[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 178 (Friday, December 9, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Page S7018]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       NOMINATION OF MARY McELROY

  Mr. REED. Mr. President, I join with my fellow Senator from the State 
of Rhode Island, Senator Whitehouse, to urge this body to confirm Mary 
McElroy to the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island.
  Ms. McElroy is an eminently qualified and dedicated public servant 
whose nomination was reported unanimously to this body by the Judiciary 
Committee in January of this year. She, along with 20 other district 
court nominees from States represented by Members from both sides of 
the aisle, has undergone the required rigorous vetting process and 
passed through committee only to have her nomination stalled on the 
floor of this body. We should confirm all of these nominees right now 
before the 114th Congress draws to a close.
  I have been proud to support Mary's nomination at every step of this 
process. Her legal career has spanned more than 20 years from her time 
as a paralegal in the Rhode Island Attorney General's office while 
attending law school at night, clerking for Associate Justice Donald F. 
Shea of the Rhode Island Supreme Court, private practice, and her work 
in the State and Federal public defender offices. Throughout her 
career, she has shown the highest levels of integrity and 
professionalism and earned the respect and support of Rhode Island's 
law enforcement community.
  It is a shame that this Congress may come to a close before Mary can 
receive what I am sure would be a very strong floor vote in favor of 
her confirmation. Mary has the full support of her home State and the 
legal community to assume this role and no assertion to the contrary 
has been made at any time since her nomination by the President. Should 
we not take up and pass her nomination this week, as we should have for 
all these intervening months since the action by the Judiciary 
Committee, it is my hope that her nomination returns to this body and 
is given a fair hearing swiftly in the new year.
  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I would like to associate myself with 
all of the comments made by Senator Reed. With 90 judicial vacancies in 
our Article III courts and 32 judicial emergencies, there is no excuse 
for failing to confirm nominees who have been reported to the Senate 
floor.
  Mary McElroy has undergone the nomination and committee processes 
with grace and dignity. These processes are intense and time-consuming. 
She, her husband, Bob, and their two children, have put their lives on 
hold in order for her to accept this responsibility as a public 
servant. Mary and the 20 other district court nominees awaiting a floor 
vote--many of whom have waited for over than a year--should be 
confirmed immediately.

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