[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 12580-12581]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 NOMINATION OF ANDRE BIROTTE, JR., TO BE UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 
           FOR THE CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA--Continued

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There is now 2 minutes equally divided prior 
to a vote on the Birotte nomination.
  If no one yields time, time will be equally charged to both sides.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Madam President, I urge my colleagues to support the 
nomination of Andre Birotte to be a U.S. district judge for the Central 
District of California.
  I recommended Mr. Birotte to serve as U.S. attorney for this district 
in 2009. I have been very impressed by his performance in that role 
since his unanimous confirmation by the Senate in 2010. I believe he 
will be an outstanding district judge.
  Mr. Birotte received his law degree from Pepperdine in 1991 and his 
bachelor's from Tufts in 1987. He then served as a deputy public 
defender for the Los Angeles County Public Defender's office. He later 
spent 4 years as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Central District of 
California, where he prosecuted violent crime, fraud, and narcotics 
cases.
  In 1999, he spent a year in private practice before moving to the Los 
Angeles Police Commission, where he served as assistant inspector 
general and later as inspector general until he became U.S. attorney. 
As inspector general, Birotte built a strong reputation for fairness 
and earned the respect of all sides, including in the law enforcement 
community. In 2009, then-LAPD Chief Bill Bratton--who is deeply 
respected on both sides of the aisle in this body--wrote to me to 
express his ``strongest endorsement and support'' for Birotte. As Chief 
Bratton said: ``In the approximately six years that I have known Andre, 
our working relationship has been one of transparency, cooperation, 
trust, and respect.''
  In 2009, as I said, I recommended him to the President for 
appointment as U.S. attorney. He earned high marks from my bipartisan 
advisory committee and an outpouring of support from a broad spectrum 
of respected individuals in the Los Angeles community. The Senate soon 
confirmed him unanimously and he has served in his current position 
with distinction ever since.
  When I introduced Mr. Birotte to my colleagues on the Judiciary 
Committee, I went through the impressive work the U.S. attorney's 
office has done under his leadership in a number of areas. I will not 
go into each of those cases today, except to note that they cover very 
important areas of Federal law enforcement, including: national 
security, gangs and organized crime, sex crimes and human trafficking, 
public corruption, and civil rights.
  Since his nomination was approved by the Judiciary Committee by voice 
vote, the U.S. attorney's office has continued its impressive track 
record of enforcing the law. In one case, a Los Angeles doctor who ran 
medical clinics pleaded guilty to illegally prescribing addictive 
painkillers and laundering the cash payments, which amounted to 
hundreds of thousands of dollars.
  Last month, the owner and employees of a Los Angeles-area immigration 
consulting firm were arrested after being indicted for filing 
fraudulent green card applications. The office's press release states 
that the defendants quoted fees for their services, but then more than 
tripled those fees and ``allegedly threatened to contact authorities 
and have the aliens deported'' after ``several of the foreign nationals 
sought refunds.''
  Just 2 weeks ago, Mr. Birotte's office announced that two men from 
Long Beach, CA pleaded guilty to ``conspiracy charges arising from a 
sex trafficking scheme that exploited adult women for prostitution.'' 
Bill Lewis, assistant director in charge of the FBI Los Angeles field 
office, stated: ``In this case, the defendants defrauded victims and 
forced them to work as sex slaves under threat to themselves and their 
families.'' The office's press release states that both men now face up 
to life imprisonment.
  Let me conclude by saying that throughout his career Andre Birotte 
has built a reputation for fairness and for a profound commitment to 
the rule of law. He has earned the deep respect of people on all sides 
of difficult issues. In fact, Birotte is supported not only by State 
and Federal law enforcement, but also by the Central District's Federal 
Public Defender, Sean Kennedy. Kennedy told my selection committee that 
Birotte has ``incredible judgment'' and would make a ``wonderful 
federal

[[Page 12581]]

judge.'' It says something very special about the chief Federal 
prosecutor for the second-largest district in the Nation when the chief 
Federal Public Defender for the district has such high praise.
  This is a nominee I am proud to have recommended, and that the Senate 
should be proud to confirm.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Madam President, I yield back our time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, all time is yielded back.
  The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the nomination 
of Andre Birotte, Jr., of California, to be United States District 
Judge for the Central District of California?
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Madam President, 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 legislative clerk called the roll.
  The result was announced--yeas 100, nays 0, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 237 Ex.]

                               YEAS--100

     Alexander
     Ayotte
     Baldwin
     Barrasso
     Begich
     Bennet
     Blumenthal
     Blunt
     Booker
     Boozman
     Boxer
     Brown
     Burr
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Chambliss
     Coats
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Collins
     Coons
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Donnelly
     Durbin
     Enzi
     Feinstein
     Fischer
     Flake
     Franken
     Gillibrand
     Graham
     Grassley
     Hagan
     Harkin
     Hatch
     Heinrich
     Heitkamp
     Heller
     Hirono
     Hoeven
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Johanns
     Johnson (SD)
     Johnson (WI)
     Kaine
     King
     Kirk
     Klobuchar
     Landrieu
     Leahy
     Lee
     Levin
     Manchin
     Markey
     McCain
     McCaskill
     McConnell
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Mikulski
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Murphy
     Murray
     Nelson
     Paul
     Portman
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rockefeller
     Rubio
     Sanders
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Scott
     Sessions
     Shaheen
     Shelby
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Thune
     Toomey
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Vitter
     Walsh
     Warner
     Warren
     Whitehouse
     Wicker
     Wyden
  The nomination was confirmed.

                          ____________________