[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Pages 5037-5042]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           EXECUTIVE SESSION

                                 ______
                                 

NOMINATION OF JIMMIE V. REYNA TO BE UNITED STATES CIRCUIT JUDGE FOR THE 
                            FEDERAL CIRCUIT

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will 
proceed to executive session to report the following nomination.
  The assistant bill clerk read the nomination of Jimmie V. Reyna, of 
Maryland, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Federal Circuit.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, there be will 1 hour 
of debate equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or 
their designees.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that, however the 
time is divided, the vote begin no later than 5:30.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I thank the majority leader for beginning 
another work week by scheduling a confirmation vote on an important 
judicial nomination. The nomination of Jimmie V. Reyna to the Federal 
circuit was reported unanimously by the Judiciary Committee on March 
10. I expect his nomination to be confirmed with strong bipartisan 
support, likely unanimously.
  That is also true of many of the other judicial nominations pending 
on the Senate's Executive Calendar, including several for what have 
been designated judicial emergency vacancies in New York, California, 
Florida and Tennessee. With nearly one out of every nine Federal 
judgeships vacant, we should act responsibly to address this vacancies 
crisis by voting promptly on nominations favorably reported by the 
Judiciary Committee. After this confirmation today, the nominations of 
another dozen judges and that of the Deputy Attorney General of the 
United States will remain pending and awaiting Senate consideration and 
final Senate action. Several of the judicial nominations and that of 
the Deputy Attorney General have been waiting final Senate action since 
last year.
  At his confirmation hearing in February, Mr. Reyna was introduced to 
the Judiciary Committee by both of his home State Senators, Senator 
Mikulski and Senator Cardin of Maryland. Senator Cornyn of Texas, a 
Republican, also joined Senator Cardin in recommending Mr. Reyna to 
President Obama. When he is confirmed, Mr. Reyna will become the first 
Latino to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. A 
past president of the Hispanic National Bar Association, Mr. Reyna has 
excelled in private practice for 30 years, specializing in 
international trade law. He was unanimously rated by the American Bar 
Association's Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary as well 
qualified to serve on this court, its highest possible rating.
  The Judiciary Committee received letters of support for Mr. Reyna's 
nomination from the Customs and International Trade Bar Association, 
CITBA, and from the former Chairs of the ABA Section of International 
Law. In its letter, CITBA described Mr. Reyna's temperament as 
``ideal'' and commented that ``[h]e is fair and focused and he has 
dedicated his life not just to practice in this field of law, but to 
scholarly writing in this field.'' The former Chairs of the ABA Section 
of International Law write that they ``believe he has the professional 
credentials, the experience and skills, the appropriate temperament, 
and the fair and sound judgment that would enable him to serve on the 
Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit with distinction and honor.''
  Mr. Reyna's nomination demonstrates President Obama's commitment to 
working with Senators to select well-qualified nominees, and his 
commitment to increasing diversity on the Federal bench. It is 
appropriate that we are considering Mr. Reyna's nomination in a timely 
manner. There is no reason it should take weeks and months for the 
Senate to consider nominees reported by the Judiciary Committee, 
particularly those who are consensus nominees.
  Mr. Renya's nomination is one of 13 judicial nominations currently 
awaiting a Senate vote after being favorably reported by the Judiciary 
Committee. Two of those nominations have twice been considered by the 
Judiciary Committee and twice reported with strong bipartisan support, 
first last year and again in February. They are Susan Carney of 
Connecticut to fill a judicial emergency vacancy on the United States 
Court of Appeals for the Second

[[Page 5038]]

