to be Member of 
     the Board of Directors of the Inter-American Foundation for a 
     term expiring June 26, 2002.


                              in the army

       The following U.S. Army Reserve officer for promotion in 
     the Reserve of the Army to the grade indicated under title 
     10, United States Code, sections 14101, 14315 and 12203(a):

                        To be brigadier general

     Col. James W. Comstock, 0000

       The following-named officer for appointment in the Regular 
     Army to be the grade indicated under title 10, United States 
     Code, section 624:

                        To be brigadier general

     Col. Antonio M. Taguba, 0000

       The following-named officers for appointment in the U.S. 
     Army to the grade indicated under title 10, United States 
     Code, section 624:

                          To be major general

     Brig. Gen. John G. Meyer, Jr., 0000
     Brig. Gen. Robert L. Nabors, 0000

       The following-named officer for appointment in the U.S. 
     Army to the grade indicated under the provisions of title 10, 
     United States Code, section 624:

                          To be major general

     Maj. Gen. Robert G. Claypool, 0000

       The following Army National Guard of the United States 
     officers for appointment in the Reserve of the Army to the 
     grade indicated under title 10, United States Code, section 
     12203:

                          To be major general

     Brig. Gen. Earl L. Adams, 0000
     Brig. Gen. John E. Blair, 0000
     Brig. Gen. James G. Blaney, 0000
     Brig. Gen. Don C. Morrow, 0000
     Brig. Gen. Thomas E. Whitecotton III, 0000
     Brig. Gen. Jackie D. Wood, 0000

                        To be brigadier general

     Col. Stephen E. Arey, 0000
     Col. George A. Buskirk, Jr., 0000
     Col. William A. Cugno, 0000
     Col. Joseph A. Goode, Jr., 0000
     Col. Stanley J. Gordon, 0000
     Col. Larry W. Haltom, 0000
     Col. Daniel E. Long, Jr., 0000
     Col. Gerald P. Minetti, 0000
     Col. Ronald G. Young, 0000

       The following-named officer for appointment in the U.S. 
     Army to the grade indicated while assigned to a position of 
     importance and responsibility under title 10, United States 
     Code, section 601:

                        To be lieutenant general

     Lt. Gen. George A. Fisher, 0000

       The following-named officer for appointment in the U.S. 
     Army to the grade indicated while assigned to a position of 
     importance and responsibility under title 10, United States 
     Code, section 601:

                        To be lieutenant general

     Maj. Gen. William J. Bolt, 0000

       The following-named officer for appointment in the U.S. 
     Army to the grade indicated under title 10, United States 
     Code, section 624:

                        To be brigadier general

     Col. Henry W. Stratman, 0000


                          in the marine corps

       The following-named officer for appointment in the U.S. 
     Marine Corps to the grade indicated while assigned to a 
     position of importance and responsibility under title 10, 
     United States Code, section 601:

                        To be lieutenant general

     Lt. Gen. Peter Pace, 0000


                              in the navy

       The following-named officer for appointment in the U.S. 
     Navy to the grade indicated under title 10, United States 
     Code, section 624:

[[Page S10051]]

                           To be rear admiral

     Rear Adm. (lh) Louis M. Smith, 0000

       The following-named officers for appointment in the Naval 
     Reserve to the grade indicated under title 10, United States 
     Code, section 12203:

                    To be rear admiral (lower half)

     Capt. Kenneth C. Belisle, 0000
     Capt. John G. Cotton, 0000
     Capt. Stephen S. Israel, 0000
     Capt. Gerald J. Scott, Jr., 0000
     Capt. Joe S. Thompson, 0000

       The following-named officers for appointment in the Reserve 
     of the Navy to the grade indicated under title 10, United 
     States Code, section 12203:

                    To be rear admiral (lower half)

     Capt. Howard W. Dawson, Jr., 0000
     Capt. William J. Lynch, 0000
     Capt. Robert R. Percy, III, 0000

       The following-named officer for appointment as Deputy Judge 
     Advocate General of the U.S. Navy in the grade indicated 
     under title 10, United States Code, section 5149:

                           To be rear admiral

     Capt. Donald J. Guter, 0000

       The following-named officer for appointment in the U.S. 
     Navy to the grade indicated under title 10, United States 
     Code, section 624:

                    To be rear admiral (lower half)

