[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 28 (Monday, February 28, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S953-S956]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EXECUTIVE SESSION
______
NOMINATION OF AMY TOTENBERG TO BE UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE FOR THE
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA
______
NOMINATION OF STEVE C. JONES TO BE UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE FOR THE
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will
proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations,
which the clerk will report.
The legislative clerk read the nominations of Amy Totenberg, of
Georgia, to be United States District Judge for the Northern District
of Georgia and Steve C. Jones, of Georgia, to be United States District
Judge for the Northern District of Georgia.
=========================== NOTE ===========================
On page S953, February 26, 2011, the Record reads: . . . Steven
C. Jones, of Georgia, to be . . .
The online Record has been corrected to read: . . . Steve C.
Jones, of Georgia, to be . . .
========================= END NOTE =========================
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, there will now be 1
hour of debate, equally and divided and controlled in the usual form.
The Senator from Vermont.
Mr. LEAHY. There is both good news and bad news represented by
today's debate. The good news is that we begin another week by
considering two of President Obama's judicial nominations. With
judicial vacancies remaining over 100, nearly half of them judicial
emergencies, the Senate's action today on 2 outstanding nominees to
fill judicial emergency vacancies in Georgia is much needed.
The bad news is that we did not consider these nominations earlier,
and that we are not considering any of the other 8 judicial nominees
awaiting final Senate consideration and confirmation. Two of those
nominees, Sue Myerscough and James Shadid, were each nominated to fill
emergency vacancies on the Central District of Illinois. Their
confirmations would help relieve the chief judge of that district, who
is the only active judge in the entire district. Chief Judge McCuskey
wrote to Senator Durbin in November urging the Senate to take action to
fill those vacancies, but we did not. Despite the desperate need in
that district, neither of these nominations received final Senate votes
when they were reported unanimously by the Judiciary Committee last
year. Both have now been reported unanimously again, and we should not
further delay taking care of this overburdened court and the hard-
working Americans who depend on it.
I do thank, in particular, the majority leader for scheduling this
time, and also thank the Republican leader for his cooperation. I also
commend our ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee. Senator
Grassley has worked with me on each of the judicial nominations that
President Obama renominated this January.
All 13 of the judicial nominations that were unanimously reported
last year have now been unanimously reported, again, this year. To
date, five of those nominations have been confirmed and with the
confirmation of Amy Totenberg and Steve Jones, we will have
reconsidered and confirmed 7 of those 13 unanimously reported judicial
nominees.
The Judiciary Committee has also now considered the renomination of
Susan Carney of Connecticut to the Second Circuit and Michael Simon to
be a district court judge in Oregon. More than half of the Republicans
on the Judiciary Committee voted in favor of those nominations. They
should be debated and confirmed without delay, as well.
Working with Senator Grassley, I also expect to be able to move
forward with Judiciary Committee consideration of the renominations of
two district court nominees, Edward Chen of California and Jack
McConnell of Rhode Island, in the next few weeks. The renomination of
Goodwin Liu of California to the Ninth Circuit will be reexamined at a
Judiciary Committee hearing this week, at the request of our Republican
members, and then reconsidered by the committee, as well.
We will be holding our third confirmation hearing of the year this
week. It will include Professor Liu and four other judicial nominees
from Tennessee, Florida, and New Jersey. At the earlier two hearings we
considered eight additional judicial nominees who now await committee
approval and Senate consideration. We are holding hearings every 2
weeks and hope finally to begin to bend the curve and start to lower
judicial vacancies across the country.
I also commend the Senator from Iowa for his statement on February 14
during which he urged the Senate to turn the page and not revisit the
recriminations from administrations past. I agree.
The nominees we consider today are both from Georgia. They were both
reported unanimously by the Judiciary Committee this year. Actually,
they were also reported unanimously by the Judiciary Committee last
year. They were among the 19 judicial nominees who were ready to be
confirmed by the Senate last year but were not. When there was
objection to proceeding last year, the vacancies persisted, the
President had to renominate them and the Judiciary Committee had to
reconsider their nominations. I expect the Senate will confirm them
both tonight. I hope we do so unanimously. Both have the support of
their home State Senators. Senators Isakson and Senator Chambliss
worked with me and with President Obama in connection with these
nominations.
While I am encouraged that the Senate is proceeding today, I am
disappointed that we did not consider these nominees and other nominees
from California, North Carolina, and the District of Columbia before
the Presidents Day recess. We used to be able to clear the calendar of
nominations before a recess. All six of these judicial nominees were
approved unanimously by every Republican and every Democrat on the
Judiciary Committee weeks before the recess. When they are considered,
I fully expect they will be confirmed unanimously by the Senate. With
persistently high judicial vacancies around the country, the Senate
should be considering judicial nominations without unnecessary delays.
