[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 82 (Monday, June 4, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3674-S3677]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           EXECUTIVE SESSION

                                 ______
                                 

NOMINATION OF TIMOTHY S. HILLMAN TO BE UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE FOR 
                     THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will 
proceed to executive session to consider the following nomination, 
which the clerk will report.
  The bill clerk read the nomination of Timothy S. Hillman, of 
Massachusetts, to be United States District Judge for the District of 
Massachusetts.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, there will be 30 
minutes of debate equally divided in the usual form.
  Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, today, the Senate will vote on the 
nomination of Timothy Hillman to fill a judicial vacancy in the U.S. 
District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Judge Hillman has the 
strong bipartisan support of his home state Senators. His nomination 
was reported with a near unanimous vote of 17 1 by the Judiciary 
Committee nearly 3 months ago, with the only objection coming from 
Senator Lee's customary protest vote. I thank the majority leader for 
his work in securing a vote on Judge Hillman's nomination.
  I would note, however, that we have passed over consideration of four 
other nominees who are all listed on the executive calendar ahead of 
Judge Hillman. Those nominees--Andrew Hurwitz for the Ninth Circuit, 
Jeffrey Helmick for the Northern District of Ohio, Patty Shwartz for 
the Third Circuit, and Mary Lewis for the District of South Carolina--
are all extremely well qualified, have the support of their home state 
Senators, were reported favorably out of the Judiciary Committee, and 
deserve an up-or-down vote. I hope we will have a vote on them soon.
  Judge Hillman could and should have been confirmed back in March when 
the Majority Leader first filed cloture on his nomination. While I 
regret that he was not part of the original agreement reached by the 
Majority Leader and the Republican leader for a floor vote, I am glad 
that an agreement was reached to consider his nomination today. Once we 
vote on Judge Hillman, we need to agree to vote on the 15 other 
judicial nominees stalled on the Executive calendar because there are 
still far too many vacancies plaguing our courts today.
  The Congressional Research Service recently released a report about 
the treatment of President Obama's judicial nominations that confirms 
what we already know--that Senate Republicans have held President 
Obama's nominees to a different and unfair standard. For example, 95 
percent of district court nominees in President George W. Bush's first 
term were confirmed, while only 78 percent of President Obama's 
district court nominees have been confirmed.
  President Obama's nominees are also being delayed and forced to wait 
far longer on the Senate floor than President Bush's nominees. The 
median wait time for President Obama's district nominees after having 
been reported favorably out of Committee is more than 4 times longer 
than for President Bush's district nominees. The median wait time for 
President Obama's circuit nominees is 7.3 times longer than for 
President Bush's circuit nominees.
  The simple fact is that the Senate is still lagging far behind what 
we accomplished during the first term of President George W. Bush. 
During President Bush's first term we reduced the number of judicial 
vacancies by almost 75 percent. When I became Chairman in the summer of 
2001, there were 110 vacancies. As chairman, I worked with the 
administration and Senators from both sides of the aisle to confirm 100 
judicial nominees of a conservative Republican President in 17 months.
  Senate Democrats continued when in the minority to work with Senate 
Republicans to confirm President Bush's consensus judicial nominations 
well into 2004, a Presidential election year. At the end of that 
Presidential term, the Senate had acted to confirm 205 circuit and 
district court nominees. In May 2004, we reduced judicial vacancies to 
below 50 on the way to 28 that August. Despite 2004 being an election 
year, we were able to reduce vacancies to the lowest level in the last 
20 years. At a time of great turmoil and political confrontation, 
despite the attack on 9/11, the anthrax letters shutting down Senate 
offices, and the ideologically-driven judicial selections of President 
Bush, we worked together to promptly confirm consensus nominees and 
significantly reduce judicial vacancies. By working together, we 
lowered vacancy rates more than twice as quickly as Senate Republicans 
have allowed during President Obama's first term.
  In October 2008, another presidential election year, we again worked 
to reduce judicial vacancies and were able to get back down to 34 
vacancies. I accommodated Senate Republicans and continued holding 
expedited hearings and votes on judicial nominations into September 
2008.
  By comparison, the vacancy rate remains nearly twice what it was at 
this point in the first term of President Bush. While vacancies were 
reduced below 50 by May of President Bush's fourth year, in June of 
President Obama's fourth year they remain in the mid-70s. They remained 
near or above 80 for nearly 3 years. We are more than 30 confirmations 
behind the pace we set in 2001 through 2004. Of course, we could move 
forward if the Senate were allowed to vote without further delay on the 
16 judicial nominees ready for final action. The Senate could reduce 
vacancies below 60 and make progress.
  The recently released CRS Report also notes that in five of the last 
eight Presidential election years, the Senate has confirmed at least 22 
nominees after May 31. Because of how far we are lagging from President 
Bush's record of confirmations, we should be working to exceed those 
numbers. We can start today by confirming Judge Hillman and the other 
15 judicial nominees ready for final Senate action. Another five 
judicial nominees were ready for final Judicial Committee action in May 
but held over by Committee Republicans. Those five nominees should be 
voted out of the Committee this Thursday. In addition, we are holding a 
hearing for another three judicial nominees this Wednesday. With 
cooperation from Senate Republicans the Senate could make real progress 
and match what we have accomplished in prior years.
  Timothy Hillman was rated unanimously well qualified by the ABA's 
Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary, the highest possible 
rating. He has been a federal magistrate judge on the court in which he 
has been nominated for nearly 6 years. Prior to his service as a 
magistrate judge, Judge Hillman served for 15 years as a state court 
judge on the Massachusetts Superior Court and the Massachusetts 
District Court. He has also spent significant time in private practice 
and several years of experience as an Assistant District Attorney in 
the Worcester County District Attorney's Office.
  Judge Hillman is a respected and experienced jurist in Massachusetts. 
His nomination has the strong support of both his home state Senators, 
Senator John Kerry and Senator Scott Brown, who introduced him to the 
Judiciary Committee at his hearing in February.
  Senator Brown said of Judge Hillman:

       We have in Judge Hillman somebody who is greatly respected 
     in Massachusetts and especially in the Worcester area through 
     his innovation and integrity and dedication to fairness. He 
     is really to be commended, and I want to thank he and his 
     wife for, obviously, putting up with the process. And I am 
     going to do everything in my power to encourage my colleagues 
     to make sure that we get a vote on this right away, because 
     Massachusetts needs a jurist like him right away to do the 
     people's business, and that is so critically important.


[[Page S3675]]


  While this vote on Judge Hillman is hardly ``right away,'' as Senate 
Republicans have continued to needlessly stall his nomination for close 
to 3 months now, it is finally occurring. This consensus nomination is 
another example of a judge's confirmation being delayed needlessly for 
months and months for no good reason or purpose other than delay. Given 
Judge Hillman's qualifications and significant bipartisan support, he 
should be confirmed easily.
  After today, we still have much more work to do to help resolve the 
judicial vacancy crisis that has persisted for more than 3 years. When 
the Majority Leader and the Republican leader came to their interim 
understanding in March, it resulted in votes on 14 of the 22 judicial 
nominations then awaiting final consideration. Because the arrangement 
took months to implement what the Senate could have done in hours, the 
backlog of judicial vacancies and judicial nominees continues. Today, 
we have 16 judicial nominees awaiting action. Let us do what we did on 
November 14, 2002, when we confirmed 18 of President Bush's judicial 
nominations on a single day.
  Our courts need qualified Federal judges, not vacancies, if they are 
to reduce the excessive wait times that burden litigants seeking their 
day in court. It is unacceptable for hardworking Americans who turn to 
their courts for justice to suffer unnecessary delays. When an injured 
plaintiff sues to help cover the cost of his or her medical expenses, 
that plaintiff should not have to wait 3 years before a judge hears the 
case. When two small business owners disagree over a contract, they 
should not have to wait years for a court to resolve their dispute.
  We need to work to reduce the vacancies that are burdening the 
Federal judiciary and the millions of Americans who rely on our Federal 
courts to seek justice. Let us work in a bipartisan fashion to confirm 
these qualified judicial nominees so that we can address the judicial 
vacancy crisis and so they can serve the American people.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Madam President, today, the Senate turns to another 
judicial nomination, that of Timothy Hillman, to be U.S. district judge 
for the District of Massachusetts. I support this nomination.
  We continue to confirm the President's nominees at a brisk pace. In 
fact, with today's confirmations, we will have confirmed 147 of this 
President's district and circuit court nominees.
  Let me put that in perspective for my colleagues. We also have 
confirmed two Supreme Court nominees during President Obama's term. The 
last time the Senate confirmed two Supreme Court nominees was during 
President Bush's second term. And during President Bush's entire second 
term, the Senate confirmed a total of only 120 district and circuit 
court nominees. We have confirmed 27 more nominees for President Obama 
than we did for President Bush in a similar time period.
  Judge Hillman received his B.A. from Coe College in 1970 and his J.D. 
from Suffolk Law School in 1973. He began his legal career in 1974 as a 
staff attorney at Murphy & Pusateri. In 1975 he became an assistant 
district attorney, where he prosecuted criminal cases for Worcester 
County. During this time, he also conducted limited private practice, 
which centered on drafting wills, representing clients in real estate 
transactions, and representing plaintiffs in motor torts. He left the 
D.A.'s office in 1978 and represented criminal defendants in private 
practice until 1988. He also represented multiple municipalities in 
this stretch of time as either city solicitor or town counsel. While 
working in these capacities, he represented the municipalities in 
court, gave legal advice to their boards and elected officials, and 
drafted and reviewed legal documents.
  In 1995 Judge Hillman was appointed to be associate judge of the 
