[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 15]
[Senate]
[Pages 22936-22938]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




NOMINATION OF ELLEN LIPTON HOLLANDER TO BE UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 
                      FOR THE DISTRICT OF MARYLAND

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, there will be 2 
minutes of debate on the Hollander nomination.
  The Senator from Maryland.
  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I am pleased to rise today in support of 
the confirmation of two judicial confirmations pending before the 
Senate from my home State of Maryland. Both James Bredar and Ellen 
Hollander have been nominated by the President to be U.S. district 
judges for the District of Maryland.
  I was pleased to work with our senior Senator, Ms. Mikulski, to 
recommend these nominations to the President last year. I chaired their 
confirmation hearing in May of this year before the Judiciary 
Committee, on which I serve. These two judges were approved by a voice 
vote in the Judiciary Committee in June.
  Judge Ellen Hollander currently serves as a judge on the Maryland 
Court of Special Appeals, Maryland's second highest court, which hears 
mandatory appeals from our State trial courts in Maryland.
  She has served as a judge on that court since 1994. Judge Hollander 
comes to the Senate with an impressive amount of experience in Federal 
and State court. She served as a Federal prosecutor in Maryland for 4 
years, served as a State circuit court

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judge in Baltimore City for 5 years, and has served as a State 
appellate court judge for 16 years. As a State trial court judge, she 
heard thousands of criminal and civil cases--hundreds of which went to 
verdict or final judgment--and handled both jury trials and bench 
trials. As an appellate judge, she has authored over 1,000 opinions.
  The American Bar Association's Standing Committee on the Federal 
Judiciary evaluated Judge Hollander's nomination and rated her 
unanimously ``well qualified,'' the highest possible rating.
  Judge Hollander, really exemplifies the spirit of public service. She 
is well known by lawyers and jurors alike in Maryland for her 
meticulous reasoning process and well-crafted legal opinions. She 
really is a model of a fair and impartial judge who will dispense equal 
justice under the law. I know Judge Hollander has also supported 
efforts to reduce recidivism and is a strong supporter of our drug 
treatment courts and juvenile diversion programs.
  Judge Jim Bredar also comes to the Senate with a wide range of 
courtroom and litigation experience. He served as a Federal prosecutor 
in Colorado for 4 years before coming to Maryland and serving as a 
Federal public defender for 6 years. Since 1998, he has served as a 
U.S. magistrate judge for U.S. District Court for the District of 
Maryland, where he works closely with our judges of the U.S. District 
Court for the District of Maryland. He conducts preliminary proceedings 
in felony cases, all proceedings in petty offense cases, and all 
proceedings in misdemeanor and civil matters upon the consent of the 
parties. Judge Bredar has conducted over 700 mediation and settlement 
conferences in civil cases.
  Judge Bredar has been a member of the Maryland Bar since 1995. The 
American Bar Association's Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary 
evaluated Judge Bredar's nomination and rated him unanimously ``well 
qualified,'' the highest possible rating.
  With Judge Bredar, I see a nominee who is genuinely concerned about 
broadening the access to justice of Americans to their courts. He 
believes that we can do better with both our criminal and civil justice 
systems. I know of Judge's Bredar work as a mediator in our Federal 
court's alternative dispute resolution program, which has received high 
praise from Maryland lawyers and litigants alike.
  The people of Maryland will be well served by having Judge Bredar and 
Judge Hollander on the Federal bench in Baltimore. I look forward to 
the Senate confirming these two outstanding nominations.
  We are extremely pleased that we are now getting a chance to vote on 
the confirmation of Judge Hollander to the Maryland District Court. 
Senator Mikulski has taken the leadership in bringing forward the 
nominations that we strongly support, the two of us.
  I would yield the time to the senior Senator from Maryland.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maryland.
  Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, it is with great pleasure that Senator 
Cardin and I bring to the Senate Judge Ellen Hollander, an outstanding 
woman who is currently a member of the Maryland Court of Special 
Appeals; has been deemed qualified, very qualified by the Maryland Bar, 
and every specialized bar in the State of Maryland.
  She brings a sense of judicial temperament, great judicial 
competence, and a commitment to impartial justice. She will be a great 
addition to the Federal bench in Maryland and to the Federal bench of 
