[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Pages 2711-2714]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           EXECUTIVE SESSION

                                 ______
                                 

NOMINATION OF AMY TOTENBERG TO BE UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE FOR THE 
                      NORTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA

                                 ______
                                 

NOMINATION OF STEVE C. JONES TO BE UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE FOR THE 
                      NORTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will 
proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations, 
which the clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read the nominations of Amy Totenberg, of 
Georgia, to be United States District Judge for the Northern District 
of Georgia and Steve C. Jones, of Georgia, to be United States District 
Judge for the Northern District of Georgia.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, there will now be 1 
hour of debate, equally and divided and controlled in the usual form.
  The Senator from Vermont.
  Mr. LEAHY. There is both good news and bad news represented by 
today's debate. The good news is that we begin another week by 
considering two of President Obama's judicial nominations. With 
judicial vacancies remaining over 100, nearly half of them judicial 
emergencies, the Senate's action today on 2 outstanding nominees to 
fill judicial emergency vacancies in Georgia is much needed.
  The bad news is that we did not consider these nominations earlier, 
and

[[Page 2712]]

that we are not considering any of the other 8 judicial nominees 
awaiting final Senate consideration and confirmation. Two of those 
nominees, Sue Myerscough and James Shadid, were each nominated to fill 
emergency vacancies on the Central District of Illinois. Their 
confirmations would help relieve the chief judge of that district, who 
is the only active judge in the entire district. Chief Judge McCuskey 
wrote to Senator Durbin in November urging the Senate to take action to 
fill those vacancies, but we did not. Despite the desperate need in 
that district, neither of these nominations received final Senate votes 
when they were reported unanimously by the Judiciary Committee last 
year. Both have now been reported unanimously again, and we should not 
further delay taking care of this overburdened court and the hard-
working Americans who depend on it.
  I do thank, in particular, the majority leader for scheduling this 
time, and also thank the Republican leader for his cooperation. I also 
commend our ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee. Senator 
Grassley has worked with me on each of the judicial nominations that 
President Obama renominated this January.
  All 13 of the judicial nominations that were unanimously reported 
last year have now been unanimously reported, again, this year. To 
date, five of those nominations have been confirmed and with the 
confirmation of Amy Totenberg and Steve Jones, we will have 
reconsidered and confirmed 7 of those 13 unanimously reported judicial 
nominees.
  The Judiciary Committee has also now considered the renomination of 
Susan Carney of Connecticut to the Second Circuit and Michael Simon to 
be a district court judge in Oregon. More than half of the Republicans 
on the Judiciary Committee voted in favor of those nominations. They 
should be debated and confirmed without delay, as well.
  Working with Senator Grassley, I also expect to be able to move 
forward with Judiciary Committee consideration of the renominations of 
two district court nominees, Edward Chen of California and Jack 
McConnell of Rhode Island, in the next few weeks. The renomination of 
Goodwin Liu of California to the Ninth Circuit will be reexamined at a 
Judiciary Committee hearing this week, at the request of our Republican 
members, and then reconsidered by the committee, as well.
  We will be holding our third confirmation hearing of the year this 
week. It will include Professor Liu and four other judicial nominees 
from Tennessee, Florida, and New Jersey. At the earlier two hearings we 
considered eight additional judicial nominees who now await committee 
approval and Senate consideration. We are holding hearings every 2 
weeks and hope finally to begin to bend the curve and start to lower 
judicial vacancies across the country.
  I also commend the Senator from Iowa for his statement on February 14 
during which he urged the Senate to turn the page and not revisit the 
recriminations from administrations past. I agree.
  The nominees we consider today are both from Georgia. They were both 
reported unanimously by the Judiciary Committee this year. Actually, 
they were also reported unanimously by the Judiciary Committee last 