Gardner District Court, and he became presiding justice there in 1997. 
From 1998 to 2006 Judge Hillman was a judge for the Massachusetts 
Superior Court, an appointed position. In 2006 Judge Hillman was 
appointed to be a U.S. magistrate judge for the U.S. District Court for 
the District of Massachusetts, Worcester Division. As a magistrate 
judge, he manages and tries civil cases with the consent of the 
parties, both jury and nonjury. He is also responsible for the 
initiation and management of criminal felonies, not including trial, 
and all aspects of criminal misdemeanors.
  The ABA Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary unanimously rated 
him as ``well qualified'' for this position.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. BROWN of Massachusetts. Madam President, may I inquire as to how 
much time remains for the two sides?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There is 15 minutes.
  Mr. BROWN of Massachusetts. Fifteen minutes per side? How much time 
remains on the other side?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority has 6\1/2\ minutes.
  Mr. KERRY. Madam President, is this controlled time?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Yes, there is 6\1/2\ minutes.
  Mr. KERRY. The Senator, my colleague, is able to speak on Republican 
time, I believe.
  Mr. BROWN of Massachusetts. That is correct.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. That is correct
  Mr. KERRY. If he wants to go first, I am happy for him to go ahead.
  Mr. BROWN of Massachusetts. I will defer to the senior Senator from 
Massachusetts.
  Mr. KERRY. I thank my colleague.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Massachusetts.
  Mr. KERRY. I thank my colleague for his courtesy. I am perfectly 
happy to wait and listen to his comments.
  We have a sort of Alphonse and Gaston thing going back and forth.
  Madam President, I thank Chairman Leahy for his work on the Judiciary 
Committee in helping bring this nomination to the floor, and, 
obviously, Senator Brown and I are here, having worked together to 
choose this nominee and to send his name to the White House. We are 
very grateful, both of us, to President Obama for acting favorably on 
this nonpartisan recommendation which we made, and we are grateful to 
the other members of the Judiciary Committee who approved the 
nomination and brought it to the floor expeditiously so we can fill a 
very important vacancy in Massachusetts.
  I think both of us believe the President could not have nominated a 
more qualified individual than Judge Hillman. He is already a judge, as 
we know, but a broad segment of the judicial community in Massachusetts 
agrees with us completely. Senator Brown and I agreed on a team made up 
of some of the top lawyers in our State who would get together and 
screen these candidates before we even view them, and so this candidate 
comes with the endorsement of the Massachusetts Bar Association, the 
Worcester Bar Association, the Hampden Bar Association, and the backing 
of this nonpartisan search committee that gave us several names to 
evaluate. We sat down and interviewed the judges, and I think both of 
us are extremely pleased with the results.
  In Judge Hillman, we see what President Obama has recognized--a 
thoughtful, fair, honest jurist who has a long record of public service 
as counsel to several municipalities in Massachusetts and as a 
magistrate judge in Worcester.
  There is not going to be any learning curve for Judge Hillman if he 
is confirmed by the Senate this afternoon. Serving on the District 
Court in Worcester would be an enormous capstone to his decades of 
tireless public service, and I know he will bring his signature brand 
of thoughtful deliberation to the Worcester District. I am very 
grateful for his many years of public service.
  As the current Presiding Officer of the Senate knows, having been a 
former Governor who has made her own nominations, it is tough to get 
lawyers nowadays who are willing to give up the compensation of the 
private sector to come and work for very little in a tireless public 
way. So I wish to recognize Judge Hillman's family--his wife Kay, and 
his children Zachary, Molly, and Patrick--for their contributions 
toward his ability to be able to share his life in public service with 
all of us.
  I ask my colleagues to support his nomination this afternoon, Judge 
Timothy Hillman, to the U.S. District Court of Worcester, MA.

