[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Pages 14010-14014]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           EXECUTIVE SESSION

                                 ______
                                 

 NOMINATION OF WILLIAM T. LAWRENCE TO BE UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 
                  FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA

                                 ______
                                 

NOMINATION OF G. MURRAY SNOW TO BE UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE FOR THE 
                          DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

  Mr. REID. Madam President, under the authority of the June 24 order 
issued by the Chair, I now ask that the Senate proceed to executive 
session to consider Calendar Nos. 627 and 628.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the nominations.
  The legislative clerk read the nominations of William T. Lawrence, of 
Indiana, to be United States District Judge for the Southern District 
of Indiana; and G. Murray Snow, of Arizona, to be United States 
District Judge for the District of Arizona.
  Mr. REID. Madam President, all Senators should be aware that this 
vote will occur very quickly and the second vote will occur immediately 
after the first one is completed. We appreciate everyone's cooperation. 
We are still working through some issues, and we will have some news 
for the rest of the Senators by the time, hopefully, the first vote is 
announced.
  Mr. LEAHY. Will the Senator yield?
  Mr. REID. Yes.
  Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, I advise the distinguished leader, I will 
speak on these judges and judicial matters probably for 10 to 15 
minutes at most, and then I would be prepared to go to a rollcall vote 
on William Lawrence, which would be the first one. I intend to support 
both nominees.
  Mr. REID. Madam President, let me say to the distinguished chairman 
of the Judiciary Committee, we are glad we are at the point where we 
are today. There has been cooperation. We have approved two circuit 
court judges. This will be the third district court judge. It is my 
understanding there was a markup that went ahead today without any 
problem and a couple more judges were reported out at that time.
  Mr. LEAHY. I advise the leader, four judges were reported out this 
morning, as well as a U.S. attorney and another one of President Bush's 
nominees.
  Mr. REID. I appreciate the continued good work of my friend, the 
distinguished Senator from Vermont.
  Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LEAHY. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call 
be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, the distinguished leader has put the 
Senate in executive session to consider two more judicial nominations. 
I would like to speak on these in my capacity both as a Senator from 
Vermont and as chairman of the Judiciary Committee. We are going to be 
confirming these two nominations which are, of course, for lifetime 
appointments to the federal bench, as the distinguished Presiding 
Officer, an attorney in her own right and with a distinguished 
background as a prosecutor in Minnesota prior to being here, knows. The 
two are William Lawrence, nominated to a vacancy in the Southern 
District of Indiana, and Murray Snow, nominated to a vacancy in the 
District of Arizona.
  I have been delighted to work with my friend of 30 years, Senator 
Lugar of Indiana. He strongly supports the recommendation of Judge 
Lawrence. He came to see me about Judge Lawrence prior to his 
nomination coming up here. Senator Bayh of Indiana also came to see me 
and supports the nomination. I have been pleased to accommodate Senator 
Kyl in scheduling first Committee action and now Senate action on the 
nomination of Judge Snow. Both nominations are being expedited for 
confirmation in a Presidential election year.

[[Page 14011]]

