[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 106 (Thursday, July 17, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9558-S9559]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EXECUTIVE SESSION
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NOMINATION OF ALLYSON K. DUNCAN, OF NORTH CAROLINA, TO BE UNITED STATES
CIRCUIT JUDGE FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will
proceed to executive session to consider the following nomination,
which the clerk will report.
The assistant legislative clerk read the nomination of Allyson K.
Duncan, of North Carolina, to be United States Circuit Judge for the
Fourth Circuit.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, there will be 10
minutes equally divided between Senator Dole and Senator Edwards.
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays on this
nominee.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
There is a sufficient second.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Carolina.
Mrs. DOLE. Mr. President, I am pleased tonight we are confirming two
of President Bush's judicial nominees from my home State of North
Carolina, Allyson Duncan to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and
Louise Flanagan to the Eastern District of North Carolina. Our free
society is based on reasoned, dispassionate judgment of the men and
women of our judicial branch of our Government who share a sense of
honor and duty to our country and to our Constitution. Every indication
is that these two talented and experienced individuals will provide
just that.
Judges interpret and apply the laws that govern our Nation, including
our fundamental rights and liberties protected in the Constitution.
However, on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, there is a North
Carolina vacancy that is the longest on the entire Federal bench. It
dates back nearly a decade to July 31, 1994. In fact, North Carolina
has had no representation on the Fourth Circuit Court in nearly 4
years, though we are the largest State in the circuit. Two seats have
stood empty on North Carolina's Eastern District Court for 2\1/2\ and
5\1/2\ years, respectively.
I am pleased the Senate has stepped up and fulfilled its duties for
these to nominees, taking steps to fill these vacancies to address the
disparity for North Carolina.
This vote is historic in more ways than one. Allyson Duncan is the
first woman from North Carolina to serve on the Fourth Circuit Court of
Appeals. She is also the first African-American woman to serve on the
Fourth Circuit Court. Ms. Duncan's resume is most impressive, marked
with numerous positions of significant responsibility in both the
public and private sectors. Currently, an attorney with the Raleigh law
firm of Kilpatrick Stockton, Ms. Duncan is the president of the North
Carolina Bar Association, and an active member of the North Carolina
Association of Women Attorneys. Prior to that, she was a judge on the
North Carolina Court of Appeals, and a professor of law at North
Carolina Central University.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Carolina is recognized.
Mr. EDWARDS. Mr. President, I rise to enthusiastically express my
support for the nomination of Allyson Duncan for the Fourth Circuit
Court of Appeals and Louise Wood Flanagan for the U.S. District Court
for the Eastern District of North Carolina.
This is a historic day for my home state of North Carolina. Once
confirmed, Allyson Duncan will be the first North Carolinian to join
the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in 23 years. North Carolina is the
only State in the Union with no judges on a Federal appellate court.
And we have the longest-standing vacancy in the Federal appeals court
system.
I was very proud to support Judge Duncan's nomination and it was my
pleasure to introduce her during her confirmation hearing. She will
restore the voice of North Carolina to this very important Federal
Court and breaks a logjam that has damaged our state for too many
years.
This historic development shows what can be done when the President
truly respects the advice and consent role of the Senate. In this case,
President Bush did more than just pay lip service to this important
responsibility. He reached out to Senator Dole and me before he made
his decision--he consulted with us--he sought our advice. In making his
decision, the President selected a nominee who represents the
mainstream of our state.
I commend the President for consulting with us and for making an
excellent nomination. If he takes this approach to future judicial
nominations we have a real opportunity to find common ground in the
search for excellence on the Federal bench. When we work together, we
find outstanding nominees like Allyson Duncan who represents the best
of North Carolina.
As impressive as her resume is, even more telling is her steller
repudiation throughout the North Carolina legal community. I have heard
from folks all over the State who can't say enough about Allyson
Duncan. What people keep telling me is that this is a woman of
extraordinary intellect and skill, who loves the law, strives for
justice and never allows politics to interfere with her commitment to
fairness and equality.
When the Senate confirms Allyson Duncan--which I hope will happen
soon--her confirmation will mark a number of ``firsts.''
She will be the first North Carolinian to join the 4th Circuit in
over 20 years; she will be the first African American woman to serve on
that distinguished court. And most important, I hope she will be the
first in a series of bipartisan, consensus judicial nominations from
our State.
I yield the floor.
Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I rise today to express my strong support
for the confirmation of Allyson K. Duncan, who has been nominated to
the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
Ms. Duncan is truly an impressive woman and has the enthusiastic
support of both North Carolina senators, along with a unanimous ``Well
Qualified'' ABA rating.
She graduated first in her class at Hampton University, a
historically black college. She then attended Duke University Law
School and was appointed an Earl Warren Legal Scholar, a scholarship
awarded to black law students demonstrating leadership and an interest
in the public interest.
Upon graduation, our nominee clerked for the Honorable Julia Cooper
Mack on the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, before beginning her
[[Page S9559]]
tenure at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 1978. Ms.
Duncan held several positions at the EEOC, starting as an appellate
attorney, serving as the assistant to the Chairman, and ultimately
becoming acting legal counsel.