Litigants all over the country are having a hard time getting their
cases heard in court because of the high number of vacancies. There are
nominees pending on the calendar with unanimous support by both
Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee. We ought
to at least vote on these nominations to fill the vacancies.
In fact, when these 2 nominations are confirmed, there will still be
nearly 100 Federal judicial vacancies around the country. That is too
many and they have persisted for too long. That is why Chief Justice
Roberts, Attorney General Holder, White House Counsel Bob Bauer, and
many others, including the President of the United States, have spoken
out and urged the Senate to act.
Nearly one out of every eight Federal judgeships is vacant. That puts
at serious risk the ability of Americans all over the country to have a
fair hearing in court. The real price being paid for these unnecessary
delays is that the judges who remain are overburdened and the American
people who depend on them are being denied hearings and justice in a
timely fashion. These delays affect everyone; whether you are a
plaintiff, a prosecutor, or a defendant.
Regrettably, the progress we made during the first 2 years of the
Bush administration has not been duplicated, and the progress we made
over the 8 years from 2001 to 2009 to reduce judicial vacancies from
110 to a low of 34 was reversed. The vacancy rate we reduced from 10
percent at the end of
[[Page S954]]
President Clinton's term to less than 4 percent in 2008 has now risen
back to over 10 percent.
In contrast to the sharp reduction in vacancies we made during
President Bush's first 2 years when the Democratically controlled
Senate confirmed 100 of his judicial nominations, only 60 of President
Obama's judicial nominations were allowed to be considered and
confirmed during his first 2 years. We have not kept up with the rate
of attrition, let alone brought the vacancies down. By now they should
have been cut in half. Instead, they continue to hover around 100.
The Senate must do better. The Nation cannot afford further delays by
the Senate in taking action on the nominations pending before it.
Judicial vacancies on courts throughout the country hinder the Federal
judiciary's ability to fulfill its constitutional role. They create a
backlog of cases that prevents people from having their day in court.
This is unacceptable.
We can consider and confirm this President's nominations to the
Federal bench in a timely manner. President Obama has worked with both
Democratic and Republican home State Senators to identify superbly
qualified consensus nominations.
None of the nominations on the Executive Calendar are controversial.
They all have the support of their home State Senators, Republicans and
Democrats. All have a strong commitment to the rule of law. All have
demonstrated faithfulness to the Constitution.
During President Bush's first term, his first 4 tumultuous years in
office, we proceeded to confirm 205 of his judicial nominations. This
was after 60 of President Clinton's nominations had been pocket-
filibustered by those on the other side of the aisle. I decided not to
continue that trend and we showed good faith in moving 100 of President
Bush's nominees in the 17 months that I was chairman. During the
remaining 31 months under Republican control, the Senate confirmed
another 105 judicial nominations. So far in President Obama's third
year in office, the Senate has only been allowed to consider 67 of his
Federal circuit and district court nominees.
We remain well short of the benchmark we set during the Bush
administration. When we approach it, we can reduce vacancies from the
historically high levels at which they have remained throughout the
first 3 years of the Obama administration to the historically low level
we reached toward the end of the Bush administration.
I have often said that the 100 of us in the Senate stand in the shoes
of over 300 million Americans. We owe it to them to do our
constitutional duty of voting on the President's nominations to be
Federal judges. We owe it to them to make sure that hard-working
Americans are able to have their cases heard in our Federal courts.
I know the distinguished Senator from Iowa is going to want to speak
and time has been reserved for him. I first yield to the Senator from
Pennsylvania on my time.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Pennsylvania.
Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I rise to ask unanimous consent to speak as
in morning business.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
(The remarks of Mr. Casey are printed in today's Record under
``Morning Business.'')
Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I yield the floor, and I suggest the
absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, I rise today, along with my colleague
from Georgia, Senator Isakson, to commend to this body the confirmation
of two judges who have been nominated by President Obama for the
Northern District of Georgia.
First of all, Amy Totenberg is an Atlanta lawyer who certainly has
the academic credentials that have prepared her well--a graduate of
both Radcliffe College and Harvard and also Harvard Law School. She
began law practice in Atlanta in 1977 with the Law Project and then
went out on her own for 20 years. During her time as a solo
practitioner, she specialized in constitutional rights litigation and
also became a well-known arbitrator and mediator, particularly in
employment and civil rights cases. She served as a court-appointed
monitor and mediator for the U.S. District Court for the District of
Columbia and has served as a special master for the U.S. District Court
in Maryland on an institutional education reform case. Ms. Totenberg
has a wealth of experience on that issue, having served as general
counsel to the city of Atlanta's Board of Education from 1994 to 1998
and also having served as a part-time municipal court judge in Atlanta
for several years. She also has been an adjunct professor at Emory
University Law School.