  As we approach the Fourth of July recess and celebrate the 
independence of our great Nation, we will be confirming our fourth and 
fifth judicial nominations of the week.
  But when I go back home to Vermont, as I did this past weekend, and 
as I will this week, I find that Vermonters--and I suspect this is so 
with all Americans--are not really concerned about judicial 
nominations. I have not had anybody come up to me--when I am coming out 
of church or walking through the grocery store or gassing up my car--
and say: We need more judicial nominations.
  But what they are concerned about are gas prices that have 
skyrocketed so high they don't know how they are going to be able to 
afford to drive to work. I have talked to parents of children in rural 
parts of our State where there is no mass transportation--never will 
be. They have to bring their children to school. Both the mother and 
father are working. They then have to drive to work. These are not 
high-paying jobs. They then have to drive back and get their children. 
One couple might have to take care of elderly parents, and they are 
wondering how they can afford to do it with these gas prices. They are 
far more concerned about that than they are with lifetime appointments 
to our Federal bench.
  They are concerned also about the steepest decline in home values in 
two decades. Madam President, when I was a child, I remember my parents 
always telling me one of the greatest things you can do is to own your 
own home. Marcelle and I have been fortunate. We have been able to do 
that. We have encouraged our children to do the same. And I encourage 
people in my own State of Vermont, especially young people: If you can 
own your own home, it is worth borrowing money because that will be 
part of your retirement, part of your stability. But now they have seen 
the steepest decline in home values in two decades. Many owe more on 
their house than their mortgage. Many are wondering as they see jobs 
failing, as they see their gasoline prices go up, as they see the value 
of their homes go down, if their children will have a brighter future 
than they did or their parents did.
  More and more Americans are affected by rising unemployment. Last 
month brought the greatest 1-month rise in unemployment in 20 years. It 
brought the job losses for the first 5 consecutive months of this year 
to over 325,000 people. The number of people who lost their jobs are 
equal to half the population in my whole State. Americans are worried 
about soaring health care costs. They are worried about rising health 
insurance costs. They are worried about the rising costs of education. 
They are worried about rising food prices--long before they are worried 
about the number of Federal judges being confirmed.
  Just yesterday, the front page of the Wall Street Journal had this 
headline: ``Consumer Confidence Plummets.'' That is a pretty dire 
headline: ``Consumer Confidence Plummets.'' The next line read: ``Home 
Prices See Sharp Decline.'' With that article they ran a graph titled 
``In a Free Fall'' that shows housing prices in April down more than 15 
percent from a year ago and consumer confidence at the lowest level in 
nearly 20 years. According to the Wall Street Journal, the number of 
Americans saying they intend to buy a home in the next 6 months is at a 
25-year low and consumers' expectations of the economy over the next 6 
months is the lowest it has ever been in the more than 40 years they 
have kept track--the lowest it has ever been--ever been--in 40 years.
  Unfortunately, the bad economic news for hard-working Americans is 
nothing new under the Bush-Cheney administration. During his 
administration, President Bush and all Americans have seen unemployment 
rise more than 20 percent and trillions of dollars in budget surplus--
which he inherited from President Clinton's administration--turned into 
trillions of dollars of debt, with an annual budget deficit of hundreds 
of billions of dollars. When President Bush took office, the price of 
gas was $1.42 a gallon. Madam President, I remember some people 
complaining about $1.42 a gallon gas when the President took office. 
