[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 108 (Thursday, August 1, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7807-S7809]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EXECUTIVE SESSION
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NOMINATION OF HENRY E. AUTREY, OF MISSOURI, TO BE UNITED STATES
DISTRICT JUDGE FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will
proceed to executive session to consider the nomination of Henry E.
Autrey, of Missouri, to be United States District Judge, which the
clerk will report.
The assistant legislative clerk read the nomination of Henry E.
Autrey, of Missouri, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern
District of Missouri.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who yields time?
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, the Senate Judiciary Committee moved
expeditiously to consider Judge Henry Autrey despite the poor treatment
of President Clinton's nominees in the same circumstances. I mention
this because this vacancy is special. It is a vacancy to which Justice
Ronnie White should have been confirmed. But in October of 1999, my
friends on the other side of the aisle, the Republicans, marched from a
closed-door meeting to vote lockstep against Justice Ronnie White, the
first African American Justice of the Missouri Supreme Court, after his
nomination to the District Court had been kept waiting for 2 years--2
years here in the Senate; actually kept on the Executive Calendar
pending for 9 months.
I mention this because, with all the unfair criticism of Majority
Leader Daschle, who has been moving judges through at a much faster
pace than was done prior to him becoming majority leader, I just want
to contrast the difference between that action and the one on this
nomination, where we are going to confirm Judge Autrey to the Federal
bench in Missouri.
It shows, also, Senator Carnahan showed far more grace in helping us
move this nominee forward.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who yields time? The Senator from Missouri.
Mr. BOND. Mr. President, first my appreciation to the President for
nominating Judge Autrey. My thanks to Chairman Leahy and the Senate
Judiciary Committee for voting unanimously to confirm him.
We will have discussions about other procedures and other activities
in a different forum. In this forum, I express my strongest support and
highest confidence that this candidate respects the role of judges in
our system of government--the job being to interpret the job rather
than to legislate it.
Permit me to tell you that Judge Henry Autrey currently serves as a
circuit court judge for the 22nd Judicial Circuit for the State of
Missouri, City of St. Louis. Judge Autrey served with distinction as an
associate circuit judge beginning in 1986, a position to which he was
appointed by then-Governor, John Ashcroft. He was later promoted to the
full circuit bench by then-Governor of Missouri, Mel Carnahan.
As a sitting judge for over 15 years, Judge Autrey has displayed an
unwavering commitment to honesty and approachability, earning a
reputation as a thoughtful and hard-working judge with a judicious
temperament.
Prior to his service on the bench, he served as a prosecutor in the
City of
[[Page S7808]]
St. Louis for 9 years, won convictions in several high-profile cases,
and led the office in its work in the area of child abuse prosecution.
His entire career has been spent in the courtroom and therefore he
exemplifies someone who has both the personal qualities and the
experience to fill this spot and perform this duty in an exemplary
manner. He is highly regarded by the law enforcement community in St.
Louis. Countless attorneys have expressed their support for him. He has
the support of the Mound City Bar Association of St. Louis, the
Missouri Prosecuting Attorneys, and the Women Lawyers Association of
Greater St. Louis.
He is an ideal candidate for the position.
I appreciate the Senate proceeding to this nomination, and I urge my
colleagues to give Judge Autrey their favorable consideration. I
reserve my time.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.
Mr. DASCHLE. I inform my colleagues when we conclude this series of
votes, whatever the number may be--and we will clarify that after this
vote--that will conclude the rollcalls for this week. So I urge my
colleagues to stay on the floor.
This is a 10-minute vote, and whatever additional votes will be 10-
minute votes. If we have to wait 15 or 20 minutes, it just prolongs the
time until we will have completed our work on this block of votes and
then, therefore, the final, official vote of the week.
So I urge my colleagues to stay on the floor and respond to the votes
as their names are called.
I thank the Chair.
Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I rise today in support of the nomination
of Henry E. Autrey to the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District
of Missouri.
I have enjoyed reviewing Judge Autrey's distinguished legal record,
and I am confident that he will make a fine Federal judge.
Judge Autrey is no stranger to the citizens of eastern Missouri. He
has strong roots in the city of St. Louis, having graduated from the
University of St. Louis School of Law and having served in the city's
Office of the Circuit Attorney, where he prosecuted a variety of
criminal cases and later acted as the First Assistant Circuit Attorney.
