[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.

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