[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 156 (Thursday, September 28, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6201-S6202]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Tribute to Mary Jo Brown
Mr. MANCHIN. Madam President, I rise today to honor a proud educator,
a dedicated public servant, a beloved native of my home State of West
Virginia, and my very dear friend, Mary Jo Brown. Words cannot express
my gratitude for Mary Jo's service and friendship.
Since my days as Governor, Mary Jo has gone above and beyond to
uphold the standards not only of professionalism, loyalty, and
dedication but also of what it means to be born in the Eastern
Panhandle of West Virginia.
Mary Jo has always had a noble passion for education. She worked for
Berkeley County Schools as a teacher, a library media specialist,
director of public affairs, and finally as principal of Burke Street
Elementary School, where we first became acquainted.
Upon her retirement from Berkeley County Schools, I invited Mary Jo
to work with me as a regional coordinator, a role she kept through my
entire time as Governor and now as U.S. Senator. Her warm personality
and sense of humor truly have a way of making you feel at ease--
laughing quite frequently at not only her but yourself.
I have heard many times from members of the Eastern Panhandle
community that when she is out meeting with elected officials, business
owners, and fellow West Virginians, she provides every confidence that
their voices are being heard, and I can assure you, they are. She gets
in contact with me immediately.
When Mary Jo is given a task, she doesn't take no for an answer. She
is the most tenacious person I have ever met. She gives each project or
challenge her all because it is for the good of her community, our
State, and her hometown.
It would be difficult to find anyone as knowledgeable and dedicated
to our home State as Mary Jo. Among her many contributions to the
Eastern Panhandle, together with her loving husband Walter, was
founding the Walter and Mary Jo Ziler Brown Fund in 2006 to help
Eastern Panhandle students study animal husbandry, agriculture, and
veterinary medicine.
We bonded over our passion for public service, inspiring the next
generation of leaders, and we share the common goal of helping the rest
of the country discover all that our great State of West Virginia has
to offer.
[[Page S6202]]
Now that she is retiring after a long career of teaching, public
service, and more than a decade of Federal service, I know that Mary Jo
will carry the same passion for the Eastern Panhandle and for West
Virginia that she always has, and she will continue to make a
difference wherever she may be and wherever she goes--always for the
State of West Virginia and her community.
It is my greatest honor to extend to her and to Walter my very best
wishes in the days and years ahead.
Thank you, Mary Jo, and God bless you for everything you have done
for me, for our office, and, most importantly, for our State of West
Virginia and the Eastern Panhandle. God bless you.
Thank you.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Dakota.
Mr. HOEVEN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to complete my
remarks.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. HOEVEN. Madam President, I am honored to come to the floor today
to express my support for the President's nominee to the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, Judge Ralph Erickson.
Judge Erickson is a longtime North Dakotan and has been a tremendous
public servant in his current capacity as Federal district court judge
in Fargo, ND. He has made our State proud, and I am confident he will
be an excellent addition to the Eighth Circuit Court.
Judge Erickson has a distinguished legal career which spans over two
decades. After working in private practice for 10 years, he served as a
magistrate judge for Cass County and then as a State district judge for
the East Central Judicial District Court. In 2003, Judge Erickson was
nominated by President George W. Bush to the U.S. District Court for
the District of North Dakota and was quickly confirmed by the Senate
unanimously.
Throughout his tenure, Judge Erickson has demonstrated deep respect
for the Constitution and the rule of law. His judicial experience
ranges from overseeing routine civil cases to cases involving extreme
criminal violence. Throughout all of these cases, Judge Erickson
practiced a measured and prudential legal approach that is necessary
for a position on the second highest court in the United States.
Judge Erickson has also proved to be a champion for Indian Country.
He serves as the Chair of the Tribal Issues Advisory Group on the
United States Sentencing Commission, where he works to preserve Tribal
sovereignty. As chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, I
believe Judge Erickson's expertise on this issue will be a valuable
asset to the Eighth Circuit Court.
Madam President, part of our duty as Senators is to evaluate the
qualifications of the President's appointees and to vote on their
nominations accordingly. This is a responsibility that I take very
seriously, and I have no doubt that if confirmed, Judge Erickson will
be an excellent circuit judge. I am honored to be here to support his
nomination and to urge my colleagues to vote yes.
I would also like to note that in the Gallery today we have his
daughter Elizabeth joining us. I think it is wonderful that she could
be here to see her father's confirmation vote. She is a sophomore at
Catholic University and just an outstanding young person, and there is
no doubt that she is extremely proud of her father today. So it is
wonderful to welcome her here for this momentous occasion.
With that, Madam President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
There appears to be a sufficient second.
Under the previous order, all time having expired, the question is,
Will the Senate advise and consent to the Erickson nomination?
The yeas and nays have been ordered.
The clerk will call the roll.
The bill clerk called the roll.
Mr. CORNYN. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the
Senator from Mississippi (Mr. Cochran), the Senator from Alabama (Mr.
Strange), and the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Tillis).
Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from New Jersey (Mr.
Menendez) is necessarily absent.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber
desiring to vote?
The result was announced--yeas 95, nays 1, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 207 Ex.]
YEAS--95
Alexander
Baldwin
Barrasso
Bennet
Blumenthal
Blunt
Booker
Boozman
Brown
Burr
Cantwell
Capito
Cardin
Carper
Casey
Cassidy
Collins
Coons
Corker
Cornyn
Cortez Masto
Cotton
Crapo
Cruz
Daines
Donnelly
Duckworth
Durbin
Enzi
Ernst
Feinstein
Fischer
Flake
Franken
Gardner
Gillibrand
Graham
Grassley
Harris
Hassan
Hatch
Heinrich
Heitkamp
Heller
Hirono
Hoeven
Inhofe
Isakson
Johnson
Kaine
Kennedy
King
Klobuchar
Lankford
Leahy
Lee
Manchin
Markey
McCain
McCaskill
McConnell
Merkley
Moran
Murkowski
Murphy
Murray
Nelson
Paul
Perdue
Peters
Portman
Reed
Risch
Roberts
Rounds
Rubio
Sanders
Sasse
Schatz
Schumer
Scott
Shaheen
Shelby
Stabenow
Sullivan
Tester
Thune
Toomey
Udall
Van Hollen
Warner
Whitehouse
Wicker
Wyden
Young
NAYS--1
Warren
NOT VOTING--4
Cochran
Menendez
Strange
Tillis
The nomination was confirmed.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the motion to
reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table and the President
will be immediately notified of the Senate's action.
____________________