[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 69 (Thursday, May 8, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2836-S2837]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                           EXECUTIVE SESSION

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will 
proceed to executive session.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, today, we are again voting to overcome 
Republican filibusters of four highly qualified judicial nominees. The 
nominees are Judge Robin Rosenbaum to fill an emergency vacancy on the 
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit; Indira Talwani to fill 
a vacancy on the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts; 
James Peterson to fill an emergency vacancy on the U.S. District Court 
for the Western District of Wisconsin; and Nancy Rosenstengel to fill 
an emergency vacancy on the U.S. District Court for the Southern 
District of Illinois.
  Before proceeding with the qualifications of these four judicial 
nominees, I would like to address some questions regarding the 
nomination of David Barron. Mr. Barron has been nominated to fill a 
vacancy on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. There have 
been press accounts that Senate Republicans are placing a hold on Mr. 
Barron's nomination because they are seeking access to a Justice 
Department memorandum regarding Anwar Al-Awlaki, an Al Qaeda leader who 
was killed by a U.S. drone strike in Yemen.
  Since Senate Republicans have blocked every single judicial nominee 
this year from receiving an up-or-down vote, it comes as no surprise 
that they would attempt to block Mr. Barron as well. This is nothing 
new. As for the Justice Department memo, the majority leader and I have 
urged the administration to make the memo available to all Senators, 
and the administration has agreed. All Senators can review it for 
themselves. All members of the Judiciary Committee were previously able 
to review this memo, and now that his nomination is before the full 
Senate, it makes sense that all Senators will have that opportunity.
  I am confident that once we proceed with Mr. Barron's nomination, 
Senators will vote to confirm him. He is brilliant nominee who is 
currently a professor at Harvard Law School. He is a nationally 
recognized expert on constitutional law, the separation of powers, 
administrative law, and federalism. He clerked on the U.S. Supreme 
Court for Justice John Paul Stevens. Justice Stevens has such high 
regard for Mr. Barron that the Justice attended his nomination hearing.
  Mr. Barron has been an outstanding law professor and public servant. 
He has the credentials, expertise, and temperament to make an 
outstanding judge. As the acting head of the Department of Justice's 
Office of Legal Counsel in the beginning of the Obama administration, 
one of Mr. Barron's first actions was to withdraw several of the 
torture memos that OLC issued during the Bush administration that found 
``enhanced interrogation techniques'' lawful, including sleep 
deprivation, stress positions, and waterboarding.
  Mr. Barron has stood up for the rights of gay and lesbian students. 
In 2005, he coauthored amici briefs in the case Rumsfeld v. FAIR, which 
challenged the Solomon Amendment. The Solomon Amendment provided that 
if an institution of higher education denies military recruiters or 
ROTC programs access to campus, the entire institution would lose 
certain Federal funds. Until 2011, the Department of Defense 
discriminated based on sexual orientation, and many universities did 
not permit discrimination on campus. In response to a question for the 
record from Senator Grassley on the issue, Mr. Barron said: ``With 
respect to my participation along with other faculty members and my 
dean as amici in Rumsfeld v. FAIR, I believed it was important as a 
faculty member at Harvard Law School to help in the effort to ensure 
that gay and lesbian students at my institution continued to have equal 
opportunities to seek legal employment.''
  Mr. Barron is truly an outstanding nominee, and I hope all Senators 
will support his nomination when it comes up.

[[Page S2837]]

  Today, we will vote to end the filibusters of four other very highly 
qualified nominees.
  Judge Robin Rosenbaum has been nominated to fill an emergency vacancy 
on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. She has served 
since 2012 as a U.S. district judge in the Southern District of 
Florida, where she was previously a U.S. magistrate judge. Prior to her 
judicial service, she served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the 
Southern District of Florida from 1998 to 2007. Judge Rosenbaum has 
previously practiced at Holland & Knight, LLP, and as a trial attorney 
in the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division. In 1998, she served 
as a law clerk to Judge Stanley Marcus of the U.S. Eleventh Circuit 
Court of Appeals. She has the bipartisan support of her home state 
senators, Senator Nelson and Senator Rubio. The Judiciary Committee 
reported her nomination by voice vote to the full Senate on March 6, 
2014.
  Indira Talwani has been nominated to fill a vacancy on the U.S. 
District Court for the District of Massachusetts. She has worked in 
private practice at Segal Roitman, LLP, since 1999 and has been a 
partner at the firm since 2003. She has previously practiced at the law 
firm of Altshuler Berzon LLP, where she was also a partner. After 
graduating from law school, Ms. Talwani served as law clerk to Judge 
Stanley Weigel of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of 
California. She has the support of her home State senators, Senator 
Warren and Senator Markey. The Judiciary Committee reported her 
favorably to the full Senate by voice vote on February 6, 2014.
  James Peterson has been nominated to fill an emergency vacancy on the 
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin. He has 
worked in private practice at Godfrey & Kahn, S.C., since 1999, where 
he has been a shareholder since 2007. Mr. Peterson has served as lead 
counsel on at least 15 civil cases that have been litigated to 
judgment. He has also actively participated in nine jury trials, three 
of which he was lead counsel. Mr. Peterson has briefed and argued civil 
appeals at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, the 
Federal Circuit, and the Wisconsin Supreme Court. He has also authored 
two amicus briefs at the U.S. Supreme Court. In addition to his legal 
practice, Mr. Peterson has served as an adjunct instructor at the 
University of Wisconsin Law School. The ABA Standing Committee on the 
Federal Judiciary unanimously rated Mr. Peterson ``well qualified'' to 
serve on the Western District of Wisconsin Court, its highest rating. 
He has the bipartisan support of his home State senators, Senator 
Johnson and Senator Baldwin. The Judiciary Committee reported him 
favorably to the full Senate by voice vote on February 6, 2014.
  Nancy Rosenstengel has been nominated to fill an emergency vacancy on 
the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. She has 
served since 2009 as the clerk of court to the U.S. District Court for 
the Southern District of Illinois. She previously served for 11 years 
as a career law clerk to Judge G. Patrick Murphy of the U.S. District 
Court of the Southern District of Illinois. As a career law clerk, she 
assisted Judge Murphy in hundreds of civil and criminal cases. She also 
worked in private practice at Sandberg, Phoenix, & von Gontard as an 
associate from 1993 to 1998. She earned her B.A. cum laude from the 
University of Illinois in 1990. She earned her J.D. with honors from 
the Southern Illinois University Law School in 1993, where she was as 
an editor on the Southern Illinois University Law Journal. She has the 
bipartisan support of her home State senators, Senator Durbin and 
Senator Kirk. The Judiciary Committee reported her nomination by voice 
vote to the full Senate on March 6, 2014.
  Each of these nominees has the experience, judgment, and legal acumen 
to be good judges in our Federal courts. I thank the majority leader 
for filing cloture petitions, and I hope my fellow Senators will join 
me today to end these filibusters so that these nominees can get 
working on behalf of the American people.
  Mrs. SHAHEEN. I ask unanimous consent that all time be yielded back.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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