[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 74 (Thursday, May 23, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3877-S3878]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




NOMINATION OF MARK A. BARNETT TO BE A JUDGE OF THE UNITED STATES COURT 
                         OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE

                                 ______
                                 

NOMINATION OF CLAIRE R. KELLY TO BE A JUDGE OF THE UNITED STATES COURT 
                         OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE

  Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to consider 
Calendar Nos. 11 and 12; that the Senate proceed to vote on the 
nominations listed with no intervening action or debate, the motions to 
reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no 
intervening debate; that no further motions be in order to the 
nominations; that any statements related to the nominations be printed 
in the Record, and President Obama be immediately notified of the 
Senate's action, and the Senate then resume legislative session.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk 
will report the nominations.
  The assistant legislative clerk read the nomination of Mark A. 
Barnett, of Virginia, to be a Judge of the United States Court of 
International Trade, and the nomination of Claire R. Kelly, of New 
York, to be a Judge of the United States Court of International Trade.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, as we vote today on two nominations to the 
Court of International Trade, I want to note that this week we reached 
a milestone. It is 5 months into President Obama's second term, and we 
have just now reached the same number of circuit and district 
confirmations that President George H.W. Bush achieved in his 4 years 
as President. Of course, we remain nearly 20 confirmations behind the 
pace we set when President George W. Bush was in office. While some 
have argued that this is because President Obama has not made enough 
nominations, the fact is that he has sent up more district nominees at 
this point in his presidency than President George W. Bush had at the 
same point. The reason the Senate confirmations are lagging behind is 
because Senate Republicans have engaged in unprecedented obstruction of 
district court nominees. At this point in 2005, over 97 percent of 
President Bush's district nominees had been confirmed, but just 86 
percent of President Obama's have been confirmed.
  Today's vote on Mark Barnett is also a milestone of a sort. He was 
one of the 11 judicial nominees who were stalled at the end of last 
year because Senate Republicans refused to allow him a vote. We are 
approaching the Memorial Day recess and the Senate is still working on 
nominations that could and should have been completed last year. These 
unnecessary delays on confirmations are bad for the Senate, bad for our 
Federal courts, and bad for the American people.
  After today's votes, there will be another seven nominees pending on 
the Executive Calendar, and all but one were reported unanimously by 
the Judiciary Committee. There is no reason to further delay action on 
these nominees: We should follow Senate tradition and vote on all of 
them before the recess. Nitza Quinones Alejandro, Luis Restrepo, 
Jeffrey Schmehl, Kenneth Gonzales, Gregory Phillips, Ray Chen, and 
Jennifer Dorsey are awaiting confirmation.
  These nominees would fill important vacancies. For example, three of 
these nominees would fill vacancies in the Eastern District of 
Pennsylvania, where there are seven current vacancies. These are 
vacancies we need to fill, and, since the nominees are supported by 
every Republican on the Judiciary Committee, as well as their home 
State Republican Senator, there is no reason not to vote on them today.
  Mark Barnett is currently the Deputy Chief Counsel in the U.S. 
Department of Commerce, Office of Chief Counsel for Import 
Administration, where he has worked since 1995. From 2008 to 2009, he 
was on detail to the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means, 
Subcommittee on Trade. Prior to his government service, Mr. Barnett was 
an associate in the Washington, DC office of Steptoe & Johnson.
  Claire Kelly is a professor of law at Brooklyn Law School, where she 
teaches classes on international trade, international business law, and 
administrative law. Prior to entering academia, she spent 4 years as an 
associate and 3 years as a consultant specializing in customs and trade 
law at the law firm Coudert Brothers in New York City.
  I congratulate both nominees. Nominations to the Court of 
International Trade have historically been noncontroversial and have 
been moved quickly by the full Senate. The most recent confirmation to 
that court came less than a month after the nominee had been reported, 
so it is unfortunate that Mark Barnett and Claire Kelly have been 
unnecessarily stalled for more than 3 months.
  Earlier this week I placed in the Record a Wall Street Journal 
article titled ``Open Judgeships Show D.C. Dysfunction.'' I, again, 
urge Senate Republicans to work in a bipartisan way and show that the 
Senate can make real progress. All Senate Democrats are ready to vote 
on all these judicial nominees.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. If there is no further debate on the 
nomination, the question is, Will the Senate advise

[[Page S3878]]

and consent to the nomination of Mark A. Barnett, of Virginia, to be a 
Judge of the United States Court of International Trade?
  The nomination was confirmed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. If there is no further debate on the 
nomination, the question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the 
nomination of Claire R. Kelly, of New York, to be a Judge of the United 
States Court of International Trade?
  The nomination was confirmed.

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