[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 29 (Wednesday, February 12, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1004-S1005]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                    Nomination of Joshua M. Kindred

  Mr. SULLIVAN. Madam President, I rise today in support of the vote 
that the Senate is going to take on here in a few minutes on Joshua 
Kindred to be Alaska's next Federal district court judge, and I commend 
this body, particularly Leader McConnell, for prioritizing putting 
good, solid, young Federal judges in seats in districts and circuit 
courts all across the country--188 so far since the Trump 
administration took office, and now it is Alaska's turn.
  That Federal judge seat that we are looking at filling here in a 
couple of minutes has been empty for almost 4 years, and in our State, 
in the great State of Alaska, we don't have too many opportunities for 
Federal judges. For example, Alaska only has 1 active judge on the 
entire Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals out of 29 active judges. So this 
is an important vote, certainly, for my State.

  I want to talk a little bit about Josh Kindred. I have known Josh 
since he was a young assistant district attorney for the State of 
Alaska when I was attorney general. We talked about how we were going 
to work together to make Alaska's judicial process more efficient and 
more effective for Alaskans during his confirmation process. I 
certainly was impressed then, but I was impressed when I first met Josh 
many years ago and continue to be impressed with his fierce commitment 
to upholding the law, the concept of equal access to justice for all, 
and his keen awareness of Alaska's unique legal landscape.
  Josh was unanimously rated as ``qualified'' by the ABA and is a 
lifelong Alaskan with a broad and impressive legal background.
  As I mentioned, after clerking on the Oregon Supreme Court, he came 
back home to Alaska and was promoted to violent crimes supervisor after 
a number of years working in the Anchorage District Attorney's Office, 
where he worked to punish perpetrators of crimes and with victims of 
some of the heinous crimes, unfortunately, that we have in too high 
numbers in Alaska, particularly as it relates to sexual assault and 
domestic violence. In his career, he has been committed not only to 
prosecuting those kinds of crimes but to doing pro bono work to stem 
this very significant crisis that my State has with these heinous 
crimes of sexual abuse.
  Rounding out his legal experience, Josh served as the environmental 
counsel for the Alaska Oil and Gas Association and, most recently, as 
the regional solicitor for Alaska for the U.S. Department of the 
Interior. Now, when the Federal Government controls over 60 percent of 
the lands in Alaska, the solicitor for the U.S. Department of the 
Interior position in Alaska is actually a really important one and is 
incredibly important in terms of qualifications for a Federal judge.
  This wide-ranging experience will be incredibly valuable as a 
district court judge in Alaska because he is familiar--very familiar--
with the numerous Alaska-specific laws that this body passes year after 
year, decade after decade: the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, the 
Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, and the Trans-Alaska 
Pipeline Act. This is an important point because very few States have 
such large, complex Federal laws that are focused solely on their 
State, and Federal courts often misinterpret these laws and don't 
understand these laws, to the detriment of the people I represent.
  Let me just give you a recent example. There was a Federal case under 
the law I mentioned recently, ANILCA, as we call it in Alaska. It 
involved a moose hunter named John Sturgeon who had a hovercraft and 
wanted to go moose hunting, and overbearing Federal Government agents 
told him he couldn't use his hovercraft in certain areas considered 
Federal waters. John Sturgeon knew better. He challenged the Federal 
Government. There were 12 years of litigation, twice up to the U.S. 
Supreme Court, and Federal judges at the district and certainly the 
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals level getting this case wrong every 
single time. Finally, last year, in a unanimous 9-to-0 opinion, Justice 
Elena Kagan summed it up very succinctly when she ruled against all of 
these Federal judges in the Ninth Circuit and for Mr. Sturgeon. She 
said: ``If Sturgeon lived in any other State, his suit would not have a 
prayer of success.''
  She went on: ``Except that Sturgeon lives in Alaska. And as we have 
said before, `Alaska is often the exception, not the rule,' '' under 
Federal law.
  So the Supreme Court gets it, and Josh Kindred will get it. He 
understands Alaska's unique legal jurisprudence. He is committed to 
honoring the commitments this body has made to Alaska's first peoples 
and others in my great State, and he is committed to justice.
  I believe he will serve with honor and integrity on the Federal 
court, and I urge my colleagues to vote for his confirmation.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the question is, 
Will the Senate advise and consent to the Kindred nomination?
  Mr. SULLIVAN. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. THUNE. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Wisconsin (Mr. Johnson).
  Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Wisconsin (Mr. 
Johnson) would have voted ``yea.''
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Colorado (Mr. Bennet), 
the Senator from Minnesota (Ms. Klobuchar), the Senator from Vermont 
(Mr. Sanders), and the Senator from Massachusetts (Ms. Warren) are 
necessarily absent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sasse). Are there any other Senators in 
the Chamber desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 54, nays 41, as follows:

                       [Rollcall Vote No. 41 Ex.]

                                YEAS--54

     Alexander
     Barrasso
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Boozman
     Braun
     Burr
     Capito
     Cassidy
     Collins
     Cornyn
     Cotton
     Cramer
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Daines
     Enzi
     Ernst
     Fischer
     Gardner
     Graham
     Grassley
     Hawley
     Hoeven
     Hyde-Smith
     Inhofe
     Kennedy
     Lankford
     Lee
     Loeffler
     Manchin
     McConnell
     McSally
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Paul
     Perdue
     Portman
     Risch
     Roberts
     Romney
     Rounds
     Rubio
     Sasse
     Scott (FL)
     Scott (SC)
     Shelby
     Sinema
     Sullivan
     Thune
     Tillis
     Toomey
     Wicker
     Young

                                NAYS--41

     Baldwin
     Blumenthal
     Booker
     Brown
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Coons
     Cortez Masto
     Duckworth
     Durbin
     Feinstein
     Gillibrand
     Harris
     Hassan
     Heinrich
     Hirono
     Jones
     Kaine
     King
     Leahy
     Markey
     Menendez

[[Page S1005]]


     Merkley
     Murphy
     Murray
     Peters
     Reed
     Rosen
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Shaheen
     Smith
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Udall
     Van Hollen
     Warner
     Whitehouse
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--5

     Bennet
     Johnson
     Klobuchar
     Sanders
     Warren
  The nomination was confirmed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oklahoma.
  Mr. LANKFORD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the votes 
following the first vote be 10 minutes in length.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there any objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered. The votes will be 10 minutes.

                          ____________________