[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 15 (Friday, February 15, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S894-S895]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
JUDICIAL NOMINATIONS
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, last night, the Senate voted to confirm
three additional nominees to the Federal district courts: James
Gritzner from Iowa, Richard Leon from Maryland, who will serve as a
judge on the District Court for the District of Columbia, and David
Bunning from Kentucky.
With these votes, the Senate will have confirmed nine judges since
beginning the second session three weeks ago. With these confirmations,
the Senate will have confirmed 37 judges since the change in majority
last June. That number exceeds the number of judges confirmed in all 12
months of 1997 or 1999 and, of course, more than during the entire 1996
session.
I would, again, urge the White House to work with home-state
Senators, to work with Democratic and as well as Republican Senators,
and to send nominees like James Gritzner, who received bipartisan
support from his home-state Senators.
With the confirmation of Judge Gritzner, the Senate has confirmed two
Federal judges from Iowa this week, the other being Judge Michael
Melloy for the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
The Judiciary Committee moved quickly on these nominations. Both Judge
Gritzner and Judge Melloy participated in the first nominations hearing
of this session, which was the first confirmation hearing held in
January in more than half a decade. They were reported favorably by the
Committee at the earliest possible Executive Business Meeting this
year, on February 7, and they are now confirmed, just one week later.
Indeed, Judge Melloy's confirmation filled a judicial emergency
vacancy. That seat on the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit,
which includes eight states, Iowa, Arkansas, Minnesota, Missouri,
Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota, has been vacant since May 1,
1999.
I recall that it was not so long ago, in 2000, when the Senate was
under Republican control, that another nominee to this very seat on the
Eighth Circuit, Bonnie Campbell, did not receive the courtesy of a vote
by the Committee following the hearing on her nomination. She did not
receive a vote due to the previous policy of allowing anonymous holds
to be placed on nominees, even though in her case, both of her home-
state Senators, one a Democrat and the other a Republican, supported
her nomination. Bonnie Campbell, the former Attorney General of Iowa,
did not receive the courtesy of a vote, up or down, during the 382 days
between her nomination by President Clinton and the time that the Bush
Administration withdrew her name.
In contrast, we moved expeditiously to consider and confirm Judge
Melloy's nomination to the Eighth Circuit. Judge Melloy's confirmation
eliminated the judicial emergency vacancy in that Circuit caused, in
part, by the Committee's failure to act on Bonnie Campbell's nomination
when Republicans controlled the Senate and the confirmation process.
Judge Melloy was the seventh Court of Appeals nomination confirmed by
the Senate in the last seven months. That is seven more Court of
Appeals judges than a Republican majority confirmed in the 1996
session, and as many as were confirmed in all of 1997 and in all of
1999.
I think that the last District Court Judge confirmed in Iowa was
Judge Robert Pratt in 1997. Nominated initially in early August 1996,
Judge Pratt was not confirmed until late May the following year, more
than nine months after his initial nomination. I am glad that the
Committee and the Senate were able to act more quickly than that with
respect to Judge Gritzner.
In connection with both Iowa nominees confirmed this year, I thank
the Senators from Iowa for working with the Committee. I especially
appreciate the kind words of the senior Senator, Senator Grassley, both
at the Committee consideration and in connection with these
confirmation.
Last night, the Senate also confirmed Richard Leon to the United
States District Court for the District of Columbia. This is the third
confirmation to this District Court considered by the Senate since I
became Chairman last summer. Indeed, nominees to the District of
Columbia District Court were among those included in our unprecedented
hearings during the August recess last year. I thank Representative
Eleanor Holmes Norton for working closely with the Committee to fill
all three vacancies that had existed in this Federal court.
Richard Leon's nomination was fairly and expeditiously considered by
the Judiciary Committee and the Senate. His nomination was received
last September, the ABA peer reviews were completed favorably in
November, the Judiciary Committee held a hearing on his nomination
during the first week the Senate was in session in January, his
nomination was promptly considered by the Committee and reported
favorably to the Senate last week, and last night the Senate confirmed
his nomination to fill the last current vacancy on the United States
District Court for the District of Columbia. Richard Leon received a
unanimous well-qualified rating from the ABA peer reviews and received
high recommendations from members of the legal community in the
District of Columbia.
Of course, during the years preceding the change in majority, two
nominees to the District Court for the District of Columbia, James
Klein and Rhonda Fields, never received a hearing before the Committee
or votes on their nominations. In fact, James Klein's nomination was
pending for almost four years without a hearing during both the 105th
and 106th Congresses. Despite Representative Norton's strong and
consistent efforts during those years, we were unable to obtain any
action in connection with the vacancies that we have now successfully
filled. Judge Leon will join Judge Bates and Judge Walton.
Last night the Senate also confirmed the nomination of David Bunning
to a vacancy in the Eastern District of Kentucky. Since the elections
in November 2000, three vacancies have arisen on the Eastern District
bench. With this confirmation, the Senate will have acted to fill all
three.
I scheduled a hearing for Karen Caldwell just six days after her file
was complete. Her nomination was reported by the Committee 16 days
later, and only 25 days after her file was complete, Judge Karen
Caldwell was confirmed by the Senate. Danny Reeves, another nominee for
that same district, was able to have a hearing within
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40 days of his file being completed, was voted out of Committee only a
few weeks after that, and he was confirmed 69 days from the time all
his paperwork was complete. Indeed, we proceeded to confirm the first
two nominees to the bench of the Eastern District of Kentucky so
quickly that they had to delay being sworn in and assuming their
judicial duties in order to wind down their legal practices.
This stands in sharp contrast to the length of time it took to get
nominees hearings and confirmations in the recent past. During the last
six years of the Clinton Administration, it took an average of about
150 days to move a district court nominee to confirmation. I am proud
that we have been able to do better since last July.
The hearing on the Bunning nomination included testimony by his home-
state Senators as well as testimony by representatives from the
American Bar Association's Standing Committee. While a majority of the
ABA Committee found the nominee not qualified and a minority found him
to be qualified for the federal bench, three United States District
Court Judges and a former United States Attorney testified in support
of his confirmation. Yesterday, the Senate acted to confirm the
President's nomination, as we have with a number of other nominees who
received mixed peer review ratings.
For 50 years, beginning with the Eisenhower Administration and
including the Clinton Administration, the ABA had provided a valuable
public service to Presidents as they determined whom to nominate to the
federal bench. In addition, the Senate has had the benefit of the ABA
peer reviews. No Senator is bound by the recommendations of the ABA.
As I have said before, it is unfortunate that President Bush decided
to shift the ABA's role in the pre-nomination process, but I am
grateful that the ABA has agreed to continue to provide their
evaluations to the Senate Judiciary Committee. We have always valued
their contribution to the process and the willingness of the members of
the Standing Committee to volunteer their time, efforts and judgment to
this important task.
I congratulate each of the successful nominees and their families on
their Senate confirmations.
I intend to notice another confirmation hearing for judicial
nominations for February 26. Even though this is a short month with a
week's recess, the Committee will hold a second hearing involving
judicial nominees in February. This will be the first time in four
years that the Committee will have held two February hearings for
judicial nominees.
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