[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 11]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 15362]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    IN HONOR OF JUDGE DAVID F. LEVI

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DORIS O. MATSUI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, June 11, 2007

  Ms. MATSUI. Madam Speaker, I rise today in honor of Judge David Levi, 
one of our Nation's respected judges and a true friend. After 17 years 
of service on the Federal bench Judge Levi is retiring to become the 
next dean of Duke University's Law School. As his colleagues, friends 
and family gather to celebrate the next chapter of his life, I ask all 
of my colleagues to join me in saluting this outstanding public 
servant.
  The son of Edward and Kate Levi, Judge Levi was born into a 
distinguished family that valued pubic service and the pursuit of 
knowledge to serve others. His father was the President of the 
University of Chicago and served as the United States Attorney General 
under President Gerald Ford, while his mother was equally committed to 
a variety of worthy pursuits. In 1972, Judge Levi graduated from 
Harvard, magna cum laude, with a degree in history and literature. Upon 
graduating from Stanford Law School in 1980, he clerked for Judge Ben 
Duniway of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and followed that by 
clerking for Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell.
  After his tenure with Justice Powell ended, Judge Levi returned to 
California and began a renowned career with the U.S. Attorney's Office 
in Sacramento. From 1983 to 1986 he served as Assistant United States 
Attorney and worked in the office's criminal division. In 1986 Judge 
Levi was appointed by President Ronald Reagan as the United States 
Attorney for the Eastern District of California. As the U.S. Attorney, 
Judge Levi led one of the most successful public corruption 
prosecutions in the state's history.
  In 1990 Judge Levi was nominated by President George H.W. Bush to 
become a U.S. District Judge of the Eastern District of California. 
Since 2003, he has served as the Chief Judge of the District. After 
over a decade and half on the federal bench he has earned a reputation 
as one who still approaches each case, large and small, with a 
commitment to tirelessly examine all of the facts and treat each case 
with the utmost of importance.
  Judge Levi also is a national leader on legal reform. Recognizing his 
keen intellect, former Chief Justice William Rehnquist appointed him to 
the Advisory Committee on the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure in 1994, 
which Judge Levi chaired from 2000-2003. Four years ago, Justice 
Rehnquist named Judge Levi as Chairman of the Judicial Conference 
Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure. In these roles he has 
revised and brought a much needed dose of reform to the rules of 
procedure in federal courts, making the courts more efficient, accurate 
and fair.
  Madam Speaker, as Judge David Levi leaves the bench to become the 
dean of Duke University's prestigious law school, I am truly honored to 
pay tribute to a friend and dedicated public servant. I ask all of my 
colleagues to join with me in wishing David, his wife Nancy and their 
sons William and Joseph continued success and happiness in all of their 
future endeavors.

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