[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Pages 5835-5837]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           EXECUTIVE SESSION

                                 ______
                                 

 NOMINATION OF GRAY HAMPTON MILLER TO BE UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 
                   FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the 
Senate will proceed to executive session for consideration of Calendar 
No. 602, which the clerk will report.
  Under the previous order, there will be 5 minutes for the Senator 
from Texas.
  The bill clerk read the nomination of Gray Hampton Miller, of Texas, 
to be United States District Judge for the Southern District Of Texas.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Texas.
  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I take this opportunity to talk about 
Gray Miller. Senator Cornyn and I are dividing this time because we are 
both responsible for nominating this incredible person to serve on the 
Federal district bench from the southern district of Texas in his 
hometown of Houston.
  Senator Cornyn and I have a process. We have a committee made up of 
Republicans and Democrats, geographically diverse, lawyers respected in

[[Page 5836]]

their fields, who interview all of the nominees for Federal benches. 
There were quite a few nominees, probably 15 to 20, for this particular 
bench. They rank them. Senator Cornyn and I then talked to the top 3 or 
4 nominees. It has been a great system. We have gotten extremely 
qualified judges on the district benches in Texas doing it this way.
  I appreciate the input of Senator Cornyn, a member of the Judiciary 
Committee, because he has been attorney general of Texas. His input is 
very valuable and our system has produced a quality judge in Gray 
Miller.
  Gray Miller is a senior partner at Fulbright & Jaworski. Gray has 
headed the firm's admiralty department, starting in 1997. In fact, he 
is widely considered one of the leading maritime lawyers in the world 
and was included in Euro's Money Guide to the world's leading maritime 
lawyers. Included in his many professional honors are accolades as a 
Texas superlawyer by Texas Monthly Magazine and recognition as one of 
the best lawyers in America.
  Gray Miller is one of the most honorable, hard-working Americans I 
have ever known. From 1969 to 1978 Gray worked his way through 
undergraduate and law school as a Houston police officer. He and his 
wife raised their two children during this time. While he has obtained 
exceptional skills and qualifications as a lawyer and with the 
admiralty specialty, which is a big part of the practice in Houston, 
his experience of serving as a Houston police officer brings a unique 
perspective to the Federal bench.
  He was appointed by the Governor of Texas to serve on the board of 
the Texas Department of Mental Health and Retardation. He is a lifetime 
member of the 100 Club of Houston, an organization that assists the 
families of police officers and firefighters who are killed or injured 
in the line of duty.
  I am honored to recommend Gray Miller. He meets the high standards to 
which we hold all judicial nominees. He has an impressive record of 
service. He has great judicial temperament. He shoots straight. He has 
an experience that is so diverse, from being an on-the-ground police 
officer who is dealing with the criminal aspect in our society--we do 
not have enough people with that background on the Federal bench--to 
admiralty, which is an intellectual contract, and international law, 
part of the responsibility in the southern district of Texas.
  With this array of experience and the integrity he holds, we have an 
outstanding nominee. I urge all of my colleagues to support the 
nomination of Gray Miller.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I join my colleague, Senator Hutchison, in 
commending to our colleagues this fine nominee to the U.S. District 
Court for the Southern District of Texas. Soon-to-be-Judge Miller will 
succeed Judge Ewing Werlein, who assumed senior status early this year.
  I add to all of Mr. Miller's outstanding credentials my recognition 
and our appreciation for Judge Werlein's service to his Nation and the 
legal profession during his time on the bench.
  First, I thank the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Senator 
Specter, as well as the ranking member, Senator Leahy, for working with 
Senator Hutchinson and me to fill the important vacancy in the Houston 
Division of the Southern District of Texas.
  Mr. Miller has been nominated to fill the vacancy created when Judge 
Ewing Werlein assumed senior status earlier this year. Judge Werlein 
has served his country and the legal profession admirably, and I 
commend him for his dedicated service.
  The Houston division is one of the most important and diverse in the 
entire Federal judiciary as it is responsible for some of the Nation's 
most complex, notable commercial disputes and criminal prosecutions. It 
is crucial that we fill this vacancy quickly and I thank the committee 
for their vote to bring Mr. Miller's nomination to the Senate floor.
  When I consider nominees for the Federal bench, there are certain 
