[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 84 (Thursday, June 17, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6944-S6945]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
NOMINATION OF JANE J. BOYLE TO BE UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE FOR THE
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the next nomination.
The legislative clerk read the nomination of Jane J. Boyle, of Texas,
to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of Texas.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Michigan.
Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I wonder if Senator Reid and Senator Warner
are here. I want to clarify the length of time which the next amendment
will take. My understanding is that Senator Reed's amendment might take
as little as 10 minutes; in which case, it would make sense to stack
his vote with the vote on the Biden amendment which would then be 2
hours later. However, if there is objection to that, I think people
should be informed there could be another vote after this final vote on
judges in about 10 or 15 minutes.
I am wondering if Senator Warner is here.
Mr. WARNER. He is right here.
Mr. LEVIN. Is Senator Reid here?
Mr. REED. I am here.
Mr. LEVIN. Senator Harry Reid, too.
Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, for the convenience of the Senate,
stacking the two votes is quite acceptable.
Mr. LEVIN. Should I make a unanimous consent request? I think Senator
Hatch----
Mr. WARNER. I discussed it with him, and it is fine.
Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that after this
vote, there then be a period of time to debate the Senator Jack Reed
amendment, which we expect would be short. We would immediately go to
the Biden amendment.
Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, we were going to intersperse a Sessions
amendment for 30 minutes.
Mr. LEVIN. I will amend that to ask that immediately after Jack
Reed's amendment, there be a Sessions amendment for 30 minutes equally
divided, and that we then go to a Biden amendment for perhaps as much
as 2 hours, and there be three votes stacked at that point.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Mr. LEVIN. Excuse me. Do we have a copy of the Sessions amendment? Is
Senator Sessions here?
Mr. WARNER. He is not here.
Mr. LEVIN. So there will be no time agreement on the Sessions
amendment until we know which amendment it is.
Mr. WARNER. We must check with our Finance Committee regarding the
time on the Biden amendment. We are trying to work toward putting the
votes in one batch.
Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I revise that unanimous consent request to
ask that immediately after the debate on Senator Reed's amendment, it
be laid aside and we proceed to a debate on the Sessions amendment;
that it then be laid aside and we then go to the Biden amendment, and
we will hopefully have three votes at that time.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Without objection, it is so ordered.
The Senator from Texas is recognized.
Ms. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, the nominee we are going to vote on,
Jane Boyle, has served our country in so many positions: U.S.
magistrate, where she had an outstanding record, as our U.S. Attorney,
where she had an equally outstanding record. She has shown fairness, a
judicial temperament, and great leadership in every position she has
held.
Mr. President, I am proud to have recommended her nomination along
with my colleague, Senator Cornyn, and before that, Senator Gramm. We
have never been disappointed in Jane Boyle's performance, and know she
will be an outstanding judge.
I urge a vote for her nomination.
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I also support the nomination of Jane J.
Boyle.
Mr. President, Ms. Boyle is currently the United States Attorney for
this district. She comes to the Senate with extensive litigation and
judicial experience. Before serving as the Northern District's U.S.
Attorney, Ms. Boyle served for over a decade as a United States
Magistrate and she served for years as a Federal and city prosecutor. I
support Ms. Boyle's nomination.
With the three judicial confirmation votes today, the Senate will now
have confirmed 20 judicial nominees this year alone. Only 17 judges
were confirmed under Republican leadership in the entire 1996 session
and no circuit court nominees were confirmed that entire time. That was
the last year in which a President was seeking reelection. The Senate
has now exceeded the number of total judges confirmed and the number of
circuit court judges confirmed.
With these three confirmations today, the Senate will have confirmed
a total of 89 judges this Congress and 189 of this President's judicial
nominees overall. With 89 judicial confirmations in just a little more
than 17 months, the Senate has confirmed more Federal judges than were
confirmed during the two full years of 1995 and 1996, when Republicans
first controlled the Senate and President Clinton was in the White
House. It also exceeds the two-year total at the end of the Clinton
administration, when Republicans held the Senate majority in 1999 and
2000. It is not quite as many as the 100 judges nominated by President
Bush that a Democratic-led Senate confirmed in our 17 months in the
majority in 2001 and 2002.
With 189 total confirmations for President Bush, the Senate has
confirmed more lifetime appointees for this President than were allowed
to be confirmed in the most recent four-year presidential term that of
President Clinton from 1997 through 2000. It is more than a Republican
majority confirmed in President Reagan's entire term from 1981 through
1984. Of course, President Reagan is recognized as the all-time champ
in terms of judicial appointments having appointed more than any other
President in our history.
I congratulate Ms. Boyle on her confirmation.
Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I rise in support of the confirmation of
Jane J. Boyle to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of
Texas. I have had the pleasure to review Ms. Boyle's distinguished
career and I am confident that she will make a fine Federal judge.
Jane J. Boyle is an extremely experienced attorney who has tried over
180 cases to a verdict during her impressive career as an assistant
district attorney, an assistant U.S. attorney, and as the U.S. attorney
for the Northern District of Texas. She has also served with
distinction as a magistrate judge in the same district. Ms. Boyle
brings a wealth of experience to the Federal
[[Page S6945]]
bench and she will make an excellent addition to the Northern District
of Texas.