     Capt. William W. Cobb, Jr., 0000


IN THE AIR FORCE, ARMY, COAST GUARD, MARINE CORPS, NAVY, PUBLIC HEALTH 
                                SERVICE

       Air Force nominations beginning Richard W. Aldrich, and 
     ending Frank A. Yerkes, Jr, which nominations were received 
     by the Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record of 
     July 29, 1997.
       Air Force nominations beginning Luis C. Arroyo, and ending 
     Michael R. Emerson, which nominations were received by the 
     Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record of July 31, 
     1997.
       Air Force nominations beginning James M. Bartlett, and 
     ending Ellis D. Dinsmore, which nominations were received by 
     the Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record of July 
     31, 1997.
       Air Force nomination of Robert J. Spermo, which was 
     received by the Senate and appeared in the Congressional 
     Record of September 3, 1997.
       Air Force nominations beginning Carl M. Gough, and ending 
     Samuel Strauss, which nominations were received by the Senate 
     and appeared in the Congressional Record of September, 3, 
     1997.
       Air Force nominations beginning Joseph Argyle, and ending 
     Michael D. Eller, which nominations were received by the 
     Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record of September 
     3, 1997.
       Air Force nominations beginning Arnold K. Abangan, and 
     ending Darren L. Zwolinski, which nominations were received 
     by the Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record of 
     September 3, 1997.
       Army nomination of Frank G. Whitehead, which was received 
     by the Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record of 
     July 31, 1997.
       Army nominations beginning Mary A. Allred, and ending James 
     R. Tinkham, which nominations were received by the Senate and 
     appeared in the Congressional Record of July 31, 1997.
       Army nominations beginning Robert C. Baker, and ending 
     James R. Wooten, which nominations were received by the 
     Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record of July 31, 
     1997.
       Army nominations beginning Edwin E. Ahl, and ending Mark A. 
     Zerger, which nominations were received by the Senate and 
     appeared in the Congressional Record of July 31, 1997.
       Army nominations beginning Christian F. Achleithner, and 
     ending Daniel A. Zeleski, which nominations were received by 
     the Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record of July 
     31, 1997.
       Army nomination of Shri Kant Mishra, which was received by 
     the Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record of 
     September 3, 1997.
       Army nomination of David S. Feigin, which was received by 
     the Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record of 
     September 3, 1997.
       Army nomination of Clyde A. Moore, which was received by 
     the Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record of 
     September 3, 1997.
       Army nominations beginning Terry A. Wikstrom, and ending 
     Richard C. Butler, which nominations were received by the 
     Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record of September 
     3, 1997.
       Army nomination of James H. Wilson, which was received by 
     the Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record of 
     September 3, 1997.
       Army nominations beginning Ellis E. Brumraugh, Jr., and 
     ending John C. Zimmerman, which nominations were received by 
     the Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record of 
     September 3, 1997.
       Army nominations beginning Graten D. Beavers, and ending 
     John E. Zupko, which nominations were received by the Senate 
     and appeared in the Congressional Record of September 3, 
     1997.
       Army nominations beginning James L. Atkins, and ending 
     Scott Wilkinson, which nominations were received by the 
     Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record of September 
     3, 1997.
       Army nominations beginning Frank J. Abbott, and ending 
     X0383, which nominations were received by the Senate and 
     appeared in the Congressional Record of September 3, 1997.
       Army nominations beginning Madelfia A. Abb, and ending 
     X0663, which nominations were received by the Senate and 
     appeared in the Congressional Record of September 3, 1997.
       Army nominations of Rafael Lara, Jr., which was received by 
     the Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record of 
     September 15, 1997.
       Army nominations beginning Morris F. Adams, Jr, and ending 
     George W. Wilson, which nominations were received by the 
     Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record of September 
     15 1997.
       Army nominations beginning Cynthia A. Abbott, and ending 
     Anthony W. Young, which nominations were received by the 
     Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record of September 
     15, 1997.
       Coast Guard nominations beginning Michael F. Holmes, and 
     ending Beverly G. Kelley, which nominations were received by 
     the Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record of 
     September 3, 1997.
       Coast Guard nominations beginning Stephen E. Flynn, and 
     ending Vincent Wilczynski, which nominations were received by 
     the Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record of 
     September 15, 1997.
       Coast Guard nominations beginning Frank M. Paskewich, and 
     ending Robert M. Pyle, which nominations were received by the 
     Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record of September 
     15, 1997.
       Coast Guard nominations beginning Steven C. Acosta, and 
     ending Marc A. Zlomek, which nominations were received by the 
     Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record of September 
     18, 1997.
       Marine Corps nomination of Franklin D. McKinney, Jr., which 
     was received by the Senate and appeared in the Congressional 
     Record of July 29, 1997.
       Marine Corps nomination of William C. Johnson, which was 
     received by the Senate and appeared in the Congressional 
     Record of September 3, 1997.
       Marine Corps nomination of Tony Weckerling, which was 
     received by the Senate and appeared in the Congressional 
     Record of September 3, 1997.
       Marine Corps nomination of Jeffrey E. Lister, which was 
     received by the Senate and appeared in the Congressional 
     Record of September 3, 1997.
       Marine Corps nomination of Harry Davis, Jr., which was 
     received by the Senate and appeared in the Congressional 
     Record of September 3, 1997.
       Marine Corps nomination of Michael D. Dahl, which was 
     received by the Senate and appeared in the Congressional 
     Record of September 3, 1997.
       Marine Corps nomination of James C. Clark, which was 
     received by the Senate and appeared in the Congressional 
     Record of September 3, 1997.
       Marine Corps nomination of John C. Kotruch, which was 
     received by the Senate and appeared in the Congressional 
     Record of September 15, 1997.
       Navy nominations beginning Lawrence E. Adler, and ending 
     Thomas A. Zimmerman, which nominations were received by the 
     Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record of September 
     3, 1997.
       Navy nominations beginning David M. Belt, Jr., and ending 
     Gene P. Theriot, which nominations were received by the 
     Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record of September 
     15, 1997.
       Navy nominations beginning Eugene M. Abler, and ending Eric 
     A. Zoehrer, which nominations were received by the Senate and 
     appeared in the Congressional Record of September 15, 1997.
       Public Health Service nominations beginning Jennifer L. 
     Betts, and ending Rebecca J. Werner, which nominations were 
     received by the Senate and appeared in the Congressional 
     Record of September 4, 1997.
       Public Health Service nominations beginning William E. 
     Halperin, and ending Trinh K. Nguyen, which nominations were 
     received by the Senate and appeared in the Congressional 
     Record of September 12, 1997.


