[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 30 (Monday, February 24, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S996-S997]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 NOMINATION OF JAMES M. MOODY, JR., TO BE UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 
                  FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There is now 2 minutes equally divided prior 
to the next vote.
 Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, today the Senate will vote to 
invoke cloture on the nomination of James Moody to fill a judicial 
vacancy on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of 
Arkansas. Though I was not able to be present to cast my vote this 
afternoon, I fully support the nomination of this qualified individual 
to fill the vacancy in Arkansas. If I had been here I would have voted 
to confirm this highly qualified nominee. It would not have changed the 
outcome of the vote. I want to congratulate Senator Leahy and Senator 
Grassley on their leadership and hope that we can all continue to work 
together to address the backlog of judicial nominations.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arkansas.
  Mr. PRYOR. Mr. President, I rise to encourage my colleagues to 
support the nomination of James M. Moody to be a Federal judge in the 
Eastern District of Arkansas. He is highly qualified, completely 
noncontroversial, stellar across the board, and meets every criteria 
anyone could ever have.
  So when the times comes, I would appreciate a great vote for Judge 
Moody.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Warren). The Senator from Vermont.
  Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, this is just one more of those judges who 
passed unanimously from the Senate Judiciary Committee. Every 
Republican, every Democrat voted for him. He has been held up and 
delayed by Republicans who, I am afraid, are trying to do the same to 
the Federal judiciary they did to the Federal Government by closing it 
down.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who yields time?
  Mr. GRASSLEY. I yield back our time.


                             Cloture Motion

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. All time is yielded back.
  The cloture motion having been presented under rule XXII, the Chair 
directs the clerk to read the motion.
  The legislative 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 
     James Maxwell Moody, Jr., of Arkansas, to be United States 
     District Judge for the Eastern District of Arkansas.
          Harry Reid, Patrick J. Leahy, Mark L. Pryor, Mark 
           Begich, Robert Menendez, Benjamin L. Cardin, Tom 
           Harkin, Amy Klobuchar, Christopher Murphy, Patty 
           Murray, Jon Tester, Richard J. Durbin, Barbara Boxer, 
           Angus S. King, Jr., Claire McCaskill, Richard 
           Blumenthal, Sheldon Whitehouse, Jack Reed.

  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 James Maxwell Moody, Jr., of Arkansas to be United States 
District Judge for the Eastern District of Arkansas shall be brought to 
a close?
  The yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. HATCH (when his name was called). ``Present.''
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Florida (Mr. Nelson) is 
necessarily absent.

[[Page S997]]

  Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Missouri (Mr. Blunt), the Senator from Texas (Mr. Cornyn), the 
Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Graham), the Senator from Alaska (Mrs. 
Murkowski), the Senator from Idaho (Mr. Risch), and the Senator from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Toomey).
  Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Texas (Mr. Cornyn) 
would have voted ``nay.''
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 58, nays 34, as follows:

                       [Rollcall Vote No. 38 Ex.]

                                YEAS--58

     Alexander
     Ayotte
     Baldwin
     Begich
     Bennet
     Blumenthal
     Booker
     Boozman
     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
     Manchin
     Markey
     McCaskill
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Mikulski
     Murphy
     Murray
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Rockefeller
     Sanders
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Shaheen
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Walsh
     Warner
     Warren
     Whitehouse
     Wyden

                                NAYS--34

     Barrasso
     Burr
     Chambliss
     Coats
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Corker
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Enzi
     Fischer
     Flake
     Grassley
     Heller
     Hoeven
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Johanns
     Johnson (WI)
     Kirk
     Lee
     McCain
     McConnell
     Moran
     Paul
     Portman
     Roberts
     Rubio
     Scott
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Thune
     Vitter
     Wicker

                        ANSWERED ``PRESENT''--1

       
     Hatch
       

                             NOT VOTING--7

     Blunt
     Cornyn
     Graham
     Murkowski
     Nelson
     Risch
     Toomey
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this vote, the yeas are 58, the nays are 
34, and one Senator voted ``present.''
  The motion is agreed to.

                          ____________________