[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 163 (Tuesday, September 21, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S6563]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                Nomination of Margaret Irene Strickland

  Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. President, I am quite pleased that the Senate will 
soon be voting on the confirmation of Margaret Strickland, President 
Biden's nominee to be a district court judge for the District of New 
Mexico.
  Ms. Strickland was born and raised in the southwest border region 
where this district court seat presides. She attended New Mexico State 
University and the University of Texas at El Paso, before attending law 
school at New York University.
  Ms. Strickland returned to the Southwest after law school and started 
her career with the Las Cruces Office of the New Mexico Public 
Defender, representing clients in the juvenile drug court and in felony 
defense work.
  In 2011, Ms. Strickland formed her own law firm, continuing her 
public service work representing indigent defendants in Federal court. 
Ms. Strickland has litigated both criminal and civil cases, including a 
significant number in the Federal district court located in Las Cruces, 
NM. She has also appeared before the New Mexico Court of Appeals, the 
New Mexico Supreme Court, and the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, and 
filed before the U.S. Supreme Court.
  Ms. Strickland served on the board of the New Mexico Criminal Defense 
Lawyers for over a decade, including as its president. In 2018, the 
Federal District of New Mexico appointed her to represent all Criminal 
Justice Act lawyers as a panel representative.
  Ms. Strickland has also done significant volunteer work with programs 
that reduce the rate of euthanasia for companion animals. She and her 
husband Greg foster dogs and puppies set for euthanasia so the dogs can 
be placed in a home.
  If confirmed, Ms. Strickland will be faced with one of the biggest 
Federal dockets in the country and inheriting a very heavy backlog of 
cases.
  I am, however, confident that her experience and her incredible work 
ethic will best position her to immediately get to work.
  Ms. Strickland is a highly qualified nominee with the right 
experience, the right temperament, and the right disposition to be a 
fairminded district court judge. The ABA agrees, giving her a majority 
``well qualified'' rating.
  She has spent her entire professional career working in the community 
in which she will sit. She knows intimately the impact that the legal 
system has on everyday Americans, and she understands that serving as a 
judge is very different from serving as an advocate.
  She is ready and prepared to shift from zealously and effectively 
representing clients to faithfully applying the law to the facts of a 
specific case.
  Both before and after her nomination was announced, New Mexicans 
called my office in favor of Ms. Strickland. I heard from judges, from 
prosecutors, from defense attorneys, and everyday New Mexicans. All of 
them called to say how much they believe in Ms. Strickland. Like those 
New Mexicans who called into my office, I believe Ms. Strickland 
belongs on the bench, and I am ready to cast my vote and help her get 
there.
  I enthusiastically support Ms. Strickland's nomination for district 
court judge for the District of New Mexico, and I hope that all of my 
colleagues will join me in confirming this highly qualified nominee.