[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 53 (Thursday, April 18, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2782-S2784]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           EXECUTIVE SESSION

                                 ______
                                 

NOMINATION OF ANALISA TORRES TO BE UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE FOR THE 
                     SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

                                 ______
                                 

NOMINATION OF DERRICK KAHALA WATSON TO BE UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 
                       FOR THE DISTRICT OF HAWAII

  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 Analisa Torres, of New 
York, to be United States District Judge for the Southern District of 
New York and the nomination of Derrick Kahala Watson, of Hawaii, to be 
United States District Judge for the District of Hawaii.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, there will now be 15 
minutes for debate equally divided in the usual form prior to votes on 
the nominations.
  The Senator from Vermont is recognized.
  Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, Monday's confirmation of Judge Beverly 
O'Connell marked the 150th confirmation of a Federal trial court 
nomination by President Obama. Thanks to Senate Republicans' concerted 
effort to filibuster, obstruct and delay his moderate judicial 
nominees, it took almost 1 year longer to reach this milestone than it 
did when his Republican predecessor was serving as President, 10 months 
in fact. I have repeatedly asked Senate Republicans to abandon their 
destructive tactics. Their unwillingness to do so shows that Senate 
Republicans are still focused on obstructing this President, rather 
than helping meet the needs of the American people and our judiciary.
  The ability of hardworking Americans to get their day in court and 
have their rights protected should not be subject to this kind of 
wrongheaded, partisan obstructionism. Today, the Senate is being 
allowed to vote on just 2 of the 15 judicial nominees ready for 
confirmation. Ten of the judicial nominees confirmed this year could 
and should have been confirmed last year. There are still four judicial 
nominees in that category, who are part of the backlog on which Senate 
Republicans insist on maintaining. And like so many of President 
Obama's district court nominees, Analisa Torres and Derrick Watson have 
had to wait more than 60 days after being voted on by the Judiciary 
Committee to be considered by the Senate. These systematic delays help 
explain why we remain more than 20 confirmations behind the pace we set 
with President Bush's nominees. We can make up much of that ground if 
Senate Republicans would just agree to a vote on all 15 nominees 
currently pending on the Executive Calendar. All of them received 
bipartisan support in committee, and all but one were unanimously 
approved by the committee. There is no good reason for further delay, 
especially at a time when judicial vacancies remain at 85.
  Let us clear the backlog of judicial nominees ready for confirmation. 
Republicans have recently started pointing to 2004. In 1 month in 2004, 
a presidential election year, we were able to clear a backlog of 
consensus nominees by confirming 20. This insistence on delay and 
holding over consensus nominees from 1 year to the next has been 
constant. Seventeen of the confirmations for which Senate Republicans 
now seek credit over the past 2 years should have been confirmed more 
than 2 years ago in the preceding Congress. That is when they allowed 
only 60 judicial confirmations to take place during President Obama's 
first 2 years in office, the lowest total for a President in over 30 
years. Indeed, during President Obama's first year in office, Senate 
Republicans stalled all but 12 of his circuit and district nominees. 
That was the lowest 1-year confirmation total since the Eisenhower 
administration, when the Federal bench was barely \1/3\ the size it is 
today.
  The fact is that we have these 15 nominees waiting for a vote. We 
have 15 judgeships that can be filled so that hardworking Americans in 
New York, Hawaii, Louisiana, California, Florida, Oregon, Pennsylvania, 
North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, 
Arkansas, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wyoming can 
have better access to justice. All Senate Democrats are prepared to 
vote on all of these nominees today.
  Judge Analisa Torres is nominated to serve on the US District Court 
for the Southern District of New York. She currently serves as a New 
York State Supreme Court Justice. Previously, she served as an acting 
New York State Supreme Court Justice, a judge for the Civil Court of 
the City of New York, and as a judge for the Criminal Court of the City 
of New York. She received her A.B., magna cum laude, from Harvard 
University and her J.D. from Columbia Law School. Judge Torres has the 
strong support of her home State Senators, Senator Schumer and Senator 
Gillibrand.