Today, it is at an all-time high of over $4 a gallon. The Nation's 
trade deficit widened 8 percent in April alone due to the surging gas 
prices, and now it is at the highest level in 13 months.
  The numbers are staggering: $4 a gallon for gas, $139 a barrel for 
oil, more than $1 billion a day--let me repeat that: $1 billion a day--
just to pay the interest on the national debt and the massive costs 
generated by the disastrous war in Iraq. These are the numbers 
Americans care about, not a few nominees who are getting the honor of a 
judicial appointment and lifetime tenure in a respected job that pays 
nearly $200,000 a year.
  Yet we do not hear about these numbers from the other side of the 
aisle. We do not hear about the free-fall in home prices. We do not 
hear about the free-fall in the consumer confidence index from the 
other side. We do not hear about the Bush deficits, which have brought 
the value of a dollar down almost in half. We do not hear about these 
numbers, as terrible as they are, and as much as they affect real 
people in Minnesota and Vermont and elsewhere. We do not hear from them 
about the number of Americans who are losing their homes, nor about the 
number of Americans who are losing their jobs, nor about the number of 
Americans who cannot afford to bring their children to school, nor 
about the number of Americans who cannot afford to put groceries on the 
table, nor about the number of Americans who cannot afford to gas up 
their car so they can go to work. The only numbers we hear about from 
the other side of the aisle are the number of nominees they insist must 
be considered by a certain date to reach some mythical average number.
  Week after week, even as the Senate--under the leadership of Senator 
Reid and the Democrats--continues to make progress on filling judicial 
vacancies, we hear a steady stream of grumbling from Republicans. And 
it turns out, they are responding to partisan pressures from special 
interest groups.
  Madam President, the special interest group I listen to are the hard-
working American families in my State of Vermont and the other 49 
States. If we are going to listen to a special interest group, listen 
to the men and women who have to pay to take their children to school, 
put groceries on their table, go to work, try to make ends meet, and 
are seeing the value of their home drop 25 percent. If we are going to 
listen to any special interest group, at a time when the economy is 
tanking, let's talk about the special interest group, the average 
American man and woman.
  It is ironic that the Senate's Republican minority is so focused on 
the number of judges because that is the only number that has actually 
improved under President Bush. On July 1, 2000, when a Republican 
Senate majority was considering the judicial nominees of a Democratic 
President in a Presidential election year, there were 60 judicial 
vacancies. Twenty-one were circuit court vacancies. These vacancies 
were the result of the actions of Republicans, when there was a 
Democrat in the White House, pocket-filibustering over 60 judicial 
nominees.
  In stark contrast, after the two nominations we confirm today, and 
the circuit court judges we confirmed on Tuesday, there are just 40 
total judicial vacancies throughout the country. There are only nine 
circuit court vacancies. By confirming Judge Helene White and Ray 
Kethledge to the last two vacancies on the Sixth Circuit Court of 
Appeals, we reduced circuit court vacancies to single digits for the 
first time in decades--only nine vacancies on our Nation's 13 circuit 
courts.
  The history is clear. Democrats have reversed course on judicial 
vacancies from the days during which the Republican Senate majority 
more than doubled them. We have already lowered the 32 circuit court 
vacancies that existed when I became chairman of the Judiciary 
Committee in the summer of 2001. We had 32 vacancies. We lowered it to 
nine. In fact, this is the first time we have hit single digits in 
decades--since the Republican tactics of slowing judicial confirmations 
began in earnest in 1996. Why? Because the Democrats

