[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 151 (Tuesday, October 11, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6375-S6377]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               NOMINATION OF JANE MARGARET TRICHE-MILAZZO

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, today we are going to consider the 
nomination of Jane Margaret Triche-Milazzo to be U.S. district judge 
for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Before I make my remarks 
regarding the nomination, I want to respond to some comments made on 
the floor last Thursday evening because I am really amazed and very 
disappointed by the continuing allegations that Senate Republicans are 
delaying, obstructing, or otherwise blocking judicial nominations. One 
Member stated that we ``filibuster everything and require 60 votes on 
everything, including judges.'' That statement is without merit, and so 
I am here to set the record straight.
  We are making very good progress in the consideration and 
confirmation of President Obama's judicial nominations. In fact, we 
have taken positive action on 84 percent of President Obama's judicial 
nominees. We heard from five judicial nominees in committee last week, 
reported five more to the floor, and continue to hold regular votes on 
judicial nominees. President Obama's circuit court nominees are 
waiting, on average, only 66 days to receive a hearing. Now, compare 
that to the 247 days President Bush's circuit nominees were forced to 
wait. The same can be said for district court nominees, who have only 
waited 79 days under President Obama. Nominees

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from President Bush waited on average 100 days for a hearing. You can 
understand why I am disturbed because some people say there is a 
Republican effort not to cooperate on moving these judges.

  The reporting process has also favored President Obama's judicial 
nominees. On average, President Obama's circuit court nominees have 
only waited 116 days to be reported out of committee. President Bush's 
circuit court nominees waited over 369 days to be reported. District 
court nominees are no different. President Obama's nominees for the 
district courts have waited 129 days, while President Bush's district 
court nominees waited over 148 days.
  The accusations that we are filibustering or requiring 60 votes on 
everything including judges is not supported by the facts. We have 
confirmed 43 judicial nominees this year. With the vote today we will 
have confirmed over 66 percent of President Obama's judicial nominees 
since the beginning of his administration. During our consideration of 
the 98 judicial nominations submitted during this Congress, there have 
been two cloture votes. One of those nominees was confirmed. The other 
was withdrawn.
  In the last Congress there were four cloture motions made in 
relationship to 105 judicial nominations submitted. I remind my 
colleagues that at least 18 of President Bush's judicial nominations 
were subjected to cloture motions, many of them having multiple cloture 
votes. According to my count, there were approximately 30 cloture votes 
on Bush judicial nominees.
  There has to be a double standard on the part of my colleagues who 
somehow forget the history or somehow do not know how to count or 
sometimes, if they do read the numbers, do not know what the numbers 
mean.
  Another colleague of mine stated last Thursday night that he could 
not remember a time during his long service in the Senate when judges 
would sit on the calendar for months. It was not that long ago, while 
the current majority party was in the minority, when qualified nominees 
sat on the Senate calendar for months. In most cases, when finally 
afforded a vote, they received unanimous support. These included Juan 
Sanchez, who was nominated for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania; 
William Duffey, Jr., who was nominated for the Northern District of 
Georgia; Mark Filip, who was nominated for the Northern District of 
Illinois; Gary Sharpe, who was nominated for the Northern District of 
New York; and James Robart, who was nominated for the Western District, 
State of Washington. These are just a few of President Bush's district 
court nominees who sat on the calendar for well over 3 months, yet 
received unanimous support in their confirmation votes.
  I wonder if my colleagues remember William Haynes, President Bush's 
nominee to sit on the Fourth Circuit. He waited 638 days on the Senate 
calendar in the 108th Congress alone before being returned to the 
President. All in all, Mr. Haynes put his life on hold for 1,173 days 
without ever receiving an up-or-down vote.
  Another of President Bush's circuit court nominees, Raymond 
Kethledge, waited 23 months before being confirmed by the Senate and 
was then confirmed--can you believe it--on a voice vote.
  I am not providing these facts to engage in a tit-for-tat, but when I 
hear colleagues misstate facts and can't understand numbers and can't 
count, I have to set the record straight.
  Shortly we will vote on Jane M. Triche-Milazzo, who is nominated to 
be the U.S. district judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana. She 
graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree from Nicholls State 
University in 1977 and then worked for some time as an elementary 
school teacher before beginning to work in her father's law office. In 
1992, Judge Triche-Milazzo graduated with a juris doctorate from 
Louisiana State University, Paul M. Herbert Law Center. She spent the 
entirety of her legal career practicing at Risley Triche, LLC, first as 
an associate and later to become a partner.
  In 2008 she was elected judge for Louisiana's 23rd judicial district. 
She is a Louisiana State District Court judge for Division D of the 
23rd judicial district bench. She was the first female judge elected to 
that judicial district bench. Judge Triche-Milazzo received a unanimous 
``qualified'' rating from the ABA Committee on the Federal Judiciary, 
so I am pleased to support this fine nominee and thank her for her 
service.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, in a few moments the Senate has the 
opportunity to proceed to the American Jobs Act. The bill the President 
asked us to pass a month ago includes bipartisan proposals that have 
received broad approval in the past from Members of both parties, 
including road and bridge repairs, teacher retentions and extensions of 
tax relief for businesses to encourage hiring. We should answer the 
President's call and the American people's needs and act to help get 
Americans back to work and grow the economy.
  There is another unacceptable rate that we can help change to the 
benefit of all Americans. That is the judicial vacancy rate. It now 
stands at nearly 11 percent, with 92 vacancies on Federal courts around 
the country. I will ask to have printed in the Record an editorial on 
this topic entitled ``The Other Federal Crisis'' that appeared in 
McClatchy--Tribune papers last week.
  We can act today to bring down that rate dramatically by considering 
and confirming 26 judicial nominations approved by the Senate Judiciary 
Committee that are awaiting final Senate action.
  Today we are voting on only one of those judicial 26 nominees. With 
Republican agreement, all 26 could have been voted on today. Of the 25 
judges who will remain on the Executive Calendar after today's vote, 21 
were reported with the unanimous support of all Democrats and all 
Republicans serving on the Judiciary Committee. All of them have the 
support of their home State Senators, 10 include Republicans home State 
Senators.
  Today, the Senate will finally vote on the nomination of Jane Triche-
Milazzo to serve as a district judge in the U.S. District Court for the 
Eastern District of Louisiana. While I am pleased that we are finally 
having a vote on Judge Triche-Milazzo's nomination, after 3 months of 
unnecessary delay, more than two dozen well-qualified, consensus 
nominees still await a Senate confirmation vote. At a time when 
vacancies on Federal courts throughout the country have remained near 
or above 90 for more than 2 years, delaying votes on these nominees 
needlessly undermines the ability of our Federal courts to provide 
justice to Americans around the country.
  The Senate could take significant steps today to address this ongoing 
crisis in judicial vacancies just by acting on the nominations 
thoroughly vetted by the Judiciary Committee and reported with 
bipartisan support. This week, with Republican cooperation, the 
Judiciary Committee could report five more consensus nominees to fill 
judicial emergency vacancies on the Eleventh Circuit and in Utah, as 
well as vacancies in Missouri, Nebraska, and Washington. I have 
repeatedly noted Senator Grassley's willingness to work with me to make 
sure that the Judiciary Committee makes progress on nominations. 
Regrettably, the Judiciary Committee's efforts to act on nominations 
have not been matched by action by the Senate, where the Republican 
leadership has refused promptly to consider even consensus nominations. 
They are delayed for months. The Republican leadership's refusal to 
promptly schedule votes on pending judicial nominations is a departure 
from the Senate's action in regularly considering President Bush's 
nominations, which we did whether the Senate had a Democratic or 
Republican majority. At this point in George W. Bush's presidency, the 
Senate had confirmed 162 of his nominees for the Federal circuit and 
district courts, including 100 during the 17 months that I was chairman 
of the Judiciary Committee during his first term. By this date in 
President Clinton's first term, the Senate had confirmed 163 of his 
nominations to circuit and district courts. In stark contrast, after 
today's vote, the Senate will have confirmed only 105 of President 
Obama's nominees to Federal circuit and district courts. In the next 
year, we need to confirm 100 more of his circuit and district court 
nominations to match the 205 confirmed during President Bush's first 
term.
  We can and must do better to address the serious judicial vacancies 
crisis affecting Federal courts around the

