[Pages S4860-S4862]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

EXECUTIVE SESSION

______

NOMINATION OF PAUL A. ENGELMAYER TO BE UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE FOR
THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

______

NOMINATION OF RAMONA VILLAGOMEZ MANGLONA TO BE JUDGE FOR THE DISTRICT
COURT FOR THE NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS

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 bill clerk read the nomination of Paul A. Engelmayer, of New
York, to be United States District Judge for the Southern District of
New York; Ramona Villagomez Manglona, of the Northern Mariana Islands,
to be Judge for the District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, there will be 1 hour
for debate on the nominations, equally divided and controlled in the
usual form.
The Senator from Vermont.
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I understand the vote will be at 5:30; is
that correct?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. There is debate for 1 hour. If no time is
yielded back, the vote will be at 5:36.
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I will yield back 6 minutes of my time so
the vote can begin at 5:30.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

Moment of Silence

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I note the Senate observed a moment of
silence for John Gibson and Jacob Chestnut, who were killed in the
Capitol in 1998 on July 24. Both were excellent police officers--one
uniformed, one plain clothes--in the protective division. My wife and I
knew both John Gibson and Jacob Chestnut, and we were at both of their
memorial services. Both were fine officers, and I am glad we had a
moment of silence.
We sometimes forget that we have a lot of very good police officers,
both in the uniform division and the plain clothes division, in this
Capitol. They are here to protect us at all times of day or night, no
matter what the weather or what the circumstances. It is something we
should keep in mind. We often can go home when the session ends, but
they are here to make sure everything is still safe. So we owe all of
them a debt of gratitude, and I hope all of them will remain safe. It
is a tragedy that Officers Gibson and Chestnut were not able to remain
safe but died protecting the Capitol.
Today, the Senate is finally going to vote on two judicial
nominations reported unanimously by the Judiciary Committee in early
April.
Let me put that into perspective. Way back when snow was still
falling in my State, every single Republican and every single Democrat
voted for these two nominees. In past years they would have been
confirmed probably in a voice vote that same week in a wrap-up session.
For some reason, my friends on the other side think it should be
different with a Democratic President than it was for a Republican
President, or for that matter, all past Presidents.
Despite the support of every Democrat and every Republican on the
Judiciary Committee, the nominations of Paul Engelmayer to fill a
judicial emergency vacancy in the Southern District of New York, and
Ramona Manglona to fill a 10-year term in the District Court for the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, have been stalled for
3\1/2\ months on the Senate's Executive Calendar. These are the kinds
of qualified, consensus judicial nominations that in past years--
whether under President Ford, President Carter, President Reagan, or
either of the President Bushes--would have been confirmed promptly
rather than being forced to languish for months because of Republican
refusal to consent to debate and vote on nominations.
At a time when judicial vacancies remain above 90 throughout this
country, these needless delays perpetuate the judicial vacancy crisis
that Chief Justice Roberts, a Republican appointee, wrote of last
December and that the President, the Attorney General, bar associations
and chief judges around the country have urged us to join together to
end. Imagine the example we set to litigants by saying: ``Well, we
can't hear your litigation, no matter how important it is. You are
going to have to wait year after year after year because we don't have
a judge. We can't get one confirmed.'' The Senate can do a better job
working to ensure the ability of our Federal courts to provide justice
to our fellow Americans around the country.
Recently, Chief Judge Moreno of the Southern District of Florida
wrote to the Senate leaders urging that they expedite action on two
nominations to fill judicial emergency vacancies in that district. Both
Kathleen Williams and Robert Scola are among the many judicial nominees
who were reported unanimously by the Judiciary Committee, yet both are
being delayed for no good reason.
Chief Judge Moreno writes:

[T]he judicial shortage with three vacancies in our
district is becoming acute. For this reason, I ask your
assistance in expediting both confirmations. The Judiciary
Committee has found the nominees qualified and the people of
South Florida eagerly await their service.

Both of these nominees have the support of their home State
Senators--Senator Nelson, a Democrat, and Senator Rubio, a Republican.
The two Senators have set aside partisan actions, and the Senate
Judiciary Committee has set aside partisan actions by voting for the
nominees unanimously. Why should they be held up because of partisan
actions on this floor?
Kathleen Williams and Robert Scola are among the 27 judicial nominees
reviewed by the Judiciary Committee and reported favorably to the
Senate for final action who are being stalled. I am glad that we are
finally being allowed to consider the 2 nominees who will be confirmed
today, but they have been waiting since early April. This is not
traditional, and there are still 25 who languish.
This is not how the Senate has acted in years past with other
Presidents' judicial nominees. It is not accurate to pretend that real
progress is being made in these circumstances. After we have these two
votes, we will still have 25 nominees sitting on the calendar who could
be disposed of within an hour, yet they are blocked week after week
after week. That is not progress. We may be making progress in the
committee, but if the nominees are blocked on the floor, it is not
progress. Vacancies are being kept high, consensus nominees are being
delayed, and it is the American people--Republicans, Democrats, and
Independents alike--that are being made to suffer.
This is another area in which we must come together for the American
people. Let us do something for the American people, and not just for
our political parties. There is no reason Senators cannot join together
to finally bring down the excessive number of vacancies that have
persisted in our Federal courts throughout the Nation for far too long.
It is not a Republican or Democratic issue, it is an American issue.
Between now and the August recess the Senate should consider all of
the judicial nominees ready for a final vote, including those
desperately needed in southern Florida backed by Senator Nelson and
Senator Rubio.
I expect the two nominations we are going to consider today will be
confirmed overwhelmingly. They are examples of the almost two dozen
consensus nominees who are being stalled for no good reason. Mr.
Engelmayer is a nominee with unassailable credentials. After receiving
his undergraduate and law school degrees with honors from Harvard Law
School, Mr. Engelmayer served as a law clerk to Judge Patricia Wald of
the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and
then to Justice Thurgood Marshall on the Supreme Court. He worked as a
Federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York for 9 years,
where he climbed the ranks from a young lawyer to become Chief of the
Major Crimes Unit. Mr. Engelmayer served for 2 years as an Assistant
Solicitor General for the United States. Since 2000, he has been a
partner in the law firm WilmerHale, where he practices civil and
criminal litigation and regularly dedicates himself to pro bono work.
The ABA's