Circuit and Michael Simon to fill a vacancy on the District Court in 
Oregon. Another has been reported favorably three times with bipartisan 
support, that of Jack McConnell to the District of Rhode Island. 
Another currently pending nomination has been reported favorably four 
times, that of Judge Edward Chen to a judicial emergency vacancy on the 
Northern District of California. All of these nominations have long 
been ready for a Senate vote. So are nominations now pending to fill a 
judicial vacancy on the DC Circuit, a second judicial emergency vacancy 
in California, judicial emergency vacancies in New York, Tennessee, and 
Florida, two vacancies in Virginia, and a vacancy in New Jersey. I 
expect the Judiciary Committee will consider and report additional 
judicial nominations this week, adding to the number of judicial 
nominations ready for final Senate action.
  Federal judicial vacancies around the country still number too many, 
and they have persisted for too long. Nearly one out of every nine 
Federal judgeships remains vacant. Whereas the Democratic majority in 
the Senate reduced vacancies from 110 to 60 in President Bush's first 2 
years, judicial vacancies still number 95 over 26 months into President 
Obama's term. By now, judicial vacancies should have been cut in half, 
but we have barely kept up with attrition.
  Regrettably, rather than reduce vacancies dramatically as we did 
during the Bush administration, the Senate has reversed course during 
the Obama administration, with the slow pace of confirmations keeping 
judicial vacancies at crisis levels. Over the 8 years of the Bush 
administration, from 2001 to 2009, we reduced judicial vacancies from 
110 to a low of 34. That has now been reversed, with vacancies first 
topping 90 in August 2009 and staying above that level since. The 
vacancy rate which we already had reduced from 10 percent at the end of 
President Clinton's term to 6 percent by this date in President Bush's 
third year, and ultimately to less than 4 percent in 2008, has now 
risen back up to nearly 11 percent.
  This high level of vacancies puts at serious risk the ability of all 
Americans to have a fair hearing in court. The real price being paid 
for these unnecessary delays in filling vacancies is that the judges 
that remain are overburdened and the American people who depend on them 
are being denied hearings and justice in a timely fashion.
  A recent article in the Harrisburg, PA, Patriot News entitled 
``Senior judges ease `a very serious shortage,''' illustrates the 
extent of this burden. The article focuses on Senior Judge Malcolm Muir 
of the Middle District of Pennsylvania who, ``[a]t age 96 . . . still 
comes to work every day, minus the occasional holiday. Hearing problems 
keep him out of the courtroom, but his workload hardly has decreased.'' 
Judge Muir could long since have entered his well-deserved retirement. 
But it is good he has not because, according to the article, ``[i]n the 
Middle District of Pennsylvania, eight of the 11 sitting judges are 
seniors,'' including one who joined the bench in 1962. This is not only 
a local issue. I know courts in Michigan, Illinois, the District of 
Columbia, Arizona and elsewhere across the Nation have faced similar 
problems. According to the Patriot News, ``nationwide, senior judges 
handle 21 percent of the federal court's caseload.'' I ask that a copy 
of this article be printed in the Record at the conclusion of my 
statement.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  (See exhibit 1)
  Mr. LEAHY. I am grateful to the senior judges who are willing to step 
in and take large caseloads, and to the active judges who continue to 
work hard to keep the courts functioning, but the Senate must do 
better. We must work together to ensure that the Federal judiciary has 
the judges it needs to provide justice to Americans in courts 
throughout the country. 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.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.
  We should follow the model we are following today by considering and 
confirming the President's nominations to the Federal bench in a timely 
manner. President Obama has worked with Senators from both sides of the 
aisle to identify superbly qualified nominees in districts with 
vacancies. All 13 of the nominations on the Executive Calendar have the 
support of their home State Senators, Republicans and Democrats. All 
have a strong commitment to the rule of law and a demonstrated 
faithfulness to the Constitution. All should have an up or down vote 
after being considered by the Judiciary Committee, and without weeks of 
needless delay.
  I have thanked the Ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, 
Senator Grassley, for his cooperation this year. I see him taking 
credit for what he calls ``our rapid pace.'' I am glad to see him echo 
my call to turn the page and end the days of tit for tat on judicial 
nominations. That is what I did from the first days of the Bush 
administration in spite of how President Clinton's nominees had been 
treated. I hope he will work with me so that we can continue not only 
to report nominations, but to vote on them in the Senate.
  We have a long way to go to do as well as we did during President 
Bush's first term, when we confirmed 205 of his judicial nominations, 
bringing the vacancy rate down from 10 percent to just over 4 percent. 
We confirmed 100 of those judicial nominations during the 17 months I 
was chairman during President Bush's first 2 years in office. So far, 
well into President Obama's third year in office, the Senate has only 
been allowed to consider 75 of President Obama's Federal circuit and 
district court nominees. We remain well short of the benchmarks we set 
during the Bush administration.
  I hope that it is a sign of progress that we are today proceeding to 
confirm a judicial nominee considered and reported last month and hope 
that we can continue to work to restore regular order in considering 
judicial nominations. I would hope that we could clear the calendar of 
nominees before the next recess and that at a minimum the Senate 
proceed to confirm those who will be confirmed unanimously. If we join 
together we can make real progress by considering all of the judicial 
nominations now on the Senate's Executive Calendar.
  I congratulate Jimmie Renya and his family on his confirmation today.