  STATEMENT ON THE NOMINATIONS OF MARJORIE O. RENDELL AND RICHARD A. 
                                LAZZARA

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I am delighted to see two more hostages 
released by the Republican majority to serve the American people as 
Federal judges.
  Anticipation of the President's radio address on the judicial vacancy 
crisis has obviously reached the Senate. I expect even those who have 
spent so much time this year holding up the confirmations of Federal 
judges were uncomfortable defending this Senate's record of having 
proceeded on only 9 of the 61 nominees received through August of this 
year. As rumors of the President's impending address have circulated 
around Capitol Hill, this Senate has literally doubled its 
confirmations from 9 to 18 in the course of 23 days. That demonstrates 
just how low the Senate's output has been over the first 8 months of 
this year. With these two confirmations, the Senate will have finally 
achieved the snail-like pace of confirming two judges a month while 
still faced with almost 100 vacancies.

[[Page S10052]]

  Unfortunately, the Republican leadership has once again chosen to 
skip over the nomination of Margaret Morrow and that of Christina 
Snyder who have been nominated to be district court judges in the 
Central District of California. As I detailed again yesterday, Ms. 
Morrow has been the victim of a mysterious hold for months.
  Marjorie Rendell has been a fine district court judge since 1994. 
President Clinton nominated her to a seat on the Court of Appeals for 
the Third Circuit on the first day of this session. At the time, I 
could not have imagined that it would take nine months for the 
Judiciary Committee to accord her a hearing and report her nomination 
to the Senate. Senator Specter and Senator Biden are both to be 
commended for pressing their efforts to have this nomination 
considered. Indeed, Senator Specter ultimately chaired her confirmation 
hearing.
  Judge Rendell received the ABA's highest rating of well qualified for 
appointment to the third circuit. She has been active in the Visiting 
Nurse Association of Greater Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Bar 
Foundation and active in the community. Senator Kennedy described her 
career as ``one of great distinction and insight.'' Even Senator 
Sessions concurred that Judge Rendell ``was a very impressive 
witness.''
  The good news is that her confirmation fills a vacancy on the third 
circuit, the bad news is that it creates a vacancy on the district 
court at a time when it is taking far too long to confirm good 
nominees.
  I congratulate Judge Rendell and her family and look forward to her 
service on the third circuit.
  I am delighted to see the Senate moving forward with the nomination 
of Richard Lazzara to be a Federal judge in the Middle District of 
Florida. The Senate first received this nomination in early May 1996, 
over 16 months ago. It should not have taken us this long to get to 
this point.
  I know that the chief judge in that district, Elizabeth Kovachevich, 
has been speaking out about the workload, backlogs and vacancies in her 
court. Judge Kovachevich has noted that serious crimes are up 28 
percent in her district and civil filings are up 25 percent for the 
second straight year leading to a growing backlog of over 3,200 cases. 
Both Senator Graham and Senator Mack were strong supporters of this 
nominee at his hearing in early September. I was struck that Senator 
Mack called the situation one of ``crisis proportions'' and pointed out 
that the district is having to take unprecedented steps to deal with a 
backlog growing ``at an alarming proportion.''
  I have introduced legislation recommended by the Judicial Conference 
of the United States to add three additional judges for that district, 
but their needs remain unaddressed because that bill has not received 
the attention that it deserves.
  Filling this vacancy without further delay is a start. The people of 
Orlando, Jacksonville, and Tampa have had to wait a long time for judge 
Lazzara. This nominee received the highest rating possible from the 