[[Page S3676]]

  I yield to my colleague.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Massachusetts.
  Mr. BROWN of Massachusetts. Madam President, I appreciate the senior 
Senator from Massachusetts setting up that process. We have worked hand 
in hand to try to develop a nonpartisan, unbiased process. Quite 
honestly, I was deeply impressed with the way we were able to handle it 
and get some truly qualified candidates. It was good to work with my 
colleague, and I look forward to doing it again. I rise also to endorse 
the nomination of Judge Timothy Hillman to the U.S. District Court for 
the District of Massachusetts.
  As many of you know, when I was a young man, I had a run-in with the 
law. It was a judge named Samuel Zoll who set me straight and served as 
a role model for me. No doubt Judge Zoll served as a role model for 
many young men and women in Massachusetts. My experience shows the 
ability of judges to do good in their communities.
  Today we are considering the nomination of a judge who will make the 
Worcester, MA, area a better place. I know that for a fact, as Senator 
Kerry pointed out. Judge Hillman is a man of integrity who will make us 
proud as the next Federal judge in Massachusetts. He will have a chance 
to shape young people's lives, much like Judge Zoll did for me.
  Before I say a few words about Judge Hillman's background, once 
again, I thank Senator Kerry. We have in place a process I would 
recommend to other Senators so they can get good jurists in their own 
States. We worked very closely on that nomination.
  I wish to also thank the judicial nominating committee we comprised. 
We have, as was said, some of the most respected and experienced 
attorneys in Massachusetts trying to bring something very special to 
our State, and that is a balanced judiciary. The attorneys on the panel 
came from all walks of life and different areas of our State, and the 
judicial nominating committee reviewed many applications and 
interviewed nearly every applicant, took their assignment very 
seriously, and we are both deeply appreciative of their time and 
effort.
  Ultimately, this bipartisan committee made several recommendations, 
and Senator Kerry and I then interviewed each and every one of them. It 
was clear during his interview that we were immediately impressed by 
his poise and intellect. Clearly, he understands the proper role of a 
judge and is deeply committed to achieving justice.
  In his interview, he lived up to his reputation as a thoughtful and 
thorough jurist with deep ties to the community, which makes it even 
all the more fitting that he will remain in Worcester to do good for 
the people of Worcester. They respect him as one of their own and trust 
that he will serve them well.
  Since Senator Kerry and I recommended Judge Hillman to President 
Obama, we have received an outpouring of support for Judge Hillman from 
the Worcester bar and its residents, and we are both thankful for that. 
His legal background also makes him uniquely qualified for this 
position. He is currently a magistrate judge in Worcester, MA. In that 
role he has been indispensable to the Federal judiciary in 
Massachusetts. If confirmed he will seamlessly integrate with the other 
members of the District of Massachusetts courts.
  The bar in Worcester has a tremendous amount of confidence in him, as 
both Senator Kerry and I do as well. They know when they appear before 
the judge, they are going to get a fair shake and that he has a sharp 
legal mind.
  In addition to his role as magistrate judge, he generously gives a 
significant amount of his time to bar activities. For example, in 2008, 
in partnership with the U.S. Probation Office, Judge Hillman 
established a Federal reentry court program called RESTART for high-
risk ex-offenders who have been released from prison. Judge Hillman's 