                   [From Pennlive.com, Mar. 23, 2011]

              Senior Judges Ease `a Very Serious Shortage'

                            (By Matt Miller)

       Judge Malcolm Muir leads a group of new U.S. citizens in 
     the oath of allegiance during a naturalization ceremony at 
     the U.S. Courthouse and Federal Office Building in 
     Williamsport, Pa.
       At age 96, long after his contemporaries have retired, U.S. 
     Middle District Senior Judge Malcolm Muir still comes to work 
     every day, minus the occasional holiday.
       Hearing problems keep him out of the courtroom, but his 
     workload hardly has decreased.
       Muir is inundated with Social Security appeals. He handles 
     most of those types of cases for the entire district, which 
     spans Pennsylvania's core.
       ``Some of those files are large,'' Muir said. ``I just got 
     one last week that was 7 inches thick.''
       It is likely that without Muir and other senior judges, the 
     federal court system would implode.
       Those jurists have agreed to keep presiding with no extra 
     pay long after they could have stepped comfortably into 
     retirement.
       Nationwide, senior judges handle 21 percent of the federal 
     court's caseload. In the Middle District of Pennsylvania, 
     eight of the 11 sitting judges are seniors. The longest-
     serving senior judge in the district, William J. Nealon, 
     joined the bench in 1962.
       Muir is the nation's fourth-oldest serving federal senior 
     judge.
       Senior judges are particularly vital given that more than 
     90 federal judgeships across the nation--10 percent of 
     regular full-time posts--remain unfilled, often because of 
     political wrangling in Washington, D.C.
       Judicial appointments are recommended by the president but 
     require congressional sanction.

[[Page 5039]]

