[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 112 (Monday, July 25, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4860-S4862]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                           EXECUTIVE SESSION

                                 ______
                                 

NOMINATION OF PAUL A. ENGELMAYER TO BE UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE FOR 
                   THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

                                 ______
                                 

 NOMINATION OF RAMONA VILLAGOMEZ MANGLONA TO BE JUDGE FOR THE DISTRICT 
                 COURT FOR THE NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS

  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 bill clerk read the nomination of Paul A. Engelmayer, of New 
York, to be United States District Judge for the Southern District of 
New York; Ramona Villagomez Manglona, of the Northern Mariana Islands, 
to be Judge for the District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, there will be 1 hour 
for debate on the nominations, equally divided and controlled in the 
usual form.
  The Senator from Vermont.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I understand the vote will be at 5:30; is 
that correct?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There is debate for 1 hour. If no time is 
yielded back, the vote will be at 5:36.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I will yield back 6 minutes of my time so 
the vote can begin at 5:30.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                           Moment of Silence

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I note the Senate observed a moment of 
silence for John Gibson and Jacob Chestnut, who were killed in the 
Capitol in 1998 on July 24. Both were excellent police officers--one 
uniformed, one plain clothes--in the protective division. My wife and I 
knew both John Gibson and Jacob Chestnut, and we were at both of their 
memorial services. Both were fine officers, and I am glad we had a 
moment of silence.
  We sometimes forget that we have a lot of very good police officers, 
both in the uniform division and the plain clothes division, in this 
Capitol. They are here to protect us at all times of day or night, no 
matter what the weather or what the circumstances. It is something we 
should keep in mind. We often can go home when the session ends, but 
they are here to make sure everything is still safe. So we owe all of 
them a debt of gratitude, and I hope all of them will remain safe. It 
is a tragedy that Officers Gibson and Chestnut were not able to remain 
safe but died protecting the Capitol.
  Today, the Senate is finally going to vote on two judicial 
nominations reported unanimously by the Judiciary Committee in early 
April.
  Let me put that into perspective. Way back when snow was still 
falling in my State, every single Republican and every single Democrat 
voted for these two nominees. In past years they would have been 
confirmed probably in a voice vote that same week in a wrap-up session. 
For some reason, my friends on the other side think it should be 
different with a Democratic President than it was for a Republican 
President, or for that matter, all past Presidents.
  Despite the support of every Democrat and every Republican on the 
Judiciary Committee, the nominations of Paul Engelmayer to fill a 
judicial emergency vacancy in the Southern District of New York, and 
Ramona Manglona to fill a 10-year term in the District Court for the 
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, have been stalled for 
3\1/2\ months on the Senate's Executive Calendar. These are the kinds 
of qualified, consensus judicial nominations that in past years--
whether under President Ford, President Carter, President Reagan, or 
either of the President Bushes--would have been confirmed promptly 
rather than being forced to languish for months because of Republican 
refusal to consent to debate and vote on nominations.
  At a time when judicial vacancies remain above 90 throughout this 
country, these needless delays perpetuate the judicial vacancy crisis 
that Chief Justice Roberts, a Republican appointee, wrote of last 
December and that the President, the Attorney General, bar associations 
and chief judges around the country have urged us to join together to 
end. Imagine the example we set to litigants by saying: ``Well, we 
can't hear your litigation, no matter how important it is. You are 
going to have to wait year after year after year because we don't have 
a judge. We can't get one confirmed.'' The Senate can do a better job 
working to ensure the ability of our Federal courts to provide justice 
to our fellow Americans around the country.
  Recently, Chief Judge Moreno of the Southern District of Florida 
wrote to the Senate leaders urging that they expedite action on two 
nominations to fill judicial emergency vacancies in that district. Both 
Kathleen Williams and Robert Scola are among the many judicial nominees 
who were reported unanimously by the Judiciary Committee, yet both are 
being delayed for no good reason.
  Chief Judge Moreno writes:

       [T]he judicial shortage with three vacancies in our 
     district is becoming acute. For this reason, I ask your 
     assistance in expediting both confirmations. The Judiciary 
     Committee has found the nominees qualified and the people of 
     South Florida eagerly await their service.