the United States. She does not live in an ivory tower. Her work on 
boards and commissions in the nonprofit areas shows a keen involvement 
in civic affairs. I urge that we adopt the nomination of Judge 
Hollander. I would hope that we could do it by voice.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, we will now finally have a vote on the 
nomination of Ellen L. Hollander to serve on the U.S. District Court 
for the District of Maryland. Her nomination has been pending on the 
Senate's Executive Calendar since the Judicial Committee reported it 
unanimously on June 10, more than 6 months ago. Judge Hollander, a 
well-respected Maryland State judge for the last 16 years, was 
unanimously rated ``well qualified'' by the ABA Standing Committee on 
the Federal Judiciary and has the strong support of both of her home 
State Senators, Senator Mikulski and Senator Cardin.
  After the confirmations today, 30 Federal circuit and district court 
nominations favorably reported by the Judiciary Committee remain ready 
for final vote. These include 21 nominations reported unanimously and 
another 3 reported with strong bipartisan support and only a small 
number of ``no'' votes. These 24 nominations should have been confirmed 
within days of being reported.
  In addition, 17 nominations ready for action on the Senate calendar 
are to fill judicial emergency vacancies. With judicial vacancies at 
historic highs, we should act on these nominations. We should do as we 
did during President Bush's first 2 years in office, when the Senate 
with a Democratic majority had up-or-down votes on all 100 judicial 
nominations favorably reported by the Judiciary Committee. That 
included controversial circuit court nominations reported during the 
lameduck session in 2002. In contrast, during this first Congress of 
President Obama's administration, the Senate has considered just 49 of 
the 80 nominations reported by the Judiciary Committee.
  I congratulate Judge Hollander and her family on her confirmation 
today.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the nomination.
  The bill clerk read the nomination of Ellen Lipton Hollander, of 
Maryland, to be United States District Judge for the District of 
Maryland.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is, Will the Senate advise and 
consent to the nomination of Ellen Lipton Hollander, of Maryland, to be 
U.S. District Court Judge for the District of Maryland.
  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The yeas and nays have been requested.
  Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Louisiana (Ms. Landrieu) 
and the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Manchin) are necessarily 
absent.
  Mr. KYL. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Kentucky (Mr. Bunning), the Senator from New Hampshire (Mr. 
Gregg), and the Senator from Utah (Mr. Hatch).
  Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Kentucky (Mr. 
Bunning) would have voted ``yea'' and the Senator from Utah (Mr. Hatch) 
would have voted ``yea.''
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Cardin). Are there any other Senators in 
the Chamber desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 95, nays 0, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 280 Ex.]

                                YEAS--95

     Akaka
     Alexander
     Barrasso
     Baucus
     Bayh
     Begich
     Bennet
     Bennett
     Bingaman
     Bond
     Boxer
     Brown (MA)
     Brown (OH)
     Brownback
     Burr
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Chambliss
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Collins
     Conrad
     Coons
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Crapo
     DeMint
     Dodd
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Franken
     Gillibrand
     Graham
     Grassley
     Hagan
     Harkin
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Inouye
     Isakson
     Johanns
     Johnson
     Kerry
     Kirk
     Klobuchar
     Kohl
     Kyl
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     LeMieux
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lincoln
     Lugar
     McCain
     McCaskill
     McConnell
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Mikulski
     Murkowski
     Murray
     Nelson (NE)
     Nelson (FL)
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rockefeller
     Sanders
     Schumer
     Sessions
     Shaheen
     Shelby
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Thune
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Vitter
     Voinovich
     Warner
     Webb
     Whitehouse
     Wicker
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--5

     Bunning
     Gregg
     Hatch
     Landrieu
     Manchin
  The nomination was confirmed.

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  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the motions to 
reconsider are considered made and laid upon the table.
  The President will be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

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