[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.
____________________