[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 41 (Monday, April 11, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3398-S3401]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           EXECUTIVE SESSION

                                 F_____
                                 

NOMINATION OF PAUL A. CROTTY TO BE UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE FOR THE 
                     SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the 
Senate will now go into executive session for the consideration of 
Executive Calendar No. 38, which the clerk will report.
  The assistant legislative clerk read the nomination of Paul A. 
Crotty, of New York, to be United States District Judge for the 
Southern District of New York.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, there 
will be 30 minutes of debate equally divided between the chairman and 
ranking member of the Committee on the Judiciary or their designees.
  The Senator from New York.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I rise to speak in favor of an extremely 
fine gentleman, Paul Crotty, to be confirmed to the Southern District 
of the New York bench. Paul Crotty is a fine man, an outstanding 
lawyer, and he will make a terrific judge. Paul Crotty is an impressive 
nominee who has long enjoyed strong bipartisan support for a judgeship 
in New York. I am glad that at long last his nomination has finally 
been brought to the floor for a vote after languishing since last 
November.
  First, I would like to talk a little bit about Paul Crotty. He has 
the support of not only myself and Senator Clinton, he has the support 
of a broad range of New Yorkers, in fact. I personally would like to 
thank two who worked religiously on behalf of Paul Crotty's nomination, 
two former mayors of New York City, one a Democrat and one a 
Republican. They are Mayor Ed Koch and Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
  Both had worked with Paul Crotty when they were mayor, and both speak 
extremely highly of him. In fact, I would like to read from the letter, 
for instance, that Mayor Giuliani sent:

       Paul Crotty is one of the finest men I know. He possesses 
     all the qualities of an excellent judge--wisdom, compassion, 
     toughness, curiosity, common sense, unwavering integrity, and 
     an abiding love of the law. . . . Many possess knowledge of 
     the law or knowledge of government. Paul Crotty is the rare 
     individual who possesses mastery of both. He has set and 
     achieved the highest standards at every stage of his career. 
     Our Nation will be fortunate to have him join the Federal 
     bench.

  I don't have Mayor Koch's letter, but it was Mayor Koch who suggested 
to me the idea that Paul Crotty be nominated to the bench. I knew Paul 
in many different walks of life and thought it was a great idea and was 
happy to not only support his nomination but to work hard to see that 
it would pass.
  Let me tell you a little bit about Paul Crotty. He has had a long and 
distinguished career in both the public and private sectors of the New 
York legal community. He graduated from Cornell Law School in 1967. He 
clerked 2 years for U.S. District Court Judge Lloyd MacMahon of the 
Southern District, the court to which he is now nominated. He served in 
city government as Mayor Koch's commissioner of finance and 
commissioner of housing. He was a partner in the very prestigious New 
York law firm of Donovan Leisure Newton Irvin.
  He went on to serve Mayor Giuliani as New York City's corporation 
counsel and the head of the city's law department, perhaps the single 
most difficult legal job in municipal government anywhere in America.
  Mr. President, Paul Crotty is an incredible choice. I have known him 
for a long time. He is smart, compassionate, decent. He has the two 
qualities I look for in a judge: a fine and deep intellect and a 
practical sense. Sometimes I worry that judges without practical 
experience impose things on Government or on society that cannot work, 
even though they might sound fine when you see it in writing and in 
black and white.
  Paul's extensive and practical experience, as well as his legal 
experience, makes him a perfect candidate for a judge in the district 
court in the Southern District of New York, one of the most important 
courts in the country.
  I want to make one other point. In New York, Paul Crotty's nomination 
is not the exception, it is the rule. We have worked extremely well 
together--the White House, the Justice Department, and the Senator from 
New

[[Page S3399]]

