[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 29 (Tuesday, March 17, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2094-S2095]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       NOMINATION OF SUSAN GRABER

  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I rise today to speak in support of a 
friend and a constituent of mine who is a great legal thinker and 
writer, a pillar in her community, a respected and valuable Associate 
Justice on the Oregon Supreme Court, and someone who I believe will be 
an outstanding federal court of appeals judge--Justice Susan Graber.
  Let me begin by expressing my thanks and gratitude to the Senate 
Judiciary Committee, and in particular the Chairman of that Committee, 
Senator Hatch of Utah for acting on the nomination of Justice Graber 
and holding a confirmation hearing earlier this year.
  Mr. President, I rise today in strong support of Justice Susan Graber 
for appointment as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for 
the Ninth Circuit. Justice Graber comes before the Senate today with 
the strong bipartisan support of the Oregon Congressional delegation, 
with broad support from Oregon's law enforcement community and with 
strong support from the bench and bar. From all across my home state, 
from both sides of the aisle in Oregon politics, from judges and 
litigants alike, I have heard the praise accorded to this dedicated 
jurist, who has just recently reached her 10th anniversary as an 
appellate judge --at the ripe old age of 48.
  I will not dwell long on her outstanding qualifications for this 
position--a graduate of Wellesley College and Yale Law School, Susan 
Graber has excelled at every step of her fine legal career. From the 
moment she took the bench right up until the present day, Susan Graber 
remains the youngest--and I think most will agree, one of the most 
productive--justices of the Oregon Supreme Court.
  Through her authorship of over 300 opinions in the past 10 years, 
Justice Graber has garnered praise from the bench and bar as being the 
epitome of a careful and non-ideological judge whose centrist approach 
has helped promote a consensus-building and collegial atmosphere on 
this important court. And Justice Graber's opinions point out another 
fact--this is an individual who respects and understands her role as a 
judge. She understands very clearly the difference between being a 
legislator and being a judge, and her opinions reflect a firm adherence 
to the law as written by the Oregon Legislature. She knows the role of 
a judge is to follow, not to make the law, and that is exactly what we 
need on the federal appellate bench.
  I am certain that Justice Graber will bring to the U.S. Court of 
Appeals the

[[Page S2095]]

same intelligence, thoroughness and integrity that she has brought to 
her work as a State Supreme Court judge and as a careful and thoughtful 
student of the law. I want to again thank Chairman Hatch and the Senate 
leadership for moving us to this point in the process, and I urge my 
colleagues to confirm this tremendous nominee.

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