[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 12444-12445]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           EXECUTIVE SESSION

                                 ______
                                 

NOMINATION OF WILLIAM S. DUFFEY, JR. TO BE UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 
                  FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will 
proceed to executive session, and the clerk will report the first 
nomination.
  The legislative clerk read the nomination of William S. Duffey, Jr., 
of Georgia, to be United States District Judge for the Northern 
District of Georgia.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There will now be a period of 2 minutes evenly 
divided on the nomination.
  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I am pleased today to speak in support of 
William Duffey, who has been nominated to the United States District 
Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
  Mr. Duffey is a cum laude graduate of South Carolina University Law 
School, where he had been a member of the Order of the Coif. His 
illustrious legal career includes a tour of duty in Turkey with the 
U.S. Air Force; deputy and associate independent counsel with the 
Office of the Independent Counsel's Whitewater investigation; and a 
long, successful law practice with the prestigious firm of King & 
Spalding.
  Mr. Duffey is a gifted and experienced attorney whose familiarity 
with Federal trial procedure will benefit him immensely on the Federal 
bench. I

[[Page 12445]]

am confident that he will make a fine jurist on the Federal bench.
  Mr. CHAMBLISS. Madam President, I rise in support of the confirmation 
of William S. Duffey to be a district judge for the North District of 
the State of Georgia.
  Bill Duffey is a well-respected lawyer in our State, one of the best 
lawyers in the State of Georgia. He has served in private practice. He 
served in the Judge Advocates Corps of the United States Air Force. He 
served in the Office of the Independent Council.
  For the last 4 years, Bill Duffey has served as the U.S. attorney for 
the Northern District of Georgia. He comes highly recommended by his 
peers, by those who have appeared before him, as well as those who have 
been on the other side in cases.
  He is a true gentleman in every sense of the word, an outstanding 
advocate for the judiciary. He will make an excellent judge, and I ask 
for his confirmation.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont.
  Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, it is interesting, I think I heard one of 
the Republican campaign committees talking about Democrats treating the 
South unfairly on judges. Southern States comprise about 25 percent of 
the States, but 60 of the nominees, about one-third of the nominees, 
have come from the South. With my colleagues, I have moved to get 
virtually all of them through.
  Today we are asked to consider the nomination of William S. Duffey, 
Jr., to the Northern District of Georgia. The ABA found Mr. Duffey to 
be well-qualified to be a district court judge. He also has the support 
of both of his home State Senators.
  Mr. Duffey is currently serving as the United States Attorney for the 
Northern District of Georgia. Prior to this Presidential appointment, 
he was in private practice and served for a number of years under the 
Office of the Independent Counsel during the 1990s. In this capacity, 
Mr. Duffey had administrative and general oversight responsibility for 
investigative activities and staffing in Arkansas. I questioned Mr. 
Duffey about two speeches he gave about his involvement in the 
Whitewater investigation. For example, while serving as the United 
States Attorney in northern Georgia and using the seal of that office, 
Mr. Duffey recently gave a speech entitled ``Whitewater, White Powder 
and White Paper'' at a local university. Despite his use of pejorative 
editorial cartoons, Mr. Duffey claimed that this speech was really 
about the value of public service. I am somewhat reassured by Mr. 
Duffey's answers to my questions and hope that if he is confirmed, he 
will avoid appearances of impropriety and conduct himself in a manner 
beyond reproach.
  I would also note that some have falsely alleged that Democratic 
Senators have treated Southern nominees unfairly. That is simply 
untrue. The truth is that Democrats have treated judicial nominees from 
the South very fairly: Southern States comprise about 25 percent of the 
States in the Nation, yet out of the 184 judicial nominees of President 
Bush that we have confirmed as of this vote, 60 nominees, or about one-
third, have been appointed to judicial seats in the South. With this 
vote there will be no vacancies in the entire State of Georgia. 
Senators on this side of the aisle worked to fill the last vacancy in 
Georgia. Judge C. Ashley Royal was confirmed December 20, 2001, under 
Democratic leadership to be United States District Judge for the Middle 
District of Georgia.
  It is very unfortunate that some extreme partisans have tried to 
divide the American people for political gain with their false 
accusations that Democratic Senators are anti this group or that group. 
Democrats have been fair to judicial nominees from all parts of the 
Nation. We have been far more fair to this President's judicial 
nominees than Republicans were to the last Democratic President's. 
Republican Senators blocked more than 60 of President Clinton's 
judicial nominees, including several southerners.
  I congratulate Mr. Duffey and his family on his confirmation today.
  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 William S. Duffey, Jr., of Georgia, to be United States District 
Judge for the Northern District of Georgia?
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. I announce that the Senator from Indiana (Mr. Lugar) 
is necessarily absent.
  Mr. REID. I announce that the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. 
Edwards) and the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry) are necessarily 
absent.
  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. 121 Ex.]

                                YEAS--97

     Akaka
     Alexander
     Allard
     Allen
     Baucus
     Bayh
     Bennett
     Biden
     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
     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

     Edwards
     Kerry
     Lugar
  The nomination was confirmed.

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