[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 174 (Tuesday, December 10, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8594-S8595]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


NOMINATION OF CORNELIA T. L. PILLARD TO BE UNITED STATES CIRCUIT JUDGE 
                      FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

  Mr. REID. I now move to proceed to reconsider the vote by which 
cloture was not invoked on the Pillard nomination.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the motion.
  Mr. THUNE. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. CORNYN. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the 
Senator from Texas (Mr. Cruz) and the Senator from Illinois (Mr. Kirk).
  The result was announced--yeas 54, nays 44, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 253 Ex.]

                                YEAS--54

     Baldwin
     Baucus
     Begich
     Bennet
     Blumenthal
     Booker
     Boxer
     Brown
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Coons
     Donnelly
     Durbin
     Feinstein
     Franken
     Gillibrand
     Hagan
     Harkin
     Heinrich
     Heitkamp
     Hirono
     Johnson (SD)
     Kaine
     King
     Klobuchar
     Landrieu
     Leahy
     Levin
     Markey
     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--44

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

                             NOT VOTING--2

     Cruz
     Kirk
       
  The motion was agreed to.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader is recognized.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote by which 
cloture was not invoked on the Pillard nomination.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the motion.
  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk called the roll.
  Mr. CORNYN. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the 
Senator from Texas (Mr. Cruz) and the Senator from Illinois (Mr. Kirk).
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 54, nays 44, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 254 Ex.]

                                YEAS--54

     Baldwin
     Baucus
     Begich
     Bennet
     Blumenthal
     Booker
     Boxer
     Brown
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Coons
     Donnelly
     Durbin
     Feinstein
     Franken
     Gillibrand
     Hagan
     Harkin
     Heinrich
     Heitkamp
     Hirono
     Johnson (SD)
     Kaine
     King
     Klobuchar
     Landrieu
     Leahy
     Levin
     Markey
     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--44

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

                             NOT VOTING--2

     Cruz
     Kirk
       
  The motion was agreed to.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, today, for the second time in a month, we 
are debating whether to allow a confirmation vote on the nomination of 
Nina Pillard to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit. 
Yesterday, we were finally able to vote on the nomination of Patricia 
Millett after many months of being filibustered by Senate Republicans. 
I am glad we are making more progress today on another exceptional 
nominee.
  The DC Circuit is often considered to be the second most important 
court in the Nation and should be operating at full strength. Today we 
will take a step towards making this court operate at full strength for 
the American people.
  In late November, a bipartisan majority of Senators voted in favor of 
moving to an up-or-down vote on Nina Pillard's nomination, but we fell 
short by three votes. The same efforts to remove the Republican 
blockade of this President's nominees to fill vacancies on the DC 
Circuit that allowed the Senate to confirm Patricia Millett earlier 
this week will similarly allow the Senate to move forward on Nina 
Pillard's nomination so she can be confirmed and get to work for the 
American people.
  Nina Pillard is an accomplished litigator whose work includes nine 
Supreme Court oral arguments, and briefs in more than 25 Supreme Court 
cases. She drafted the Federal Government's brief in United States v. 
Virginia, which after a 7-1 decision by the Supreme Court made history 
by opening the Virginia Military Institute's doors to female students 
and expanded educational opportunity for women across the country. 
Since then, hundreds of women have had the opportunity to attend VMI 
and go on to serve our country.
  Ms. Pillard has not only stood for equal opportunities for women but 
for men as well. In Nevada v. Hibbs, Ms. Pillard successfully 
represented a male employee of the State of Nevada who was fired when 
he tried to take unpaid leave under the Family Medical Leave Act to 
care for his sick wife. In a 6-3 opinion authored by then-Chief Justice 
William Rehnquist, the Supreme Court ruled for her client, recognizing 
that the law protects both men and women in their caregiving roles 
within the family.
  She has also worked at the Department of Justice as the Deputy 
Assistant Attorney General in the Office of Legal Counsel, an office 
that advises on the most complex constitutional issues facing the 
executive branch. And prior to that, Ms. Pillard litigated numerous 
civil rights cases as an assistant counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense & 
Educational Fund. At Georgetown Law, Ms. Pillard teaches advanced 
courses on constitutional law and civil procedure, and co-directs the 
law school's Supreme Court Institute.
  She has earned the American Bar Association's highest possible 
ranking--Unanimously Well Qualified--to serve as a Federal appellate 
judge on the DC Circuit. She also has significant bipartisan support. 
Viet Dinh, the former Assistant Attorney General for the Office of 
Legal Policy under President George W. Bush, has written that ``Based 
on our long and varied professional experience together, I know that 
Professor Pillard is exceptionally bright, a patient and unbiased 
listener, and a lawyer of great judgment and unquestioned integrity . . 
. Nina has always been fair, reasonable, and sensible in her judgments 
. . . She is a fair-minded thinker with enormous respect for the law 
and for the limited, and essential, role of the federal appellate 
judge--qualities that make her well prepared to take on the work of a 
DC Federal Judge.''
  Former FBI Director and Chief Judge of the Western District of Texas 
William Sessions has written that her ``rare combination of experience, 
both defending and advising government officials, and representing 
individuals seeking to vindicate their rights, would be especially 
valuable in informing her responsibilities as a judge.''
  Nina Pillard has also received letters of support from 30 former 
members of the U.S. Armed Forces, including 8 retired generals; 25 
former Federal prosecutors and other law enforcement officials; 40 
Supreme Court practitioners, including Laurence Tribe and Carter 
Phillips, among many others.
  Despite having filled nearly half of law school classrooms for the 
last 20 years, women are grossly underrepresented on our Federal 
courts. We