[[Page S2783]]

  Derrick Kahala Watson is nominated to the US District Court for the 
District of Hawaii. He currently serves as the chief of the Civil 
Division in the US attorney's office in the District of Hawaii. Prior 
to that, he was an assistant United States attorney in the same office. 
From 1995 to 2000, he served as an assistant United States attorney in 
the Northern District of California and served as deputy chief of the 
Civil Division from 1999 to 2000. In addition to his service at the US 
attorney's office, he was in private practice for more than a decade. 
Derrick Watson received his J.D. from Harvard Law School and his A.B., 
cum laude, from Harvard College. He has the support of his home State 
Senators, Senator Hirono and Senator Schatz.
  Both nominees were unanimously approved by the Senate Judiciary 
Committee by voice vote 2 months ago.
  Like almost all of the other nominees pending on the Executive 
Calendar, these are the kind of mainstream and consensus nominees who 
should be confirmed quickly. For nearly 4 years vacancies have been at 
or above 80, putting an unnecessary strain on our Federal courts. 
Sequestration cuts have added to the pressure on our justice system. 
Let us vote on the remaining nominees so that they can get to work for 
the American people.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Hawaii.
  Ms. HIRONO. Madam President, I rise to speak in support of the 
nomination of Derrick Kahala Watson to be a district judge for the U.S. 
District Court of Hawaii. But before I discuss this nomination, I would 
like to join with the rest of my colleagues in acknowledging the week 
we have had and how trying it has been for all Americans. The horrific 
bombing at the Boston Marathon, the targeting of Senate offices and the 
President with mail containing poison, other actions at the Capitol, 
and now this tragic explosion in Texas have captured our attention and 
given us all perspective on what is important in life. Our hearts go 
out to all the victims and their families.
  Turning now to Mr. Watson's nomination, I thank Chairman Leahy and 
Ranking Member Grassley of the Judiciary Committee for their quick 
consideration, referring this nomination to the full Senate for a vote. 
Mr. Watson was born in Hawaii. He attended Harvard college and Harvard 
Law School and started a successful career in law in San Francisco, CA, 
before returning to Hawaii to serve as an assistant U.S. attorney.
  Mr. Watson testified before the Judiciary Committee in January at my 
first hearing as a Senator. He demonstrated that he had the 
qualifications, ability, and temperament to be an outstanding judge for 
Hawaii.
  Once he is confirmed by the Senate, Mr. Watson will be the only 
person of Native Hawaiian descent serving as an article III judge, and 
only the fourth to serve in the history of the United States.
  In addition, once he joins the Federal bench in Hawaii, that court 
will be the first majority Asian American Pacific Islander article III 
court in American history.
  I am proud to support Judge Watson, and I am happy that the Senate 
will vote to confirm him today. I certainly urge all my colleagues to 
cast a unanimous vote for his nomination.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New York.
  Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Madam President, I am deeply honored to stand here 
today in support of Analisa Torres's nomination to the United States 
District Court for the Southern District of New York. I also want to 
thank President Obama for acting on my recommendation and nominating 
another superbly qualified female jurist to the Federal bench.
  I know Judge Torres as a fair-minded woman of great integrity. Her 
lifetime of public service and legal experience, serving as a jurist, 
an attorney, and serving her community has earned her the respect of 
her colleagues. Her body of work demonstrates her qualifications to 
serve on the Federal bench.
  Since 2000, she has served as a judge in various courts, including 
the Criminal Court of the City of New York, and in 2012 she was elected 
to a 14-year term as a New York State Supreme Court Justice. Judge 
Torres has previously worked in private practice, as a law clerk, and 
