[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 148 (Thursday, September 6, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S6043]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     NOMINATION OF DOMINIC W. LANZA

  Mr. COTTON. Madam President, I speak in support of the nomination of 
Dominic Lanza to be a district judge for the District of Arizona.
  Dominic is my old friend and law school classmate and, maybe most 
importantly, intramural basketball teammate, when he was known as 
``Dom'' or perhaps ``The Dominator.''
  Now, I can't claim the credit for Dominic's nomination. He has the 
highest qualifications, and his whole life has prepared him for this 
moment to be a U.S. district judge. Dom graduated with highest honors 
from Dartmouth in 1998, where he was also an All-Ivy League and 
Academic All-American offensive lineman on the Dartmouth football team. 
He received the Barrett Award for being the outstanding graduate of his 
class in achievement, character, and leadership.
  In law school together, he excelled, graduating with honors, serving 
as a member of the law review.
  He went on to clerk for Judge Pam Rymer on the Ninth Circuit Court of 
Appeals. For 5 years, he worked in private practice with Gibson Dunn & 
Crutcher in their constitutional and appellate law practice, and won 
awards for his pro bono work.
  For the last 10 years, Dom has served the people of Arizona and the 
people of this country in the U.S. attorney's office from the District 
of Arizona. As an assistant U.S. attorney, from 2008 to 2012, he 
prosecuted over 300 defendants for a wide variety of crimes, including 
immigration offenses, drug trafficking, and public corruption.
  He authored more than 20 appellate briefs and argued more than 11 
cases in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. From 2012 to 2015, he 
served as chief of the district's Financial Crimes and Public Integrity 
section, and he is now the chief and executive assistant U.S. 
attorney--the No. 2 position in the district--where he oversees the 
Phoenix office.
  Dom said that the most important lesson he has learned in his time at 
the U.S. Attorney's Office is the need to represent the facts and the 
law fairly and accurately to the court and opposing counsel. He has 
also learned the necessity of treating everybody involved in the legal 
process--from judges to jurors, support staff, opposing counsel, and 
parties--with courtesy, dignity, patience, and respect.
  Dom has volunteered in the Court Works Program, in which students 
from at-risk schools perform simulated trials. He participated in the 
Veterans Court Program, which provides increased support and guidance 
to Federal criminal defendants who are veterans.
  Dom participated in, completed, and received the highest marks from 
Senator McCain and Senator Flake's judicial nomination panel. He now 
has the support, as well, of Senator Jon Kyl. I commend all three men 
for an outstanding selection.
  As I said, I can't take credit for Dom's nomination, but I can 
perhaps add a little bit of perspective to the kind of judge he will be 
from the man I knew on the basketball courts.
  Dom was tough. If you were driving to the basket or fighting for a 
rebound, you did not want him in your way.
  Dom was fairminded. If he fouled an opposing player or knocked a ball 
out of bounds, you would get no argument from him. He would admit that 
he knocked the ball out of bounds or that he had committed the foul, 
and play would go on.
  I would say Dominic was even-tempered, something of a gentle giant. 
When tempers flared on the basketball courts at Hemingway, as they, in 
retrospect, did too often--and over silly matters--Dom was a 
peacemaker, separating those who might otherwise be in an altercation.
  Dom was a team player. When it was time for him to take the shot 
because that is what the team needed, that is what he would do, but he 
was just as happy to pass the ball off, to set a screen, to box-out for 
a rebound.
  Dom was good-natured--competitive to be sure, but he understood that 
in the grand scheme of things, we were all just a bunch of washed-up 
high school and college athletes enjoying a few hours off from our 
studies.
  These are all traits that are going to put him in the best position 
possible to deliver justice not only for the people of Arizona but for 
the people of the United States. Everyone who comes before him is 
fortunate that Dominic Lanza will soon be a district judge.
  For 42 years, Dominic has been known as Dom or the Dominator, but in 
just a few hours, he will be known as Your Honor. Few men, by their 
character and by their lives, better deserve that title than the 
Dominator, Dominic Lanza.
  Madam President, I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BLUNT. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

                          ____________________