characteristics that I value. In fact, I believe that many of my 
colleagues also appreciate these same characteristics. First, nominees 
usually have a notable history of public service. In addition, nominees 
are often well-respected by their peers and have impeccable academic 
and/or professional records. Last, nominees usually have a long and 
distinguished history of civil involvement. Mr. President, Gray Miller 
possesses these traits.
  Mr. Miller has the necessary qualifications to serve on the Federal 
bench. He has been a long-time partner in the distinguished Texas law 
firm of Fulbright and Jaworski. He has excelled at the practice of law 
and is well respected within the legal profession for his knowledge of 
admiralty and maritime law. This nominee also enjoys the support of the 
American Bar Association which has certified him as well-qualified 
after a thorough review of his credentials.
  Furthermore, he devotes a substantial amount of his time to public 
service. Most notably, he spent 9 years as a Houston police officer, 
working his way through his undergraduate and law degrees. Now, as a 
private practice attorney, he supports a variety of public service 
initiatives, including the Houston Volunteer Lawyers Program and 
Habitat for Humanity. He also previously has served on the board of 
trustees of the Mental Health/Mental Retardation Authority of Harris 
County and on the board of the Texas Department of Mental Health and 
Mental Retardation. He and his wife actively support Houston schools 
for students with learning disabilities and drug and alcohol problems. 
His devotion to the greater Houston community is commendable.
  From a congressional page in 1965 to a police officer in the 1970s to 
an accomplished trial advocate, Mr. Miller understands and respects the 
role of our three branches of government. He has an unfailing respect 
for the judiciary and the jury system. It is with this understanding 
that I believe Mr. Miller will serve his country honorably as a Federal 
district court judge should--by interpreting and applying the law and 
adhering to established precedent.
  I am pleased that President Bush has nominated Gray Miller to serve 
on the court of the Southern District of Texas. I look forward to his 
service on the Federal bench in the Great State of Texas. I ask my 
colleagues to support his nomination.
  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there a sufficient second? There 
is a sufficient second.
  The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the nomination 
of Gray Hampton Miller, of Texas, to be United States District Judge 
for the Southern District of Texas? On this question, the yeas and nays 
have been ordered, and the clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk called the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. The following Senator was necessarily absent: the 
Senator from Louisiana (Mr. Vitter).
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Minnesota (Mr. Dayton), 
the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Jeffords), the Senator from Massachusetts 
(Mr. Kerry), the Senator from Wisconsin (Mr. Kohl), the Senator from 
Illinois (Mr. Obama), and the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. 
Rockefeller) are necessarily absent.
  I further announce that, if present and voting, the Senator from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry) would vote ``aye.''
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Burr). Are there any other Senators in the 
Chamber desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 93, nays 0, as follows:

                       [Rollcall Vote No. 93 Ex.]

                                YEAS--93

     Akaka
     Alexander
     Allard
     Allen
     Baucus
     Bayh
     Bennett
     Biden
     Bingaman
     Bond
     Boxer
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burns
     Burr
     Byrd
     Cantwell
     Carper
     Chafee
     Chambliss
     Clinton
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Coleman
     Collins
     Conrad
     Cornyn
     Craig
     Crapo
     DeMint
     DeWine
     Dodd
     Dole
     Domenici
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Frist
     Graham
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel

[[Page 5837]]


     Harkin
     Hatch
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Inouye
     Isakson
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Kyl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lincoln
     Lott
     Lugar
     Martinez
     McCain
     McConnell
     Menendez
     Mikulski
     Murkowski
     Murray
     Nelson (FL)
     Nelson (NE)
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Roberts
     Salazar
     Santorum
     Sarbanes
     Schumer
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Smith
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stabenow
     Stevens
     Sununu
     Talent
     Thomas
     Thune
     Voinovich
     Warner
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--7

     Dayton
     Jeffords
     Kerry
     Kohl
     Obama
     Rockefeller
     Vitter
  The nomination was confirmed.

                          ____________________