year. They were among the 19 judicial nominees who were ready to be 
confirmed by the Senate last year but were not. When there was 
objection to proceeding last year, the vacancies persisted, the 
President had to renominate them and the Judiciary Committee had to 
reconsider their nominations. I expect the Senate will confirm them 
both tonight. I hope we do so unanimously. Both have the support of 
their home State Senators. Senators Isakson and Senator Chambliss 
worked with me and with President Obama in connection with these 
nominations.
  While I am encouraged that the Senate is proceeding today, I am 
disappointed that we did not consider these nominees and other nominees 
from California, North Carolina, and the District of Columbia before 
the Presidents Day recess. We used to be able to clear the calendar of 
nominations before a recess. All six of these judicial nominees were 
approved unanimously by every Republican and every Democrat on the 
Judiciary Committee weeks before the recess. When they are considered, 
I fully expect they will be confirmed unanimously by the Senate. With 
persistently high judicial vacancies around the country, the Senate 
should be considering judicial nominations without unnecessary delays. 
Litigants all over the country are having a hard time getting their 
cases heard in court because of the high number of vacancies. There are 
nominees pending on the calendar with unanimous support by both 
Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee. We ought 
to at least vote on these nominations to fill the vacancies.
  In fact, when these 2 nominations are confirmed, there will still be 
nearly 100 Federal judicial vacancies around the country. That is too 
many and they have persisted for too long. That is why Chief Justice 
Roberts, Attorney General Holder, White House Counsel Bob Bauer, and 
many others, including the President of the United States, have spoken 
out and urged the Senate to act.
  Nearly one out of every eight Federal judgeships is vacant. That puts 
at serious risk the ability of Americans all over the country to have a 
fair hearing in court. The real price being paid for these unnecessary 
delays is that the judges who remain are overburdened and the American 
people who depend on them are being denied hearings and justice in a 
timely fashion. These delays affect everyone; whether you are a 
plaintiff, a prosecutor, or a defendant.
  Regrettably, the progress we made during the first 2 years of the 
Bush administration has not been duplicated, and the progress we made 
over the 8 years from 2001 to 2009 to reduce judicial vacancies from 
110 to a low of 34 was reversed. The vacancy rate we reduced from 10 
percent at the end of President Clinton's term to less than 4 percent 
in 2008 has now risen back to over 10 percent.
  In contrast to the sharp reduction in vacancies we made during 
President Bush's first 2 years when the Democratically controlled 
Senate confirmed 100 of his judicial nominations, only 60 of President 
Obama's judicial nominations were allowed to be considered and 
confirmed during his first 2 years. We have not kept up with the rate 
of attrition, let alone brought the vacancies down. By now they should 
have been cut in half. Instead, they continue to hover around 100.
  The Senate must do better. The Nation cannot afford further delays by 
the Senate in taking action on the nominations pending before it. 
Judicial vacancies on courts throughout the country hinder the Federal 
judiciary's ability to fulfill its constitutional role. They create a 
backlog of cases that prevents people from having their day in court. 
This is unacceptable.
  We can consider and confirm this President's nominations to the 
Federal bench in a timely manner. President Obama has worked with both 
Democratic and Republican home State Senators to identify superbly 
qualified consensus nominations.
  None of the nominations on the Executive Calendar are controversial. 
They all have the support of their home State Senators, Republicans and 
Democrats. All have a strong commitment to the rule of law. All have 
demonstrated faithfulness to the Constitution.
  During President Bush's first term, his first 4 tumultuous years in 
office, we proceeded to confirm 205 of his judicial nominations. This 
was after 60 of President Clinton's nominations had been pocket-
filibustered by those on the other side of the aisle. I decided not to 
continue that trend and we showed good faith in moving 100 of President 
Bush's nominees in the 17 months that I was chairman. During the 
remaining 31 months under Republican control, the Senate confirmed 
another 105 judicial nominations. So far in President Obama's third 
year in office, the Senate has only been allowed to consider 67 of his 
Federal circuit and district court nominees.