  Both of these nominees have the support of their home State 
Senators--Senator Nelson, a Democrat, and Senator Rubio, a Republican. 
The two Senators have set aside partisan actions, and the Senate 
Judiciary Committee has set aside partisan actions by voting for the 
nominees unanimously. Why should they be held up because of partisan 
actions on this floor?
  Kathleen Williams and Robert Scola are among the 27 judicial nominees 
reviewed by the Judiciary Committee and reported favorably to the 
Senate for final action who are being stalled. I am glad that we are 
finally being allowed to consider the 2 nominees who will be confirmed 
today, but they have been waiting since early April. This is not 
traditional, and there are still 25 who languish.
  This is not how the Senate has acted in years past with other 
Presidents' judicial nominees. It is not accurate to pretend that real 
progress is being made in these circumstances. After we have these two 
votes, we will still have 25 nominees sitting on the calendar who could 
be disposed of within an hour, yet they are blocked week after week 
after week. That is not progress. We may be making progress in the 
committee, but if the nominees are blocked on the floor, it is not 
progress. Vacancies are being kept high, consensus nominees are being 
delayed, and it is the American people--Republicans, Democrats, and 
Independents alike--that are being made to suffer.
  This is another area in which we must come together for the American 
people. Let us do something for the American people, and not just for 
our political parties. There is no reason Senators cannot join together 
to finally bring down the excessive number of vacancies that have 
persisted in our Federal courts throughout the Nation for far too long. 
It is not a Republican or Democratic issue, it is an American issue.
  Between now and the August recess the Senate should consider all of 
the judicial nominees ready for a final vote, including those 
desperately needed in southern Florida backed by Senator Nelson and 
Senator Rubio.
  I expect the two nominations we are going to consider today will be 
confirmed overwhelmingly. They are examples of the almost two dozen 
consensus nominees who are being stalled for no good reason. Mr. 
Engelmayer is a nominee with unassailable credentials. After receiving 
his undergraduate and law school degrees with honors from Harvard Law 
School, Mr. Engelmayer served as a law clerk to Judge Patricia Wald of 
the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and 
then to Justice Thurgood Marshall on the Supreme Court. He worked as a 
Federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York for 9 years, 
where he climbed the ranks from a young lawyer to become Chief of the 
Major Crimes Unit. Mr. Engelmayer served for 2 years as an Assistant 
Solicitor General for the United States. Since 2000, he has been a 
partner in the law firm WilmerHale, where he practices civil and 
criminal litigation and regularly dedicates himself to pro bono work. 
The ABA's

[[Page S4861]]

Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary unanimously rated him well 
qualified to serve, its highest rating. He is supported by his home 
state Senators.
  Ramona Villagomez Manglona is currently an Associate Judge on the 
Superior Court for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands 
(CNMI), having previously served as a Justice Pro Tempore on the Guam 
Supreme Court and a Judge Pro Tempore on the Guam Superior Court. From 
1998 to 2003, she worked in the CNMI Office of the Attorney General is 
several capacities, including a term as Attorney General. Born in 
Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands, Judge Manglona earned her B.A. from 
the University of California, Berkeley and her J.D. from the University 
of New Mexico. When confirmed, Judge Manglona will be the first 
indigenous person to serve as a U.S. District Court Judge in the 
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Her confirmation should 
also save money and help ease the burden on judges who have had to 
travel to the Pacific from the mainland to provide judicial resources.
  I, again, thank Senator Grassley for his cooperation in working with 
me to make progress in the committee concerning judicial nominations in 
regular order. We have made progress in the committee, but it goes for 
naught if we cannot get nominees confirmed on the floor. Our work in 
the committee has not been matched in the Senate, where agreements to 
debate and vote on judicial nominations are too few and too far 
between. These are only the sixth and seventh nominations the Senate 
has considered in the last 2 months, at a time when vacancies have 
remained at or above 90, and despite the many consensus nominees that 
have been voted on in a bipartisan fashion by the committee and are now 
waiting for a vote on the Senate floor.
  These will be only the 13th and 14th nominees confirmed this year who 
had their hearings this year. The other confirmations were all from the 
group considered by the Judiciary Committee last year, but were 
renominated after having had their confirmations delayed unnecessarily 
last year. Ignoring the words of the Chief Justice and others concerned 
with the continuing high number of judicial vacancies, Senate 
Republicans have continued the pattern and practice of delay for 
virtually all judicial nominees.
  In addition to the 2 nominations we consider today, there are 
currently 25 judicial nominations that have been fully considered by 
the Judiciary Committee and sent to the Senate for final action. Of 
them, 20 were unanimously reported, by Republicans and Democrats, 
without a single negative vote. At the very least, we ought to take up 
those 20. The two nominations we consider today were reported in April. 
There remain 13 judicial nominations on the calendar reported favorably 
by the committee way back in May or earlier, 11 of which were reported 
unanimously. When I urged the Senate to take up and vote on the many 
judicial nominations that were on the calendar and ready for action 
before the Memorial Day recess, Republican Senators would not agree to 
consider a single one. With almost a score of judicial nominees 
available to the Senate for final action, only one was considered 
before the July 4 recess. That is not the way to make real progress.
  Regrettably, the Senate has not reduced vacancies as dramatically as 
we did during the Bush administration. Federal judicial vacancies 
around the country still number too many, and they have persisted for 
far too long. Whereas the Democratic majority in the Senate reduced 
vacancies from 110 to 60 in President Bush's first two years, Senate 
Republicans' insistence on objections and delays have resulted in 
judicial vacancies still numbering more than 90 two and a half years 
into President Obama's term. By now, judicial vacancies should have 
been reduced to similar levels, but we have barely kept up with 
attrition.
  In fact, the Senate has reversed course during the Obama 
administration given Republican objections, and the slow pace of 
confirmations are keeping judicial vacancies at crisis levels. Over the 
eight years of the Bush administration, from 2001 to 2009, we reduced 
judicial vacancies from 110 to a low of 34. That has now been reversed, 
with vacancies staying near or above 90 for the last two years. The 
vacancy rate--which we reduced from 10 percent to 6 percent by this 
date in President Bush's third year, and ultimately to less than 4 
percent in 2008--is back above 10 percent.
  By this time in the third year of the Bush administration, the Senate 
had confirmed 136 judges. That is over 40 percent more than the number 
of President Obama's nominees we have been allowed to process to 
confirmation. We have a long way to go to do as well as we did during 
President Bush's first term, when we confirmed 205 of his judicial 
nominations. The Senate confirmed 100 of those judicial nominations 
during the 17 months I was Chairman during President Bush's first 2 
years in office. In the other 31 months, Republicans were able to do 
another 105. So again, we demonstrated we are ready to work faster with 
President Bush than even his Republican Senators were--and we certainly 
worked a lot faster than we have been able to work now. President Obama 
is now in his 30th month in office and we have only been allowed to 
consider and confirm 91 of his Federal Circuit and District Court 
nominees. Compare that to the 100 I did in 17 months for President 
Bush.
  The delays continue, despite the needs of the Federal judiciary, as 
evidenced by Chief Judge Moreno's recent letter, which I ask unanimous 
consent to be made part of the Record at the conclusion of my remarks.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  (See exhibit 1.)
  Mr. LEAHY. I would note that the delays in confirmation of President 
Obama's consensus nominees, nominees agreed to by both Republicans and 
Democrats, are to the detriment of all Americans. Most people, when 
they go into court, do not go in as a Republican or Democrat. They are 
just an American seeking justice. But the courts' doors are now being 
closed; closed because the Senate will not allow confirmation of the 
judges who could open those doors. That is wrong. It is a stain on the 
judiciary, and it is a stain on this body.

