[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 104 (Tuesday, July 15, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9368-S9369]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           EXECUTIVE SESSION

                                 ______
                                 

 NOMINATION OF LONNY R. SUKO, TO BE UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE, FOR 
                   THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON

  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sessions). Under the previous order, the 
Senate will now go into executive session to consider the nomination of 
Lonny R. Suko, which the clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read the nomination of Lonny R. Suko, to be 
United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Washington.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senator from 
Washington is recognized.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, my colleagues will be voting momentarily 
on the nomination of Lonny Suko, and I rise today to support his 
nomination for U.S. District Court Judge for the Eastern District of 
Washington State.
  Lonny Suko is a distinguished lawyer and U.S. magistrate judge from 
my home State of Washington. I am honored to support his confirmation 
as a district court judge. He was unanimously reported out of the full 
Judiciary Committee on July 10. Judge Suko has strong bi-partisan 
support, and for good reason. He has handled some of the most difficult 
cases in Eastern Washington in the past decade, and he has won the 
respect of everyone who has come before him. That is one of the reasons 
why Judge Suko enjoys such strong support from a diverse group of 
attorneys and community leaders in Washington State.
  Both Senator Cantwell and I assisted the President in choosing him 
from a list of very qualified candidates. Lonny Suko has spent his life 
living and serving Eastern Washington. He is a graduate of my alma 
mater, Washington State University, and of the University of Idaho 
School of Law. He has had a distinguished career as a lawyer and a U.S. 
magistrate judge. In private practice, Lonny Suko had a sucessful 
practice defending both plaintiffs and defendants in a variety of tort, 
contract, creditor-debtor, and public sector cases. He has also 
distinguished himself as a U.S. magistrate judge, serving part-time 
from 1971 to 1991, and full time since 1991. As I mentioned, Judge Suko 
handled some of the most challenging cases in recent history in Eastern 
Washington. He heard the injury and death claims of more than two dozen 
plaintiffs who were victimized by a gunman at Fairchild Air Force Base 
in the early 1990's. He was involved in several other high profile 
settlements.
  In all of those cases, Judge Suko won high praise for his judicial 
demeanor, his fairness and his respect for all parties. Judge Suko 
clearly meets the standards of fairness, even-handedness, and adherence 
to the law that we expect of our Federal judges. Outside of his many 
professional credentials, I have met with him, and have been impressed 
by his professionalism and decency. Therefore, it is my pleasure to 
support for confirmation to the Federal bench such a great lawyer and 
judge who I believe will make an exceptional Federal judge. He has 
served the people of our State well. I urge my colleagues to support 
his nomination.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, this nomination from Washington State has 
the support of the Democratic Senators from that State. Senator Murray 
and Senator Cantwell have both worked hard to establish a bipartisan 
process for making recommendations to the President for Federal 
judicial vacancies in their State. They are to be commended for their 
work. They support the nomination of Lonny R. Suko, whose nomination is 
a product of Washington's bipartisan selection commission.
  With this confirmation today, the third so far this week, the Senate 
will have confirmed 136 judicial nominees of this President. These 
include 36 confirmed just this year. That number equals the number of 
judges confirmed during all of 1997, exceeds the 34 judges confirmed in 
all of 1999, and is more than double the number of judges confirmed in 
the entire 1996 session. Thus, we are well ahead of the pace that the 
Republican majority used to maintain when reviewing President Clinton's 
nominees.
  We have reduced judicial vacancies to the lowest number in 13 years 
and currently have more Federal judges on the bench than at any time in 
our history.
  Working with home State Senators from both parties helps make the 
confirmation process proceed more smoothly as we have demonstrated over 
and over and demonstrated again today.
  I congratulate the nominee and his family on his confirmation today
  Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I am very pleased that the Senate will 
be acting today to confirm Lonny Suko as a District Court Judge for 
Eastern Washington.
  Lonny Suko is extremely well qualified. He has been a full-time 
Federal