[[Page S8595]]

need women on the Federal bench. A vote to end this filibuster is a 
vote to break yet another barrier and move in the historic direction of 
having our Federal appellate courts more accurately reflect the gender 
balance of the country.
  I commend President Obama on his nominations of highly qualified 
women such as Nina Pillard, Patricia Millett, Elena Kagan and Sonia 
Sotomayor. In each of these women, the Senate has had the opportunity 
to vote to confirm women practicing at the pinnacle of the legal 
profession. Once the Senate confirmed Justice Kagan, the highest court 
in the land had more women than ever before serving on its bench. With 
the confirmation and appointment of Nina Pillard, the same will be true 
for what many consider to be the second highest court in the land, the 
DC Circuit, because she will be the fifth active female judge on the 
court. Never before have five women jurists actively served on that 
court at one time. I look forward to that moment and to further 
increasing the diversity of our federal bench.
  I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of ending the filibuster on 
this outstanding nominee. This Nation would be better off for Nina 
Pillard serving as a judge on the DC Circuit.


                             Cloture Motion

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the motion to 
invoke cloture on the Pillard nomination, upon reconsideration.
  Pursuant to rule XXII, the Chair lays before the Senate the pending 
cloture motion, which the clerk will state.
  The bill clerk read as follows:

                             Cloture Motion

       We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the 
     provisions of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, 
     hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of 
     Cornelia T. L. Pillard, of the District of Columbia, to be 
     United States Circuit Judge for the District of Columbia 
     Circuit.
         Harry Reid, Patrick J. Leahy, Richard J. Durbin, John D. 
           Rockefeller IV, Benjamin L. Cardin, Jon Tester, Sheldon 
           Whitehouse, Mark R. Warner, Patty Murray, Mazie K. 
           Hirono, Angus S. King, Jr., Barbara Boxer, Jeanne 
           Shaheen, Robert Menendez, Bill Nelson, Debbie Stabenow, 
           Richard Blumenthal.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. By unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum 
call has been waived.
  The question is, Is it the sense of the Senate that debate on the 
nomination of Cornelia T. L. Pillard, of the District of Columbia, to 
be United States Circuit Judge for the District of Columbia Circuit, 
shall be brought to a close, upon reconsideration?
  The yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  Mr. CORNYN. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the 
Senator from Texas (Mr. Cruz) and the Senator from Illinois (Mr. Kirk).
  The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 56, nays 42, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 255 Ex.]

                                YEAS--56

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

                                NAYS--42

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

                             NOT VOTING--2

     Cruz
     Kirk
       
  The motion was agreed to.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the nomination.
  The assistant legislative clerk read the nomination of Cornelia T. L. 
Pillard, of the District of Columbia, to be United States Circuit Judge 
for the District of Columbia Circuit.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island.

                          ____________________