[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 66 (Wednesday, May 5, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3146-S3147]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                   Nomination of Nancy D. Freudenthal

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There will now be 2 minutes of debate, evenly 
divided, on the nomination of Nancy D. Freudenthal, of Wyoming, to be 
U.S. circuit judge.
  Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I am pleased to rise in support of the 
nomination of Nancy Freudenthal to serve as a judge for the U.S. 
District Court for the District of Wyoming. I want to thank Chairman 
Leahy and Senator Sessions and the Judiciary Committee staff for their 
assistance moving this nomination through the process.
  Nancy is a Wyoming native, born in Cody, and received both her B.A. 
and her J.D. from the University of Wyoming.
  After being admitted to the Wyoming State Bar in 1980, Nancy took a 
position with Governor Ed Herschler as his attorney for 
intergovernmental affairs for 8 years. She then served in the same 
position for Governor Mike Sullivan for 2 years. In this capacity, 
Nancy served as the Governor's representative on numerous boards, 
worked extensively with the State legislature, taught at the University 
of Wyoming College of Law, and served as acting administrator of the 
Department of Environmental Quality in the Land Quality Division.
  In 1989, Nancy was appointed by Governor Sullivan to the Wyoming Tax 
Commission and State Board of Equalization, where she served as 
Chairman for a 6-year term. While the State board of equalization is 
tasked with the annual process of equalizing valuation of property in 
Wyoming counties, the board has a main function of listening to 
disputes between taxpayers and the Department of Revenue and reviewing 
appeals. Nancy's experience as chairman of this board will greatly 
enhance her abilities as a judge.
  Since joining Davis & Cannon, LLP in 1995, Nancy has handled a wide 
variety of matters, including complex mineral tax litigation, 
environmental and natural resource disputes, public utility law, oil 
and gas litigation, employment litigation, and commercial transactions. 
She has experience at both the trial and appellate levels. Nancy is 
well respected among her peers and judges in Wyoming.
  I also want to mention how important this judgeship is for Wyoming. 
While Senators disagree at times about specific nominees, we can all 
agree that without judges in place our legal system slows down and does 
a disserve to the people we represent.
  Nancy Freudenthal's experiences as a private attorney and in State 
government will serve her well as a district court judge. I am pleased 
that her nomination has received the strong support of my Senate 
colleagues.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I will support this nominee, but I should 
mention again that Senate Republicans have not allowed us to vote on a 
judicial nominee for almost 2 weeks.
  By this date in George W. Bush's Presidency, the Senate had confirmed 
52 Federal circuit and district court judges. As of today, we had only 
been allowed only 20 by the Senate Republicans. Counting the recent 
vote on Gloria M. Navarro this brings us just up to 21 confirmations.
  There are nearly two dozen additional nominations stalled. It should 
not take 2 weeks to try to get through these secret holds. When we have 
people who are confirmed unanimously in the committee, then confirmed 
unanimously on the floor, it is unconscionable to hold them up week 
after week after week.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Wyoming.
  Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I am rising in support of the nominee. Any 
delays that there have been have not been for this particular nominee, 
nor by the Wyoming delegation at all.
  This is a position that has been open now for over 2 years. The first 
nominee for this position got a hearing but could not get a vote in 
committee. The nomination ran out and we now have a new nominee, who is 
Mrs. Freudenthal, Nancy Freudenthal, who is also the first lady of 
Wyoming.
  But she, in her own right, has been an attorney, has served with 
three different Governors in the State of Wyoming, and does a 
phenomenal job. She has her law degree from the University of Wyoming 
and would make an outstanding person to fill in this roll. Both Senator 
Barrasso and I are strongly in support of her and have been pushing for 
her nomination since we first started.
  Mr. LEAHY. Would the Senator yield? The Senator is absolutely right. 
The Wyoming Senators did not hold up this nominee, but the Republican 
side did.
  Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, the Republican side may have been doing 
things to be sure we had votes on judges, which is the same thing the 
Democrats did when we were in the majority. We had to have votes on all 
these. I am glad we finally got to the position of having a vote.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Time has expired.
  Mr. ENZI. I ask everyone to vote aye.
  I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second? There appears to 
be.
  The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the nomination 
of Nancy D. Freudenthal, of Wyoming, to be U.S. district judge for the 
District of Wyoming?
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Byrd) 
and the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry) are necessarily absent.
  Mr. KYL. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Utah (Mr. Bennett).
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 96, nays 1, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 129 Ex.]