Ms. Duncan left the EEOC for a teaching post at North Carolina
Central University School of Law, another historically black college,
where she taught property, employment discrimination, labor law, and
appellate advocacy.
Our outstanding nominee is also a pioneer. After leaving her teaching
post in 1990, she became the first black woman to be appointed to the
North Carolina Court of Appeals as an associate judge. She served in
that capacity for one year, after which she hit another milestone.
Ms. Duncan was then appointed commissioner of the North Carolina
Utilities Commission--another first for a black woman. As commissioner,
she was responsible for telecommunications, natural gas and water
regulations. She served as commissioner until she entered private
practice with the law firm of Kilpatrick Stockton, where she is
currently a partner. Her area of concentration is energy-related
issues, but she also handles regulatory matters involving rate making,
and mergers and acquisitions.
I am proud to add that if confirmed, Ms. Duncan will hit a third
milestone: that of being the first black woman to sit on the Fourth
Circuit Court Appeals. A circuit, I would like to note, that has a 24
percent black population--the highest black population for all of the
circuit courts.
Allyson Duncan has a fine background, which will serve her well as a
circuit court judge. She will be a terrific addition to the Court, and
I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting her nomination.
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, today the Senate will confirm the first new
judge to the Fourth Circuit from North Carolina in 23 years as well as
a nominee to the District Court for the Eastern District of North
Carolina. I want to thank Senator Edwards for his efforts to resolve
the impasse that has stalled so many nominees from North Carolina. Part
of his reward will be the service that Judge Allyson Duncan will soon
be providing to the people of North Carolina as a member of the United
States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. When Senator Edwards
obtained a hearing for Judge Duncan last month, her nomination had
already progressed further than the Republican majority had allowed the
nominations of Judge James Beaty, Judge James Wynn, and Judge Rich
Leonard to proceed when they were nominated to the Fourth Circuit by
President Clinton from 1995 through 2001. This confirmation means that
North Carolina once again is represented on the Fourth Circuit.
In addition, Judge Duncan will be the first African-American woman to
serve on the Fourth Circuit, a circuit that did not have an African-
American judge until President Clinton appointed Roger Gregory 2\1/2\
years ago.
A good way to see how much faster we are proceeding on judicial
nominations for a Republican President is to compare where we are in
July of this year to July of any year during the last Democratic
administration when the Republicans controlled the Senate. Over the
last 6\1/2\ years of Republican control under President Clinton, the
Republicans allowed only 19 judicial confirmations, on average, by July
16, and included only 4 circuit court nominees, on average, by this
time. We have now doubled the number of judicial confirmations and more
than doubled the number of circuit court confirmations.
On this day, in 1995, only 27 judicial nominations had been
confirmed; in 1996, only 10; in 1997, only 6; in 1998 the confirmations
totaled 33; in 1999, only 9; and in 2000 the confirmation total by this
point of the year was 29. Today, we confirm the 37th and 38th judges so
far this year. We have already confirmed more judges in only the
seventh month of this year than the Republican majority was willing to
confirm in all of 1999, in all of 1997, and more than twice as many as
the Republican majority was willing to consider during the entire 1996
session. Vacancies in the courts stand at less than half of what they
were during the Clinton years and we have more Federal judges serving
than ever before.
Today, we confirm the 10th judge to the Courts of Appeals. This is
more than were confirmed in all of 4 of the past 6 years when the
Republicans were in the majority--in 1996, 1997, 1999, and 2000. And in
the 2 other years, the Tenth Circuit nominee was not confirmed until
much later in the year.
As I have noted throughout the last 3 years, the Senate is able to
move expeditiously when we have consensus nominees. I am delighted that
these North Carolina nominees have the support of Senator Edwards and
Senator Dole and that we have been able to move forward so
expeditiously to confirm them. Unfortunately, far too many of this
President's nominees have records that raise serious concerns about
whether they will be fair judges to all parties on all issues.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. All time has been yielded. The question is,
Will the Senate advise and consent to the nomination of Allyson K.
Duncan, of North Carolina, to be United States Circuit Judge for the
Fourth Circuit?
The yeas and nays have been ordered. The clerk will call the roll.
Mr. McCONNELL. I announce that the Senator from Texas (Mrs. Hutchison
and the Senator from Virginia (Mr. Warner) are necessarily absent.
Mr. REID. I announce that the Senator from Louisiana (Mr. Breaux),
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 ``yea.''
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber
desiring to vote?
The result was announced--yeas 93, nays 0, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 289 Ex.]
YEAS--93
Akaka
Alexander
Allard
Allen
Baucus
Bayh
Bennett
Biden
Bingaman
Bond
Boxer
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
Edwards
Ensign
Enzi
Feingold
Feinstein
Fitzgerald
Frist
Graham (SC)
Grassley
Gregg
Hagel
Harkin
Hatch
Hollings
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
Sununu
Talent
Thomas
Voinovich
Wyden
NOT VOTING--7
Breaux
Graham (FL)
Hutchison
Kerry
Lieberman
Miller
Warner
The nomination was confirmed.
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