[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Pages 10141-10143]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                               NOMINATION

  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I rise to speak about an important vote 
we are going to be taking today to confirm the next U.S. district judge 
for the Eastern District of Washington State.
  It is not every day that I get to support a nominee who also happens 
to be a former intern in my Senate office, but it is also not every day 
that a man who is the son of a migrant farmworker and himself worked on 
farms in the Yakima Valley is called upon by the President of the 
United States to become the very first Latino Federal judge in the 
Eastern District of Washington. So I am incredibly proud to stand in 
support of Judge Salvador Mendoza, Jr., whose confirmation we will vote 
on shortly.
  Through his life story, Judge Mendoza represents the very best of my 
home State's honest, hard-working spirit. Through his work ethic, his 
commitment to his community, and his belief in equal opportunity, Judge 
Mendoza is a leader and a role model for families throughout our State, 
particularly young men and women born into poverty and difficult 
circumstances. In fact, in his application to serve as Federal judge, 
he discussed his own upbringing, and I wish to quote him. Judge Mendoza 
wrote:

       I wrote and studied hard to better myself and my family. I 
     understood then what I believe now, that both the quality of 
     the educational system coupled with a strong system of 
     justice will lift up the entire community.

  Those are the words of a man who belongs in our judicial system. It 
should

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come as no surprise that throughout his professional life, Judge 
Mendoza has stayed true to those words. From serving as a trustee for 
Columbia Basin College to helping to coordinate the annual Tri-Cities 
Youth and Justice Conference, to helping create the first drug court 
for Benton and Franklin counties, Judge Mendoza has given his time and 
experience, investing in institutions that lift communities throughout 
our State.
  Judge Mendoza is currently a superior court judge, but his judicial 
career spans private practice, service as an assistant attorney 
general, and years of experience in superior, district, municipal, and 
juvenile court. He is an experienced practitioner in Federal court and 
served from 2010 to 2013 as lawyer representative to the Ninth Circuit 
Judicial Conference.
  Through his many years of legal practice and judicial experience, 
Judge Mendoza will come to the Federal bench well prepared.
  Judge Mendoza has described his judicial philosophy as guided by the 
principles of patience, respect, and humility--the same principles that 
have guided his life and legal career--and principles that will serve 
him well as a member of the Federal judiciary.
  Let me close by thanking him for his willingness to serve Washington 
State as a Federal judge. I have always believed that as a country we 
are at our best when good people are willing to give of themselves in 
service to others. It is that kind of service to others that has 
defined Judge Mendoza throughout his career and that will continue to 
define him as he assumes the duties of this new office.
  I am proud to support his nomination to be U.S. district judge, and I 
urge our colleagues to support his nomination as well.
  I thank the Chair.
  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.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.
  Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I rise to support the nomination of 
Salvador Mendoza, Jr., to be a district judge for the Eastern District 
of our State. I applaud the Senate Judiciary Committee for favorably 
reporting Mr. Mendoza's nomination on a bipartisan basis out of the 
committee with a 17-to-1 vote, so he enjoys a great deal of support. We 
are happy because we filled one vacancy for the Eastern District bench 
earlier in April, and now it is time for the Senate to move forward in 
filling the last of the two vacancies by voting to confirm Judge 
Mendoza.
  Judge Mendoza is a well-qualified, dedicated judge whose passion and 
perspective will serve the Eastern District of Washington very well. He 
has had experience serving as a superior court judge. He has served as 
a prosecutor, he has been in private practice, and he has been a 
community leader in the central part of our State. There is no question 
that he is ready for the challenge of being a Federal judge.
  I also wish to speak in terms of the historic nature of this vote. 
Salvador Mendoza will become the first ever Hispanic Federal judge in 
Eastern Washington. That is a major step forward and one that is long 
overdue. One in every nine residents of Washington State is Hispanic. 
Yet we have not yet had a Hispanic Federal judge in the eastern part of 
our State. Judge Mendoza is the right man for the job and he is ready 
to make history.
  Judge Mendoza personifies the American dream. Eastern Washington is 
home to a very large and growing Hispanic population. Many who settled 
in Eastern Washington did so for the very same reasons Judge Mendoza's 
family did. He grew up in a family of migrant workers who moved from 
California to Washington's Yakima Valley when he was just a small 
child. He went on from working alongside his parents in the fields to 
earn a bachelor's degree from the University of Washington and a law 
degree from the University of California at Los Angeles.
  Coming from very modest beginnings, Judge Mendoza has built a stellar 
legal resume. Judge Mendoza served as a deputy prosecuting attorney and 
spent 1 year as assistant attorney general. He has worked in private 
practice in a partner firm, and he went on to serve as judge pro 
tempore for Benton County Superior Court and Franklin County juvenile 
district court. Since 2013 he has served as Washington State's superior 
court judge for Benton and Franklin Counties.
  A few years ago I had the honor of speaking with Judge Mendoza at a 
roundtable of Latino community leaders in the Tri-Cities. I came away 
very impressed with his intellect and his ability and keen 
understanding of our challenges in Central and Eastern Washington and 
of our legal system. He talked about the importance of an effective 
drug court to tackle the challenges facing Central Washington, and 
Judge Mendoza has shown his commitment to making his community a better 
place to live. He helped found the juvenile drug court program for 
Benton and Franklin Counties, which provides the opportunities for 
treatment for juvenile drug offenders. He is the main organizer of the 
Tri-Cities Youth and Justice Forum, an organization that encourages 
students from underrepresented communities to seek careers within the 
legal system. He also serves on many other boards, including the board 
of trustees for Columbia Basin College.
  I think Judge Mendoza has earned this important position. I hope my 
colleagues will support him. I know my colleague Senator Murray, who 
just spoke, Governor Jay Inslee, and many other attorneys and judges 
across the State of Washington enthusiastically support Judge Mendoza's 
nomination. So I urge my colleagues to confirm him today.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, today, the Senate will vote on the 
nominations of three judicial nominees to serve on the U.S. districts 
courts: Judge Salvador Mendoza, to serve in the Eastern District of 
Washington, Staci Yandle, to fill an emergency vacancy in the Southern 
District of Illinois, and Judge Darrin Gayles, to fill an emergency 
vacancy in the Southern District of Florida. Each of these nominees has 
the support of their home State Senators, and each was reported over a 
month ago with unanimous or nearly unanimous approval of members of the 
Senate Judiciary Committee. None of these qualified nominees deserved 
to be filibustered yesterday, and should be confirmed without delay.
  The confirmation of these nominees will be historic milestones for 
diversity on the Federal bench. If confirmed, Judge Mendoza would be 
the first Latino to serve on the Federal bench in the Eastern District 
of Washington. The confirmation of Staci Yandle would make her the 
first African-American woman ever to serve as a Federal judge in the 
Southern District of Illinois, as well as the first openly gay Federal 
judge to serve in Illinois. And, if confirmed, Judge Gayles would be 
the first openly gay African-American man judge to ever serve on the 
Federal bench. It is important that the Federal bench reflects the 
diversity of the American people, and we should be proud of the 
progress we are making today.
  Judge Salvador Mendoza has been nominated to fill a judicial vacancy 
on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington. 
Judge Mendoza has served since 2013 as a Washington State superior 
court judge in Benton and Franklin Counties. He previously served as a 
judge pro tempore in Benton and Franklin Counties from 2002 to 2013. In 
2002, he helped start the Benton-Franklin Juvenile Drug Court program, 
a treatment-based program intended to be an alternative to full 
criminal prosecution. Before his time as a judge, he worked in private 
practice as the president and managing attorney of Mendoza and Johnson, 
P.S. from 2002 to 2013. He served as vice president at Haney and 
Mendoza, P.S. from 1999 to 2002. After graduating from law school, he 
served as assistant attorney general in the Washington