                                YEAS--96

     Akaka
     Alexander
     Barrasso
     Baucus
     Bayh
     Begich
     Bennet
     Bingaman
     Bond
     Boxer
     Brown (MA)
     Brown (OH)
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burr
     Burris
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Chambliss
     Cochran
     Collins
     Conrad
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Crapo
     DeMint
     Dodd
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Franken
     Gillibrand
     Graham
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagan
     Harkin
     Hatch
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Inouye
     Isakson
     Johanns
     Johnson
     Kaufman
     Klobuchar
     Kohl
     Kyl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     LeMieux

[[Page S3147]]


     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

                                NAYS--1

       
     Coburn
       

                             NOT VOTING--3

     Bennett
     Byrd
     Kerry
  The nomination was confirmed.


                Nomination of Denzil Price Marshall, Jr.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There will now be 2 minutes of debate equally 
divided on the nomination of Denzil Price Marshall Jr., of Arkansas, to 
be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Arkansas.
  The Senator from Arkansas.
  Mrs. LINCOLN. Mr. President, I am so pleased to rise in support of 
Judge Price Marshall who has been nominated to fill the Federal 
judicial vacancy in the Eastern District of Arkansas.
  Judge Marshall has enjoyed an impressive and lengthy legal career in 
Arkansas, where he has served as a judge on the Arkansas Court of 
Appeals since 2006.
  Previously, Judge Marshall practiced law in his hometown of 
Jonesboro, for 15 years, as a principal at the firm Barrett & Deacon. 
He also clerked for U.S. Circuit Judge Richard Arnold from 1989 to 
1991.
  He graduated from Arkansas State University in Jonesboro in 1985, 
where he currently serves as an adjunct professor of political science.
  Judge Marshall also received a degree from the London School of 
Economics, and graduated with honors from Harvard Law School in 1989.
  He has done a tremendous job. He is very well known in Arkansas as a 
gifted appellate advocate, brilliant legal mind, and well-respected man 
of integrity. I am so pleased the Senate is taking the role of moving 
him forward in this capacity. I thank Chairman Leahy and the Judiciary 
Committee for moving the nomination forward. I have full faith and 
confidence in Judge Marshall's ability and encourage Members to support 
him.
  I yield to my colleague from Arkansas.
  Mr. PRYOR. Mr. President, I don't think it is an exaggeration to say 
that when our Founding Fathers laid out article III of the 
Constitution, they had people such as Price Marshall in mind. He is 
smart. He is hard-working. He is a family man. He is involved in his 
community. He is involved in his church and in his legal profession. He 
is an elected member of the Arkansas Court of Appeals. When he was in 
private practice, he had a reputation as a lawyer's lawyer. I join 
Senator Lincoln in giving him my highest recommendation.
  I appreciate all my colleagues voting yes on Price Marshall.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. All time is yielded back.
  The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the nomination 
of Denzil Price Marshall, Jr., of Arkansas, to be United States 
District Judge for the Eastern District of Arkansas?
  The nomination was confirmed.
  The motion to reconsider is considered as made and tabled.
  The President shall be notified of the Senate's action.
 Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, I was necessarily absent for the 
votes on the nomination of Nancy D. Freudenthal to be U.S. District 
Judge for the District of Wyoming and Denzil Price Marshall Jr. to be 
U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Arkansas. If I were 
able to attend today's session, I would have supported both 
nominees.

                          ____________________