[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.
____________________