[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Page 11362]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   TRIBUTE TO JUDGE WILLIAM F. DOWNES

  Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President. On July 24, 2011, Chief U.S. District 
Judge William F. Downes will retire after 17 years on the Federal bench 
in Wyoming.
  Judge Downes has long recognized that for our democracy to survive, a 
strong judicial branch is necessary. As he acknowledged during his 
Senate Judiciary nomination hearing in 1994, the strength of the 
judiciary is not determined by activist judges and changing the law to 
achieve a desired outcome. Rather, a strong judiciary consists of 
judges who uphold the Constitution, are thorough in their decisions, 
have not formulated an opinion prior to a case being heard, and treat 
people with respect and decency. This was the standard that Judge 
Downes set for himself in 1994. By all accounts he achieved that 
standard in his courtroom.
  Judge Downes, the grandson of Irish immigrants, has enjoyed the 
opportunity to welcome new citizens to our nation by performing 
Naturalization ceremonies. Cited as one of the highlights of his 
career, he has always said a Naturalization ceremony is one of the few 
times people come to the courthouse happy and leave even happier.
  He began his public service early in life when he served in the U.S. 
Marine Corps from 1968 to 1971. Though he did not make military service 
his career, his career in the law has been profoundly affected by his 
military service.
  In an article that appeared in the 2007 June edition of the Wyoming 
Lawyer, Judge Downes discusses the important role played by the citizen 
jury system in our government. He quotes from a letter sent by Thomas 
Jefferson to Thomas Paine:

       I consider trial by jury as the only anchor yet devised by 
     man by which the government can be held to the principles of 
     the Constitution.

  In the same article, he describes two photos he keeps under the glass 
top of his desk. One photo is of his family on Easter Sunday in 1985. 
The other photo, from the spring of 2003, is of a 6-year-old boy named 
Tony, clutching a teddy bear, walking out of a church, wiping tears 
from his eyes. He had just attended the funeral of his father, MAJ 
Kevin G. Nave, USMC, who died on March 26, 2003, in the early stages of 
the Iraq war.
  Judge Downes writes:

       Kevin Nave died so that we might have the opportunity to 
     live under a Constitution which guarantees us the opportunity 
     of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

  He ends his article with the following:

       Thomas Jefferson and the other founding fathers of this 
     Nation expected that we citizens would participate in the 
     governance of our nation and, by our efforts, make it a more 
     perfect union. If we judges and lawyers do our utmost to 
     uphold the constitutional right to trial by jury, we will 
     achieve the highest aspiration of our profession. For Tony's 
     sake, and for all our children, we can do no less.

  Judge Downes achieved the highest aspiration of his profession. He 
has contributed to the governance of our Nation with distinction.
  Mr. President, I ask my colleagues to join me in thanking Judge 
Downes, a true American Patriot, for his service to Wyoming and to our 
Nation.

                          ____________________