[[Page 14012]]

did not pocket-filibuster 60 judges, as the Republicans did to a 
Democratic President. We treated President Bush's nominees with more 
respect than they treated President Clinton's. But we also treated the 
whole Federal judiciary system with a great deal more respect. This is, 
after all, the third independent branch of Government. It is the one 
branch that should be devoid of politics. It is the one branch that 
should be able to be set apart from this. And it is the one branch 
where you leave your political affiliations at the doors.
  The 100 nominations we confirmed in only 17 months in 2001 and 2002--
I was working with a very uncooperative White House--reduced the 
vacancies I inherited by 45 percent by the end of 2002. I became 
chairman halfway through that year. The Republicans had been in control 
up to that halfway mark. They did not confirm a single judge. In 17 
months, we confirmed 100.
  So with 40 additional confirmations last year, and another 14 so far 
this year, the Senate, under Democratic leadership, has already matched 
the confirmation total for the entire last Congress. That was 2 full 
years with a Republican Senate majority working to confirm the judicial 
nominees of a Republican President. In fact, after these two 
confirmations, we will have reached 54 judicial confirmations for this 
Congress.
  I am sure there are some who prefer partisan fights designed to 
energize a political base during an election year. I do not. The 
American people do not want Federal judges to be tied to partisan 
politics.
  Madam President, I felt very honored to be a lawyer. I felt very 
honored to try cases in Federal courts. I felt very honored to try 
cases when I was a prosecutor. And I feel honored to be on the Senate 
Judiciary Committee. But I have always said one of the things you 
should be able to do if you walk into a court room--whether you are a 
plaintiff or a defendant, whether you are the Government or the other 
side, whether you are rich or poor, no matter your race, no matter your 
issue--you should be able to look at the judge and say: I am going to 
be treated fairly. The judge is not going to ask what my political 
party is, what my station in life is, whether I am a big corporation, 
whether I am a poor defendant or a plaintiff.
  So when there are efforts to make a partisan issue over judicial 
confirmations, as my friends on the Republican side have done, that is 
sorely misplaced. Their obstructionism has done a great deal of damage 
to our attempts to address the important needs of Americans.
  We have seen Republican obstructionism since the beginning of this 
Congress. Republicans used filibuster after filibuster to thwart the 
will of the majority of the Senate from doing the business of the 
American people. Republican filibusters prevented the Senate majority 
from passing a climate change bill. Republican filibusters prevented 
the Senate majority from passing the Employee Free Choice Act and the 
Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Republican filibusters prevented the 
Senate majority from passing the DC Voting Rights Act. Republican 
filibusters prevented the Senate majority from passing the Renewable 
Fuels, Consumer Protection and Energy Efficiency Act of 2007. 
Republican filibusters blocked the Renewable Energy and Job Creation 
Act of 2008. Republican filibusters blocked the Medicare Improvements 
for Patients and Providers Act of 2008. Republican filibusters blocked 
the Consumer First Energy Act. These are critical pieces of legislation 
to address the priorities not of special interest groups, but of real 
Americans--urgent priorities such as the energy crisis, the 
environment, voting rights and health care, and fair wages for working 
men and women. All of them had the support of the majority of the 
Senate. All were blocked by a minority of Republican Senators who 
filibustered them.
  This long list of priorities unaddressed because of the Republicans 
in Congress would be even longer if we were to include the many 
important bills President Bush has vetoed since the beginning of this 
Congress. That list includes legislation to fund stem cell research, to 
fight debilitating and deadly diseases such as Parkinson's, multiple 
sclerosis, and diabetes; to extend and expand the successful State 
Children's Health Insurance Program that would have provided health 
insurance to more of the millions of American children who are without 
it in the wealthiest, most powerful Nation on Earth; to set a timetable 
for bringing American troops home from the disastrous war in Iraq that 
has lasted longer than we were in World War II; and to ban 
waterboarding and thus help restore America as the beacon for the rule 
of law.
  The effort of Republicans to turn attention from the real issues 
facing Americans to win partisan political points with judicial 
nominations is another in a long line of tactics we have seen that have 
prevented us from making progress since the beginning of this Congress.
  As I said before, people do not stop me in the grocery store or 
coming out of church or walking down the street or getting out of my 
car to say please confirm more judges. They say: Please, do something 
about the high cost of gasoline. Do something about the fact that I am 
going to lose my home in foreclosure because the value has dropped so 
much. Do something about the fact that our child does not have health 
insurance.
  These tactics would be laughable if they were not tragic. I believe 
they are an affront to those men and women in this country who are 
working hard to make ends meet. I know a lot of these good, honest 
Americans. I see them every weekend in my own State of Vermont. They 
don't face problems as Republicans or Democrats; they face them as 
proud Americans, proud Vermonters. They wonder how they are ever going 
to get insurance for their child and they worry every day their child 
may become ill. They wonder if they can get to their job, and often 
they are holding down two jobs to make ends meet. They wonder if they 
can bring their children to school.
  I congratulate the nominees and their families on their confirmation 
today. These nominees have good reason to be proud. I predict they will 
be confirmed unanimously, and I am proud of them, because the Federal 
judiciary is the one arm of our Government that should never be 
political or politicized regardless of who sits in the White House.
  So let us stop using this question of judges as some kind of an issue 
in trying to distort the fact that the Democrats have treated President 
Bush better than the Republicans treated President Clinton on judges. 
Let us stop using the issue of judges to prevent us from addressing the 
things Americans care about: their jobs, their homes, their children, 
the cost of gas and oil.
  I will continue in this Congress, and I will be here in January with 
a new President in the next Congress, to work with Senators on both 
sides of the aisle to ensure that the Federal judiciary remains 
independent and this real jewel of jurisprudence be able to provide 
justice for all Americans, as they say in their oath of office, without 
fear or favor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Pennsylvania is recognized.
  Mr. SPECTER. Madam President, in my capacity as ranking member on the 
Judiciary Committee, I did want to make very brief comments on the 
nominees who are pending for the district courts.
  First, G. Murray Snow for the U.S. District Court for the District of 
Arizona, a very well-qualified man: a bachelor's degree from Brigham 
Young University in 1984, magna cum laude; a Harry S. Truman scholar 
for Nevada, a noted scholarship--parenthetically, one which our older 
son Shanin had--Phi Kappa Phi; law degree, magna cum laude--a very 
distinguished academic and professional record.
  Similarly, William Thomas Lawrence for the U.S. District Court for 
the Southern District of Indiana has exemplary qualifications 
academically and professionally.
  I ask unanimous consent to have the resumes printed in the Record at 
the conclusion of my remarks.

