[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 189 (Wednesday, October 27, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7410-S7411]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Nominations

  Mr. President, on a separate topic, as we round out the week, we 
continue to vote on a number of very important executive and judicial 
nominations.
  I want to start by speaking quickly about four critical positions in 
the Justice Department: Matt Olsen, to head the DOJ National Security 
Division; Chris Schroeder, nominated to head the Office of Legal 
Counsel; Hampton Dellinger, Office of Legal Counsel; Elizabeth 
Prelogar, to serve as the Nation's next Solicitor General.
  All of them are eminently qualified, have deep experience and strong 
credentials, and they understand the importance of DOJ independence. 
Let me say a few words about them.
  Matt Olsen has dedicated the bulk of his career to helping keep our 
Nation safe, and he will continue do that same thing as Assistant 
Attorney General for National Security. From his time at the Justice 
Department to his work at the National Security Agency, to his tenure 
as the confirmed Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, he 
has been a leader when it comes to security in America.
  Chris Schroeder, nominated to head the Justice Department's Office of 
Legal Counsel--or OLC--has significant experience, including serving as 
counselor to the Assistant Attorney General and as Deputy Assistant 
himself. He has a deep understanding of the office and is ready to 
provide the kind of skill and experience we need.
  Hampton Dellinger, nominated to serve as Assistant AG for the Office 
of Legal Policy, has bipartisan support in our committee and has 
decades of public and private service. He oversaw the judicial vetting 
process for State judges in North Carolina. I am confident he will 
enable the Department of Justice to continue its track record of 
processing President Biden's highly qualified nominees.
  Elizabeth Prelogar, nominated to be the U.S. Solicitor General, is an 
accomplished appellate advocate. She argued nine cases before the 
Supreme Court and filed hundreds of amicus briefs and other petitions. 
She knows this job, and she knows it well, and it is time that she is 
given this opportunity to serve.
  Let me conclude by saying that these nominees are the kind of 
experienced people we need. We have good nominees for the court as 
well.
  The Senate will also be voting soon on two highly qualified nominees 
for the Federal judiciary: Omar Williams for the District of 
Connecticut and Beth Robinson for the Second Circuit.
  These nominees have received strong support from their home State 
senators. They both currently serve as State court judges, and both 
have been rated ``well qualified'' by the American Bar Association. 
Their records show that they have an even-handed approach to 
administering justice and that they are guided by one principle above 
all else: fidelity to the rule of law.
  Judge Omar Williams, nominated to the District of Connecticut, is an 
accomplished State court judge and former public defender who has 
earned wide acclaim from the Connecticut legal community.
  In recognition of his work on the State bench, Judge Williams was 
appointed to several important judicial bodies by the Connecticut 
Supreme Court, including the New England Regional Judicial Opioid 
Initiative. He also received bipartisan support in the Judiciary 
Committee.
  As I mentioned, we will also be voting on Vermont Supreme Court 
Justice Beth Robinson, nominated to the Second Circuit Court of 
Appeals. Justice Robinson is an experienced litigator with a proven 
track record of impartial, even-handed judicial decision-making.
  She attended Dartmouth College and the University of Chicago Law 
School. After graduating, she clerked for Judge David Sentelle--a 
President Reagan appointee--on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. 
Circuit.
  In private practice, Justice Robinson specialized in civil 
litigation. She also developed a large practice representing LGBTQ 
clients in civil rights and family law issues.
  Justice Robinson was a proponent of LGBTQ rights at a time when most 
were not. She championed same-sex couples' freedom to marry and 
participate in, as Justice Kennedy said in Obergefell, the ``highest 
ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family.''
  As an advocate, she always understood and respected the important 
intersection between LGBTQ rights and religious liberty. She worked 
with Vermont State representatives on a marriage equality bill to 
``affirm[] what the Constitution required-that no clergy would be 
forced to perform a same-sex marriage against their will.''

[[Page S7411]]

  Since her appointment to the bench, Justice Robinson has proven that 
she respects the difference between being an advocate and a judge. Over 
the last 10 years, she has participated in nearly 1,800 decisions. And 
she has done so without a hint of bias.
  One of her former colleagues on the Vermont Supreme Court wrote to 
the committee to emphasize that Justice Robinson was a ``fair, 
unbiased'' jurist. So it certainly came as a surprise when some of our 
colleagues on the other side suggested that Justice Robinson opposes 
religious liberty.
  Let me be clear: This is a baseless claim. And it is a claim that was 
made by distorting Justice Robinson's record. So let's set the record 
straight.
  In private practice, she represented a Catholic woman who believed 
that she had been discriminated against because of her religious views. 
Remarkably, committee Republicans offered this as proof of Justice 
Robinson's hostility toward religious liberty.
  In private practice, Justice Robinson was also instrumental in 
ensuring that a Vermont marriage equality bill included protections 
desired by religious leaders, such as a provision specifying that 
clergy would never be ``forced to perform a same-sex marriage against 
their will.''
  In 2003, she stated: ``I've always said that if somebody tried to 
force the Catholic Church to do a gay wedding, I would represent the 
Church pro bono.''
  So these claims that she is biased have no basis in reality.
  Justice Robinson is an outstanding nominee with impeccable 
credentials. She has a proven even-handed approach to justice. And she 
would be the first openly LGBTQ woman to serve on a circuit court.
  I look forward to supporting both Judge Williams and Justice 
Robinson, and I urge my colleagues to join me.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Jersey.