[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 15] [Senate] [Pages 23476-23477] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]NOMINATION OF MARY HELEN MURGUIA TO BE A U.S. CIRCUIT JUDGE FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT The VICE PRESIDENT. Under the previous order, the question occurs on the following nomination, which the clerk will report. The assistant legislative clerk reported the nomination of Mary Helen Murguia, of Arizona, to be a U.S. Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit. The VICE PRESIDENT. The Senator from Arizona is recognized. Mr. KYL. Mr. President, I support the nomination of Judge Mary Murguia to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge Murguia has served on the Federal district court in Arizona for a decade and has a distinguished record that has earned the respect of the legal community in Arizona. Perhaps most telling is the high regard in which Judge Murguia is held by her colleagues on the district court; they come from different backgrounds and were appointed by presidents of both parties, but they all speak very highly of her. [[Page 23477]] Judge Murguia was approved by the Judiciary Committee by a vote of 19 to 0. That unanimous vote is an indication of the strength of her record. Finally, as I mentioned at Judge Murguia's hearing, Judge Murguia's brother Carlos is the first Latino to serve as Federal district court judge in Kansas. Judge Murguia was the first Latina to be appointed to the Federal district court in Arizona and she and Carlos are the only brother and sister sitting as Federal judges in the United States. I am confident that Judge Murguia is a person of integrity who will do her best to be a fair and objective judge. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays. The VICE PRESIDENT. Is there a sufficient second? There is a sufficient second. The Senator from Vermont is recognized. Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, today, the Senate is finally being allowed to consider a judicial nomination that has been stalled since August-- the nomination of Judge Mary Murguia of Arizona to serve on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. I would understand the resistance to considering the nomination if President Obama had selected someone opposed by her home state Senators. But both Republican home state Senators support this nomination. Unlike his predecessor, President Obama has worked with home state Senators, including Republican Senators. Despite all his efforts, this consensus nominee has been stalled for months and months while awaiting final Senate action. When the nomination was considered by the Judiciary Committee before the August recess, it was reported unanimously. Every Republican and every Democrat, all 19 members of the Judiciary Committee, voted in favor of her nomination. Still, she has been stalled for months and months. This is part of the dangerous pattern perpetrated the past two years as President Obama's highly-qualified judicial nominees have been stalled from final Senate action for extended periods. This is another example of the unnecessary delays that have led to a judicial vacancies crisis throughout the country. Judicial vacancies have skyrocketed to over 100 while nominations are forced to languish without final Senate action. In fact, President Obama's nominees have been forced to wait on average six times longer to be considered than President Bush's judicial nominees reported by the Judiciary Committee during the first 2 years of his Presidency. When the Senate is finally allowed to take action, most of his nominations are confirmed by overwhelming bipartisan majorities or unanimously. Final Senate action on dozens of President Obama's judicial nominations has been delayed without explanation or good reason and then confirmed unanimously. The most outrageous examples are Judge Barbara Keenan of Virginia, who was confirmed unanimously to the Fourth Circuit, and Judge Denny Chin of New York, who was confirmed unanimously to the Second Circuit. Both required cloture petitions to end the filibusters against their confirmations and then they were each confirmed unanimously. Others confirmed unanimously after months of delay are Judge James A. Wynn, Jr. of North Carolina, who was finally confirmed to the Fourth Circuit after almost 6 months of delay; Judge Albert Diaz of North Carolina, who was finally confirmed to the Fourth Circuit after almost 11 month's delay; Judge Ray Lohier of New York, who was finally confirmed to the Second Circuit after almost 8 months of delay; Judge Beverly Martin of Tennessee, who was finally confirmed to the Eleventh Circuit after more than 4 months of delay; and James Greenaway of New Jersey, who was finally confirmed to the Third Circuit after almost 4 months of delay. I expect Scott Matheson of Utah to be confirmed unanimously to the Tenth Circuit, but not until there have been 6 months of unnecessary delay. I will not be surprised if Judge Murguia is confirmed unanimously, or nearly unanimously, after 4 unnecessary months of delay. Examples of district court nominees who have been delayed for between 3 and 7 months before being confirmed unanimously are: Judge Kimberly J. Mueller of the Eastern District of California, Judge Catherine Eagles of the Middle District of North Carolina, Judge John A. Gibney, Jr. of the Eastern District of Virginia, Judge Ellen Hollander of the District of Maryland, Judge Susan R. Nelson of the District of Minnesota, Judge James Bredar of the District of Maryland, Judge Carlton Reeves of the Southern District of Mississippi, Judge Edmond Chang of the Northern District of Illinois, Judge Leslie E. Kobayashi of the District of Hawaii, and Judge Denise Casper of the District of Massachusetts. Ten years ago, Mary Murguia became the first Latina to serve as a Federal Judge in Arizona when she was nominated by President Clinton to serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona. She will now become the first Hispanic--and only the second woman--from Arizona to serve on the Ninth Circuit. I congratulate Judge Murguia and her family on her confirmation by the Senate today. The VICE PRESIDENT. The yeas and nays have been ordered. The question is, shall the Senate advise and consent to the nomination of Mary Helen Murguia, of Arizona, to be a U.S. Circuit Judge for the 9th Circuit. The clerk will call the roll. The legislative clerk called the roll. Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Wisconsin (Mr. Feingold), the Senator from Iowa (Mr. Harkin), the Senator from Missouri (Mrs. McCaskill), the Senator from Michigan (Ms. Stabenow), and the Senator from Oregon (Mr. Wyden) are necessarily absent. Mr. KYL. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Kentucky (Mr. Bunning), the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Brownback), the Senator from Missouri (Mr. Bond), the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. Alexander), the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Roberts), and the Senator from Louisiana (Mr. Vitter). Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Kentucky (Mr. Bunning) would have voted ``yea'' and the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. Alexander) would have voted ``yea.'' The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Merkley). Are there any other Senators in the Chamber desiring to vote? The result was announced--yeas 89, nays 0, as follows: [Rollcall Vote No. 299 Ex.] YEAS--89 Akaka Barrasso Baucus Bayh Begich Bennet Bennett Bingaman Boxer Brown (MA) Brown (OH) Burr Cantwell Cardin Carper Casey Chambliss Coburn Cochran Collins Conrad Coons Corker Cornyn Crapo DeMint Dodd Dorgan Durbin Ensign Enzi Feinstein Franken Gillibrand Graham Grassley Gregg Hagan Hatch Hutchison Inhofe Inouye Isakson Johanns Johnson Kerry Kirk Klobuchar Kohl Kyl Landrieu Lautenberg Leahy LeMieux Levin Lieberman Lincoln Lugar Manchin McCain McConnell Menendez Merkley Mikulski Murkowski Murray Nelson (NE) Nelson (FL) Pryor Reed Reid Risch Rockefeller Sanders Schumer Sessions Shaheen Shelby Snowe Specter Tester Thune Udall (CO) Udall (NM) Voinovich Warner Webb Whitehouse Wicker NOT VOTING--11 Alexander Bond Brownback Bunning Feingold Harkin McCaskill Roberts Stabenow Vitter Wyden The nomination was confirmed. ____________________