[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 40 (Thursday, March 2, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S624]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                   Nomination of Gordon P. Gallagher

  Mr. BENNET. Mr. President, I wanted to come to the floor and share a 
few words about an upcoming vote we are going to have this afternoon, I 
guess it will be now, on Gordon Gallagher, President Biden's nominee 
for the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado.
  Judge Gallagher comes to this floor with a stellar reputation in 
Colorado and nearly 25 years in service to others, as a defense 
attorney for both indigent and paying defendants, a prosecutor in Mesa 
County, and as U.S. magistrate judge for the District of Colorado.
  The judge credits his devotion to public service to his grandfather, 
who served as an air navigator during the Second World War and was shot 
down over Eastern Europe on his 49th mission. After the war, Gordon's 
grandfather came home to continue the fight for America's highest 
ideals, working to integrate housing in his local community.
  And his example stuck with Gordon. So when he did a family trip to 
Colorado when Gordon was just 8 or 9, like everybody who comes to our 
State, he fell in love with it and fell in love with the Rocky 
Mountains. And years later, as a student at Macalester, he fell in love 
with a Coloradoan, his wife Christine. Gordon would eventually follow 
Christine back to Colorado, where he earned a law degree from the 
University of Denver.
  After graduating, Gordon practiced at a law firm representing small 
businesses and served for nearly 4 years as a deputy district attorney 
for Mesa County, CO. Later, Gordon launched his own firm as a defense 
practitioner and began working with the Office of the Alternate Defense 
Counsel, representing clients who couldn't afford their representation. 
He spent over a decade in this role, fighting for the American ideal 
that everyone, no matter what their means, deserves equal 
representation before the law. In 2012, Gordon was appointed as a part-
time magistrate judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of 
Colorado, a position he holds to this day.
  Senator Hickenlooper and I recommended Judge Gallagher to this 
position because, unlike anyone currently on the district court, he has 
spent the majority of his career on the Western Slope of Colorado, a 
rural, mountainous part of our State with a specific perspective on 
issues that range from public lands to natural resources, to Federal 
regulation.
  We need that perspective on the Federal bench. It has been too long. 
We haven't had an appointee from the Western Slope of Colorado in over 
30 years, and Judge Gallagher is the perfect nominee to bring that 
perspective to the bench.
  Over his career on the Western Slope, Gordon's work ranged from 
representing a young man charged with the manslaughter of his best 
friend to securing rehabilitative services for members of the Southern 
Ute and Ute Mountain Ute Tribes, to hearing traffic complaints in 
smalltown courts because sheepherders had blocked the local highway.
  I know I am not saying anything that the Presiding Officer hasn't 
seen in New Mexico.
  And, as a presiding judge, Gordon has presided over most stages of a 
felony docket, from substantive motions through pleas, postconviction 
proceedings, and sentencing--a level of participation in Federal 
criminal cases far beyond a typical magistrate judge.
  He has also worked on a vast array of issues including criminal, 
civil, patent, pro se, and environmental litigation, including many 
cases with difficult tradeoffs between natural resource extraction, 
conservation, and recreation.
  These issues are common for the U.S. District Court for Colorado, and 
they require someone with Judge Gallagher's deep and direct experience. 
More than that, everyone we have spoken with tells us how much Judge 
Gallagher enjoys being on the court and how he cherishes the 
opportunity to serve our country, just like his grandfather.
  Judge Gallagher's entire career has prepared him for this position. 
He has proven his character, his integrity, and his legal acumen over a 
distinguished 25-year career. He has my full and enthusiastic support.
  I want to thank my fellow colleagues on the Judiciary Committee for 
advancing his nomination with overwhelming bipartisan support. They saw 
what an exceptional judge he would make, and I wholeheartedly agree. I 
hope we will have a large bipartisan vote to support Judge Gallagher in 
his confirmation.
  I yield the floor.