York--to bring judges to the floor. There have been no vacancies that 
have been outstanding for a long period of time in either the Second 
Circuit, which I know my good friend and colleague, the ranking member, 
Senator Leahy, is part of as well, nor have there been in the four 
district courts of New York in the East, Northwest, and South.
  I think we have worked together well on this Crotty nomination. In 
general, we have worked well together in New York. The White House and 
Senate, including Democrats in the Senate, can work well together to 
bring fine men and women to the bench.
  The candidates who have been nominated in the Second Circuit and in 
the courts of New York--I don't agree with them on everything at all, 
but they are fine people. They are qualified people, and I would say 
none of them are at the extremes--either far right or far left. They 
are not the kind of ideologues who seek to make law. They are, rather, 
the kind of people the Founding Fathers wanted to see on the bench, 
people who would interpret the law.
  Judges have awesome power, and judges on the Federal level have a 
lifetime appointment. You combine those two and you know you need 
people who don't think they know better than the public, that they know 
better than the Congress, that they know better than others. They 
interpret law; they don't make law. Paul Crotty exemplifies this. I am 
proud to support his nomination. I hope he will get unanimous support 
on the floor of the Senate. I know he will make an outstanding judge.
  I congratulate Paul Crotty for his great career, and his wife, his 
children, and the entire Crotty family, who are well known in New York 
for their public service from one end of the State in Buffalo, where 
the family originally came from, to the other end in New York City.
  I yield the floor to our ranking member, Senator Leahy.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senator 
from New York, Mrs. Clinton, be recognized, but that I retain the last 
5 minutes of the time before the vote.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  The Senator from New York, Mrs. Clinton, is recognized.
  Mrs. CLINTON. Mr. President, I thank my colleague and our ranking 
member of the Judiciary Committee. I, too, am enthusiastic about this 
nominee. This is a supremely qualified judicial nominee, and he will 
serve with great distinction in the Southern District in New York. He 
does hail from a family and tradition of public service, and his 
hometown of Buffalo is particularly pleased this vote is about to 
occur.
  Mr. President, he has distinguished himself in both the public and 
the private sectors. He served for years as a practicing attorney in 
New York City. He has served as a counsel for a major corporation, and 
he has always served his community. After the attack of September 11, 
Paul Crotty signed on to serve on the Lower Manhattan Development Board 
to help Lower Manhattan recover from those devastating attacks. He has 
been active in organizations, such as the New York Urban League, City 
Bar Fund, and the Tri-State United Way. He worked very closely with 
Mayor Ed Koch, first as commissioner of financial services, and then as 
commissioner of housing preservation and development.
  He later served as corporation counsel to Mayor Giuliani, during 
which he advised the mayor on a wide variety of issues. So, without 
question, Paul Crotty has the intellect, demeanor, and commitment to 
justice to serve the people of New York and America with distinction.
  I, also, congratulate the entire Crotty family: Paul's wife Jane, his 
children John, Elizabeth, and David, his daughter-in-law Katherine, and 
his brothers Bob and Jerry, because this is a family accomplishment. 
The Crotty family, which extends far beyond the names I have 
mentioned--there are too many to enumerate--is a very close-knit 
family. I know how much pride they take in this nomination. Paul's 
father, Peter J. Crotty, who passed away in 1992, was a great political 
leader in New York. He instilled in his children that sense of 
tradition.
  Finally, I want to acknowledge Paul's mother Margaret who is 92 years 
old and still lives in Buffalo. She has been and remains a tremendous 
influence in Paul Crotty's life and that of the entire Crotty family.
  With this nomination today, Mr. President, the Senate will have 
confirmed 205 of the judicial nominations sent to the Senate by the 
President. I am very pleased we were all able to come together across 
the aisle to unanimously, I hope, support someone who is so well 
qualified for this lifetime appointment. Again, I thank my friend and 
colleague from Vermont, and I yield back my time.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Vermont is 
recognized.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I am pleased to see the Senate finally be 
able to vote on the nomination of Paul Crotty to be a U.S. District 
Court Judge for the Southern District of New York. The seat to which 
Mr. Crotty has been nominated has been unnecessarily vacant for months, 
and Democrats have been asked for months now, since last year, for this 
nominee to be considered, debated, voted on and confirmed.
  As I have noted in earlier statements in the Judiciary Committee, 
among this President's renominations there are two noncontroversial 
judicial nominations on which we should have been able to make 
immediate progress. I have often spoken of the President's nomination 
of Mr. Crotty to the District Court for the Southern District of New 
York and the nomination of Michael Seabright to the District Court of 
Hawaii. All Democrats on the Judiciary Committee have been prepared to 
vote favorably on these nominations for some time. We were prepared to 
report them last year, but they were not listed by the then-chairman on 
the committee agenda. I thank Chairman Specter for including them at 
our meeting on March 17.
  Last week I noted that both these consensus nominations were 
continuing to languish without action on the Senate calendar and that 
the Senate Republican leadership was refusing to work with us to 
schedule them for action. I thank the Senate Republican leadership for 
being willing to turn to the Crotty nomination this evening. I hope 
that they will not make Mr. Seabright, the people of Hawaii and the 
Hawaii District Court wait much longer before we are allowed to 
consider, debate and confirm Michael Seabright, as well.
  Once confirmed, Mr. Crotty will be the 205th of 215 nominees brought 
before the full Senate for a vote to be confirmed. That means that 829 
of the 875 authorized judgeships in the Federal judiciary, or 95 
percent, will be filled. As late as it is in the year, we are still 
ahead of the pace the Republican majority set in 1999, when President 
Clinton was in the White House. That year, the Senate Republican 
leadership did not allow the Senate to consider the first judicial 
nominee until April 15.
  Of the 46 judicial vacancies now existing, President Bush has not 
even sent nominees for 28 of those vacancies; more than half. I have 
been encouraging the Bush administration to work with Senators to 
identify qualified and consensus judicial nominees and do so, again, 
today.
  It is now the second week in April, we are more than one-quarter 
through the year, and so far the President has sent only one new 
nominee for a Federal court vacancy all year--only one. Instead of 
sending back divisive nominees, would it not be better for the country, 
the courts, the American people, the Senate and the administration if 
the White House would work with us to identify, and for the President 
to nominate, more consensus nominees like Paul Crotty who can be 
confirmed quickly with strong, bipartisan votes?

