[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 97 (Tuesday, July 9, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5542-S5543]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                   Tribute to William M. ``Mo'' Cowan

  Ms. HEITKAMP. Mr. President, I rise today to say a few words about my 
friend who is leaving the Senate this week, Massachusetts Senator Mo 
Cowan. I have to admit that when he first arrived I was excited because 
I was no longer going to be 100th in seniority. That job went to Mo, 
and I would be 99. However, quickly after he was sworn in, I realized 
he was one of the nicest and smartest Members of this body. During his 
recent farewell speech, Mo referred to me as the North Dakota sister he 
never knew he had. I already have six siblings, but I would welcome him 
into the Heitkamp family any day.
  In all seriousness, Mo was an excellent addition to this body. After 
the Boston massacre tragedy, he showed incredible leadership skills. He 
was a source of guidance and comfort to countless folks from 
Massachusetts in the weeks and months that followed that horrific act 
of terrorism.
  During his short tenure, Mo has distinguished himself in this body. 
First, Mo listens more than he talks. His acute observation skills have 
made him a trusted adviser to many. Equally important, Mo's 
observations are without judgment; rather, Mo listens and tries to 
understand how he can advance the issue and not judge the speaker's 
motivations.
  Mo is a serious thinker, always trying to find a path forward to 
resolve the important issues of our time. I can only imagine the 
important and great legislation Mo would have advanced if he had more 
time here.
  Although Mo is a serious guy, he also loves to laugh--mostly at his 
own expense. Mo's desk in the Senate was often the gathering site for 
many freshman Senators because everyone was just a little happier and a 
little smarter after spending time with Mo.
  Mo is also an extraordinarily humble human being--not the false 
modesty of a seasoned politician but the humility that comes from a 
deep faith and a lifetime of self-reflection. One should never mistake 
that humility for a lack of self-confidence. Mo is very surefooted and 
anchored in the one great belief that his job is and always will be to 
make the world a more just place for his sons and for all the children 
of our country.
  So beyond the ritual of carving a name in a desk and his recorded 
rollcall votes on important issues like immigration, what will be Mo 
Cowan's Senate legacy? History may mark his time here in a footnote, 
but Mo's impact has been much greater. I cannot speak for others in 
this body, but because I served with Mo Cowan, I will be a better 
Senator. I will listen more and talk less. I will always remember not 
to judge the motivations of others; instead, seek solutions with 
others. I will redouble my efforts to make our great country a more 
just place for our children.
  I will miss you, Senator Mo Cowan. You are a great Senator, but more 
importantly, you are a wonderful and kind human being. Thank you for 
your service to our country.
  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.
  Mrs. HAGAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, today the Senate will vote on the 
nomination of Jennifer Dorsey to be a judge on the U.S. District Court 
for the District of Nevada.
  Jennifer Dorsey has spent her entire legal career at the Las Vegas, 
NV firm of Kemp, Jones & Coulthard, LLP, where she has been partner for 
the past 9 years. She has diverse experience in civil and criminal 
matters, trial and appellate work, and State and Federal courts, and 
has tried more than a dozen trials to verdict. The committee has heard 
from Judge Deanell Tacha, who was nominated by President Reagan to the 
Tenth Circuit and is now the dean of Pepperdine University School of 
Law, in support of Jennifer Dorsey. She wrote:

       I am well acquainted with Ms. Dorsey and can say, with full 
     confidence, that she is an outstanding candidate for the 
     federal judiciary who would serve with great distinction . . 
     . She is a distinguished lawyer, a highly respected member of 
     her community, and a true servant of the public good.

  Her qualifications notwithstanding, Jennifer Dorsey has been the 
target of a false controversy over political donations made by her law 
firm colleagues. It is ironic that the same Senate Republicans who have 
filibustered any attempt to regulate or scrutinize political donations, 
and who objected to my request during the Bush administration to 
include political campaign contributions by nominees in the committee 
questionnaire, are now using donations by a nominee's colleagues to 
smear the nominee. These donations that the ranking member claimed he 
was concerned about were not even known to the nominee until they were 
reported in local newspapers. Ms. Dorsey has answered the ranking 
member's questions on this issue under oath and I consider it settled. 
Senate Republicans did not ask such questions of President Bush's 
nominees, even nominees who themselves made donations to President Bush 
or their home State Republican Senators after they knew that they were 
being considered for a judgeship. Perhaps now Senate Republicans think 
we should look at donations made by nominees' friends and neighbors?
  This is just one more example of Senate Republicans playing games 
with President Obama's judicial nominees, rather than actually looking 
at the nominees' records. False controversies about nominees like Paul 
Watford, Patty Schwartz, Andrew Hurwitz, Caitlin Halligan, and Jeffrey 
Helmick over who they represented, or who they clerked for, demean the 
confirmation process.
  Jennifer Dorsey is one of the 33 judicial nominees who needed to be 
renominated this year. Unfortunately, the Senate is not able to 
consider another district of Nevada nominee, Judge Elissa Cadish, whose 
nomination was withdrawn after the Republican Senator from Nevada 
refused to return his blue slip on her nomination. The concern with 
Judge Cadish seemed to be that in 2008 she had accurately stated 
existing Second Amendment jurisprudence. Judge Cadish was originally 
appointed to the Nevada bench by a Republican Governor, and in a 2011 
judicial performance evaluation, conducted

