[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 2]
[House]
[Pages 2744-2745]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                SUPPORTING NOMINATION OF MIGUEL ESTRADA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Beauprez) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BEAUPREZ. Mr. Speaker, like many Members of this Chamber, I have 
often spoken with fond affection of my grandfather, a gentleman who 
came to the United States as an immigrant from Belgium. He did not 
speak the language. He spoke Flemish. In spite of his limitations, not 
only did he not speak English, he basically had no formal education, he 
embraced this country and he embraced what we all call the American 
dream. I am very, very grateful to that immigrant from Belgium, my 
grandfather, for clinging to that dream, fostering that dream, 
instilling that dream in me and many other of my family members and 
people he came in contact with over his extended life.

                              {time}  1930

  It is what America is all about. I rise tonight to talk about someone 
who instills those same values, those same characteristics, that same 
American dream: Mr. Miguel Estrada.
  Mr. Estrada came to the United States of America as a teenager from 
Honduras. He did not speak our language. In spite of that, shortly 
thereafter Mr. Estrada found himself graduating Phi Beta Kappa from 
Columbia College in New York, later from Harvard Law School where he 
was also editor of the Harvard Law Review. As this Chamber knows full 
well, Mr. Estrada has been nominated to serve on the United States 
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Mr. Estrada is currently 
serving as a partner in a prestigious Washington, D.C. law firm. He is 
very accomplished. He has formerly served as assistant United States 
Solicitor General during the Bush and Clinton administrations from 1992 
to 1997, assistant U.S. Attorney and deputy chief of the appellate 
section for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of the 
State of New York. Mr. Estrada argued 15 cases before the United States 
Supreme Court, both criminal and civil. He tried ten cases as a 
prosecutor and argued seven cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for 
the second circuit as assistant U.S. Attorney, again for the Southern 
District of the State of New York. Mr. Estrada's credentials and 
achievement as a jurist are almost unprecedented, certainly well 
qualified for the Federal bench.
  I would like to cite for the record what others are saying about Mr. 
Estrada. The American Bar Association rates Estrada as ``well 
qualified.'' Ron Klain, former counsel to Vice President Gore had this 
to say: ``I have no doubt that on the bench Miguel will faithfully 
apply the precedence of his court and the Supreme Court without regard, 
without regard,'' without regard, ``to his personal views or his 
political perspectives. His belief in the rule of law, in a limited 
judiciary, and in the separation of powers is too strong for him to act 
otherwise.''
  Lastly, Mr. Speaker, here is what Raphael Santiago, national 
president of the Hispanic National Bar Association had to say: ``Mr. 
Estrada's distinguished and impressive career illustrates the promise 
and opportunity that America offers to all immigrants, especially 
Hispanic immigrants . . . Mr. Estrada's confirmation will break new 
ground for Hispanics in the judiciary. The time has come to move on Mr. 
Estrada's nomination.''
  Mr. Speaker, I second those comments and look forward to the day that

[[Page 2745]]

Miguel Estrada is a member of the Federal bench of the U.S. Court of 
Appeals representing the District of Columbia.

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