[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 17]
[Senate]
[Page 23508]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           EXECUTIVE SESSION

                                 ______
                                 

NOMINATION OF BRIAN EDWARD SANDOVAL TO BE UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 
                       FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEVADA

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the hour of 5:30 
having arrived, the Senate will proceed to executive session to 
consider Executive Calendar No. 385, which the clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read the nomination of Brian Edward Sandoval, 
of Nevada, to be United States District Judge for the District of 
Nevada.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There will now be a period of 2 minutes of 
debate equally divided prior to the vote.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, we are voting on a lifetime appointment of 
Brian Sandoval to be a U.S. District Judge for the District of Nevada.
  Brian Sandoval is presently the attorney general of the State of 
Nevada. This is an elected position. I have known Brian Sandoval for 
many years. He served previously in the Nevada State Legislature as an 
assemblyman. He served as Chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission. 
Brian Sandoval was recommended by this Senator to be a Federal judge. 
At the time I made that recommendation, I knew he was a Republican. 
When the Democrats had control of the Senate and we had a Democratic 
President, I asked Brian Sandoval at that time if he would be agreeable 
to my sending his name to the President. He said he was not ready at 
that time.
  My friend, the junior Senator from the State of Nevada, when he 
learned there was going to be a Republican President, said that he 
would allow me to recommend every fourth district court judge. This is 
something he did not have to do. He did it to be nice, and I appreciate 
that. That is how I came to have the opportunity to send the name of 
Brian Sandoval to the President.
  There is a lot of controversy over judges, but I think Brian Sandoval 
is the kind of person who should become a judge. He has not generated 
controversy. That is because he is a person who, in all of his 
activities, has been very bipartisan and fair. As a judge, he will be 
nonpartisan. He comes from a good family. Frankly, the reason he 
decided to leave elected office to be a judge is because he felt 
spending the time it takes to campaign and raise money took away from 
his family, his wife Kathleen and his children James, Madeline and 
Marisa. I am paraphrasing what he told me. But he said: I didn't want 
to be in Alcoa when my children are involved in extracurricular 
activities. I should be there.
  These are choices we all have to make. I am confident Brian Sandoval 
made the best choice for him, his family, the State of Nevada, and the 
country. He will be a fine judge. I am honored to have the opportunity 
to recommend him. The Senate will vote for him overwhelmingly, and he 
will not disappoint us in the Senate.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. FRIST. The majority yields back their 2 minutes, and I believe 
the Democratic side will yield back their remaining time.
  Mr. REID. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There is a sufficient second.
  The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the nomination 
of Brian Edward Sandoval, of Nevada, to be United States District Judge 
for the District of Nevada?
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. The following Senators were necessarily absent: the 
Senator from Arizona (Mr. McCain), the Senator from Alabama (Mr. 
Sessions), and the Senator from Oregon (Mr. Smith).
  Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Alabama (Mr. 
Sessions) would have voted ``yea.''
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Delaware (Mr. Biden), 
the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Corzine), the Senator from California 
(Mrs. Feinstein), the Senator from Hawaii (Mr. Inouye), the Senator 
from Massachusetts (Mr. Kennedy), the Senator from Florida (Mr. 
Nelson), the Senator from Illinois (Mr. Obama), and the Senator from 
Oregon (Mr. Wyden) are necessarily absent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 89, nays 0, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 265 Ex.]

                                YEAS--89

     Akaka
     Alexander
     Allard
     Allen
     Baucus
     Bayh
     Bennett
     Bingaman
     Bond
     Boxer
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burns
     Burr
     Byrd
     Cantwell
     Carper
     Chafee
     Chambliss
     Clinton
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Coleman
     Collins
     Conrad
     Cornyn
     Craig
     Crapo
     Dayton
     DeMint
     DeWine
     Dodd
     Dole
     Domenici
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Feingold
     Frist
     Graham
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Harkin
     Hatch
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Jeffords
     Johnson
     Kerry
     Kohl
     Kyl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lincoln
     Lott
     Lugar
     Martinez
     McConnell
     Mikulski
     Murkowski
     Murray
     Nelson (NE)
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Roberts
     Rockefeller
     Salazar
     Santorum
     Sarbanes
     Schumer
     Shelby
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stabenow
     Stevens
     Sununu
     Talent
     Thomas
     Thune
     Vitter
     Voinovich
     Warner

                             NOT VOTING--11

     Biden
     Corzine
     Feinstein
     Inouye
     Kennedy
     McCain
     Nelson (FL)
     Obama
     Sessions
     Smith
     Wyden
  The nomination was confirmed.
  Mr. LEAHY. I move to reconsider the vote.
  Mr. FRIST. I move to lay that motion on the table.
  The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

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