[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 30 (Thursday, March 4, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1153-S1154]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           EXECUTIVE SESSION

                                 ______
                                 

NOMINATION OF WILLIAM M. CONLEY TO BE UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE FOR 
                   THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will go 
into executive session to consider the following nomination:
  The assistant legislative clerk read the nomination of William M. 
Conley, of Wisconsin, to be United States District Judge for the 
Western District of Wisconsin.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from North Dakota (Mr. 
Dorgan) is necessarily absent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Shaheen). Are there any other Senators in 
the Chamber desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 99, nays 0, as follows:

                       [Rollcall Vote No. 43 Ex.]

                                YEAS--99

     Akaka
     Alexander
     Barrasso
     Baucus
     Bayh
     Begich
     Bennet
     Bennett
     Bingaman
     Bond
     Boxer
     Brown (MA)
     Brown (OH)
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burr
     Burris
     Byrd
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Chambliss
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Collins
     Conrad
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Crapo
     DeMint
     Dodd
     Durbin
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Franken
     Gillibrand
     Graham
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagan
     Harkin
     Hatch
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Inouye
     Isakson
     Johanns
     Johnson
     Kaufman
     Kerry
     Klobuchar
     Kohl
     Kyl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     LeMieux
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lincoln
     Lugar
     McCain
     McCaskill
     McConnell
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Mikulski
     Murkowski
     Murray
     Nelson (NE)
     Nelson (FL)
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rockefeller
     Sanders
     Schumer
     Sessions
     Shaheen
     Shelby
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Thune
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Vitter
     Voinovich
     Warner
     Webb
     Whitehouse
     Wicker
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--1

       
     Dorgan
       
  The nomination was confirmed.
  Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, the Senate has finally taken action on 
the nomination of Judge William Conley to be a U.S. district court 
judge in the Western District of Wisconsin. Judge Conley was reported 
by the Senate Judiciary Committee without objection last year, on 
December 10. That is almost 3 months ago. He has waited for this day 
for some time.
  I had hoped that Mr. Conley's confirmation process would resemble 
those of Judge Christina Reiss of Vermont and Judge Abdul Kallon of 
Alabama. Those nominees received relatively prompt consideration by the 
Senate, and they should serve as a model for Senate action. Sadly, they 
are the exception rather than the rule. They show what the Senate could 
do, but does not. Time and again, noncontroversial nominees are 
delayed.
  The Senate is far behind where we should be in helping to fill 
judicial vacancies. Vacancies have skyrocketed to more than 100 and 
more have been announced. We need to do better. The American people 
deserve better.
  As with so many other nominations before the Senate, Judge Conley has 
waited an extraordinary amount of time to be confirmed. Instead of time 
agreements and the will of the majority, the Senate is faced with 
delays by Senate Republicans. Earlier this week we had to overcome 
Republican objection and a filibuster to obtain a vote on the 
nomination of Judge Barbara Keenan. She, too, was confirmed 
unanimously, 99 to zero. Yet Republicans would not agree to schedule a 
vote on her nomination. She was forced to wait four months after being 
reported by the Senate Judiciary Committee, and the Senate was required 
to end the Republican filibuster.
  In addition to Judge Keenan and Judge Conley, there are 17 additional 
judicial nominations on the Senate Executive Calendar, all of which 
have been considered and favorably reported by the Senate Judiciary 
Committee. Thirteen of those judicial nominations received unanimous or 
strong bipartisan support in the Judiciary Committee. They should all 
be considered without further delay. Debate and votes should be 
scheduled on all of the judicial nominees being stalled. Those opposed 
by a minority should be debated and then receive a vote.
  Only 16 Federal circuit and district court judges have been 
considered by the Senate so far during President Obama's 13 months in 
office. By this date during President Bush's first term, the Senate had 
confirmed 39 judicial nominees.
  I remain very concerned about the new standard the Republican 
minority is applying to many of President Obama's district court 
nominees. Democrats never used this standard with President Bush's 
nominees, whether we were in the majority or the minority. In 8 years, 
the Judiciary Committee reported only a single Bush district court 
nomination by a party-line vote. That was the nomination of Leon 
Holmes, who was opposed not because of some litmus test, but because of 
his strident, intemperate, and insensitive public statements over the 
years. During President Obama's short time in office, not one, not two, 
but three district court nominees have been reported on a party-line 
vote. I hope this new standard does not become the rule for Senate 
Republicans.
  In December, I made several statements in this chamber about the need 
for progress on the nominees reported by the Senate Judiciary 
Committee. I also spoke repeatedly to Senate leaders on both sides of 
the aisle and made the following proposal: Agree to immediate votes on 
those judicial nominees that are reported by the Senate Judiciary 
Committee without dissent, and agree to time agreements to debate and 
vote on the others. I reiterated my proposal earlier this week and do 
so, again, now: I urge Senate Republicans to reconsider their strategy 
of obstruction and allow prompt consideration of all 18 judicial 
nominees currently awaiting final Senate consideration. There is no 
need for these nominations to be dragged out week after week, month 
after month.

[[Page S1154]]

  After 3 months of delay, today we finally considered the nomination 
of William Conley. Mr. Conley is a partner in the Madison, WI, office 
of Foley and Lardner, where he is widely recognized as a top antitrust 
and appellate lawyer. He has represented clients before the U.S. 
Supreme Court, the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and the Seventh Circuit, 
among others. Mr. Conley attended the University of Wisconsin, where he 
earned his B.A. and J.D. with honors. Mr. Conley also served as a law 
clerk for Judge Thomas Fairchild on the Seventh Circuit. I congratulate 
Judge Conley on his confirmation today. I look forward to the time when 
the 17 additional judicial nominees being stalled are released from the 
holds and objections that are preventing votes on them and their 
confirmations.
  I, again, urge Senate Republicans to reconsider their strategy and 
allow prompt consideration of all 18 judicial nominees awaiting Senate 
consideration, not just William Conley of Wisconsin but also the 
following nominees: Jane Stranch of Tennessee, nominated to the Sixth 
Circuit; Judge Thomas Vanaskie of Pennsylvania, nominated to the Third 
Circuit; Judge Denny Chin of New York, nominated to the Second Circuit; 
Justice Rogeriee Thompson of Rhode Island, nominated to the First 
Circuit; Judge James Wynn of North Carolina, nominated to the Fourth 
Circuit; Judge Albert Diaz of North Carolina, nominated to the Fourth 
Circuit; Judge Edward Chen, nominated to the Northern District of 
California; and Justice Louis Butler, nominated to the Western District 
of Wisconsin; Nancy Freudenthal, nominated to the District of Wyoming; 
Denzil Marshall, nominated to the Eastern District of Arkansas; Benita 
Pearson, nominated to the Northern District of Ohio; Timothy Black, 
nominated to the Southern District of Ohio; Gloria M. Navarro, 
nominated to the District of Nevada; Audrey G. Fleissig, nominated to 
the Eastern District of Missouri; Lucy H. Koh, nominated to the 
Northern District of California; Jon E. DeGuilio, nominated to the 
Northern District of Indiana; and Tanya Walton Pratt, nominated to the 
Southern District of Indiana.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. A motion to reconsider is considered made and 
laid on the table. The President shall be notified of the Senate's 
action.

                          ____________________