       In the Middle District, which serves 33 of the state's 67 
     counties, there are three regular judge vacancies. President 
     Barack Obama has made a recommendation to fill only one of 
     them, with Scranton labor lawyer Robert David Mariani.
       Senior Judge Richard P. Conaboy, who like Muir helps keep 
     the Middle District running, said he checked on the status of 
     Mariani's appointment recently and was told ``there is no 
     movement at all.''
       ``It's frustrating,'' the 86-year-old Conaboy said. ``The 
     cases keep piling up. We have much more civil rights, 
     employment discrimination and immigration lawsuits.''
       There is no question that the court is busier than when he 
     was appointed to the bench during the Carter administration 
     in 1979, he said.
       He also noted there were no senior judges then.
       Yvette Kane, chief judge of the Middle District, said ``the 
     wheels would stop turning'' for her court if the senior 
     judges abandoned their essentially volunteer service.
       The district, which logs 2,500 new case filings each year, 
     is experiencing ``a very serious judicial shortage'' and 
     needs to have its three judicial vacancies filled, Kane said.
       She said she is requesting that a seventh judgeship be 
     added to the court's roster. The 3rd U.S. Court of Appeals 
     has approved the proposal, Kane said, and if backed by the 
     U.S. Judicial Conference this year, it would go to Congress.
       ``This district is already underserved'' in terms of 
     judges, she said, noting that her court ranks 12th in the 
     nation among federal courts in terms of trial activity.
       The three regular judge vacancies on her court arose when 
     Judges James Munley and A. Richard Caputo in the Scranton 
     division took senior status in January and March 2009, 
     respectively, and Judge Thomas I. Vanaskie was elevated to 
     the 3rd Circuit Court last April.
       Larry Smar, deputy chief of staff for U.S. Sen. Robert P. 
     Casey Jr., D-Pa., said his boss and former Sen. Arlen Specter 
     submitted three names of judicial candidates for the state's 
     Middle and Western District courts to the president last 
     year.
       Smar said Casey and Specter's successor, Sen. Pat Toomey, 
     is ``currently working on establishing a process moving 
     forward'' to fill the remaining court vacancies.
       Kane said her court received a major blow in December with 
     the death of 79-year-old Senior Judge James F. McClure Jr., 
     one of the district's younger senior judges.
       ``He was a workhorse,'' she said.
       Without McClure, Kane said, the court's regular judges have 
     had to travel more often among the district's offices to 
     cover the caseload.
       Despite their obvious value, McClure's loss highlights the 
     tenuous nature of the reliance on senior judges, she said.
       ``No one knows how long they're going to be able to do 
     this,'' Kane said.
       Being short-staffed on regular judges has its effects, 
     especially because the senior judges often ``are not able to 
     travel or manage trial dockets as they once did, and should 
     not be expected to do so,'' she said.
       ``Although we're going to get the work done, it's not ideal 
     for the litigants,'' Kane said. ``It results in delays.''
       Three midstate attorneys who practice regularly in federal 
     court--John Abom, Dennis Boyle and Karl Rominger--said they 
     haven't experienced delays in the handling of cases.
       ``Decisions are rendered in a quick period of time,'' said 
     Abom, who has appeared before federal judges since 1999.
       Rominger said the experience of the seniors brings value. 
     ``The senior judges are the court's institutional memory,'' 
     he said.
       Some might wonder why senior judges stay on when they could 
     retire and escape their often crushing caseloads.
       They are paid $174,000 annually for the rest of their lives 
     regardless of whether they stay or go, so senior judges make 
     no extra money by continuing to work.
       Conaboy said the need to fill the Middle District judge 
     vacancies is desperate.
       ``It is a crisis here in our district,'' he said, noting 
     that senior judges do at least 80 percent of the work in the 
     Middle District's northern zone, which is centered on 
     Scranton.
       Yet Conaboy said he wouldn't walk away even if all the 
     judge vacancies were filled.
       ``I work every day. I'm not complaining because I've always 
     had an interest in the workings of the justice system,'' he 
     said. ``I want to see that the system works properly.''
       That's one of his motivations for continuing to weigh 
     cases. The other, he said, is that ``there's no one else to 
     do the work.''
       Still, senior judges are not a limitless resource, Conaboy 
     said.
       ``When you're 86, how long can you go on?'' he asked. 
     ``We'd like to lighten our workloads. Trial work gets to be a 
     much greater burden as you get older.''

  Mr. LEAHY. I see the distinguished Senator from Tennessee. I am going 
to suggest the absence of a quorum to speak with him for a moment 
before he speaks.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum and ask unanimous consent that the 
time be divided equally.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. ALEXANDER. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum 
call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.


