[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 180 (Wednesday, November 14, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6959-S6960]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      CONFIRMATION OF RYAN NELSON

  Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, along with my colleague Senator James E. 
Risch, I congratulate Judge Ryan Nelson of Idaho Falls on his Senate 
confirmation to serve as a judge on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
  Throughout his diverse legal career, Ryan Nelson developed the 
necessary tools to serve the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals as a 
sound and principled jurist. Since 2009, Ryan Nelson has served as 
general counsel of Idaho Falls-based Melaleuca, Inc. Before joining 
Melaleuca, Mr. Nelson served in the Federal Government as special 
counsel for Supreme Court nominations to the ranking member of the 
Senate Judiciary Committee; as deputy general counsel to the White 
House Office of Management and Budget; and as deputy assistant attorney 
general in the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the United 
States Department of Justice, DOJ. At the DOJ, Mr. Nelson argued 13 
cases in the U.S. Courts of Appeals and was division counsel for 50 
briefs filed in the Supreme Court. Before joining the DOJ, Mr. Nelson 
practiced in the Washington, DC, office of Sidley Austin LLP, where he 
was a member of the firm's appellate, litigation, products liability, 
and religious liberties practice groups.

[[Page S6960]]

  Upon graduation from law school, Mr. Nelson served as a law clerk to 
Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 
District of Columbia Circuit and to Judges Charles Brower and Richard 
Mosk of the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal at The Hague. Mr. Nelson earned 
his B.A. from Brigham Young University, BYU, and his J.D., with honors, 
from BYU Law School, where he was inducted into the Order of the Coif 
and served as a lead articles editor of the BYU Law Review.
  Ryan has been widely recognized by his colleagues for his judgement 
and legal expertise and will respect and be a servant of the law. He 
understands that a judge is responsible for interpreting and applying 
the Constitution and laws of the land as they are written and not to be 
a maker of laws from the bench.
  Congratulations, Ryan, on your confirmation, and thank you for 
bringing your valuable perspective to the court.

                          ____________________