American Bar Association. He is an experienced Judge, having served as 
a Florida County judge, a Florida circuit judge and a Florida appellate 
judge over the last 10 years.
  I congratulate Judge Lazzara and his family and look forward to his 
service on the Federal Court.
  With Senate confirmation of these two judges, the Senate continues to 
lag well behind the pace established by Majority Leader Dole and 
Chairman Hatch in the 104th Congress. By this time 2 years ago, the 
Senate had confirmed 36 Federal judges. With today's actions, the 
Senate will have confirmed one-half that number, only 18 judges. We 
still face almost 100 vacancies and have over 50 pending nominees to 
consider with more arriving each week.
  For purposes of perspective, let us also recall that by the end of 
September 1992, during the last year of President Bush's term, a 
Democratic majority in the Senate had confirmed 59 of the 72 nominees 
sent to us by a Republican President. This Senate is on pace to confirm 
less than one-third of a comparable number of nominations.
  We still have more than 47 nominees among the 69 nominations sent to 
the Senate by the President pending before the Judiciary Committee who 
have yet to be accorded even a hearing during this Congress. Many of 
these nominations have been pending since the very first day of this 
session, having been re-nominated by the President. Several of those 
pending before the committee had hearings or were reported favorably 
last Congress but have been passed over so far this year, while the 
vacancies for which they were nominated over 2 years ago persist. The 
Committee has 10 nominees who have been pending for more than a year, 
including 5 who have been pending since 1995.
  While I am encouraged that the Senate is today proceeding with the 
confirmations of Judge Rendell and Mr. Lazzara, there remains no excuse 
for the Committee's delay in considering the nominations of such 
outstanding individuals as Prof. William A. Fletcher, Judge James A. 
Beaty, Jr., Judge Richard A. Paez, Ms. M. Margaret McKeown, Ms. Ann L. 
Aiken, and Ms. Susan Oki Mollway, to name just a few of the outstanding 
nominees who have all been pending all year without so much as a 
hearing. Professor Fletcher and Ms. Mollway had both been favorably 
reported last year. Judge Paez and Ms. Aiken had hearings last year but 
have been passed over so far this year. Nor is there any explanation or 
excuse for the Senate not immediately proceeding to consider the other 
five judicial nominations pending on the Senate calendar.
  Those who delay or prevent the filling of these vacancies must 
understand that they are delaying or preventing the administration of 
justice. We can pass all the crime bills we want, but you cannot try 
the cases and incarcerate the guilty if you do not have judges. The 
mounting backlogs of civil and criminal cases in the dozens of 
emergency districts, in particular, are growing taller by the day. 
National Public Radio has been running a series of reports all this 
week on the judicial crises and quoted the chief judge and U.S. 
attorney from San Diego earlier this week to the effect that criminal 
matters are being affected.
  I have spoken about the crisis being created by the vacancies that 
are being perpetuated on the Federal courts around the country. At the 
rate that we are going, we are not keeping up with attrition. When we 
adjourned last Congress there were 64 vacancies on the Federal bench. 
After the confirmation of 18 judges in 9 months, there has been a net 
increase of 30 vacancies, an increase of almost 50 percent in the 
number of Federal judicial vacancies.
  The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court has called the rising number 
of vacancies ``the most immediate problem we face in the federal 
judiciary.'' Senator Hatch has said that we can do better. I agree with 
them and add that we must do better. I have urged those who have been 
stalling the consideration of these fine women and men to reconsider 
their action and work with us to have the Senate fulfill its 
constitutional responsibility.

                          ____________________