[[Page 2713]]

  We remain well short of the benchmark we set during the Bush 
administration. When we approach it, we can reduce vacancies from the 
historically high levels at which they have remained throughout the 
first 3 years of the Obama administration to the historically low level 
we reached toward the end of the Bush administration.
  I have often said that the 100 of us in the Senate stand in the shoes 
of over 300 million Americans. We owe it to them to do our 
constitutional duty of voting on the President's nominations to be 
Federal judges. We owe it to them to make sure that hard-working 
Americans are able to have their cases heard in our Federal courts.
  I know the distinguished Senator from Iowa is going to want to speak 
and time has been reserved for him. I first yield to the Senator from 
Pennsylvania on my time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Pennsylvania.
  Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I rise to ask unanimous consent to speak as 
in morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  (The remarks of Mr. Casey are printed in today's Record under 
``Morning Business.'')
  Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I yield the floor, and 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. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, I rise today, along with my colleague 
from Georgia, Senator Isakson, to commend to this body the confirmation 
of two judges who have been nominated by President Obama for the 
Northern District of Georgia.
  First of all, Amy Totenberg is an Atlanta lawyer who certainly has 
the academic credentials that have prepared her well--a graduate of 
both Radcliffe College and Harvard and also Harvard Law School. She 
began law practice in Atlanta in 1977 with the Law Project and then 
went out on her own for 20 years. During her time as a solo 
practitioner, she specialized in constitutional rights litigation and 
also became a well-known arbitrator and mediator, particularly in 
employment and civil rights cases. She served as a court-appointed 
monitor and mediator for the U.S. District Court for the District of 
Columbia and has served as a special master for the U.S. District Court 
in Maryland on an institutional education reform case. Ms. Totenberg 
has a wealth of experience on that issue, having served as general 
counsel to the city of Atlanta's Board of Education from 1994 to 1998 
and also having served as a part-time municipal court judge in Atlanta 
for several years. She also has been an adjunct professor at Emory 
University Law School.
  She has been deeply involved in her community. In addition to her 
legal activities, Ms. Totenberg has been a member of the State 
Personnel Boards, served as a member of the Governor's Education Reform 
Commission, and given her time to Hands On Atlanta, the city's largest 
volunteer service program.
  I commend Ms. Totenberg for confirmation today as her name comes 
before this body.
  Steve Jones has been a friend for a long time. He is a guy who, if 
you had to pick a jurist, you would want to go before whether you are a 
lawyer, a defendant, or a plaintiff in a civil lawsuit.
  Steve Jones is a native of Athens, GA, and attended the University of 
Georgia both as an undergraduate and as a graduate of the law school. 
He began his legal career as assistant district attorney before 
becoming a municipal court judge. In 1995, he was appointed to the 
superior court bench for the Western Judicial Circuit, which covers 
both Clarke and Oconee Counties, two of the fastest growing counties in 
our State. In his capacity as a superior court judge, Steve presided 
over both criminal and civil cases. He has also supervised the 
circuit's felony drug court for 6 years.
  His list of honors and awards is truly too numerous to mention here 