He also served on the Rape Trial Task Force and created the first child
abuse unit in the Office of the Circuit Attorney. From 1991 to 1997 he
served as Adjunct Professor of Law at St. Louis University School of
Law.
Judge Autrey's prosecutorial excellence attracted the attention of
both Republican Governor John Ashcoft, who appointed him as an
Associate Circuit Judge on the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis
in 1986, and Democratic Governor Mel Carnahan, who elevated him to
Circuit Court Judge in 1997. Judge Autrey's judicial experience on the
State bench will serve him well in the district court.
Judge Autrey is described by associates as a judge who ``work[s] very
hard to ensure that justice is provided to all'' and as a ``smart and
hard-working jurist.'' He merited an ABA rating of ``Unanimous
Qualified,'' and I fully expect him to serve with distinction on the
Federal bench in Missouri.
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, the Senate Judiciary Committee moved
expeditiously to consider Judge Henry Autrey as it has with so many of
President Bush's judicial nominees. We have done so despite the poor
treatment of President Clinton's nominees by the Republicans when they
were in the majority from 1995 through the first half of 2001.
The vacancy being filled by this nomination is special. This is the
vacancy that Justice Ronnie White should have been confirmed to fill.
But on October 5, 1999, Republicans marched from their closed-door
meeting to vote lockstep against Justice Ronnie White. This, even
though he had been favorably reported twice by the Judiciary Committee
with the apparent backing of from four and seven of the Republicans who
served on the committee.
I remember the treatment of Ronnie White very well, as do people in
Missouri, I am sure. I recall the efforts made by Gov. Mel Carnahan on
Justice White's behalf and how hard I had to work as the ranking
Democrat to get his nomination reported to the floor, not once but
twice, and to secure a floor vote after the nomination had been pending
2 years and had been pending on the Senate Executive Calendar for 9
months.
It has now been been almost 5 years since anyone nominated to the
Federal district court in Missouri has been confirmed. The vacancy to
which Judge Autrey has been nominated has been vacant even longer--
since December 1996, when the late Judge Gunn took senior status.
President Clinton nominated Missouri Supreme Court Judge Ronnie White
to this vacancy in June 1997. He had to wait nearly a year for a
hearing, until May 1998. The committee reported the nomination
favorably to the Senate with only three negative votes of the 18
members of the committee. But his nomination sat waiting for a full
Senate vote, and, having never received one, was sent back to President
Clinton at the end of the 105th Congress after languishing for 6 months
on the Senate floor without action.
The President renominated Justice White in January of 1999. He was
voted out of the committee a second time in July with at least four of
the Republicans on the committee in apparent support of the nomination.
After a great deal of effort on the part of Democratic Senators, I
thought we had secured for him a fair floor vote. Instead, on October
5, 1999, the Republican-controlled Senate ambushed Justice White's
nomination for partisan gain. As is by now a well-known story, Ronnie
White was the victim of a sneak attack on that day. He was defeated on
an unprecedented party-line Senate vote and was branded ``pro-
criminal.'' These issues were aired during the confirmation hearing of
John Ashcroft last year. Senator Specter, to his credit, offered an
apology to Justice White for the way he was treated.
When there is so much unfair criticism of the way Majority Leader
Daschle and I have been handling nominations since the change in Senate
control last July, I mention this to help contrast the treatment of
judicial nominees by Democrats and Republicans. As I have said from the
outset, the Democratic majority is treating President Bush's nominees
more fairly and moving more of them more quickly than the Republican
majority acted with respect to President Clinton's nominees. That is
undeniable and today, in yet another example of the stark contrast in
our approaches and our actions, we will join to confirm Judge Autrey to
the Federal bench in Missouri.
I commend, in particular, Senator Carnahan for her support of the
fair treatment of Judge Autrey, despite the unfair way Justice White
had been treated. Her actions underscore for us what we all know about
her that she is a person of character and grace, willing to work on a
bipartisan basis in the best interests of the State of Missouri.
With today's vote on the nomination of Judge Henry Autrey to the
District Court for the Western District of Missouri, the Democratic-led
Senate will have confirmed a total of 65 judicial nominees since the
change in Senate majority 1 year ago. The Senate has now confirmed more
nominees in a little more than 1 year than were confirmed in any year
during the past 6\1/2\ years of Republican control of the Senate, from
1995 through 2001. For that matter, we have confirmed more judges than
were confirmed in 1996 and 1997 combined. Contrast the 65 judges
confirmed by the Democratic Senate with the Republican average, during
their past 6\1/2\ years of control, of confirming only 38 judges a
year.