She has been deeply involved in her community. In addition to her
legal activities, Ms. Totenberg has been a member of the State
Personnel Boards, served as a member of the Governor's Education Reform
Commission, and given her time to Hands On Atlanta, the city's largest
volunteer service program.
I commend Ms. Totenberg for confirmation today as her name comes
before this body.
Steve Jones has been a friend for a long time. He is a guy who, if
you had to pick a jurist, you would want to go before whether you are a
lawyer, a defendant, or a plaintiff in a civil lawsuit.
Steve Jones is a native of Athens, GA, and attended the University of
Georgia both as an undergraduate and as a graduate of the law school.
He began his legal career as assistant district attorney before
becoming a municipal court judge. In 1995, he was appointed to the
superior court bench for the Western Judicial Circuit, which covers
both Clarke and Oconee Counties, two of the fastest growing counties in
our State. In his capacity as a superior court judge, Steve presided
over both criminal and civil cases. He has also supervised the
circuit's felony drug court for 6 years.
His list of honors and awards is truly too numerous to mention here
for this body, but he has been awarded the State Bar of Georgia's
Distinguished Judicial Service Award, Georgia Legal Services Program's
Georgia Justice Builder Award, the University of Georgia President's
Fulfilling the Dream Award, the Boy Scouts of America Distinguished
Citizen Award, the Chief Justice Robert Benham Award for community
service beyond official work, and the Julian Bond Humanitarian Award.
He has been very active in the Athens and Clark County communities.
Steve is a wonderful person, a great family man, a great community
citizen, and an outstanding jurist. He is going to make a truly
outstanding district court judge on the northern district court in
Atlanta.
I yield to my colleague, Senator Isakson.
Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I rise to second the statements made by
Senator Chambliss on these two nominees to the northern district of
Georgia court, Amy Totenberg and Steve Jones. Amy Totenberg is an
attorney, in practice for many years, a judge, an arbitrator, a
mediator, and an educator. She brings a wealth of experience to the
bench in many areas, not the least of which is personnel law. In fact,
during her term of service to the Atlanta Board of Education in the
mid-1990s, I was chairman of the State Board of Education and dealt
with the major litigation pieces that went through the system of
education in Georgia. I know of her competence, her ability, and the
trust her colleagues have in her, and I think she will be an excellent
appointee to the northern district of Georgia bench.
Steve Jones is the real deal. He is a terrific individual, one of
those people who is so active in trying to make the community better.
One example is Clark County in Athens where Steve has been a superior
court judge for many years, which is one of the leading and founding
drug courts in America, an intervention court that intervenes in those
first drug cases when young people are caught for the first time, works
with them as an advocate and as a mentor to see to it they never return
to drugs and therefore never return to crime. That is just one example
of his intensity in trying to make his community better.
[[Page S955]]
He is respected by lawyers throughout the circuit, he is respected by
his fellow judges, and he is deeply respected by me as an individual
who brings great credit to the State and great credit to the bench.
I urge all our colleagues tonight on the vote for Steve Jones and Amy
Totenberg to unanimously support both of those nominees to the northern
district of Georgia bench.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, we are continuing in our cooperative
effort to fill vacancies in the Federal judiciary that have been
designated as judicial emergencies. Today, the Senate will confirm two
more of President Obama's judicial nominees. I am pleased we are moving
forward on consensus nominees who will lessen the burden on our
overworked courts.
My Republican colleagues and I continue to demonstrate our ability
and desire to work with the President and the Democratic majority. We
will have confirmed 7 judicial nominees in just 17 short days the
Senate has been in session this Congress. We have reported out of
committee a total of 15 judicial nominees, or 29 percent of the total
nominees submitted. We have already held two hearings in committee on
eight judicial nominees, with additional nominees scheduled for a
hearing later this week. With this quick and productive pace, we have
taken positive action on 55 percent of the judicial nominations sent to
the committee this year.
I continue to work with the chairman to ensure all nominees are
afforded a fair but thorough process, in a timely manner. I have
appreciated the chairman's courtesy as we work together to set
schedules and agendas. It is imperative that the administration work
with us, as well, to fill vacancies. I am particularly concerned about
those seats designated as judicial emergencies.
We continue to hear about the high judicial vacancy rate. I think the
record is clear that the Senate is addressing that issue in vigorous
manner. However, I continue to note that the President has failed to
submit a nomination for over half of the vacancies. For judicial
emergencies, over 57 percent of those seats have no nominee.
The two vacancies we are filling today took some time for a
nomination to be sent to the Senate. Both seats became vacant in
December 2008, at the end of the Bush administration. It took President
Obama over a year to name a nominee for one seat, and nearly a year and
a half to nominate for the other seat. So those who are concerned about
a high vacancy rate in the Federal judiciary should pay attention to
the nomination process, not just Senate confirmations.
