[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 146 (Monday, September 12, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4533-S4534]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                             Cloture Motion

  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The cloture motion having been presented under 
rule XXII, the Chair directs the clerk to read the motion.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

                             Cloture Motion

       We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the 
     provisions of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, 
     do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination 
     of Executive Calendar No. 1032, Sarah A.L. Merriam, of 
     Connecticut, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Second 
     Circuit.
         Charles E. Schumer, Richard J. Durbin, Robert P. Casey, 
           Jr., Sherrod Brown, Tammy Baldwin, Tina Smith, Jeanne 
           Shaheen, Chris Van Hollen, Elizabeth Warren, Catherine 
           Cortez Masto, Raphael G. Warnock, Tim Kaine, Benjamin 
           L. Cardin, Christopher Murphy, Maria Cantwell, 
           Christopher A. Coons, Jack Reed, Gary C. Peters, Tammy 
           Duckworth.

  Mr. SCHUMER. Finally, I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory 
quorum call for the cloture motion filed today, September 12, be 
waived.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. SCHUMER. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. CANTWELL. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                  Nomination of Salvador Mendoza, Jr.

  Ms. CANTWELL. Madam President, I come to the floor today to urge my 
colleagues to vote to confirm Judge Mendoza to the U.S. Court of 
Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

[[Page S4534]]

  This is a historic moment. If confirmed, Judge Mendoza would be the 
first Hispanic judge to serve on the Ninth Circuit from Washington.
  Judge Mendoza, whom I met before nominating him to the White House 
Counsel's Office as a candidate for U.S. District Court for the Eastern 
District of Washington, has been somebody who, when you think about his 
childhood growing up in the Yakima Valley--an agricultural area in 
Eastern Washington--he comes from a family of farm workers and has 
worked in the fields himself.
  As a young student at Prosser High School, it was not uncommon for 
him to wake up before dawn to work in the fields before rushing home to 
change and head to school. His hard work earned him admission to the 
University of Washington.
  After graduating from the University of Washington, he left the State 
to get his law degree from UCLA. After earning his degree, he returned 
home to Washington, where he worked as assistant attorney general in 
the Washington State AG's Office.
  He went on to serve the community he grew up in, first as a deputy 
prosecutor for Franklin County and then as a judge in the Benton-
Franklin Superior Court. He has been an outstanding judge on the U.S. 
District Court for the Eastern District of Washington, where he has 
served since 2014. Clearly, my colleagues here in the Senate saw his 
potential since he was confirmed to the Eastern District 92 to 4.
  Judge Mendoza is not just an outstanding jurist; he is a community 
leader as well. He has served on the boards of directors for numerous 
organizations in Central Washington, including the Benton-Franklin 
Legal Aid Society, the Benton and Franklin Counties Circle of Hope 
Foundation for Drug Courts, and the United Way of Benton and Franklin 
Counties.
  I know Judge Mendoza will make an excellent addition to the Ninth 
Circuit Court, and I urge my colleagues to support his nomination to 
the court of appeals.
  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, today the Senate is poised to confirm 
another outstanding judicial nominee: Judge Salvador Mendoza, Jr., 
nominated to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
  Judge Mendoza is a highly experienced jurist with a lifelong 
commitment to public and community service. After graduating from the 
University of Washington and UCLA School of Law, Judge Mendoza joined 
the office of the Franklin County, WA prosecuting attorney, where he 
handled a range of felony and misdemeanor cases. Following this role, 
Judge Mendoza entered private legal practice, simultaneously serving as 
a judge pro tempore on various Washington State municipal, district, 
and juvenile courts. He then served 2 years on the Washington State 
superior court.
  In 2014, President Obama nominated Judge Mendoza to the Eastern 
District of Washington, and the Senate confirmed him on an 
overwhelmingly bipartisan vote, 92-4. Judge Mendoza has distinguished 
himself on the bench, presiding over dozens of trials and demonstrating 
evenhandedness and impartiality in all matters that have come before 
him. And once confirmed, Judge Mendoza will be the first judge of 
Hispanic origin to sit on a Washington seat on the Ninth Circuit.
  The American Bar Association has unanimously rated Judge Mendoza 
``well qualified,'' and he enjoys the strong support of his home State 
Senators, Mrs. Murray and Ms. Cantwell.
  I will support Judge Mendoza's confirmation, and I urge my colleagues 
to do the same.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I rise today in support of the 
nomination of Judge Salvador Mendoza, from my home State of Washington, 
to serve on the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
  I was honored to recommend Judge Mendoza for this seat to President 
Biden and to introduce him before the Senate Judiciary Committee in 
May.
  I was thrilled to see him advance out of the committee in a 
bipartisan vote, and I couldn't be happier to support him today and to 
strongly urge all my colleagues to join me in voting for his 
confirmation to the bench.
  Judge Mendoza is a lifelong Washington State resident and a 
tremendously qualified candidate to join the Ninth Circuit Court. He 
has served as a district court judge for the Eastern District of 
Washington since 2014, when he was confirmed by the Senate with an 
overwhelming, bipartisan majority of 92-4.
  In his time on the bench in the Eastern District, he has presided 
over nearly 1,500 cases--including appellate cases--where he treated 
every party who came before him with fairness and respect.
  And before that, he served Washington State as a Superior Court 
Judge.
  He also has experience as a prosecutor, in the State attorney 
general's office, and as a solo practitioner, where he often 
represented defendants who could not afford their own attorneys.
  He also worked to establish the first drug court in Benton and 
Franklin counties, along with prosecutors, defense attorneys, mental 
health professionals, and other judges.
  From representing those without means, to establishing drug courts, 
to serving with distinction on the Eastern District Court, Judge 
Mendoza has been a trailblazer, focused on building a more fair and 
just legal system that works for everyone--not just the wealthy and 
well-off.
  Judge Mendoza's many years of public service and even-handed 
application of the law have earned him not only the support of people 
across the State of Washington, but also the respect of both Democrats 
and Republicans.
  It is why my bipartisan judicial merit selection committee, which 
includes top Republican lawyers, recommended him to serve in his 
current district court judgeship 8 years ago and why he was confirmed 
to that judgeship in an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote. And that should 
be no different today.
  Beyond just his impeccable professional qualifications, Judge Mendoza 
will bring an important perspective to one of the most consequential 
appellate courts in this country: the perspective of someone whose 
parents immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico and worked as farm laborers, 
maids, and factory workers to build a better life for their family; the 
perspective of someone who, as a child, worked beside them on farms in 
the Yakima Valley; the perspective of someone who was the first Latino 
Federal judge in the Eastern District of Washington and who would break 
new ground once again as the first Latino from Washington State to 
serve on the Ninth Circuit.
  Confirming Judge Mendoza will bring us even closer to building a 
Federal bench that reflects the diversity of the people it serves. That 
is especially important to me and to the many people across the country 
who don't currently see themselves represented on our Nation's courts.
  I have no doubt--and based on his record, I think there can be no 
doubt that serving on the Ninth Circuit, Judge Mendoza will carefully 
review each case as an appellate judge, respect every party that 
appears before him, and protect the rights of the American people.
  I urge all of my colleagues to join me in supporting his 
confirmation.
  Ms. CANTWELL. I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. CANTWELL. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________