[[Page S5543]]

by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, 88 percent of the lawyers who 
responded said she should be retained on the bench, which was among the 
highest of all judges evaluated. So I remain disappointed that her 
nomination was withdrawn and that the Judiciary Committee and the 
Senate were not permitted to consider it, especially since the vacancy 
to which Judge Cadish was nominated is now a judicial emergency 
vacancy.
  In addition to the 33 renominations at the start of this year, 
President Obama has nominated another 28 individuals to be circuit and 
district judges this year, and has now had more nominees at this point 
in his presidency than his predecessor did at the same point. Senate 
Republicans are nonetheless criticizing President Obama for making too 
few nominations while protesting that the fact that many vacancies do 
not have nominees cannot possibly be the fault of Senate Republicans. 
These Senators are saying that they have no role in the process. Of 
course, only a few years ago, before President Obama had made a single 
judicial nomination, all Senate Republicans sent him a letter 
threatening to filibuster his nominees if he did not consult Republican 
home State Senators. They cannot have it both ways.
  I take very seriously my responsibility to make recommendations when 
we have vacancies in Vermont, whether the President is a Democrat or a 
Republican, and other Senators should do the same. After all, if there 
are not enough judges in our home States, it is our own constituents 
who suffer. It should be only a matter of weeks or months, not years, 
for Senators to make recommendations. Republican Senators who demanded 
to be consulted on nominations should live up to their 
responsibilities, and fulfill their constitutional obligation to advise 
the President on nominations. They should follow the example of 
Democratic Senators: the administration has received recommendations 
for all current district vacancies in States represented by two 
Democratic Senators. When Senate Republicans refuse to make 
recommendations for nominees, and then delay votes on consensus 
nominees, they are not somehow hurting the President, they are hurting 
the American people and our justice system.
  Mrs. HAGAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that all remaining 
time be yielded back.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mrs. HAGAN. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  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 Jennifer A. Dorsey, of Nevada, to be United States District Judge 
for the District of Nevada?
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant bill clerk called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Alaska (Mr. Begich) is 
necessarily absent.
  Mr. CORNYN. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the 
Senator from Indiana (Mr. Coats), the Senator from Arizona (Mr. Flake), 
the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Graham), and the Senator from 
Arizona (Mr. McCain).
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Heitkamp). Are there any other Senators in 
the Chamber desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 54, nays 41, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 170 Ex.]

                                YEAS--54

     Baldwin
     Baucus
     Bennet
     Blumenthal
     Boxer
     Brown
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Collins
     Coons
     Cowan
     Donnelly
     Durbin
     Feinstein
     Franken
     Gillibrand
     Hagan
     Harkin
     Heinrich
     Heitkamp
     Hirono
     Johnson (SD)
     Kaine
     King
     Klobuchar
     Landrieu
     Leahy
     Levin
     Manchin
     McCaskill
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Mikulski
     Murphy
     Murray
     Nelson
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Rockefeller
     Sanders
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Shaheen
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Warner
     Warren
     Whitehouse
     Wyden

                                NAYS--41

     Alexander
     Ayotte
     Barrasso
     Blunt
     Boozman
     Burr
     Chambliss
     Chiesa
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Enzi
     Fischer
     Grassley
     Hatch
     Heller
     Hoeven
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Johanns
     Johnson (WI)
     Kirk
     Lee
     McConnell
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Paul
     Portman
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rubio
     Scott
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Thune
     Toomey
     Vitter
     Wicker

                             NOT VOTING--5

     Begich
     Coats
     Flake
     Graham
     McCain
  The nomination was confirmed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the motion to 
reconsider is considered made and laid on the table. The President will 
be immediately notified of the Senate's actions.

                          ____________________