               Remembering Former Governor Ned McWherter

  Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, it is my sad responsibility to announce 
that former Gov. Ned McWherter of Tennessee has died this afternoon. 
Ned had many friends here in Washington, but he had a lot more in 
Tennessee.
  What symbolized Ned McWherter to me was a story that occurred to me 
when I was elected Governor in 1978. I was a young Republican, about 37 
years old. There hadn't been many Republican Governors in Tennessee at 
that time. The whole State was one party. It was very Democratic. Ned 
McWherter was the speaker of the House. For those who knew Ned 
McWherter, he was a big, burly, Hoss Cartwright sort of fellow. He and 
the Lieutenant Governor, a Democrat, pretty well ran the capital.
  Shortly after I came in, the Capitol Hill media came up to speaker 
Ned McWherter and said: Well, Mr. Speaker, what are you going to do 
with this new young Republican Governor?
  Speaker McWherter said: I am going to help him, because if he 
succeeds, our State succeeds.
  For 8 years, as he was speaker and I was Governor, he did that. The 
people of Tennessee apparently didn't mind it because after I left, 
they elected him Governor. He served for 8 years. That sort of 
bipartisan cooperation was the way I learned about politics in 
Tennessee. Ned was a pretty thoroughgoing Democrat. He was one of 
President Clinton's closest friends and early allies. Democrats all 
around the country came to him for his homespun advice. He had no 
problem working hard during election time to put legislators who were 
Democratic in place of Republicans who were already in their seats. 
That was not a problem for him. But in between elections, he knew what 
to do. We would meet in the Governor's office every Tuesday morning, 
and we would go over the issues, the Republican Governor and the 
Democratic leaders. Then we would decide what to do. If I came up with 
a better schools program, the Democrats would come up with an even 
better ``better schools'' program. So when Tennessee became the first 
State to pay teachers more for teaching well on a Statewide basis in 
1984, I made the proposal, but it was the result of a bipartisan 
education commission that Speaker McWherter and Lieutenant Governor 
Wilder, both Democrats, and I jointly agreed on. When the legislature 
agreed to it, I may have proposed it as Governor, but it was amended by 
the Weakley County amendment, which was the home county of Speaker 
McWherter. In other words, it was his willingness to fashion a 
consensus bill on a revolutionary idea at the time, to reward 
outstanding teachers by paying them more for teaching well.
  He did the same thing with highways and roads. Tennessee had one of 
the worst road systems in the country in the early 1980s. By the time 
we were finished, we had what the truckers called the best. We had 
three big road programs. We increased revenues to pay for it so we 
didn't run up any debt. In every case, Speaker McWherter supported and 
made sure legislation passed.
  When we became a State that attracted Japanese industry, he knew the 
commitments I made as a Republican Governor he would fulfill as a 
Democratic leader of the House of Representatives and that he would 
continue as a Democratic Governor. It was a seamless transition. The 
same was true with the automobile industry when it had begun to come to 
Tennessee. People began to look around for a central location with a 
right-to-work law and good working people. Through a succession of 
Governors--Republican, Democratic, Republican, Democratic--we worked 
together to do that.

[[Page 5040]]