as a teacher. In her current role, she has exemplified pragmatism and 
has demonstrated a consistent commitment to thoughtful, sound and fair 
reasoning.
  In addition to her professional work, she has shown an enduring 
commitment to her community.
  There is no question that Judge Torres is extremely well qualified 
and well suited to serve as a Federal court judge. I strongly believe 
this country needs more women like her serving in the Federal 
judiciary--an institution I believe needs more exceptional women.
  Today, women make up only 30 percent of the Federal bench.
  According to the National Women's Law Center, only 66 women of color 
currently serve as active Federal judges--that is less than 10 percent 
of the Nation's active Federal bench.
  We have to do better.
  Judge Torres's nomination has been pending before this body for over 
150 days. I urge my colleagues to put aside partisan differences and 
help us move forward on the 14 judicial nominees who have been forced 
to deal with this unprecedented delay.
  I remind my colleagues that greater diversity, of gender, ethnicity 
and professional backgrounds, are not just ideals that we should aspire 
to, but steps we must take to have a judiciary that is more diverse, 
and more reflective of the great country we live in. I have no doubt 
that having Judge Torres serving in the Federal judiciary will bring us 
closer to that goal.
  I was proud to recommend her for this position. I urge all my 
colleagues to join me and vote in support of her nomination.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Madam President, I will be voting for both of these 
nominees for judges, but I would like to make some comments because I 
hear rumblings of how Senate Republicans are obstructing judicial 
nominees. I would just like to remind my colleagues of how well we are 
proceeding.
  Today the Senate will consider two more judicial nominations. These 
nominations are people, as I just said, I am going to approve. This is 
the third of this week, and with today's expected action we will have 
confirmed 4 circuit and 9 district nominees during this Congress, for a 
total of 13. At this point in 2005, during President Bush's second 
term, the Senate had confirmed not 13 like now, with us, not 9, not 4, 
but only 1 judicial nominee. So that would be a record of 13 for this 
administration and 1 for a counter time during the second Bush 
administration.
  As I stated last week, the quick pace of this year comes on top of a 
very productive 112th conditioning, in which 111 judges were confirmed. 
That was more judges confirmed than any other Congress going all the 
way back 20 years. Overall, with today's actions, we will have 
confirmed 184 judicial nominees. Divide it this way, 34 circuit judges 
and now 150 district judges. The Senate has defeated only 2 nominees. 
That is a record of our passing 184 to 2 that have not been approved. 
That is a .989 batting average. So I do not know who is shedding tears 
around here, but they ought to look at the record.
  Other nominees are still being considered by the Senate and a few 
remain in committee. I note we have a hearing scheduled next week for 
another circuit and district judge, so we are continuing to move 
forward. But even counting those pending nominations, the President has 
a confirmation rate that is comparable to that of President George W. 
Bush, President Clinton, and exceeds that of President George H.W. 
Bush.
  Again, there is no credible basis to say this President is being 
treated differently from previous Presidents. What is different, 
though, in the case of this President is the manner in which he has 
allowed vacancies to accumulate before submitting nominations. It is 
about time that down at the White House they get down to work, decide 
who they are going to nominate, and get the nominations up here. His 
failure to make judicial nominations a priority in his first year when 
Democrats had a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate resulted in an 
increase of vacancies. That was not the fault of Senate Republicans.
  Throughout his administration it has been the case that a majority of 
vacancies have had no nominees. Presently, do you know that three of 
four vacancies have no nominees up here?