                               Exhibit 1

                                              U.S. District Court,


                                 Southern District of Florida,

                                         Miami, FL, July 21, 2011.
     Re Nominations of Kathleen Williams and Robert Scola to the 
         U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

     Senator Mitch McConnell,
     Russell Senate Office Building,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Senator McConnell: As Chief Judge of the United States 
     District Court for the Southern District of Florida, I urge 
     you to expedite the Senate's confirmation of Kathleen 
     Williams and Robert Scola to the positions of district judges 
     in our district. I understand that the Judiciary Committee 
     has sent both nominations by unanimous voice vote and is 
     awaiting a vote by the full Senate. Ms. Williams, our 
     district's Federal Public Defender, has been awaiting 
     confirmation for the longest period of any present nominee to 
     the district court in the entire country. State Judge Robert 
     Scola's nomination is of a more recent vintage but the 
     litigants are eagerly awaiting his confirmation.
       The judgeship Ms. Williams has been nominated to fill has 
     been vacant for two years! At the present time, our district 
     has three vacancies. Unfilled positions in our Court present 
     an undue hardship on the citizens residing in the Southern 
     District of Florida, particularly those with cases pending in 
     the affected division of the Court. Our district is huge and 
     heavily populated. It includes the most populous counties in 
     Florida, Miami-Dade, Broward (where Fort Lauderdale is 
     located) and Palm Beach Counties. The district also includes 
     Monroe, St. Lucie, Highlands, Okeechobee, Martin, and Indian 
     River Counties.
       We have been laboring under a judicial shortage for quite 
     some time. The Judicial Conference of the United States has 
     for the past several years annually recommended to Congress 
     three additional permanent judgeships and to convert one 
     temporary judgeship into a permanent one.
       This shortage is exacerbated by the fact that we are one of 
     the busiest district courts in the nation. Our district had 
     10,556 new filings in both criminal and civil cases in 2010, 
     an increase of 6.7% over the year 2000. The latest national 
     statistics (FY 2010) are attached and show that our district 
     is first in ``weighted filings'' in the Eleventh Circuit.
       In sum, the judicial shortage with three vacancies in our 
     district is becoming acute. For this reason, I ask your 
     assistance in expediting both confirmations. The Judiciary 
     Committee has found the nominees qualified and the people of 
     South Florida eagerly await their service.
       Please call me if I can provide any additional information. 
     I thank you in advance

[[Page S4862]]

     for your consideration of this important matter.
           Sincerely,
                                               Federico A. Moreno,
                                        Chief U.S. District Judge.