  Of special interest to Washington, DC, right now, through all those 
Democratic and Republican Governors, we agreed our State would have 
almost no debt. Under Governor McWherter and Speaker McWherter, our 
State had almost no debt. If we needed something, we paid for it. As a 
result, we have low taxes.
  Ned McWherter was one of the finest public servants I ever had a 
chance to work with. He became a close friend. He had an infectious 
personality and great sense of humor. One of the last visits I had with 
him included the inauguration of the new Governor, Bill Haslam. Ned 
McWherter, who was 80 years old, and Jim Haslam, father of the new 
Governor, were the same age and the best of friends. Their sons 
competed for the right to be the new Governor of Tennessee. Governor 
McWherter and Jim Haslam, after the election, were the best of friends. 
That is the kind of person Ned McWherter was.
  There are a lot of people in our State who come in and out of 
politics. Maybe they are appreciated, maybe they are not. Only a few 
leave a lasting impression. Ned McWherter will be among the very few 
who leave the most impression. Part of it was his big, burly, 
infectious, lovable personality. Part of it was his good sense of 
politics and openness around the State capital. But a lot of it was his 
willingness to say to people such as a new young Governor of the 
opposite party: I am going to help you succeed, because if you succeed, 
our State succeeds.
  Governor McWherter and I talked many times. I talked with him most 
recently about 1 week ago. He was going to see his doctor again to find 
out whether, as he said, he had a short fuse or a long fuse. 
Apparently, he had a short fuse. He didn't have much life left in him, 
although he may not have known it. Perhaps he did. He used to joke and 
say the size of the crowd at your funeral will depend a lot on the 
weather. I think all of us in Tennessee would say the size of the crowd 
at Ned McWherter's funeral will have nothing to do with the weather, 
because I imagine it will be standing room only, with people pouring 
out of the back doors.
  We are sad he is gone. But it has been 80 remarkable years. The 
Governor who never graduated from college is the Governor who had the 
courage to put into State law the Sanders model for relating student 
achievement to teacher performance, helping our State win this 
administration's Race to the Top Award some 15 or 20 years later. He 
made a real contribution to our State. He has a big place in all our 
hearts. I am sad to report he is gone. But it is an important time to 
celebrate the life of a public servant whose lessons of how to achieve 
consensus and still be a good politician will be a good lesson for 
everyone in Washington, DC.
  I yield the floor, suggest the absence of a quorum, and ask unanimous 
consent that the time be equally divided between the parties.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, today our body, the Senate, is going to 
vote to confirm the 15th judicial nominee for this year. If it seems to 
my colleagues and to the public that we have been voting on a nominee 
every week, well, we have been voting on a nominee at least once a 
week. Both in committee and on the floor, judicial nominees have 
regularly appeared on the Senate's agenda. We have taken positive 
action on 34 of the 61 judicial nominees submitted to this Congress by 
President Obama. We continue to hold hearings every 2 weeks to examine 
the nominees' records and to receive testimony. The committee meets 
every week to report nominees to the floor. So far, the committee has 
reported 27 nominees, which is ahead of the 23 reported by this same 
time in the 108th Congress.
  This demonstrates my commitment and the commitment of Republicans on 
the Judiciary Committee to cooperate with the chairman to move forward 
on consensus nominees. Even as we do so, we continue to thoroughly 
examine the records and the qualifications of all nominees, which is 
the responsibility of the Senate.
  I would note that a number of judicial nominations and at least one 
executive branch nomination which remain on the Senate's Executive 
Calendar are controversial in nature--in other words, not the consensus 
approach which I have spoken about concerning other nominees to the 
judiciary. I appreciate the efforts of our leadership to move in a 
timely manner the nominations which are consensus nominees.
  Today, we will vote on the nomination of Jimmie V. Reyna to be a U.S. 
circuit judge for the Federal Circuit. Mr. Reyna received his B.A. from 
the University of Rochester and his juris doctorate from the University 
of New Mexico School of Law.
  After graduating from law school, the nominee served as law clerk for 
a firm and as an associate at an insurance defense firm in New Mexico. 
It was in 1981 that Mr. Reyna formed his own firm and practiced 
plaintiff injury, civil rights, and criminal law. He then moved to the 
Washington, DC, area in 1986 and worked at an international trade firm, 
eventually making partner of that law firm. Mr. Reyna continues to 
specialize in international trade matters with the firm of Williams 
Mullen, where he directs the international trade and customs practice 
group and the Latin American Task Force.
  The American Bar Association has rated this nominee unanimously 
``well qualified,'' and of course I am pleased to support that 
nomination.
  The Federal Circuit is unique among the courts of appeal. It is not 
geographical-based but has nationwide subject matter jurisdiction in 
designated areas of the law. In addition to international trade, the 
court hears cases on patents, trademarks, government contracts, certain 
money claims against the U.S. Government, veterans' benefits, and 
public safety officers' benefits claims.
  Of particular interest to me, this court has exclusive jurisdiction 
over cases related to Federal personnel matters. That includes 
exclusive jurisdiction over appeals from the Merit Systems Protection 
Board, which hears whistleblower cases under the Whistleblower 
Protection Act. If anybody wonders why this Senator said that I have a 
particular interest in this court and what it does on Federal personnel 
matters, it is because I have been a longtime advocate for 
whistleblower protection legislation and have been involved with my 
colleagues in this body in passing some of that whistleblower 
protection legislation.
  I congratulate Mr. Reyna and his family on this important lifetime 
appointment.
  Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor.
  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I rise in support of the nomination of 
Jimmie Reyna to be a U.S. Circuit Judge for the United States Court of 
Appeals for the Federal Circuit. I had recommended that Mr. Reyna be 
nominated.
  Mr. Reyna comes to the Senate with 23 years of experience in 
international trade law. Mr. Reyna currently is a partner in the 
Washington, DC, office of Williams Mullen. Mr. Reyna directs the firm's 
Trade and Customs Practice Group, as well as the firm's Latin America 
Task Force, and has also served for several years on his firm's board 
of directors, where he currently serves as vice president.
  In his practice, Mr. Reyna handles matters before the various federal 
agencies, and represents clients before the Court of International 
Trade, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and foreign 
governmental, administrative, and judicial bodies. He also serves on 
the roster of dispute settlement panelists for trade disputes under the 
North American Free Trade Agreement and the World Trade Organization 
Dispute Settlement Mechanism.