I am not alone in believing that Ms. Boyle will make an outstanding
Federal district judge. The Texas Employment Lawyers Association, TELA,
calls Ms. Boyle ``considerate, concerned, and well-read,'' in addition
to possessing ``a great deal of knowledge about employment law'' and an
excellent judicial demeanor that is reflected in her ``even-handed and
fair'' approach to adjudication. Ms. Boyle also has strong bipartisan
support. The current chair of the Dallas County Democratic Party has
written a letter expressing her ``enthusiastic support of the
nomination of Jane J. Boyle,'' and a former chair of the same
organization wrote a letter stating that ``in the case of this nominee,
partisan considerations are unwise and should evaporate.''
Ms. Boyle's experience both as a U.S. attorney and as a Federal
magistrate judge will serve her well on the Federal district court. I
urge my colleagues to join me in strong support of Ms. Boyle's
nomination.
Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I am proud today to cast my vote in the
affirmative for Jane J. Boyle who has been nominated to the U.S.
District Court for the Northern District of Texas. She presently serves
as United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas. Judge
Boyle has a long and distinguished career of public service and is well
qualified to return to the bench having served as United States
Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of Texas from 1990 to 2002.
In addition, she served a previous term as United States Attorney,
Northern District of Texas from 1987 to 1990, and was an Assistant
District Attorney in the Dallas County District Attorney's Office from
1981 to 1987.
Judge Boyle is imminently well qualified, as the ABA has rated her.
More importantly, there is bipartisan consensus of those who know her
and work with her. Moreover, she has garnered the respect of her
colleagues and those who work for her. Most notably, she has gained the
respect of the Dallas community, including folks from the entire
political spectrum.
I ask unanimous consent to have a related article printed in the
Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
(For immediate release, June 17, 2004)
Senate Confirms Jane Boyle for Judgeship
will fill vacant seat in Northern District, based in Dallas
Washington.--The U.S. Senate on Thursday unanimously
approved the federal judicial nomination of current U.S.
Attorney Jane Boyle to be the U.S. District Judge for the
Northern District of Texas. Boyle, 49, will be based in
Dallas, and replaces retired Judge Jerry L. Buchmeyer. The
Northern District's jurisdiction includes 100 counties.
``Jane Boyle has remarkable experience and knowledge of the
law. She has done an outstanding job as U.S. Attorney in
Dallas, and I'm confident that she will continue to serve
Texas and the nation with excellence,'' Cornyn said. ``She
has garnered the respect of her colleagues, those who work
for her, and most notably, she has gained the respect of
folks from across the political spectrum.''
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, a member of the Judiciary Committee,
along with Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, recommended Boyle to
President Bush on September 9, 2003. The President nominated
Boyle on November 24, 2003, and she was confirmed by the
Judiciary Committee on April 1, 2004.
Boyle was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2002 to
be U.S. Attorney for the Northern District after a long and
distinguished legal career in Texas. Prior to that selection,
she served as U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Northern District
for twelve years, earning significant judicial experience in
the region.
Boyle also worked for a number of years as an Assistant
U.S. Attorney and an Assistant District Attorney for Dallas
County. She earned a J.D. degree from Southern Methodist
University School of Law in 1981 and graduated with honors
from The University of Texas at Austin in 1977. She has been
published in numerous legal periodicals, including the Texas
Bar Journal.
Sen. Cornyn chairs the subcommittee on the Constitution,
Civil Rights & Property Rights, and is the only former judge
on the committee. He also serves on the Armed Services,
Environment and Public Works, and Budget Committees. He
served previously as Texas Attorney General, Texas Supreme
Court Justice, and Bexar County District Judge.
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays on the
nomination.
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 Texas, Mr. Cornyn, is
recognized.
Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, in the interest of time, I will not
belabor the point. I wanted to add my voice to that of Senator
Hutchison commending this fine nominee, Jane Boyle, to the U.S. Senate.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is, Shall the Senate advise and
consent to the nomination of Jane J. Boyle, of Texas, to be United
States District Judge for the Northern District of Texas?
The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. REID. I announce that the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry)
is necessarily absent.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Smith). Are there any other Senators in
the Chamber desiring to vote?
The result was announced--yeas 99, nays 0, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 128 Ex.]
YEAS--99
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
Edwards
Ensign
Enzi
Feingold
Feinstein
Fitzgerald
Frist
Graham (FL)
Graham (SC)
Grassley
Gregg
Hagel
Harkin
Hatch
Hollings
Hutchison
Inhofe
Inouye
Jeffords
Johnson
Kennedy
Kohl
Kyl
Landrieu
Lautenberg
Leahy
Levin
Lieberman
Lincoln
Lott
Lugar
McCain
McConnell
Mikulski
Miller
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
Warner
Wyden
NOT VOTING--1
Kerry
The nomination was confirmed.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The President will be immediately notified of
the Senate's action on this nomination.
____________________