I will say a few words about the nominees who are scheduled to have
votes today. I thank our leadership for the reasonable arrangement that
was reached to consider these nominations.
First, Amy Totenberg is nominated to be a U.S. district court judge
for the Northern District of Georgia. She received her A.B., magna cum
laude, and her J.D. from Harvard University. Upon graduation, she
joined the Law Project as a partner, where she focused on Federal
constitutional and employment law. She left the Law Project to become a
solo practitioner where she maintained a general civil practice. Ms.
Totenberg also served as municipal court judge for Atlanta, and was
appointed by the Atlanta Board of Education as the first in-house
general counsel for the Atlanta Public School District.
Over the past decade, while maintaining a solo practice, Ms.
Totenberg has spent the majority of her time as a special master,
monitor, and arbitrator/monitor for the U.S. district courts in
Maryland and Washington, DC. The American Bar Association Standing
Committee on the Federal Judiciary unanimously rated her ``Well-
Qualified.''
Our second nominee, Steve C. Jones, is also nominated to be a U.S.
district judge for the Northern District of Georgia. Judge Jones
received his B.B.A. and his J.D. from the University of Georgia.
An experienced jurist, he began his legal career as an assistant
district attorney for the Western judicial District of Georgia. In
1993, Judge Jones began service as a municipal court judge for Athens-
Clarke County, GA. He was appointed by Governor Zell Miller, in 1995,
to serve as a superior court judge for the Western Judicial Circuit. He
was subsequently re-elected four times and is the presiding judge for
the Felony Drug Court. Aside from his daily duties to the bench, Judge
Jones was appointed by the Georgia Supreme Court to serve on the
Judicial Qualifications Commission. He also functioned as its chairman
from 2002 to 2006. On and off the bench, Judge Jones has contributed to
his community. He has invested time to help Georgia Legal Services, as
well as a local anti-poverty initiative, Partners for a Prosperous
Athens/OneAthens. The American Bar Association Standing Committee on
the Federal Judiciary unanimously rated him ``Well-Qualified.''
I support these two nominees, and congratulate them for their
achievement and public service. I will continue to work with the
chairman to move forward on consensus nominees, as we have done with
these two nominations.
I yield the floor.
Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Under the previous order, the nomination of Amy Totenberg, of
Georgia, to be United States District Judge for the Northern District
of Georgia is confirmed.
The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the nomination
of Steve C. Jones, of Georgia, to be United States District Judge for
the Northern District of Georgia?
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I understand there has been a request for a
rollcall vote on Judge Jones, although I would recommend if we have
such it be unanimous. I see the distinguished Senator from Georgia, Mr.
Isakson, on the floor. 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 editor of the Daily Digest called the roll.
Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Hawaii (Mr. Akaka), the
Senator from New York (Mrs. Gillibrand), the Senator from Connecticut
(Mr. Lieberman), and the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Rockefeller)
are necessarily absent.
Mr. KYL. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator
from New Hampshire (Ms. Ayotte), the Senator from Arkansas (Mr.
Boozman), the Senator from Oklahoma (Mr. Inhofe), the Senator from
Arizona (Mr. McCain), the Senator from Kentucky (Mr. Paul), and the
Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Toomey).
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Manchin). Are there any other Senators in
the Chamber desiring to vote?
The result was announced--yeas 90, nays 0, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 26 Ex.]
YEAS--90
Alexander
Barrasso
Baucus
Begich
Bennet
Bingaman
Blumenthal
Blunt
Boxer
Brown (MA)
Brown (OH)
Burr
Cantwell
Cardin
Carper
Casey
Chambliss
Coats
Coburn
Cochran
Collins
Conrad
Coons
Corker
Cornyn
Crapo
DeMint
Durbin
Ensign
Enzi
Feinstein
Franken
Graham
Grassley
Hagan
Harkin
Hatch
Hoeven
Hutchison
Inouye
Isakson
Johanns
Johnson (SD)
Johnson (WI)
Kerry
Kirk
Klobuchar
Kohl
Kyl
Landrieu
Lautenberg
Leahy
Lee
Levin
Lugar
Manchin
McCaskill
McConnell
Menendez
Merkley
Mikulski
Moran
Murkowski
Murray
Nelson (NE)
Nelson (FL)
Portman
Pryor
Reed
Reid
Risch
Roberts
Rubio
Sanders
Schumer
Sessions
Shaheen
Shelby
Snowe
Stabenow
Tester
Thune
Udall (CO)
Udall (NM)
Vitter
Warner
Webb
Whitehouse
Wicker
Wyden
[[Page S956]]
NOT VOTING--10
Akaka
Ayotte
Boozman
Gillibrand
Inhofe
Lieberman
McCain
Paul
Rockefeller
Toomey
The nomination was confirmed.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The motions to reconsider are laid on the
table. The President will be immediately notified of the Senate's
action.
____________________