[[Page 5041]]

  Mr. Reyna has also authored several articles and two books on 
international trade issues, and his third book on the subject is due to 
be published this spring. His experience in trade law would bring 
important expertise to the Federal circuit, a unique court with 
nationwide jurisdiction that deals with many trade law issues and yet 
currently lacks a trade specialist.
  Mr. Reyna was admitted to the New Mexico Bar in 1979 and the District 
of Columbia bar in 1994. He received his J.D. from University of New 
Mexico School of Law and his BA from University of Rochester. The 
American Bar Association's Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary 
evaluated Mr. Reyna's nomination and rated him unanimously well 
qualified, the highest possible rating.
  Mr. Reyna's personal history is compelling. Born in New Mexico to a 
modest family, his missionary parents instilled in him a belief that 
all people are equal, a principle he has exemplified in his work to 
ensure that all people are treated fairly in our legal system. After 
law school, he worked as a litigator at a firm in Albuquerque and later 
established his own practice dealing with domestic relations, civil 
rights, tort, and criminal defense matters. In his practice, he often 
represented clients pro bono, devoting a large portion of his time to 
providing advice and representing individuals who could not afford 
legal assistance.
  A few years later, Mr. Reyna moved with his family to the Washington, 
DC metro area, where he built his well-regarded career in international 
trade.
  Mr. Reyna has continually proven that he is an outstanding and civic-
minded person. Mr. Reyna is a well-known national leader in U.S. 
Hispanic affairs. He has held various leadership positions in the 
Hispanic National Bar Association, HNBA, including national president, 
vice president of regional affairs, regional president, and chair of 
the International Law Committee. During his term as national president 
of HNBA, Mr. Reyna launched the association's first-ever community 
outreach program called ``The Promise in the Law,'' which was designed 
to instill trust and confidence in the U.S. legal system by the 
Hispanic communities. Mr. Reyna also created ``The HNBA Journal of Law 
and Policy,'' the HNBA's first law journal, which addresses policy and 
legal issues affecting the Hispanic community. Currently, he serves on 
the board of directors of the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda, an 
organization that includes the country's 29 largest leading Hispanic 
organizations.
  Mr. Reyna is also a founder and a member of the board of directors of 
the U.S.-Mexico Law Institute. He has received multiple awards for his 
service to the Hispanic community, including the 2009 Ohtli Medal 
Award, Mexico's highest award for a non-Mexican citizen. Through his 
work, Mr. Reyna has strived to ensure that members of disadvantaged 
communities are informed about the law, that the legal community is 
prepared to handle the legal challenges facing the growing Latino 
community, and that the judiciary remains strongly independent, 
impartial, and accessible to all.
  Mr. Reyna's civil service is not limited to his work for the Hispanic 
community. He has been recognized by the Court of International Trade 
for his extensive pro bono work before that court. He also serves on 
the board of directors of the Community Services for Autistic Adults 
and Children Foundation.
  Mr. Reyna's nomination would also bring much-needed diversity to the 
Federal circuit. Throughout his career, Mr. Reyna has shown a strong 
commitment to diversity and racial equality, not only through his 
service to the Hispanic community, but also through his service on the 
ABA Presidential Commission on Diversity in the Legal Profession, and 
as chair of the Williams Mullen Diversity Committee. If Mr. Reyna is 
confirmed, he would be the first Latino to serve on the Federal circuit 
in its history. With the nomination of Mr. Reyna, the Senate has 
another opportunity to further increase the diversity of the Federal 
bench.
  Because of his vast qualifications, Mr. Reyna's nomination has 
received support from various organizations and individuals, including 
the HNBA and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Additionally, seven 
former chairs of the American Bar Association Section on International 
Law wrote a letter of endorsement for Mr. Reyna, affirming that Mr. 
Reyna has ``the professional credentials, the experience and skills, 
the appropriate temperament, and the fair and sound judgment'' to serve 
on the Federal circuit.
  And, last but certainly not least, Mr. Reyna is a resident of Silver 
Spring, MD, and a constituent of mine.
  In conclusion I urge the Senate to confirm Mr. Reyna's nomination to 
be a U.S. circuit judge for court of appeals for the Federal circuit.
  Mr. BENNET. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Franken). Is there a sufficient second? 
There is a sufficient second.
  The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the nomination 
of Jimmie V. Reyna, of Maryland, to be United States Circuit Judge for 
the Federal Circuit?
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from North Dakota (Mr. 
Conrad), the Senator from Minnesota (Ms. Klobuchar), the Senator from 
New Jersey (Mr. Lautenberg), the Senator from Oregon (Mr. Merkley), the 
Senator from Rhode Island (Mr. Reed), and the Senator from Michigan 
(Ms. Stabenow) are necessarily absent.
  I further announce that, if present and voting, the Senator from 
Rhode Island (Mr. Reed) would vote ``yea.''
  Mr. KYL. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator 
from South Carolina (Mr. DeMint), the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. 
Graham), the Senator from Texas (Mrs. Hutchison), the Senator from 
Idaho (Mr. Risch), the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Toomey), the 
Senator from Louisiana (Mr. Vitter), the Senator from Mississippi (Mr. 
Wicker), and the Senator from Illinois (Mr. Kirk).
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Manchin). Are there any other Senators in 
the Chamber desiring to vote?
  The result was anounced--yeas 86, nays 0, as follows:

