[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 178 (Thursday, December 3, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S12318]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    NOMINATION OF JACQUELINE NGUYEN

  Mr. BEGICH. Mr. President, I want to comment today on the 
confirmation earlier this week of the Honorable Jacqueline Nguyen to be 
judge on the U.S. District Court for the Central District of 
California. Unfortunately, I was delayed in my return from Alaska, and 
I was unable to be here for the vote. Had I been here, I would have 
proudly cast my vote along with the rest of my Senate colleagues to 
confirm this highly qualified and well-respected jurist. Upon her 
confirmation, Judge Nguyen made history by becoming the first 
Vietnamese-American to serve as a U.S. district court judge in U.S. 
history.
  I applaud the judge's unanimous confirmation by the Senate as an 
example of what we do all too infrequently, I am afraid--recognizing a 
public need and to acting appropriately and expeditiously to address 
it. I commend the President for heeding the recommendation by our 
colleagues from California and nominating a woman of obvious talent. 
The President nominated Judge Nguyen, I am sure, because he perceived 
in her a combination of the education, experience, and temperament 
appropriate for a life-tenured position on the federal bench. Her 
unanimous ``well qualified'' rating from the American Bar Association's 
Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary, earned after an 18-year 
career in the law, including nearly 7 years as a California Superior 
Court judge and roughly the same amount of time as an assistant U.S. 
attorney in the same district in which she will now serve as a Federal 
judge, would seem to be completely justified. I have little doubt that 
Judge Nguyen will be an outstanding Federal judge.
  As impressed as we all should be with her qualifications, I believe 
we can all look at the details of Judge Nguyen's life as a truly great 
and quintessential American story. Born in Da Lat, Vietnam, Judge 
Nguyen and her family were able to escape the approaching North 
Vietnamese and Viet Cong armies, departing Saigon in 1975 on a crowded 
helicopter as gunfire could be heard in the background. The Nguyen 
family was part of the great wave of Vietnamese immigrants who left 
their homeland to escape the Communist takeover. After stops in refugee 
camps in the Philippines and on Guam, the Nguyens made their way to 
California, spending several months living in a tent on the grounds of 
the Marine base at Camp Pendleton. The Nguyens eventually settled in La 
Crescenta. The judge, her siblings, and their mother cleaned dental 
offices after school and at night, while her father studied to be a 
computer programmer and worked in a gas station at night and on 
weekends. Eventually, her parents purchased a doughnut shop in North 
Hollywood. Judge Nguyen says she often did her homework during high 
school between shifts at the doughnut shop and also worked there while 
she was earning her degree from Occidental College. She would 
ultimately earn her law degree from UCLA.
  I do not know Judge Nguyen, but I am impressed by her accomplishments 
and the drive she and her family have shown in coming to this country 
and embracing the opportunities the United States offers it citizens. I 
recognize in her story the same drive and love of country that I have 
seen among the Vietnamese-American citizens of Alaska. The United 
States is a nation made great in part by its diversity. I personally 
take pride in serving alongside our first African-American President, 
and at the same time as our first Vietnamese-American Federal judge. 
Still, as much as the confirmation of this highly qualified woman is an 
example of the possibilities available to all Americans, I cannot help 
but believe it is being hailed today as a point of immense pride by the 
Vietnamese-American community in my home State of Alaska, in Judge 
Nguyen's State of California, and all across this country. I extend the 
judge, and the Vietnamese-American community, my sincere 
congratulations.

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