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country. Nearly half of all Americans--136 million--live in districts 
or circuits that have a judicial vacancy that could be filled today if 
the Senate Republicans just agreed to vote on the nominations currently 
pending on the Executive Calendar. As many as 21 states are served by 
Federal courts with vacancies that would be filled by nominations 
stalled on the Senate calendar. Millions of Americans across the 
country are being harmed by delays in overburdened courts. The 
Republican leadership should explain to the American people why they 
will not consent to vote on the qualified, consensus candidates 
nominated to fill these extended judicial vacancies.
  The unnecessary delays in our consideration of judicial nominations 
have contributed to the longest period of historically high vacancy 
rates in the last 35 years. The number of judicial vacancies rose above 
90 in August 2009, and it has stayed near or above that level ever 
since. Vacancies are twice as high as they were at this point in 
President Bush's first term when the Senate was expeditiously voting on 
consensus judicial nominations. We must bring an end to these needless 
delays in the Senate so that we can ease the burden on our Federal 
courts so that they can better serve the American people.
  Last week, the Senate voted to confirm Judge Jennifer Guerin Zipps, 
who was nominated to fill the emergency judicial vacancy created by the 
tragic death of Judge Roll in the Tucson, AZ, shootings. I was pleased 
that, with cooperation from Republican Senators, the time from when the 
Judiciary Committee reported Judge Zipps' nomination to full Senate 
consideration was less than a month even including a recess period. All 
nominations should move at that rate. It should not take a tragedy to 
spur us to action to fill a judicial emergency vacancy. Indeed, the 
time it took the Senate to consider Judge Zipps' nomination was in line 
with the average time it took for the Senate to consider President 
Bush's unanimously reported judicial nominations, 28 days. Her 
nomination would not have been an exception during those years as it 
regrettably has become today. President Obama's consensus nominations, 
reported with the unanimous support of every Republican and Democrat on 
the Judiciary Committee, have waited an average of 79 days on the 
Executive Calendar before consideration by the Senate. Today's nominee 
is a good example. She was reported unanimously on July 14. That was 
nearly 3 months ago.
  Last week, I invited Justice Scalia and Justice Breyer to appear 
before the Judiciary Committee and discuss the important role that 
judges play under our Constitution. Justice Scalia agreed that the 
extensive delays in the confirmation process are already having a 
chilling effect on the ability to attract talented nominees to the 
Federal bench. Chief Justice Roberts has also described the 
``persistent problem of judicial vacancies in critically overworked 
districts.'' Hardworking Americans are denied justice when their cases 
are delayed by overburdened courts. While people appearing in court are 
waiting years before a judge rules on their case, they feel they are 
being forced to live the old adage ``justice delayed is justice 
denied.''
  Today the Senate will confirm an experienced, consensus nominee who 
could and should have received a vote prior to the August recess. Jane 
Triche-Milazzo is nominated to fill a vacancy in the U.S. District 
Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Currently a Louisiana 
State court judge, she previously spent 16 years in private practice in 
her family's law firm in Napoleonville, LA. Judge Triche-Milazzo has 
the bipartisan support of her home State Senators, Democratic Senator 
Mary Landrieu and Republican Senator David Vitter. The Judiciary 
Committee favorably reported her nomination without a single dissenting 
vote almost 3 months ago. I expect that the Senate will confirm her 
unanimously today.
  We must do more to make progress in considering the other 25 judicial 
nominations pending on the Senate's Executive Calendar. The excessive 
number of vacancies has persisted in Federal courts throughout the 
Nation for far too long. The American people should not have to wait 
for the Senate to do its constitutional duty of confirming judges to 
the Federal bench. With millions of Americans currently affected by the 
vacancy crisis in our courts, there is serious work to be done.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record 
the editorial to which I referred.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                 [From the Miami Herald, Oct. 2, 2011]

