[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 53 (Tuesday, March 27, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3789-S3790]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


     NOMINATION OF GEORGE H. WU TO BE UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

  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 legislative clerk read the nomination of George H. Wu, of 
California, to be United States District Judge for the Central District 
of California.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, there will be 20 
minutes for debate, equally divided between the chairman and ranking 
member of the Judiciary Committee.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Vermont.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, with this confirmation--and I expect Mr. Wu 
will be confirmed--we will have confirmed 14 lifetime appointments to 
the Federal bench so far this year. This is March. I mention that 
because, when President Clinton was in office and the Republicans 
controlled the Senate, there were only 17 confirmations during the 
entire 1996 session of the Senate.
  For those who think there is partisanship in the confirmation of 
judges, yes, there has been. Fortunately, it has been my friends on the 
other side.
  Today the Senate continues, as we have since the beginning of this 
Congress, to make progress on judicial nominations. The Senate will 
consider and, I believe, confirm the nomination of George H. Wu to be a 
United States District Judge for the Central District of California.
  With this confirmation, the Senate will have confirmed 14 lifetime 
appointments to the Federal bench so far this year. There were only 17 
confirmations during the entire 1996 session of the Senate. I have 
worked cooperatively with Members from both sides of the aisle on our 
committee and in the Senate to move quickly to consider and confirm 
these judicial nominations so that we can fill vacancies and improve 
the administration of justice in our Nation's Federal courts.
  The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts lists 48 remaining 
judicial vacancies, yet the President has sent us only 27 nominations 
for these vacancies. Twenty-one of these vacancies--almost half--have 
no nominee. Of the 20 vacancies deemed by the Administrative Office to 
be judicial emergencies, the President has yet to send us nominees for 
10 of them. That means half of the judicial emergency vacancies are 
without a nominee.

  Judge Wu's nomination has the support of his home State Senators, and 
I thank Senators Feinstein and Boxer for their support of this 
nomination.
  Judge Wu has an extensive record of public service as a State trial 
judge, a Federal prosecutor, and a law professor. In his 14 years on 
the State trial bench, Judge Wu has served in the Los Angeles Municipal 
Court and in the Los Angeles Superior Court, handling an array of 
criminal and civil cases. Previously, Judge Wu worked on complex 
commercial matters in private practice for two Los Angeles law firms. 
Judge Wu has also served as a law professor at the University of 
Tennessee School of Law, and as an assistant U.S. attorney and later 
assistant division chief in the civil division of the U.S. Attorney's 
Office for the Central District of California.
  I am pleased that the nominee before us is an Asian-Pacific American. 
I have urged, and will continue to urge, the President to nominate men 
and women to the Federal bench who reflect the diversity of America. 
Racial and cultural diversity remains a pillar of strength for our 
country and one of our greatest

[[Page S3790]]

natural resources. Diversity on the bench helps ensure that the words 
``equal justice under law,'' inscribed in Vermont marble over the 
entrance to the Supreme Court, are a reality and that justice is 
rendered fairly and impartially. Judicial decisions should reflect 
insight and experiences as varied as America's citizenry. A more 
representative judiciary helps cultivate public confidence in the 
judiciary which strengthens the independence of our Federal courts.
  There is still much work to be done. Out of the 875 seats on the 
Federal judiciary, there are only 5 active Asian-Pacific American 
judges on the Federal bench, less than 1 percent of all Federal judges. 
President Bush has nominated only two Asian-Pacific American candidates 
during his 6 years in office, neither to a seat on a Federal circuit 
court. With outstanding lawyers like Dean Harold Koh of Yale, Professor 
Goodwin Liu of Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California 
at Berkeley, or attorneys Karen Narasaki, John Yang and Debra Yang, it 
is not as if there is a dearth of qualified candidates who would be 
universally endorsed.
  Our Nation has highly qualified individuals of diverse heritages who 
would help to unify our Nation while adding to the diversity of our 
courts. I hope the President will send us more consensus nominees that 
reflect the rich diversity of our Nation.
  I congratulate Judge Wu, and his family, on his confirmations today.