[[Page S2784]]

  For the 36 vacancies categorized as ``judicial emergencies,'' there 
are only 8 nominees. So I just want to set the record straight before 
the vote for these nominees because I get tired of these crocodile 
tears being shed. Particularly, I am sick of hearing about us not 
moving on judges when three-fourths of them we don't even have the 
nominees here yet. So quit crying.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee.
  Mr. ALEXANDER. Madam President, I share the perplexed attitude of the 
Senator from Iowa about our friends' concern about nominations. The 
President has even talked about it. I have gone back and looked at the 
record. There was a Washington Post article 3 weeks ago. I gave a copy 
of it to the President. This is what it said: On Cabinet nominations, 
this Senate has considered President Obama's Cabinet nominations more 
rapidly than they did the last three Presidents. That is Cabinet 
nominations. Never in the history of the Senate has the Senate denied a 
Cabinet nomination by filibuster, with the exception of the Democrats 
blocking John Bolton in the George W. Bush administration. So the 
President is treated better on Cabinet nominations.
  Evidence from the Congressional Research Service says President 
Obama's circuit judges in his first term were considered more rapidly 
than President George W. Bush's circuit judges. Senator Grassley just 
pointed out that in the second term of President Bush he had 1 judge 
confirmed by this time; President Obama has 13.
  On district judges, according to the Congressional Research Service, 
during the first term of President Obama his district judges were 
considered a little more slowly than President George W. Bush's, but 
the Senate changed the rules earlier this year to cut down the 
postcloture debate time to make it easier to bring judges to the floor 
and get them through more rapidly. Perhaps that is why the score is 13 
to 1, with Obama getting 13 judges and Bush getting 1 in the same 
period of time in the second term.
  I do not know where this is coming from. In addition, we have never 
blocked a district judge by filibuster--neither party in the history of 
the Senate. In the circuit judges we never blocked a circuit judge 
until George W. Bush made some nominations about the time I came to the 
Senate 10 years ago, and the Democrats started it. They caused Miguel 
Estrada to be blocked and a number of others, and they brought up 
cloture motions time after time and we had a gang of 6, 8, 10 or 14 who 
slowed it all down. But still the score is 5 to 2; 5 Republican judges 
blocked for confirmation by the Democrats under President Bush, and 2 
by Republicans with President Obama.
  We worked pretty hard for the President to confirm his nominations. 
We had two sets of rules changes, and we have a number of expedited 
nominations which come now to the desk. We had about 170 nominations 
that have been completely removed from Senate confirmation. I would 
think the Obama administration would be thanking the Senate for its 
work to make it easier for any President to get confirmations. In any 
event, when we are talking about Cabinet Members, President Obama is 
being better treated than the last three Presidents. When we are 
talking about circuit judges he is better treated than George W. Bush. 
When we are talking about district judges he is treated a little worse 
in his first term than George W. Bush, but we changed the rules to 
speed up district judges. The score in the second term, as I have said 
twice now, is Obama 13, Bush 1--Obama way ahead.
  I like to see confirmations move ahead. I hope I do not hear this 
much more, when the record shows that in fact it is a manufactured 
crisis.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent all time be 
yielded back.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the nomination 
of Analisa Torres, of New York, to be United States District Judge for 
the Southern District of New York?
  The nomination was confirmed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the Watson 
nomination.
  Mr. ALEXANDER. Madam President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  There is a sufficient second.
  The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the nomination 
of Derrick Kahala Watson, of Hawaii, to be United States District Judge 
for the District of Hawaii?
  The yeas and nays have been ordered.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant bill clerk called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from California (Mrs. Boxer), 
the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Cowan), the Senator from New Jersey 
(Mr. Lautenberg), and the Senator from Massachusetts ( Ms. Warren) are 
necessarily absent.
  Mr. CORNYN. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the 
Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Burr) and the Senator from Kansas (Mr. 
Moran).
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 94, nays 0, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 106 Ex.]

                                YEAS--94

     Alexander
     Ayotte
     Baldwin
     Barrasso
     Baucus
     Begich
     Bennet
     Blumenthal
     Blunt
     Boozman
     Brown
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Chambliss
     Coats
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Collins
     Coons
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Donnelly
     Durbin
     Enzi
     Feinstein
     Fischer
     Flake
     Franken
     Gillibrand
     Graham
     Grassley
     Hagan
     Harkin
     Hatch
     Heinrich
     Heitkamp
     Heller
     Hirono
     Hoeven
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Johanns
     Johnson (SD)
     Johnson (WI)
     Kaine
     King
     Kirk
     Klobuchar
     Landrieu
     Leahy
     Lee
     Levin
     Manchin
     McCain
     McCaskill
     McConnell
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Mikulski
     Murkowski
     Murphy
     Murray
     Nelson
     Paul
     Portman
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rockefeller
     Rubio
     Sanders
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Scott
     Sessions
     Shaheen
     Shelby
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Thune
     Toomey
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Vitter
     Warner
     Whitehouse
     Wicker
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--6

     Boxer
     Burr
     Cowan
     Lautenberg
     Moran
     Warren
  The nomination was confirmed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the motions to 
reconsider are considered made and laid upon the table, and the 
President will be immediately notified of the Senate's action.


                            Vote Explanation

 Mr. COWAN. Madam President, I was necessarily absent from 
votes during today's session. Had I been present for the votes on 
amendments relating to S. 649, the Safe Communities, Safe Schools Act 
of 2013 I would have opposed the Barrasso amendment, S. Amdt. 717, and 
I would have supported the Harkin-Alexander amendment, S. Amdt. 730. 
Also, I would have supported the nomination of Analisa Torres to be 
United States District Judge for the Southern District of New 
York.

                          ____________________