[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 44 (Wednesday, March 8, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S710-S711]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            VOTE EXPLANATION

  Mr. MERKLEY. Madam President, due to the passing of my mother, Betty 
Lou Collins Merkley, I was not able to travel back to Washington, DC, 
last week to be present on the Senate floor for several votes. However, 
I would like it stated for the record how I would have voted had I been 
present.
  On February 28, 2023, I missed rollcall vote No. 26, confirmation of 
Jamar K. Walker to be U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of 
Virginia. Mr. Walker has a distinguished career in both private 
practice, as well as in public service as a former Assistant U.S. 
Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia where he prosecuted a wide 
range of cases including bribery, money laundering, wire and, bank 
fraud, foreign corrupt practices, and securities fraud as part of the 
Financial Crimes and Public Corruption Unit. Had I been in attendance, 
I would have voted yea.
  On February 28, 2023, I missed rollcall vote No. 28, confirmation of 
Jamal N. Whitehead to be U.S. District Judge for the Western District 
of Washington. With years of experience in commercial litigation, as a 
trial attorney with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and as 
an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney's 
Office for the Western District of Washington, Mr. Whitehead is 
eminently qualified for a seat on the Federal bench.
  As the National Employment Lawyers Association said in their letter 
supporting his nomination, ``Mr. Whitehead is a highly qualified 
attorney who would bring his background representing all sides of 
employment law disputes and would provide perspective that is very much 
needed on the federal bench. His work for employers, workers, and the 
government offer the kind of experience necessary to serve knowledgably 
and fairly as a federal judge.''
  It is for these reasons that Mr. Whitehead was unanimously rated 
``well qualified'' by the American Bar Association and received 
bipartisan support in the Judiciary Committee. Had I been in 
attendance, I would have voted yea.
  On February 28, 2023, I missed rollcall vote No. 30, confirmation of 
Araceli Martinez-Olguin to be U.S. District Judge for the Northern 
District of California. Ms. Martinez-Olguin's entire career has been 
dedicated to protecting civil and human rights. At the American Civil 
Liberties Union's--ACLU--Women's Rights Project she represented women 
of underserved communities with employment and education civil rights 
cases. At the ACLU's Immigrants' Rights Project, she researched and 
advocated for victims of human trafficking and assisted in drafting the 
reauthorization of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act.
  Ms. Martinez-Olguin also worked with Legal Aid at Work in their 
National Origin, Immigration, and Language Rights Program, where she 
strived to guarantee the civil rights of immigrant workers, 
particularly under title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and also 
investigated federally funded education institutions for civil rights 
violations in the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil 
Rights. And since 2018, Ms. Martinez-Olguin has worked as a supervising 
attorney at the National Immigration Law Center--NILC--focusing on 
enforcing constitutional and statutory provisions to protect 
immigrants' civil and workplace rights.
  As only the second Latina to serve on this court, ``The confirmation 
of Ms. Martinez-Olguin would be an important step towards ensuring that 
our federal courts reflect and represent the diversity of our nation,'' 
in the words of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. 
Had I been in attendance, I would have voted yea.
  On March 1, 2023, I missed rollcall vote No. 32, confirmation of 
Judge Margaret R. Guzman to be U.S. District Judge for the District of 
Massachusetts. Judge Guzman has amassed an impressive record over the 
course of her legal career. Over the course of her 13 years as a public 
defender with Massachusetts' Committee for Public Counsel Services and 
then 4 more in private practice, she tried more than 175 case to 
verdict, judgment, or final decision representing clients who could not 
afford an attorney, helping them navigate the complex criminal legal 
system.
  In 2009, she was appointed to be an associate justice of the District 
Court on the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Trial Court, and since 2017, 
Judge Guzman has been the first justice and a district court judge on 
the Ayer District Court in Middlesex County, MA. Over the course of her 
years on the bench, Judge Guzman has presided over more than 1,000 
cases which have gone to verdict or judgment. And as the first Hispanic 
