[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 15]
[Senate]
[Page 20522]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 JAMES O. BROWNING, OF NEW MEXICO, TO BE UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 
                     FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW MEXICO

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the clerk will 
report Calendar No. 315.
  The assistant legislative clerk read the nomination of James O. 
Browning, of New Mexico, to be United States District Judge for the 
District of New Mexico.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is, Will the Senate advise and 
consent to the nomination of James O. Browning, of New Mexico, to be 
United States District Judge for the District of New Mexico?
  The nomination was confirmed.
  Mrs. DOLE. Mr. President, I am delighted that my colleagues voted to 
confirm the nomination of Brent McKnight for one of the newly created 
judgeships in the Western District of North Carolina.
  Mr. McKnight brings a wealth of experience to this position, and his 
resume and experience are impeccable. More importantly, Mr. McKnight is 
highly respected by his peers, a testament to his character and 
integrity.
  Since 1993, he has served as a federal Magistrate Judge for the 
Western District of North Carolina, and he was appointed to the 
Advisory Committee on Civil Rules of the Judicial Conference by Chief 
Justice Rehnquist in October of 2001.
  Brent McKnight has served as a state prosecutor and a District Court 
Judge for the 26th North Carolina Judicial District, and he maintains 
membership in the North Carolina Bar Association, the Federal 
Magistrate Judges Association, and many other organizations.
  He has had a lifelong thirst for knowledge, having been a Rhodes 
Scholar and perhaps, even more impressive to those of us in North 
Carolina, a Morehead Scholar at the University of North Carolina at 
Chapel Hill, a prestigious award named after the well-known 
philanthropist and scientist, John Motley Morehead III. Currently, Mr. 
McKnight shares his knowledge with aspiring students as an adjunct 
professor at both Wingate University and the University of North 
Carolina at Charlotte.
  It is so critical that the Senate move quickly on this and other 
nominations so that our courts can get much needed relief. In the 
Western District, where Mr. McKnight is nominated, caseloads have 
increased significantly. The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts 
has indicated that the three U.S. District Court judges in the Western 
district have the fourth-heaviest caseload per judge among the 94 
federal judicial districts across the country. For instance, the number 
of case filed in the district grew from 1,321 in 1996 to 1,518 in the 
year 2001. The number of cases pending rose over the same time period 
from 1,209 to 1,522.
  This backlog in our courts must be alleviated. Approving the 
nomination of Brent McKnight would place a qualified and credible 
jurist on the bench and provide the overburdened Western District with 
much needed relief.
  Brent McKnight has my full support, and I would urge my colleagues to 
support his nomination.

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