[[Page 14013]]

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  (See exhibit 1.)
  Mr. SPECTER. One additional addendum. I thank the chairman of the 
committee and the majority leader for moving ahead with three 
confirmations earlier this week, and these two confirmations.
  Again I renew my request that we be able to move to a situation where 
we will avoid blocking judges, where we will proceed on up-and-down 
votes and we will not seek to hold vacancies in judicial nomination 
situations where there are judicial emergencies--for example, in the 
Fourth Circuit with the nomination of Judge Conrad pending from North 
Carolina--and that we will move ahead with the nomination of others who 
have been waiting for very long periods of time.
  Today, the Judiciary Committee took up a report by the Inspector 
General, in which he noted that there had been political considerations 
in hiring at the Department of Justice. The report singled out Peter 
Keisler, who had been acting Attorney General and Assistant Attorney 
General in the Civil Division, and commended him for calling the 
inappropriate conduct for what it was. I mention Peter Keisler because 
he is so well qualified for the DC Circuit vacancy to which he has been 
nominated.
  It will be my expectation that these two nominations would move 
through smoothly. They were accepted on a voice vote in the Judiciary 
Committee, and it is my hope that we will use this to move ahead on the 
confirmations of Federal judges on a yes-or-no vote.

                               Exhibit 1

William Thomas Lawrence--United States District Judge for the Southern 
                          District of Indiana

       Birth: 1947; Indianapolis, Indiana.
       Legal Residence: Indianapolis, Indiana.
       Education: Louisiana State University, 1965-1968; no degree 
     received; B.S., Indiana University, 1970; J.D., Indiana 
     University School of Law--Indianapolis, 1973.
       Primary Employment: Attorney, Poore, Popcheff, Wurster, 
     Sullivan & Burke, 1973-1976; Attorney, Popcheff, Lawrence & 
     Page, 1976-1979; Public Defender (Part-time), Marion County 
     Superior Court, Criminal Division 4, 1974-1983; Attorney, 
     Lawrence, Carter, Gresk, Leerkamp & Walsh, 1979-1989; 
     Attorney, Johnson, Smith, Pence, Densborn, Wright & Heath, 
     1989-1997; Master Commissioner (Part-time), Marion County 
     Circuit Court, 1983-1997; Presiding Judge, Marion County 
     Circuit Court, 1997-2002; Magistrate Judge, U.S. District 
     Court for the Southern District of Indiana, 2002-Present.
       Selected Activities: Indiana Bar, 1973-Present; 
     Indianapolis Bar Association, 1973-Present--Distinguished 
     Fellow, 1997, Chairman, Bench Bar Conference, 2002, Chairman, 
     Judicial Section of the Association, 2004, Chairman, 
     Continuing Legal Education Commission, 2002, Vice-President, 
     2005, Board of Managers, 2005, Executive Committee, 
     Litigation Section, 2004-2005; Seventh Circuit Bar 
     Association, 2002-Present; Federal Bar Association, 2002-
     Present; Indiana Judges Association, 1997-2002, Board of 
     Managers, 2000-2002; Board of Directors, Judicial Conference 
     of Indiana, 1997-2002; United States Magistrate Judges 
     Association, 2002-Present; Board of Directors, Marion County 
     Justice Agency, 1996-2002; Member, Indiana State Forensic 
     Science Commission, 1984-1990; Executive Director, Indiana 
     Merit Selection Commission on Federal Judicial Appointments, 
     1980-1986.
       ABA Rating: Substantial Majority ``Well Qualified,'' 
     Minority ``Qualified.''
                                  ____