I congratulate the nominee and his family on his confirmation today
and commend Senator Carnahan and Majority Leader Daschle for all they
have done to bring us to this day.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who yields time? Is all time yielded back?
Mr. BOND. I yield my time.
Mr. LEAHY. I yield any time we have.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is, Will the Senate advise and
consent to the nomination of Henry E. Autrey, of Missouri, to be United
States District Judge for the Eastern District of Missouri?
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second? There is a
sufficient second.
[[Page S7809]]
The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. REID. I announce that the Senator from Hawaii (Mr. Akaka), is
necessarily absent.
Mr. NICKLES. I announce that the Senator from North Carolina (Mr.
Helms) is necessarily absent.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber
desiring to vote?
[Rollcall Vote No. 205 Ex.]
YEAS--98
Allard
Allen
Baucus
Bayh
Bennett
Biden
Bingaman
Bond
Boxer
Breaux
Brownback
Bunning
Burns
Byrd
Campbell
Cantwell
Carnahan
Carper
Chafee
Cleland
Clinton
Cochran
Collins
Conrad
Corzine
Craig
Crapo
Daschle
Dayton
DeWine
Dodd
Domenici
Dorgan
Durbin
Edwards
Ensign
Enzi
Feingold
Feinstein
Fitzgerald
Frist
Graham
Gramm
Grassley
Gregg
Hagel
Harkin
Hatch
Hollings
Hutchinson
Hutchison
Inhofe
Inouye
Jeffords
Johnson
Kennedy
Kerry
Kohl
Kyl
Landrieu
Leahy
Levin
Lieberman
Lincoln
Lott
Lugar
McCain
McConnell
Mikulski
Miller
Murkowski
Murray
Nelson (FL)
Nelson (NE)
Nickles
Reed
Reid
Roberts
Rockefeller
Santorum
Sarbanes
Schumer
Sessions
Shelby
Smith (NH)
Smith (OR)
Snowe
Specter
Stabenow
Stevens
Thomas
Thompson
Thurmond
Torricelli
Voinovich
Warner
Wellstone
Wyden
NOT VOTING--2
Akaka
Helms
The nomination was confirmed.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the motion to
reconsider is laid on the table, and the President will be immediately
notified of the Senate's action.
The majority leader.
Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, it is now my intention to go to seven
additional district court nominees. Senator Leahy and the Judiciary
Committee have done an extraordinary job of reporting these out. They
have been on the calendar. And it is certainly Senator Leahy's
prerogative to ask for a rollcall vote on each nominee.
He and I have discussed this matter, and I would ask the Senator from
Vermont, the distinguished chair of the Judiciary Committee, about the
need to have additional rollcalls for each of these district judges.
I yield the floor for that purpose.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont.
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I tell the distinguished majority leader,
the only concern I have had about having rollcall votes is, a couple
times we have taken a group of these and had voice votes, with seven,
eight going through, and the next day my good friends on the other side
of the aisle and the White House have had a press release saying we
have not had a single judge voted on in weeks in the Senate. I think
they only notice it if there is a rollcall vote.
I ask my friend, the majority leader, if we do these 7, am I correct
that would mean we will have confirmed 72 judges in less than 13
months?
Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, that is the current count, 72 district
and circuit court judges over that period of time.
Mr. LEAHY. I believe that sets sort of a record for the last 5 or 6
years, in any event.
Mr. President, I know some of my colleagues have the sprint-for-the-
airport look in their eye, trying to get home.
I am willing to sacrifice my time and spend the next month, the month
of August, in Vermont, close to my constituents, onerous as that may
seem.
I would be perfectly willing to accept voice votes on each of these
seven judges, but I would just ask my friends: Please, don't issue a
press release tomorrow saying that we only voted on one judge today.
We have already voted on one. I will take voice votes on the others.
Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I thank the distinguished chair of the
Judiciary Committee. I appreciate very much his cooperation in this
regard.
Let me tell my colleagues who need to remember, even though we are
going through these voice votes, there is one more rollcall vote on the
conference report on the trade promotion authority legislation.
I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to consider the
following nominations and that they be considered individually:
Executive Calendar Nos. 863, 864, 865, 866, 867, 887, and 888.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
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