Judge to serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of 
Massachusetts, a State where nearly 900,000 adults identify as Hispanic 
or Latino, Judge Guzman will bring critical life experience to this 
seat. Had I been in attendance, I would have voted yea.
  On March 1, 2023, I missed rollcall vote No. 35, passage of H.J. Res. 
30--providing for congressional disapproval of the rule submitted by 
the Department of Labor relating to ``Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting 
Plan Investments and Exercising Shareholder Rights.'' This is the 
latest in ongoing efforts to stymie efforts to take on the climate 
crisis which is the greatest threat that humankind has ever faced.
  Passage would nullify a Labor Department rule which says plan 
fiduciaries may, but not must, consider climate chaos and other 
environment, social, and governance--ESG--factors when they make 
investment decisions, with respect to employee benefit plans. Rules 
like these are important because a growing number of Americans are 
increasingly concerned about the future of our planet and they don't 
want to be supporting businesses or industries that might be 
contributing in any way to climate chaos. Investors are also concerned 
about the risks of investing in fossil fuel companies at a time when 
the future of these companies remains uncertain.
  But supporters of this resolution don't want them to even want 
fiduciaries to have the option to weigh these significant 
considerations when making decisions about investments or shareholder 
rights. This is an attack on investors' rights in service of propping 
up the fossil fuel industry. Therefore, had I been in attendance, I 
would have voted nay.
  On March 2, 2023, I missed rollcall vote No. 37, confirmation of 
Colleen R. Lawless to be U.S. District Judge for the Central District 
of Illinois. For 10 years, Judge Lawless represented plaintiffs in 
State and Federal courts on a wide range of civil litigation issues 
from employment discrimination to medical malpractice to family law. In 
one case, Judge Lawless represented a woman suing her insurance company 
as she sought coverage for a stay in a medical facility that the 
insurance company denied. And in another, she represented an African-
American water maintenance worker who sued the city of Decatur for 
discrimination after he was terminated for refusing to sign an 
agreement that gave him a lower pay but allowed him to bypass civil 
service selection rules.
  In 2019, Judge Lawless was appointed to serve as an associate circuit 
judge on the Illinois 7th Judicial Circuit Court, where she is 
currently assigned to the domestic relations division. Over the last 4 
years, Judge Lawless has presided over 125 domestic relations bench 
trials alongside numerous proceedings implicating mental health 
commitments, small claims, evictions, traffic infractions, and 
emergency protection orders.
  She has been unanimously rated as ``well qualified'' by the American 
Bar Association, received support from several State circuit court 
judges and justices, as well as the Sojourn Shelter and Services, a 
not-for-profit corporation founded to help eliminate domestic violence 
through service, leadership, and education which serves five central 
Illinois counties, and received strong bipartisan support when her 
nomination was voted out of committee. Therefore, had I been in 
attendance, I would have voted yea.
  On March 2, 2023, I missed rollcall vote No. 39, confirmation of 
Jonathan

[[Page S711]]

James Canada Grey to be United States District Judge for the Eastern 
District of Michigan. Since 2021, Judge Grey has served as a magistrate 
judge for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, 
where he has written opinions in roughly 40 cases.
  Prior to that, Judge Grey worked in private practice at a law firm 
where he focused on labor and employment matters in Federal, State, and 
local courts, as well as before administrative agencies. He went on to 
serve as an Assistant United States Attorney for both the Southern 
District of Ohio and the Eastern District of Michigan, where Judge Grey 
briefed and argued dozens of dispositive and nondispositive motions and 
also led several substantial investigations in cases that spanned 
multiple States and countries.
  While serving as an AUSA in the Southern District of Ohio, Judge Grey 
led diversity programs and anti-domestic violence initiatives--
including instituting his office's practice of prosecuting people who 
illegally possessed firearms after having been convicted of a domestic 
violence offense. Judge Grey has amassed a stellar record, received a 
unanimous ``well qualified'' rating from the American Bar Association, 
and was voted out of the Judiciary with strong bipartisan support. 
Therefore, had I been in attendance, I would have voted yea.

                          ____________________