  I commend the Senators from New York for their ability and efforts in 
connection with Mr. Crotty's nomination. Their support is very helpful 
and indicative of the type of bipartisan efforts Senate Democrats have 
made with this President and remain willing to make. We can work 
together to fill judicial vacancies with qualified, consensus nominees. 
The vast majority of the more than 200 judges confirmed during the last 
3\1/2\ years were confirmed with bipartisan support. The truth is that 
in President Bush's first term, the 204 judges confirmed were

[[Page S3400]]

more than were confirmed in either of President Clinton's two terms, 
more than during the term of this President's father, and more than in 
Ronald Reagan's first term when he was being assisted by a Republican 
majority in the Senate. By last December, we had reduced judicial 
vacancies from the 110 vacancies I inherited in the summer of 2001 to 
the lowest level, lowest rate and lowest number in decades, since 
Ronald Reagan was in office.
  There should be no misunderstanding; Mr. Crotty has strong Republican 
ties. He worked as Corporation Counsel for then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, 
and served in New York City government in a variety of posts over the 
years. After the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, Mr. Crotty 
played a major role in coordinating Verizon's work in restoring 
telephone service to the New York Stock Exchange, Federal, State and 
local agencies and large business customers. He continues to play a 
significant role in Verizon's revitalization of its telephone network 
in Lower Manhattan. In 2002, Mr. Crotty led Verizon's efforts in a 
complex administrative proceeding to gain the New York Public Service 
Commission's authorization to rebalance retail revenues in light of the 
increasing competition in New York's communication market.
  Mr. Crotty has also given generously of his time and currently serves 
on the Boards of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, Tri-State 
United Way, where he is also the Corporate Secretary, Polytechnic 
University, Council of Governing Boards, St. Vincent's Hospital-
Manhattan, New York State Business Development Corporation, Regional 
Plan Association, and the New York Urban League. He has served on the 
Executive Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New 
York since 2001. In addition, Mr. Crotty serves on the Advisory Boards 
of the New York Law School and the C.U.N.Y. Irish Studies program.
  Senate Democrats have long supported and requested action on this 
nomination. We will be delighted that the New York Senators will be 
able to call Mr. Crotty tonight and tell him that after 5 months of 
unnecessary delay the Senate finally did consider his nomination and 
granted consent overwhelmingly. I add my congratulations to Mr. Crotty 
and his family.
  I have been urging this President and Senate Republicans for years to 
work with all Senators and engage in genuine, bipartisan consultation. 
That process leads to the nomination, confirmation, and appointment of 
consensus nominees with reputations for fairness. The Crotty 
nomination, the bipartisan support of his home State Senators and the 
Senate's act of granting its consent tonight with a strong bipartisan 
vote is a perfect example of what I have been urging.

