[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 168 (Thursday, December 6, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12529-S12530]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      CONFIRMATION OF LARRY HICKS

  Mr. REID. Madam President, every Member of the United States Senate 
should be grateful for the hard work that Chairman Leahy and the entire 
Judiciary Committee have exhibited in an effort to move judicial 
nominations forward as quickly as possible.
  Even under the most extraordinary of circumstances, Chairman Leahy 
has moved forward in a reasonable and timely fashion.
  In the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks, Chairman 
Leahy spearheaded legislation through the Judiciary Committee that will 
provide our law enforcement agencies with the necessary tools to 
provide homeland security while at the same time protecting our most 
cherished civil liberties.
  The Senate Judiciary Committee and its Members were also forced to 
endure a lengthy closure of its committee room and office space as a 
result of the anthrax-laced letter that was sent to Majority Leader Tom 
Daschle's Hart Senate Office.
  Yet Chairman Leahy and the Senate Judiciary Committee persevered.
  They even approached the distinguished Chairman of the Senate 
Appropriations Committee and asked his permission to hold a hearing on 
judicial nominations in the Committee's historic conference room in the 
Capitol.
  I attended that hearing in support of the nomination of Larry Hicks, 
of Reno, to be the next Judge on the United States District Court for 
the District of Nevada.
  Larry Hicks is currently a partner in the Reno law firm of McDonald, 
Carano, Wilson, McCune, Bergin, Frankovich & Hicks.
  The Chairman of the litigation section, Larry has been with the firm 
since 1979.
  He has extensive trial court, appellate court and settlement 
experience, having served as a settlement judge since 1998 for the 
Nevada Supreme Court.
  Larry is also admitted to practice in all State and Federal courts of 
the State of Nevada, the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit 
and the United States Supreme Court.
  Prior to his private practice, Larry served the people of Northern 
Nevada for 11 years in the Office of the Washoe County District 
Attorney.
  In 1975, he was elected District Attorney of Washoe County.
  Larry received his undergraduate degree from the University of Nevada 
in

[[Page S12530]]

Reno and received his law degree from the University of Colorado School 
of Law in Boulder.
  He has also received numerous awards and recognition from a variety 
of organizations, including the Nevada State Bar, where he has served 
on the Board of Governors, and as President, the American Bar 
Association, the Association of Trial Lawyers of America and the 
International Association of Gaming Attorneys.
  Larry and his wife Marianne have been blessed with a beautiful 
family. They are the proud parents of three children, Carrie, Amy and 
Christopher, all of whom are graduates of the University of Nevada in 
Reno.
  He is a fine man, a fine Nevadan, and I am sure that he will be a 
fine judge.
  I would also like to take a moment to commend my friend and colleague 
from Nevada, Senator John Ensign.
  Senator Ensign and I have discussed every candidate that he has 
recommended to President Bush, and I fully support his selections.
  It has truly been a bipartisan approach with respect to the federal 
bench in Nevada, and I am so pleased that the Senate will soon vote to 
confirm Larry Hicks to be the next Judge on the U.S. District Court for 
the District of Nevada.

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