[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 76 (Wednesday, May 8, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2707-S2708]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Nominations

  Madam President, on a completely different matter, as I have been 
discussing, the Senate is continuing to make better progress in its 
filling of vacancies in the executive branch and the Federal judiciary. 
After last month's action to restore a more functional, straightforward 
system for considering lower level nominations, we have begun the 
process of clearing the executive calendar backlog that has been left 
by literally years of partisan obstruction.
  This morning, we will vote to confirm three qualified individuals the 
President nominated for the Export-Import Bank: Kimberley Reed, of West 
Virginia, to serve as President and Spencer Bachus, of Alabama, and 
Judith Pryor, of Ohio, to serve on the Board of Directors. Combined, 
they have spent years waiting for confirmation. Now, thanks to last 
month's action, we will consider them on the floor this week.
  We will also vote to confirm Joseph Bianco, of New York, as U.S. 
circuit judge for the Second Circuit. Mr. Bianco is a graduate of 
Georgetown University and of Columbia University School of Law. He has 
contributed years of distinguished service as an assistant U.S. 
attorney and now as a U.S. district judge for the Southern District of 
New York. The Senate confirmed him to that last role by a voice vote 
back in 2005. So I hope we can muster

[[Page S2708]]

another strong, bipartisan vote of confidence in this exceptionally 
well-qualified jurist.
  Finally, the Senate will consider Janet Dhillon, of Pennsylvania, to 
serve on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and it will 
consider Michael Park, of New York, to be a U.S. circuit judge for the 
Second Circuit. I am proud that even amid partisan distractions, this 
body will continue fulfilling one of its key constitutional 
responsibilities.