[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 118 (Monday, July 18, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S3327]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                    Nomination of Nina Nin-Yuen Wang

  Mr. BENNET. Madam President, I wanted to share a few words about Nina 
Wang, President Biden's nominee for the U.S. District Court for the 
District of Colorado.
  Judge Wang comes to this floor with a commitment to the law rooted in 
her earliest moments as a child, her earliest memories as a child. 
Nina's family emigrated from Taiwan to Kansas City when she was just 2 
years old. Like my grandparents who emigrated from Poland, Nina's 
parents had very strong accents. They knew English, but people in their 
Kansas suburb couldn't always understand what they were saying. Some of 
Nina's first memories were ordering pizza for the family or speaking to 
store clerks on behalf of her parents.
  Her family applied to become permanent residents, but the INS lost 
their application. Then, once they resolved that issue, the law had 
changed, and their pathway to legalization was gone. Their family spent 
years in legal limbo, ricocheting from one court to another. And if not 
for an intervention by late Senator Robert Dole, Nina's family would 
have fallen through the cracks.
  At the time, Nina made a promise: If I can stay in America, I am 
going to give back to America. This experience gave Nina firsthand 
knowledge of the legal system's power to change lives because it 
changed her own. It made her cherish America's legal system, where even 
noncitizens have their day in court, and it inspired her to pursue a 
career in law.
  She graduated from Washington University summa cum laude and Phi Beta 
Kappa. She earned a J.D. from Harvard Law School and served as editor-
in-chief of the Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review. After 
graduating, Nina worked as an associate at an international law firm 
and clerked in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.
  The U.S. Attorney's Office in Colorado recognized Nina's talents and 
hired her as an AUSA in the Civil Division, where she managed Federal 
cases ranging from employment discrimination to bankruptcy, to civil 
rights.
  Nina then went into the private sector, where, over the next decade, 
she rose from associate to partner at Faegre Drinker, a top firm in 
Denver.
  In 2015, Nina began serving as a magistrate judge for the U.S. 
district court in Colorado.
  Judge Wang now comes to the committee and this floor with 25 years of 
legal experience and exposure to virtually every issue that might come 
before the court. She also comes with a reputation for fairness and 
impartiality. Her colleagues tell me she doesn't grandstand. She takes 
the time to listen to every litigant, whether they have representation 
or not.
  She has remained committed to the American ideal that everyone 
deserves their day in court, just like her parents. And I, for one, am 
deeply grateful that she has devoted her talent to realizing that ideal 
in our legal system.
  Judge Wang is an exceptional nominee, with unimpeachable character, 
intellect, and experience. Our colleagues on the Judiciary Committee 
appreciated that about her. That is why they sent her to this floor 
with a strong bipartisan vote of 14 to 8.
  I enthusiastically endorse her nomination and urge my colleagues on 
both sides of the aisle to confirm this outstanding Colorado nominee 
for our district court.
  I yield the floor.

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