  I have noted that there are currently 28 judicial vacancies for which 
the President has delayed sending a nominee. In fact, he has sent the 
Senate only one new judicial nominee all year. I wish he would work 
with all Senators to fill those remaining vacancies rather than through 
his inaction and unnecessarily confrontational approach manufacture 
longstanding vacancies. It is as if the President and his most partisan 
supporters want to create a crisis. Last week we heard some extremists 
call for mass impeachments of judges, court-stripping and punishing 
judges by reducing court budgets. Rather than promote crisis and 
confrontation, I urge that this President do what most others have and 
work with us to identify outstanding consensus nominees. It ill serves 
the country, the courts, and most importantly the American people for 
this administration and the Senate Republican leadership to continue 
down the road to conflict. The Crotty nomination shows how unnecessary 
that conflict really is. Let us join together to debate and confirm 
these consensus nominees to these important lifetime posts on the 
Federal judiciary.
  It is the Federal judiciary that is called upon to rein in the 
political branches when their actions contravene the constitutional 
limits on governmental authority and restrict individual rights. It is 
the Federal judiciary that has stood up to the overreaching of this 
administration in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. It is more 
and more the Federal judiciary that is being called upon to protect 
Americans' rights and liberties, our environment and to uphold the rule 
of law as the political branches under the control of one party have 
overreached. Federal judges should protect the rights of all Americans, 
not be selected to advance a partisan or personal agenda. Once the 
judiciary is filled with partisans beholden to the administration and 
willing to reinterpret the Constitution in line with the 
administration's demands, who will be left to protect American values 
and the rights of the American people? The Constitution establishes the 
Senate as a check and a balance on the choices of a powerful President 
who might seek to make the Federal judiciary an extension of his 
administration or a wholly-owned subsidiary of any political party.
  Today, Republicans are threatening to take away one of the few 
remaining checks on the power of the executive branch by their use of 
what has become known as the nuclear option. This assault on our 
tradition of checks and balances and on the protection of minority 
rights in the Senate and in our democracy should be abandoned.
  Eliminating the filibuster by the nuclear option would destroy the 
Constitution's design of the Senate as an effective check on the 
executive. The elimination of the filibuster would reduce any incentive 
for a President to consult with home State Senators or seek the advice 
of the Senate on lifetime appointments to the Federal judiciary. It is 
a leap not only toward one-party rule but to an unchecked executive.
  Rather than blowing up the Senate, let us honor the constitutional 
design of our system of checks and balances and work together to fill 
judicial vacancies with consensus nominees. The nuclear option is 
unnecessary. What is needed is a return to consultation and for the 
White House to recognize and respect the role of the Senate 
appointments process.
  The American people have begun to see this threatened partisan power 
grab for what it is and to realize that the threat and the potential 
harm are aimed at our democracy, at an independent and strong Federal 
judiciary and, ultimately, at their rights and freedoms. Tonight's 
confirmation is a civics lesson that shows that the Republican's 
threatened use of the nuclear option is unnecessary and unwise.
  Mr. President, I see the chairman of the committee on the floor. 
While I had the remainder of the time reserved, I will yield it to him, 
if that is possible--we are still going to vote at 5:30--if the 
chairman wishes. I yield the remainder of my time to the chairman.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The minority's time has expired. 
There were 15 minutes to each side. The Senator from Pennsylvania does 
have 15 minutes.
  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I thank the distinguished ranking member 
for his cooperation in moving the nomination of Paul A. Crotty to the 
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
  By way of a very brief reply, I came in in the middle of the comments 
by the Senator from Vermont because he and I just attended a very 
lengthy meeting on the asbestos issue. We are working very hard and 
cooperatively on many matters on the Judiciary Committee. Asbestos is 
very high on the list. Just a brief comment there.
  There are thousands of victims of mesothelioma who are dying and not 
being compensated because their companies have gone into bankruptcy. 
Some 74 companies have gone into bankruptcy, an enormous drain on the 
economy. I think it is fair to say that we just had a positive meeting 
with a number of Democrats and with Members of my side of the aisle. We 
are making progress.
  I could not be here at the start of the argument because of the 
commitment there. I came in to hear the Senator from Vermont comment 
about the President, and I believe the President has made comments 
which are supportive of the Federal judiciary, as has the majority 
leader, Senator Frist, made comments supportive of the Federal 
judiciary.
  The Schaivo case raised the emotional level very high in the United 
States--really, beyond--for people who were on both sides of the issue. 
The rhetoric, I am pleased to see, has cooled, at least to some extent, 
but I believe that the Federal judiciary acquitted themselves in 
accordance with