for this body, but he has been awarded the State Bar of Georgia's 
Distinguished Judicial Service Award, Georgia Legal Services Program's 
Georgia Justice Builder Award, the University of Georgia President's 
Fulfilling the Dream Award, the Boy Scouts of America Distinguished 
Citizen Award, the Chief Justice Robert Benham Award for community 
service beyond official work, and the Julian Bond Humanitarian Award.
  He has been very active in the Athens and Clark County communities. 
Steve is a wonderful person, a great family man, a great community 
citizen, and an outstanding jurist. He is going to make a truly 
outstanding district court judge on the northern district court in 
Atlanta.
  I yield to my colleague, Senator Isakson.
  Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I rise to second the statements made by 
Senator Chambliss on these two nominees to the northern district of 
Georgia court, Amy Totenberg and Steve Jones. Amy Totenberg is an 
attorney, in practice for many years, a judge, an arbitrator, a 
mediator, and an educator. She brings a wealth of experience to the 
bench in many areas, not the least of which is personnel law. In fact, 
during her term of service to the Atlanta Board of Education in the 
mid-1990s, I was chairman of the State Board of Education and dealt 
with the major litigation pieces that went through the system of 
education in Georgia. I know of her competence, her ability, and the 
trust her colleagues have in her, and I think she will be an excellent 
appointee to the northern district of Georgia bench.
  Steve Jones is the real deal. He is a terrific individual, one of 
those people who is so active in trying to make the community better. 
One example is Clark County in Athens where Steve has been a superior 
court judge for many years, which is one of the leading and founding 
drug courts in America, an intervention court that intervenes in those 
first drug cases when young people are caught for the first time, works 
with them as an advocate and as a mentor to see to it they never return 
to drugs and therefore never return to crime. That is just one example 
of his intensity in trying to make his community better.
  He is respected by lawyers throughout the circuit, he is respected by 
his fellow judges, and he is deeply respected by me as an individual 
who brings great credit to the State and great credit to the bench.
  I urge all our colleagues tonight on the vote for Steve Jones and Amy 
Totenberg to unanimously support both of those nominees to the northern 
district of Georgia bench.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, we are continuing in our cooperative 
effort to fill vacancies in the Federal judiciary that have been 
designated as judicial emergencies. Today, the Senate will confirm two 
more of President Obama's judicial nominees. I am pleased we are moving 
forward on consensus nominees who will lessen the burden on our 
overworked courts.
  My Republican colleagues and I continue to demonstrate our ability 
and desire to work with the President and the Democratic majority. We 
will have confirmed 7 judicial nominees in just 17 short days the 
Senate has been in session this Congress. We have reported out of 
committee a total of 15 judicial nominees, or 29 percent of the total 
nominees submitted. We have already held two hearings in committee on 
eight judicial nominees, with additional nominees scheduled for a 
hearing later this week. With this quick and productive pace, we have 
taken positive action on 55 percent of the judicial nominations sent to 
the committee this year.
  I continue to work with the chairman to ensure all nominees are 
afforded a fair but thorough process, in a timely manner. I have 
appreciated the chairman's courtesy as we work together to set 
schedules and agendas. It