                       [Rollcall Vote No. 47 Ex.]

                                YEAS--86

     Akaka
     Alexander
     Ayotte
     Barrasso
     Baucus
     Begich
     Bennet
     Bingaman
     Blumenthal
     Blunt
     Boozman
     Boxer
     Brown (MA)
     Brown (OH)
     Burr
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Chambliss
     Coats
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Collins
     Coons
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Crapo
     Durbin
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Feinstein
     Franken
     Gillibrand
     Grassley
     Hagan
     Harkin
     Hatch
     Hoeven
     Inhofe
     Inouye
     Isakson
     Johanns
     Johnson (SD)
     Johnson (WI)
     Kerry
     Kohl
     Kyl
     Landrieu
     Leahy
     Lee
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lugar
     Manchin
     McCain
     McCaskill
     McConnell
     Menendez
     Mikulski
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Murray
     Nelson (NE)
     Nelson (FL)
     Paul
     Portman
     Pryor
     Reid
     Roberts
     Rockefeller
     Rubio
     Sanders
     Schumer
     Sessions
     Shaheen
     Shelby
     Snowe
     Tester
     Thune
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Warner
     Webb
     Whitehouse
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--14

     Conrad
     DeMint
     Graham
     Hutchison
     Kirk
     Klobuchar
     Lautenberg
     Merkley
     Reed
     Risch
     Stabenow
     Toomey
     Vitter
     Wicker
  The nomination was confirmed.
 Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I regret that a commitment in 
Minnesota has prevented me from being able to cast my vote in support 
of Mr. Jimmie V. Reyna's confirmation to be a judge on the U.S. Court 
of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. I believe that Mr. Reyna has the 
stellar qualifications, intellectual capability, temperament and 
integrity that are the hallmarks of our finest federal judges. Had I 
been present this evening, I would have cast my vote in support of Mr. 
Reyna.
  I had the pleasure of being introduced to Mr. Reyna last year by 
Peter Reyes, a constituent of mine who is an intellectual property 
lawyer and a leader in the Minnesota Hispanic Bar Association. Upon 
meeting Mr. Reyna,

[[Page 5042]]

it was easy to see what the American Bar Association later confirmed 
when it unanimously gave him the highest possible rating for a judicial 
nominee: he is well qualified. I know that Mr. Reyna's three decades of 
experience in private practice focusing on international trade issues 
will serve him well given the Federal circuit's unique jurisdiction. I 
congratulate Mr. Reyna on his confirmation.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the motion to 
reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table.
  The President will be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

                          ____________________