   G. Murray Snow--United States District Judge for the District of 
                                Arizona

       Birth: 1959; Boulder City, NV.
       Legal Residence: Tempe, AZ.
       Education: B.A., magna cum laude, Brigham Young University, 
     1984--Harry S. Truman Scholar for Nevada, 1982; Member, Phi 
     Kappa Phi Honor Society.
       J.D., magna cum laude, J. Reuben Clark Law School, Brigham 
     Young University, 1987--Editor-in-Chief, Brigham Young 
     University Law Review, 1986-1987.
       Primary Employment: Law Clerk, Hon. Stephen H. Anderson, 
     U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, 1987-1988; 
     Meyer, Hendricks, Victor, Osborn & Maledon, P.A.--Associate, 
     1988-1994, Member, 1994-1995; Member, Osborn Maledon, P.A., 
     1995-2002; Judge, Arizona Court of Appeals, Division One, 
     2002-Present.
       Selected Activities: Arizona State Bar Association, 1987-
     Present--Committee on the Rules of Professional Conduct, 
     1998-2004, Ethical Rules Review Group, 2000-2002; Mesa 
     [Arizona] Judicial Advisory Board Member, 2003-Present; 
     Judicial College of Arizona--Board Member, 2003-2004, Dean, 
     2005-Present; Committee on Judicial Education and Training--
     Board Member, 2005-Present, Executive Committee, 2005-
     Present; Task Force on Model Code of Judicial Conduct, 2007-
     Present--Chair, March 2007-Present; Recipient, Halo Award, 
     Arizona Association of Providers for People with 
     Disabilities, 2000; Recipient, Citation for Service on the 
     Arizona State Bar Committee on the Rules of Professional 
     Conduct, 1998-2004.
       ABA Rating: Unanimous ``well qualified.''

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Indiana is recognized.
  Mr. LUGAR. Madam President, I appreciate this opportunity to support 
the President's nomination of Judge William Thomas Lawrence to serve as 
a U.S. district judge for the Southern District of Indiana.
  I would first like to thank the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, 
Pat Leahy, ranking member, Arlen Specter, the respective leaders of the 
Senate, and especially my colleague, Senator Evan Bayh, for their 
important work to facilitate the timely consideration of this 
distinguished nominee.
  On December 18, 2007, the Senate voted to confirm the nomination of 
John Tinder to serve on the Seventh Circuit Court. John was a 
distinguished leader on Indiana's Southern District Court, and I knew 
his successor would need to possess the same degree of integrity and 
intelligence. Given this need for strong leadership, I was pleased to 
commend William Lawrence to President Bush for consideration. This 
selection was the product of a bipartisan process and reflective of the 
importance of finding highly qualified judges to carry forward the 
tradition of fair, principled, and collegial leadership.
  I have known Bill Lawrence for many years. I have always been 
impressed with his high energy, his resolute integrity, and his 
remarkable dedication to public service.
  William Lawrence attended Indiana University, where he received both 
his undergraduate and his law degrees. He immediately entered private 
practice but also devoted time to serve as a public defender in Marion 
County, IN, courts.
  Subsequently, he served part time as a master commissioner of the 
Marion County Circuit Court.
  In 1996, Judge Lawrence was elected to the Marion County Circuit 
Court. In this position, he built a reputation for fairness and 
efficiency. The Marion County Circuit Court is one of the busiest in 
the State of Indiana. In less than 3 years, Judge Lawrence reduced the 
number of pending cases by 20 percent. This impressive performance on 
the bench led to his appointment in 2002 to serve as U.S. magistrate 
judge.
  Throughout Bill's career, his reputation for personal courtesy, 
fairness, decency, and integrity was equally well earned and widespread 
among colleagues and opposing counsel alike and on both sides of the 
political aisle.
  I am also pleased that Bill's experience and professionalism are 
recognized by the American Bar Association, which bestowed a rating, by 
a substantial majority of the committee, of ``well-qualified.''
  I would like to thank again Chairman Leahy and Ranking Member Specter 
for their important work on this nomination. I believe Judge Lawrence 
will demonstrate remarkable leadership and will appropriately uphold 
and defend our laws under the Constitution.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arizona is recognized.
  Mr. KYL. Madam President, I wanted to note that what Senator Specter 
said a moment ago about Arizona judge Murray Snow are my feelings as 
well.
  He has been nominated to the Federal bench in Arizona. He is 
supremely qualified, unanimously ``well-qualified,'' according to the 
Bar Association, and a fine appellate court judge already. He will make 
a fine addition to the Federal bench.
  I will have an additional statement so all of my colleagues will know 
about his superb qualifications. We will be voting for him soon. I 
assume he will be approved. I appreciate my colleagues' support for his 
nomination.
  Judge Snow has served on the Arizona Court of Appeals since 2002. 
Prior to his judicial service, he was a partner at Osborn Maledon. 
Judge Snow received his bachelor's degree magna cum laude from BYU in 
1984 and received his law degree magna cum laude