                        The Other Federal Crisis

       In the month since Congress returned from the summer 
     recess, the crisis over the deficit and federal spending has 
     been the focus of attention, with ideological gridlock 
     obstructing progress. But partisan politics has also produced 
     a separate crisis in the nation's federal courts.
       During September, the Senate confirmed a grand total of 
     three federal judges--leaving 95 vacancies in courthouses 
     around the country. This means that there are simply not 
     enough federal judges to handle the judicial workload, 
     resulting in justice delayed in both criminal and civil 
     cases. In 35 of those instances, including two district seats 
     in the Southern District of Florida, the courts have declared 
     a judicial emergency, meaning the dockets are overloaded to 
     the breaking point.
       According to a recent report by the Congressional Research 
     Service, this is a historically high level of vacancies, and 
     the prolonged slowness in filling the empty seats makes the 
     Obama presidency the longest period of high vacancy rates in 
     the federal judiciary in 35 years.
       Clearly, the Senate is not fulfilling its constitutional 
     duty to confirm judges. Some 58 Obama administration nominees 
     are pending in the Senate to fill the 95 vacancies. 
     Republican senators have complained that there should be a 
     nominee for every vacancy--fair enough--but that does not 
     explain why so many of the nominations have been stalled for 
     so long.
       The Senate, of course, has a duty to ensure that nominees 
     are qualified. No one wants a ``fast-tracked'' judge hearing 
     cases. But it's hard to escape the conclusion that partisan 
     politics rather than the quality of the nominees is the root 
     of the problem when even consensus candidates must wait for 
     prolonged periods.
       This Monday, for example, the Senate is expected to fill 
     some of those vacancies when six of the nominations go to the 
     floor for a vote, meaning there has been a preceding 
     agreement not to block the vote.
       That generally leads to confirmation. Of those six, five 
     have been pending since May and June--and all of them were 
     approved with a unanimous vote by Democratic and Republican 
     members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. In other words, 
     there is no question that the nominees have the 
     qualifications to do the job--so why the delay?
       In the past, Democrats have been slow to approve nominees 
     from Republican presidents. But the record shows that 
     approvals for nominees by the last Republican president, 
     George W. Bush, moved faster even when Democrats had the 
     power to block confirmation.
       At this point in the presidency of President Bush, 144 
     federal circuit and district court judges had been confirmed. 
     By comparison, according to Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, 
     chairman of the Judiciary Committee, total confirmations of 
     federal circuit and district court judges during the first 
     three years of the Obama administration have been only 98. 
     ``The Senate has a long way to go before the end of next year 
     to match the 205 confirmations of President Bush's judicial 
     nominees during his first term,'' he said.
       This is a problem senators can solve easily. First, vote on 
     all 27 pending nominees who have already won committee 
     approval, beginning with those who received a unanimous vote. 
     Then move the other nominations to the floor without 
     unreasonable delay. The deterioration of the federal 
     judiciary because of partisan politics is inexcusable.

  Mr. LEAHY. I yield the floor and 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. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
order for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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