goal in establishing RESTART was to reduce recidivism and to focus on 
employment skills for ex-offenders. Judge Hillman should be proud that 
only after a few years, RESTART is becoming a national model for 
reentry courts, and for that we are also thankful.
  In 2009 he was appointed as the national cochair of a group of judges 
and support staff who are responsible for the design and implementation 
of the next generation of the Federal courts case management and 
electronic filing system.
  Prior to his service as a magistrate, he served as a State trial 
court judge for 16 years. Before becoming a judge, Judge Hillman spent 
14 years in private legal practice, giving that up, as Senator Kerry 
referenced, to do good public service. He served as town councilman to 
three towns also in Massachusetts. So it is rare to find a nominee with 
the diversity of experience of Judge Hillman.
  It will actually also affect the people in the Presiding Officer's 
State who work in Massachusetts--and I would encourage and seek the 
Presiding Officer's vote as well. For that reason, he is a superb 
choice.
  In closing, I enthusiastically support Judge Hillman's nomination as 
a Federal judge. I will be standing right up there encouraging each and 
every Member of both sides of the aisle to see if we can get him 
through almost unanimously.
  I have had the opportunity to support a stellar candidate to the 
Federal bench before, and I am excited to do it again. I thank Senator 
Kerry once again for the process. We have appointed two great judges to 
the judicial bar back home, and it is good for Massachusetts.
  Madam President, I yield the floor, and 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. KERRY. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. KERRY. Madam President, I believe there is a vote due at this 
hour, is there not? I ask for the yeas and nays with respect to the 
Hillman nomination.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the nomination 
of Timothy S. Hillman, of Massachusetts, to be United States District 
Judge for the District of Massachusetts? The yeas and nays have been 
ordered, and the clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Iowa (Mr. Harkin), the 
Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Lautenberg), and the Senator from New 
Jersey (Mr. Menendez) are necessarily absent.
  Mr. KYL. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator 
from North Carolina (Mr. Burr), the Senator from Georgia (Mr. 
Chambliss), the Senator from Indiana (Mr. Coats), the Senator from 
South Carolina (Mr. DeMint), the Senator from Nevada (Mr. Heller), the 
Senator from Illinois (Mr. Kirk), the Senator from Ohio (Mr. Portman), 
and the Senator from Florida (Mr. Rubio).
  Further, if present and voting, the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. 
DeMint) would have voted ``nay.''
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Hagan). Are there any other Senators in 
the Chamber desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 88, nays 1, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 114 Ex.]

                                YEAS--88

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

[[Page S3677]]


     Vitter
     Warner
     Webb
     Whitehouse
     Wicker
     Wyden

                                NAYS--1

       
     Lee
       

                             NOT VOTING--11

     Burr
     Chambliss
     Coats
     DeMint
     Harkin
     Heller
     Kirk
     Lautenberg
     Menendez
     Portman
     Rubio
  The nomination was confirmed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the motion to 
reconsider is made and laid upon the table, and the President will be 
immediately notified of the Senate's action.

                          ____________________