[[Page 10143]]

State Attorney General's Office from 1997 to 1998, and as the deputy 
prosecuting attorney in the Franklin County Prosecutor's Office from 
1998 to 1999. He has the support of his home State Senators, Senator 
Cantwell and Senator Murray. The Judiciary Committee reported his 
nomination favorably with near-unanimous bipartisan support to the full 
Senate on April 3, 2014.
  Staci Yandle has been nominated to fill a judicial emergency vacancy 
on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. Staci 
Yandle has worked since 2007 in private practice as a sole 
practitioner, and since 2010 as counsel for the Farrise Firm P.C. She 
previously served as a partner at The Rex Carr Law Firm from 2003 to 
2007 and as an associate at Carr, Korein, Schlichter, Kunin, Montroy, 
Glass & Bogard from 1987 to 2003. She worked as an adjunct professor at 
the St. Louis University School of Law from 1991 to 2000, teaching 
courses in trial advocacy and civil practice. From 1992 to 1996, she 
served as a member of the Illinois Advisory Committee to the U.S. 
Commission on Civil Rights. Staci Yandle has been active in her 
community, providing pro bono legal services to indigent clients on 
issues ranging from tenant disputes to personal injury claims. She has 
the support of her home State Senators, Senator Durbin and Senator 
Kirk. The Judiciary Committee reported her nomination favorably with 
near-unanimous bipartisan support to the full Senate on April 3, 2014.
  Judge Darrin Gayles has been nominated to fill a judicial emergency 
vacancy on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of 
Florida. He has served since 2011 as a Florida State judge on the 
Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court, and previously served as a county 
judge in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida from 2004 to 2011. 
Prior to becoming a judge, he served as an assistant U.S. attorney in 
the Southern District of Florida from 1999 to 2004, an assistant 
district counsel in the U.S. Department of Justice, Immigration and 
Naturalization Service from 1997 to 1999, and as an assistant State 
attorney in the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office from 1993 to 1997. 
He has the support of his home State Senators, Senator Nelson and 
Senator Rubio. The Judiciary Committee reported his nomination by voice 
vote to the full Senate on May 8, 2014.
  I commend the majority leader for bringing the nominations of these 
three nominees up for a vote. With yesterday's cloture votes, the 
Senate has voted on cloture for judicial nominees 50 times so far this 
year. This is more than all the cloture votes on judicial nominees 
during the two preceding administrations combined. This level of 
partisanship is meritless, and only serves to weaken the Federal courts 
and the American justice system. I hope that my colleagues will join me 
in voting to confirm these qualified nominees, and allow them to get to 
work for the American people.
  I thank the Chair and I yield the floor. 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. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Schatz). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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