[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 113 (Tuesday, July 26, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4893-S4894]
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 
resume executive session to consider the following nominations, which 
the clerk will report.
  The assistant legislative clerk read the nominations of Paul A. 
Engelmayer, of New York, to be United States District Judge for the 
Southern District of New York, and Ramona Villagomez Manglona, of the 
Northern Mariana Islands, to be Judge for the District Court for the 
Northern Mariana Islands.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There will be 2 minutes of debate equally 
divided.
  The Senator from Iowa.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I don't intend to use but 1 minute 
because I spoke yesterday on this nomination, but I would urge my 
colleagues to support the nomination of Paul A. Engelmayer to be 
district judge. He is very well qualified, and I would encourage a 
``yes'' vote.
  I yield back the remainder of my time.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, yesterday I made a statement about the need 
for the Senate to consider all 27 judicial nominees reviewed by the 
Senate Judiciary Committee and now awaiting final action by the Senate. 
I was disappointed that the votes on Paul Engelmayer to fill a judicial 
emergency vacancy on the Southern District of New York and Ramona 
Manglona to fill a 10-year term on the District Court for the 
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, which had already been 
stalled for 3\1/2\ months, were not considered yesterday. These are the 
kinds of qualified, consensus judicial nominations that in past years 
would have been confirmed promptly. I hope and trust that at least they 
will be considered and confirmed today.
  After their confirmations, there will be 25 judicial nominations 
fully considered by the Judiciary Committee awaiting final action by 
the Senate. Twenty of them were unanimously reported, without a single 
negative vote. 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.
  By the August recess in the third year of the Bush administration, 
the Senate had confirmed 143 Federal circuit and district court judges. 
As we approach the August recess in the third year of the Obama 
administration, the comparable number after confirmation of Paul 
Engelmayer and Ramona Manglona today will be only 91.
  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. 
So far, as we near the end of President Obama's 30th month in office, 
the Senate has only been allowed to consider and confirm only 91 of 
President Obama's Federal circuit and district court nominees. Despite 
the needs of the Federal judiciary, the delays in confirmation of 
President Obama's consensus judicial nominees continue to the detriment 
of the American people.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Illinois.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I yield our time on this side.

[[Page S4894]]

  Mr. GRASSLEY. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There is a sufficient second.
  The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the nomination 
of Paul A. Engelmayer, of New York, to be United States District Judge 
for the Southern District of New York?
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. 
Rockefeller) is necessarily absent.
  Mr. KYL. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Oklahoma (Mr. Inhofe).
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Coons). Are there any other Senators in 
the Chamber desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 98, nays 0, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 117 Ex.]

                                YEAS--98

     Akaka
     Alexander
     Ayotte
     Barrasso
     Baucus
     Begich
     Bennet
     Bingaman
     Blumenthal
     Blunt
     Boozman
     Boxer
     Brown (MA)
     Brown (OH)
     Burr
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Chambliss
     Coats
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Collins
     Conrad
     Coons
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Crapo
     DeMint
     Durbin
     Enzi
     Feinstein
     Franken
     Gillibrand
     Graham
     Grassley
     Hagan
     Harkin
     Hatch
     Heller
     Hoeven
     Hutchison
     Inouye
     Isakson
     Johanns
     Johnson (SD)
     Johnson (WI)
     Kerry
     Kirk
     Klobuchar
     Kohl
     Kyl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Lee
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lugar
     Manchin
     McCain
     McCaskill
     McConnell
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Mikulski
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Murray
     Nelson (NE)
     Nelson (FL)
     Paul
     Portman
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rubio
     Sanders
     Schumer
     Sessions
     Shaheen
     Shelby
     Snowe
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Thune
     Toomey
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Vitter
     Warner
     Webb
     Whitehouse
     Wicker
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--2

     Inhofe
     Rockefeller
      
  The nomination was confirmed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question now is, Will the Senate advise 
and consent to the nomination of Ramona Villagomez Manglona, of the 
Northern Mariana Islands, to be Judge for the District Court for the 
Northern Mariana Islands?
  The nomination was confirmed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the motions to 
reconsider are considered made and laid on the table, and the President 
shall be immediately notified of the Senate's actions.

                          ____________________