[[Page 14014]]

from BYU in 1987. He was Order of the Coif. After law school, Judge 
Snow clerked on the Tenth Circuit for Judge Stephen Anderson. Judge 
Snow was an adjunct professor of political science at ASU 7 years. He 
served for 4 years on the State Bar of Arizona Ethical Rules Review 
Group and for six years on the Committee on Rules of Professional 
Conduct. The ABA unanimously gave Judge Snow its highest rating of 
``well-qualified.''
  Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, I have permission to yield back time on 
both sides of the aisle for the judges, so I yield it back.
  I ask for the yeas and nays on the pending nomination.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  All time is yielded back.
  The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the nomination 
of William T. Lawrence, of Indiana, to be United States District Judge 
for the Southern District of Indiana?
  The yeas and nays have been ordered.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. 
Kennedy) and the Senator from Illinois (Mr. Obama) are necessarily 
absent.
  Mr. KYL. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Arizona, (Mr. McCain).
  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. 159 Ex.]

                                YEAS--97

     Akaka
     Alexander
     Allard
     Barrasso
     Baucus
     Bayh
     Bennett
     Biden
     Bingaman
     Bond
     Boxer
     Brown
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burr
     Byrd
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Chambliss
     Clinton
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Coleman
     Collins
     Conrad
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Craig
     Crapo
     DeMint
     Dodd
     Dole
     Domenici
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Graham
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Harkin
     Hatch
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Inouye
     Isakson
     Johnson
     Kerry
     Klobuchar
     Kohl
     Kyl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lincoln
     Lugar
     Martinez
     McCaskill
     McConnell
     Menendez
     Mikulski
     Murkowski
     Murray
     Nelson (FL)
     Nelson (NE)
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Roberts
     Rockefeller
     Salazar
     Sanders
     Schumer
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Smith
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stabenow
     Stevens
     Sununu
     Tester
     Thune
     Vitter
     Voinovich
     Warner
     Webb
     Whitehouse
     Wicker
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--3

     Kennedy
     McCain
     Obama
  The nomination was confirmed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There is 2 minutes of debate equally divided 
on the nomination of G. Murray Snow.
  The Senator from Vermont.
  Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, I yield back the remainder of time on 
this side, and I am advised on the other side they yield their time. 
There is no need for a rollcall vote.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Time is yielded back.
  Mr. REID. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. REID. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. REID. For the information of all Members, Senator Leahy and 
Senator Specter have agreed that we can have the judge's vote by voice, 
and we will do that in a minute. But I wish to inform everyone that the 
Republican leader and I, following this judge being approved--we will 
go into a quorum call, and we will be in a position, hopefully, in the 
next 15 minutes, half hour--you know how time is counted in the Senate. 
Jack, who used to work down here--one night I came in here and he gave 
me a dog chain. I said: Why did you do that? He said: Because the 
Senate goes on dog time.
  We will try to do something very quickly. But we will go into a 
quorum call following the judge being approved, and Senator McConnell 
and I will be back with the next chapter of the saga as quickly as we 
can.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is, Shall the Senate advise and 
consent to the nomination of G. Murray Snow, of Arizona, to be United 
States District Judge for the District of Arizona?
  The nomination was confirmed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The motions to reconsider are laid on the 
table, en bloc, and the President will be immediately notified of the 
Senate's action.

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