[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 118 (Tuesday, July 11, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2305-S2306]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 TRIBUTE TO JUDGE WILLIAM S. GREENBERG

  Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize Judge 
William S. Greenberg, a dedicated public servant, celebrated jurist, 
and fierce advocate for our Nation's veterans.
  Born in New York and raised in New Jersey, Judge Greenberg received 
his undergraduate degree in 1964 from Johns Hopkins University and his 
J.D. in 1967 from Rutgers University in Newark. Upon graduating from 
law school, Judge Greenberg enlisted in the U.S. Army as an armored 
cavalry crewman beginning his long history of service to our Nation. In 
1970, he earned a commission in the Judge Advocate General's Corps and 
eventually retired as a brigadier general in 1994 after decades of 
honorable service in the U.S. Army Reserves.
  Judge Greenberg spent the beginning half of his career in private 
practice as a litigator. He was a founding partner of Sterns & 
Greenberg from 1970 until 1976 and of Greenberg & Prior from 1976 to 
1989. He retired from private practice as a partner in McCarter & 
English in 2012, after he was nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals 
for Veterans Claims by President Obama. After his confirmation in the 
Senate, Judge Greenberg was sworn in for a term of 15 years on December 
28, 2012, allowing Judge Greenberg to apply his skills and energy as a 
judge to two of his greatest passions: the law and veterans service.
  This nomination to the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims was the 
culmination of a career dedicated to advocating for our Nation's 
veterans, both in and out of the courtroom. Judge Greenberg devoted 
much of his career to ensuring his fellow veterans had the best legal 
representation. After the horrific attacks on September 11, 2001, Judge 
Greenberg established the New Jersey State Bar Association's Program of 
Military Legal Assistance for members of the military Reserves who were 
called to active duty. This pro bono program connects volunteer lawyers 
with soldiers who need legal representation for everything from 
disability benefits claims, to employment

[[Page S2306]]

and family law issues that they face both during and after deployment.
  Judge Greenberg also admirably represented wounded soldiers at Walter 
Reed Army Medical Center during their physical disability hearings. For 
his remarkable work, Judge Greenberg was recommended by the White House 
to become Chairman of the Reserve Forces Policy Board in 2009 and 
honored with the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public 
Service, the second highest civilian award in the Department of 
Defense.
  Throughout his long career, Judge Greenberg has held many prestigious 
positions, including chairman of the Judicial and Prosecutorial 
Appointments Committee of the New Jersey State Bar Association, 
president of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, New Jersey, 
commissioner of the New Jersey State Commission of Investigation, and 
assistant counsel to the Governor of New Jersey. He is also a published 
author and has been a professor at Seton Hall University School of Law 
and Georgetown Law School. But even with all of these accolades, Judge 
Greenberg considers his work on behalf of veterans as the most 
important of his career, once quoted as saying, ``I have come to 
consider myself, more than any other attribute, a soldier's lawyer.''
  Thanks to his extraordinary commitment to justice and public service, 
his intelligence and legal acumen, and his tireless work ethic and 
compassion, Judge Greenberg is a model for our Nation's judiciary. 
Judge Greenberg's dedication to our country, both as a veteran himself 
and in his remarkable work on behalf of other veterans, will be his 
enduring legacy.
  I applaud his many accomplishments and hope my colleagues will join 
me in recognizing Judge Greenberg for his remarkable record of public 
service.

                          ____________________