  Mr. LEAHY. I suggest the absence of a quorum, and I ask unanimous 
consent that the time be equally charged to both parties.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, today the Senate will vote on the 
nomination of Paul Engelmayer to be United States District Judge for 
the Southern District of New York and Ramona Villagomez Manglona to be 
Judge for the District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands. The seat 
to which Mr. Engelmayer is being considered has been deemed a judicial 
emergency. With this vote, we will have confirmed 29 article III 
judicial nominees. Eighteen have been for such judicial emergencies. 
Ms. Manglona's confirmation vote marks the second article IV judicial 
confirmation this year. I am pleased we are moving forward with filling 
two more vacancies.
  We continue to make great progress in processing President Obama's 
judicial nominees. As of today, the Senate has confirmed 60 percent of 
President Obama's nominees since the beginning of his Presidency. That 
is not including the two Supreme Court Justices nominated by President 
Obama. As I am sure my colleagues recall, those nominations consumed a 
considerable amount of time in the committee and on the Senate floor.
  During this Congress, the Judiciary Committee has held hearings on 
more than 72 percent of the President's nominees. Another hearing is 
scheduled to take place this Wednesday. During the comparable time 
period for President Bush, only 64 percent of President Bush's nominees 
had hearings by this time. We have also reported 64 percent of the 
judicial nominees, compared to only 56 percent of President Bush's 
nominees.
  Let me say just a few words about Mr. Engelmayer and then Judge 
Manglona. Mr. Engelmayer graduated summa cum laude from Harvard 
University in 1983. He then graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law 
School in 1987. Following law school, the nominee clerked for Judge 
Patricia Wald on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia 
and then for Justice Thurgood Marshall of the Supreme Court of the 
United States.
  After his clerkships, Mr. Engelmayer joined the U.S. Attorney's 
Office for the Southern District of New York as an assistant U.S. 
attorney. In 1994, he became an assistant to the Solicitor General of 
the United States. In 2000, the nominee entered private practice with 
Wilmer Hale and was later named Partner-in-Charge of the New York 
office.
  The ABA Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary has given Mr. 
Engelmayer a unanimous ``Well Qualified'' rating. I support this 
nomination and congratulate him on his professional accomplishments.
  Now I have a few words about Judge Manglona. Judge Manglona received 
her bachelor off arts degree from the University of California at 
Berkeley in 1990. In 1996, she graduated from the University of New 
Mexico School of Law. Following law school, the nominee clerked for the 
Superior Court of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. She 
then worked in the Attorney General's Office and in 2002, the Governor 
appointed her attorney general for the Northern Mariana Islands. In 
2003, she was appointed to serve as an associate judge for the Northern 
Mariana Islands Superior Court. During her time on the superior court, 
she has also served as a judge pro tem on the Guam Superior Court and 
the Guam Supreme Court.
  The ABA Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary has rated Judge 
Manglona unanimously ``Qualified.'' I also support this nomination and 
congratulate her on her professional accomplishments.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.
  Mr. REID. We have an unusual situation. It looks nice outside today. 
The Sun is shining. But earlier today, if someone looked out the 
window, we had some violent storms. They are all over the area. We have 
Senators stuck in airplanes trying to get out of New York. We have one 
Senator traveling from the Midwest stuck in Richmond, VA, now. I think 
it would be in everyone's interest--and I apologize to people who 
worked hard to get back here today--but I think it is in everyone's 
interest that we not have a vote tonight. We have a lot of people who 
simply would miss the vote unless we keep it open for a matter of 
hours. I again apologize to people who came here to vote, but I think 
this is the best thing to do. I have spoken to the Republican leader 
and this is what we should do.
  I ask unanimous consent the votes scheduled for tonight be vitiated, 
and that on Tuesday, July 26, at 12:15 p.m., the Senate proceed to 
executive session and resume consideration of the nominations, Calendar 
Nos. 83 and 84, that there be 2 minutes for debate, equally divided in 
the usual form; that upon the use or yielding back of time, the Senate 
proceed to vote without intervening action or debate on Calendar Nos. 
83 and 84, in that order; the motions to reconsider be considered made 
and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate; that no 
further motions be in order; that any related statements be printed in 
the Record; and that the President be immediately notified of the 
Senate's action and the Senate then resume legislative session.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant editor of the Daily Digest proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the 
quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________