[[Page S9369]]

magistrate judge in Yakima, WA, since 1995. And before that he was a 
part-time magistrate judge from 1971 until 1991. With 28 years of 
experience on the Federal bench, elevating him to be a Federal district 
court judge is a natural step.
  Lonny Suko's nomination is the result of the hard work of an eastern 
Washington-based judicial selection committee. The selection committee 
process was negotiated between the White House, Senator Murray, and 
myself. Six qualified members of the legal community in Eastern 
Washington selected by our local Members of Congress and by Senator 
Murray and myself put in long hours interviewing and selecting three 
qualified candidates to send to the President. The White House agreed 
with my judgment that Lonny Suko was the most qualified candidate for 
this position.
  Prior to his full-time work as a U.S. magistrate judge, Lonny Suko 
was also a partner in the firm of Lyon, Weigand & Suko, where his 
career in private practice involved extensive representation of 
plaintiffs and defendants in civil litigation as well as extensive 
mediation experience. Though he has lived in Yakima for the past 30 
years, Mr. Suko has connections throughout eastern Washington. He is 
originally from Spokane, graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Washington State 
University in Pullman, and started his legal career as a clerk to Judge 
Charles L. Powell, who was then the Chief Judge of the Eastern District 
of Washington in Spokane.
  We wish Judge Suko well in his new position and have confidence that 
he will be an excellent addition to our distinguished Federal bench.
  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I rise today in support of the nomination 
of Magistrate Judge Lonny R. Suko to be a U.S. District Court Judge for 
the Eastern District of Washington.
  Judge Suko has been part of the Washington legal community for over 
three decades. After graduating from law school in 1968, Judge Suko 
clerked for the Honorable Charles L. Powell in the Eastern District of 
Washington. In 1969, he joined the Lyon Law Offices, where he served as 
associate, partner, and shareholder. As an attorney, Judge Suko 
litigated primarily civil matters.
  In 1971, Judge Suko was appointed part-time United States magistrate 
judge, a position he held while practicing law full time until 1991 
when the position was discontinued. In 1995, Judge Suko ascended to the 
bench once again when he was appointed as a full-time Federal 
Magistrate Judge for the United States District Court Eastern District 
of Washington. As a magistrate judge, Judge Suko presides over both 
criminal and civil matters.
  Judge Suko has been rated unanimously well qualified by the American 
Bar Association, and enjoys bipartisan support. I am confident Judge 
Suko will make an excellent Federal judge. I commend President Bush for 
nominating him and urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this 
nomination.
  Mrs. MURRAY. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, have the yeas and nays been ordered on this 
judicial nomination?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. They have not.
  Mr. LOTT. I suggest that we move to the vote. Is there a prearranged 
time?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The vote is to occur at 12:15.
  Mr. LOTT. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the nomination 
of Lonny R. Suko to be a United States District Judge for the Eastern 
District of Washington?
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. I announce that the Senator from New Hampshire (Mr. 
Sununu) is necessarily absent.
  Mr. REID. I announce that the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. 
Edwards), the Senator from Florida (Mr. Graham), the Senator from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry), the Senator from Connecticut (Mr. 
Lieberman), and the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Miller) are necessarily 
absent.
  I further announce that, if present and voting, the Senator from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry) would vote ``aye''.
  The result was announced--yeas 94, nays 0, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 276 Ex.]

                                YEAS--94

     Akaka
     Alexander
     Allard
     Allen
     Baucus
     Bayh
     Bennett
     Biden
     Bingaman
     Bond
     Boxer
     Breaux
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burns
     Byrd
     Campbell
     Cantwell
     Carper
     Chafee
     Chambliss
     Clinton
     Cochran
     Coleman
     Collins
     Conrad
     Cornyn
     Corzine
     Craig
     Crapo
     Daschle
     Dayton
     DeWine
     Dodd
     Dole
     Domenici
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Fitzgerald
     Frist
     Graham (SC)
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Harkin
     Hatch
     Hollings
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Inouye
     Jeffords
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Kohl
     Kyl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lincoln
     Lott
     Lugar
     McCain
     McConnell
     Mikulski
     Murkowski
     Murray
     Nelson (FL)
     Nelson (NE)
     Nickles
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Roberts
     Rockefeller
     Santorum
     Sarbanes
     Schumer
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Smith
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stabenow
     Stevens
     Talent
     Thomas
     Voinovich
     Warner
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--6

     Edwards
     Graham (FL)
     Kerry
     Lieberman
     Miller
     Sununu
  The nomination was confirmed
  Mrs. MURRAY. I move to reconsider the vote and move to lay that 
motion on the table.
  The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The President will be immediately notified of 
the Senate's action.

                          ____________________