[[Page S3401]]

their authority under separation of power, and there has been respect 
for the judicial role expressed by both the President of the United 
States and the majority leader of the Senate. That is enough said on 
that subject. I had not intended to get into it to any extent, but 
having heard those comments, I believe it is appropriate to respond.
  Paul Crotty has a very distinguished academic record. He has a law 
degree from Cornell Law School, where he was a member of the Order of 
the Coif. He then clerked for Judge Lloyd MacMahon in the Southern 
District of New York. He has 35 years of legal experience. He is with 
the very prestigious New York firm of Donovan Leisure Newton & Irvine. 
He has had a notable career in public service, having served as a New 
York City commissioner in two mayoral administrations, first for Ed 
Koch and later for Rudolf Giuliani. So he worked on both sides of the 
aisle, Democratic and Republican.
  He is currently the group president for New York and Connecticut of 
Verizon Communications. The American Bar Association gave him the 
highest rating of ``well qualified.'' He has the support of both New 
York Senators, and he has an excellent record.
  I see the Senator from New York just arrived. He has already spoken. 
I do not have to make an act of generosity and give him 2 minutes, 
which will bring us to 5:30.
  Mr. President, how much time remains?
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator has 10 minutes 
remaining.
  Mr. SPECTER. I intend to conclude at 5:30 so we can start the vote 
because there are two votes. I know people are anxious to have the 
votes start. I do not think there is any question about Mr. Crotty 
being confirmed. He is an able candidate.
  It is my hope that we will be able to move other nominees to the 
Senate floor for confirmation. The committee has reported out the 
nomination of William Myers, and it is my hope we will get an up-or-
down vote on Mr. Myers. There is significant opposition, which I 
understand.
  We are moving to conclude the consideration of Mr. Griffith, and then 
we have other nominees behind him.
  I yield back the remainder of my time, and I ask for the yeas and 
nays on this nomination.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. 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 Paul A. Crotty, of New York, to be United States District Judge for 
the Southern District of New York?
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant journal clerk called the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the 
Senator from Wyoming (Mr. Enzi) and the Senator from Alaska (Ms. 
Murkowski).
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from North Dakota (Mr. 
Dorgan), the Senator from Iowa (Mr. Harkin), and the Senator from New 
Jersey (Mr. Lautenberg) are necessarily absent.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Are there any other Senators in the 
Chamber desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 95, nays 0, as follows:

                       [Rollcall Vote No. 87 Ex.]

                                YEAS--95

     Akaka
     Alexander
     Allard
     Allen
     Baucus
     Bayh
     Bennett
     Biden
     Bingaman
     Bond
     Boxer
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burns
     Burr
     Byrd
     Cantwell
     Carper
     Chafee
     Chambliss
     Clinton
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Coleman
     Collins
     Conrad
     Cornyn
     Corzine
     Craig
     Crapo
     Dayton
     DeMint
     DeWine
     Dodd
     Dole
     Domenici
     Durbin
     Ensign
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Frist
     Graham
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Hatch
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Inouye
     Isakson
     Jeffords
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Kerry
     Kohl
     Kyl
     Landrieu
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lincoln
     Lott
     Lugar
     Martinez
     McCain
     McConnell
     Mikulski
     Murray
     Nelson (FL)
     Nelson (NE)
     Obama
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Roberts
     Rockefeller
     Salazar
     Santorum
     Sarbanes
     Schumer
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Smith
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stabenow
     Stevens
     Sununu
     Talent
     Thomas
     Thune
     Vitter
     Voinovich
     Warner
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--5

     Dorgan
     Enzi
     Harkin
     Lautenberg
     Murkowski
  The nomination was confirmed.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The President will be immediately 
notified of the Senate's action.
  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, I would like the Record to reflect that I 
was necessarily absent for the vote on the nomination of Paul Crotty to 
be United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York. 
Had I been present, I would have voted in support of the nomination.

                          ____________________