[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 34 (Thursday, March 16, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Page S2295]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




NOMINATION OF STEPHEN G. LARSON TO BE UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE FOR 
                   THE CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senate will now consider Executive 
Calendar No. 548, which the clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read the nomination of Stephen G. Larson, of 
California, to be United States District Judge for the Central District 
of California.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise today to express my support for 
the nomination of Magistrate Judge Stephen Larson to a seat on the 
Federal District Court for the Central District of California in 
Riverside, CA.
  Judge Larson comes to this nomination with a strong background of 
public service.
  Since October 2000, Judge Larson has served as a magistrate judge for 
the Central District of California in Riverside. In the 10 years before 
becoming a magistrate judge, Larson served the public as an assistant 
U.S. attorney in the Central District of California, where he was chief 
of the U.S. Attorney Office's Organized Crime Strike Force and 
coordinator of its Russian Organized Crime Unit.
  Judge Larson attended college here in Washington, at the Georgetown 
University School of Foreign Service, from which he received a 
bachelor's of science in 1986. Judge Larson returned to California for 
law school, graduating from the University of Southern California Law 
School in 1989.
  The American Bar Association has unanimously declared Judge Larson to 
be ``well qualified,'' the ABA's highest rating.
  Judge Larson has the strong support of California's Inland Empire. I 
have received endorsements of Judge Larson's nomination from a diverse 
cross-section of the Inland Empire's legal community: from judges and 
law professors, from government attorneys and private practitioners, 
and from Democrats and Republicans.
  In these letters, Judge Larson is praised for his ``legal 
knowledge,'' ``fairness,'' ``integrity,'' ``hard work,'' 
``temperament,'' ``intelligence,'' ``patience,'' and ``sense of social 
justice.''
  Judge Larson was nominated through the bipartisan judicial selection 
process that we developed in California, a process which I believe is a 
model for the Nation. Under this system, a committee of lawyers 
including Democrats and Republicans recommends qualified, non-
ideological applicants to the President.
  Judge Larson's nomination through this process, along with his 
impressive record of public service, gives me confidence that he comes 
to the bench without an agenda and that he will serve the people of 
California and the Nation with wisdom, integrity, and humility.
  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I rise in enthusiastic support of the 
confirmation of Judge Stephen Larson to the U.S. District Court for the 
Central District of California, one of the Nation's busiest Federal 
courts, serving seven of Southern California's most populous counties.
  Judge Larson is a model of hard work, fairness, moderation and 
judicial independence. Judge Larson is skilled at bringing all sides 
together. He is a Republican with broad local, bipartisan support and 
respect from lawyers, judges and Federal practitioners in Riverside and 
San Bernardino Counties, where he currently serves.
  Judge Larson has had a distinguished legal career and a sterling 
reputation within the California legal community. He was sworn in as 
magistrate on September 25, 2000. Prior to this position, Judge Larson 
was a Federal prosecutor and chief of the Organized Crime Section of 
the U.S. Attorney's Office.
  Judge Larson is a nationally known expert in organized and 
international crime. He was heavily involved in fighting Russian gangs 
and helped form the Russian Organized Crime Program in Los Angeles.
  Judge Larson earned his undergraduate degree from the Georgetown 
University School of Foreign Service. While at Georgetown, he served as 
a teaching assistant to former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. 
He earned his law degree from the University of Southern California in 
1989. He worked as an associate at O'Melveny & Myers in Los Angeles 
until 1991, when he joined the U.S. Attorney's Office.
  I congratulate Judge Larson on his confirmation vote. And I look 
forward to what I hope will be many years of service to the people of 
California and the Nation.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is, Will the Senate advise and 
consent to the nomination of Stephen G. Larson, of California, to be 
United States District Judge for the Central District of California?
  The nomination was confirmed.

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