[[Page 2714]]

is imperative that the administration work with us, as well, to fill 
vacancies. I am particularly concerned about those seats designated as 
judicial emergencies.
  We continue to hear about the high judicial vacancy rate. I think the 
record is clear that the Senate is addressing that issue in vigorous 
manner. However, I continue to note that the President has failed to 
submit a nomination for over half of the vacancies. For judicial 
emergencies, over 57 percent of those seats have no nominee.
  The two vacancies we are filling today took some time for a 
nomination to be sent to the Senate. Both seats became vacant in 
December 2008, at the end of the Bush administration. It took President 
Obama over a year to name a nominee for one seat, and nearly a year and 
a half to nominate for the other seat. So those who are concerned about 
a high vacancy rate in the Federal judiciary should pay attention to 
the nomination process, not just Senate confirmations.
  I will say a few words about the nominees who are scheduled to have 
votes today. I thank our leadership for the reasonable arrangement that 
was reached to consider these nominations.
  First, Amy Totenberg is nominated to be a U.S. district court judge 
for the Northern District of Georgia. She received her A.B., magna cum 
laude, and her J.D. from Harvard University. Upon graduation, she 
joined the Law Project as a partner, where she focused on Federal 
constitutional and employment law. She left the Law Project to become a 
solo practitioner where she maintained a general civil practice. Ms. 
Totenberg also served as municipal court judge for Atlanta, and was 
appointed by the Atlanta Board of Education as the first in-house 
general counsel for the Atlanta Public School District.
  Over the past decade, while maintaining a solo practice, Ms. 
Totenberg has spent the majority of her time as a special master, 
monitor, and arbitrator/monitor for the U.S. district courts in 
Maryland and Washington, DC. The American Bar Association Standing 
Committee on the Federal Judiciary unanimously rated her ``Well-
Qualified.''
  Our second nominee, Steve C. Jones, is also nominated to be a U.S. 
district judge for the Northern District of Georgia. Judge Jones 
received his B.B.A. and his J.D. from the University of Georgia.
  An experienced jurist, he began his legal career as an assistant 
district attorney for the Western judicial District of Georgia. In 
1993, Judge Jones began service as a municipal court judge for Athens-
Clarke County, GA. He was appointed by Governor Zell Miller, in 1995, 
to serve as a superior court judge for the Western Judicial Circuit. He 
was subsequently re-elected four times and is the presiding judge for 
the Felony Drug Court. Aside from his daily duties to the bench, Judge 
Jones was appointed by the Georgia Supreme Court to serve on the 
Judicial Qualifications Commission. He also functioned as its chairman 
from 2002 to 2006. On and off the bench, Judge Jones has contributed to 
his community. He has invested time to help Georgia Legal Services, as 
well as a local anti-poverty initiative, Partners for a Prosperous 
Athens/OneAthens. The American Bar Association Standing Committee on 
the Federal Judiciary unanimously rated him ``Well-Qualified.''
  I support these two nominees, and congratulate them for their 
achievement and public service. I will continue to work with the 
chairman to move forward on consensus nominees, as we have done with 
these two nominations.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. President, 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. LEAHY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Under the previous order, the nomination of Amy Totenberg, of 
Georgia, to be United States District Judge for the Northern District 
of Georgia is confirmed.
  The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the nomination 
of Steve C. Jones, of Georgia, to be United States District Judge for 
the Northern District of Georgia?
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I understand there has been a request for a 
rollcall vote on Judge Jones, although I would recommend if we have 
such it be unanimous. I see the distinguished Senator from Georgia, Mr. 
Isakson, on the floor. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant editor of the Daily Digest called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Hawaii (Mr. Akaka), the 
Senator from New York (Mrs. Gillibrand), the Senator from Connecticut 
(Mr. Lieberman), and the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Rockefeller) 
are necessarily absent.
  Mr. KYL. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator 
from New Hampshire (Ms. Ayotte), the Senator from Arkansas (Mr. 
Boozman), the Senator from Oklahoma (Mr. Inhofe), the Senator from 
Arizona (Mr. McCain), the Senator from Kentucky (Mr. Paul), and the 
Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Toomey).
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Manchin). Are there any other Senators in 
the Chamber desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 90, nays 0, as follows:

                       [Rollcall Vote No. 26 Ex.]

                                YEAS--90

     Alexander
     Barrasso
     Baucus
     Begich
     Bennet
     Bingaman
     Blumenthal
     Blunt
     Boxer
     Brown (MA)
     Brown (OH)
     Burr
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Chambliss
     Coats
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Collins
     Conrad
     Coons
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Crapo
     DeMint
     Durbin
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Feinstein
     Franken
     Graham
     Grassley
     Hagan
     Harkin
     Hatch
     Hoeven
     Hutchison
     Inouye
     Isakson
     Johanns
     Johnson (SD)
     Johnson (WI)
     Kerry
     Kirk
     Klobuchar
     Kohl
     Kyl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Lee
     Levin
     Lugar
     Manchin
     McCaskill
     McConnell
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Mikulski
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Murray
     Nelson (NE)
     Nelson (FL)
     Portman
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rubio
     Sanders
     Schumer
     Sessions
     Shaheen
     Shelby
     Snowe
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Thune
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Vitter
     Warner
     Webb
     Whitehouse
     Wicker
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--10

     Akaka
     Ayotte
     Boozman
     Gillibrand
     Inhofe
     Lieberman
     McCain
     Paul
     Rockefeller
     Toomey
  The nomination was confirmed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The motions to reconsider are laid on the 
table. The President will be immediately notified of the Senate's 
action.

                          ____________________