[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Pages 6161-6162]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           EXECUTIVE SESSION

                                 ______
                                 

   NOMINATION OF THOMAS A. VARLAN, OF TENNESSEE, TO BE UNITED STATES 
          DISTRICT JUDGE FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will now 
go into executive session and proceed to vote on Executive Calendar No. 
53, which the clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read the nomination of Thomas A. Varlan, of 
Tennessee, to be United States District

[[Page 6162]]

Judge for the Eastern District of Tennessee.
  Mr. HATCH. Madam President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the nomination 
of Thomas A. Varlan, of Tennessee, to be United States District Judge 
for the Eastern District of Tennessee?
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. REID. I announce that the Senator from Delaware (Mr. Biden), the 
Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Edwards), and the Senator from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry) are necessarily absent.
  I further announce that, if present and voting, the Senator from 
North Carolina (Mr. Edwards) and the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. 
Kerry) would each vote ``aye''.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 97, nays 0, as follows:

                       [Rollcall Vote No. 52 Ex.]

                                YEAS--97

     Akaka
     Alexander
     Allard
     Allen
     Baucus
     Bayh
     Bennett
     Bingaman
     Bond
     Boxer
     Breaux
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burns
     Byrd
     Campbell
     Cantwell
     Carper
     Chafee
     Chambliss
     Clinton
     Cochran
     Coleman
     Collins
     Conrad
     Cornyn
     Corzine
     Craig
     Crapo
     Daschle
     Dayton
     DeWine
     Dodd
     Dole
     Domenici
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Fitzgerald
     Frist
     Graham (FL)
     Graham (SC)
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Harkin
     Hatch
     Hollings
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Inouye
     Jeffords
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Kohl
     Kyl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lincoln
     Lott
     Lugar
     McCain
     McConnell
     Mikulski
     Miller
     Murkowski
     Murray
     Nelson (FL)
     Nelson (NE)
     Nickles
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Roberts
     Rockefeller
     Santorum
     Sarbanes
     Schumer
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Smith
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stabenow
     Stevens
     Sununu
     Talent
     Thomas
     Voinovich
     Warner
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--3

     Biden
     Edwards
     Kerry
  The nomination was confirmed.
  Mr. HATCH. Madam President, I am pleased the Senate has confirmed 
Thomas Varlan for the United States District Court for the Eastern 
District of Tennessee. Mr. Varlan's distinguished record of service in 
both the private and public sectors makes him a great addition to the 
Federal bench.
  Mr. Varlan graduated Order of the Coif from Vanderbilt University 
School of Law, where he served as managing editor for the Vanderbilt 
Law Review. In his 11 years in private practice, Mr. Varlan has focused 
on governmental relations, civil litigation, labor and employment law, 
and representation of quasi-governmental corporations and schools.
  Mr. Varlan's impressive accomplishments include serving as law 
director for the city of Knoxville for a decade. In that capacity, he 
headed a department of 25 employees who represented the city in a 
variety of cases and provided legal advice to city officials.
  Mr. Varlan's wealth of experience has made him an excellent nominee 
who is well prepared to handle the rigors of the Federal bench. 
Clearly, Mr. Varlan is the right choice to be a judge in the Eastern 
District of Tennessee. I am pleased my colleagues joined me in voting 
to confirm him.
  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I am in strong support for the confirmation 
of Thomas Varlan to be a United States District Judge for the Eastern 
District of Tennessee.
  Tom grew up in Knoxville, TN as a second-generation Greek-American. 
His parents, Alexander and Constance Varlan, instilled in their son the 
time-honored ideals of commitment to hard work, involvement in the 
community, and love for country.
  He put those ideals to work in his studies of Political Science and 
Economics at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, and at 
Vanderbilt University's School of Law, where he was the managing editor 
of the Vanderbilt Law Review. From there, Tom practiced law in Atlanta 
from 1981 to 1987. In 1988, Tom began ten years of service as Law 
Director for the City of Knoxville where he was responsible for a wide 
range of legal issues. In this role, Tom demonstrated his keen legal 
mind and temperament suited to judicial office.
  Tom's current position as a partner at Bass, Berry and Sims has 
enhanced his solid background in the law. Tom Varlan is a skilled 
attorney who is known for his fairness, integrity and dedication to the 
law.
  Tom has worn many hats in his professional life, but he has never 
wavered from the ideals that he grew up with. In fact, his nomination 
fulfills not only the dreams of his first-generation American parents, 
I believe it epitomizes the American dream as well.
  I am convinced that Mr. Varlan will make an ideal judge, and he has 
my highest recommendation and unqualified support. I urge my colleagues 
to vote for his confirmation.
  Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, today the Senate confirmed the 
Presidential nomination of Thomas A. Varlan to be a United States 
District Judge for the Eastern District of Tennessee. I wish to express 
my support for him and to express my gratitude to my colleagues for the 
expeditious confirmation of this superb nominee.
  Mr. Varlan was recommended last year by the current Senate majority 
leader, my colleague, Senator Frist, and former Senator Thompson. As 
someone who, as Governor of Tennessee appointed some 50 judges, I am 
confident that Mr. Varlan will be an able Federal judge.
  Mr. Varlan was born and raised in Oak Ridge, TN. He received a 
Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Tennessee in 1978, 
graduating with the highest honors. He received his Juris Doctorate 
from Vanderbilt University School of Law in 1981, where he served as an 
editor of the law review and was selected for membership in the Order 
of the Coif, the national law school honor society.
  After receiving his law degree, Mr. Varlan worked for 6 years as an 
associate with the law firm of Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan in Atlanta, 
Georgia. In 1988, he returned home to Tennessee and from 1988 through 
1998 he served as Law Director for the city of Knoxville, managing all 
the legal affairs for Tennessee's third largest city. Mr. Varlan has 
been a partner at the Knoxville law firm of Bass, Berry & Sims, PLC 
since 1998.
  Mr. Varlan has practiced law in the areas of employment, school, 
commercial, patent and trade secrets, antitrust, contracts, product 
liability, civil rights, tort, annexation, tax, zoning, condemnation, 
workers' compensation, constitutional, telecommunications, real 
property, governmental relations, and labor law. Mr. Varlan has 
practiced in federal, state, and administrative law courts throughout 
his career and has conducted a number of jury and bench trials.
  Mr. Varlan has also been active in his community, providing legal 
services to disadvantaged persons and for organizations such as 
Volunteer Legal Arts Services in Atlanta, GA, and the Knoxville Bar 
Association's Mentor for the Moment Program.
  I am confident that Mr. Varlan will be a fine addition to the Federal 
bench in Knoxville, and I thank all of my colleagues for their 
overwhelming support for him.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the President will 
be notified of the Senate's action.

                          ____________________