[[Page S4861]]

Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary unanimously rated him well
qualified to serve, its highest rating. He is supported by his home
state Senators.
Ramona Villagomez Manglona is currently an Associate Judge on the
Superior Court for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
(CNMI), having previously served as a Justice Pro Tempore on the Guam
Supreme Court and a Judge Pro Tempore on the Guam Superior Court. From
1998 to 2003, she worked in the CNMI Office of the Attorney General is
several capacities, including a term as Attorney General. Born in
Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands, Judge Manglona earned her B.A. from
the University of California, Berkeley and her J.D. from the University
of New Mexico. When confirmed, Judge Manglona will be the first
indigenous person to serve as a U.S. District Court Judge in the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Her confirmation should
also save money and help ease the burden on judges who have had to
travel to the Pacific from the mainland to provide judicial resources.
I, again, thank Senator Grassley for his cooperation in working with
me to make progress in the committee concerning judicial nominations in
regular order. We have made progress in the committee, but it goes for
naught if we cannot get nominees confirmed on the floor. Our work in
the committee has not been matched in the Senate, where agreements to
debate and vote on judicial nominations are too few and too far
between. These are only the sixth and seventh nominations the Senate
has considered in the last 2 months, at a time when vacancies have
remained at or above 90, and despite the many consensus nominees that
have been voted on in a bipartisan fashion by the committee and are now
waiting for a vote on the Senate floor.
These will be only the 13th and 14th nominees confirmed this year who
had their hearings this year. The other confirmations were all from the
group considered by the Judiciary Committee last year, but were
renominated after having had their confirmations delayed unnecessarily
last year. Ignoring the words of the Chief Justice and others concerned
with the continuing high number of judicial vacancies, Senate
Republicans have continued the pattern and practice of delay for
virtually all judicial nominees.
In addition to the 2 nominations we consider today, there are
currently 25 judicial nominations that have been fully considered by
the Judiciary Committee and sent to the Senate for final action. Of
them, 20 were unanimously reported, by Republicans and Democrats,
without a single negative vote. At the very least, we ought to take up
those 20. The two nominations we consider today were reported in April.
There remain 13 judicial nominations on the calendar reported favorably
by the committee way back in May or earlier, 11 of which were reported
unanimously. When I urged the Senate to take up and vote on the many
judicial nominations that were on the calendar and ready for action
before the Memorial Day recess, Republican Senators would not agree to
consider a single one. With almost a score of judicial nominees
available to the Senate for final action, only one was considered
before the July 4 recess. That is not the way to make real progress.
Regrettably, the Senate has not reduced vacancies as dramatically as
we did during the Bush administration. Federal judicial vacancies
around the country still number too many, and they have persisted for
far too long. Whereas the Democratic majority in the Senate reduced
vacancies from 110 to 60 in President Bush's first two years, Senate
Republicans' insistence on objections and delays have resulted in
judicial vacancies still numbering more than 90 two and a half years
into President Obama's term. By now, judicial vacancies should have
been reduced to similar levels, but we have barely kept up with
attrition.
In fact, the Senate has reversed course during the Obama
administration given Republican objections, and the slow pace of
confirmations are keeping judicial vacancies at crisis levels. Over the
eight 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 staying near or above 90 for the last two years. The
vacancy rate--which we reduced from 10 percent to 6 percent by this
date in President Bush's third year, and ultimately to less than 4
percent in 2008--is back above 10 percent.
By this time in the third year of the Bush administration, the Senate
had confirmed 136 judges. That is over 40 percent more than the number
of President Obama's nominees we have been allowed to process to
confirmation. 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. The Senate confirmed 100 of those judicial nominations
during the 17 months I was Chairman during President Bush's first 2
years in office. In the other 31 months, Republicans were able to do
another 105. So again, we demonstrated we are ready to work faster with
President Bush than even his Republican Senators were--and we certainly
worked a lot faster than we have been able to work now. President Obama
is now in his 30th month in office and we have only been allowed to
consider and confirm 91 of his Federal Circuit and District Court
nominees. Compare that to the 100 I did in 17 months for President
Bush.
The delays continue, despite the needs of the Federal judiciary, as
evidenced by Chief Judge Moreno's recent letter, which I ask unanimous
consent to be made part of the Record at the conclusion of my remarks.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
(See exhibit 1.)
Mr. LEAHY. I would note that the delays in confirmation of President
Obama's consensus nominees, nominees agreed to by both Republicans and
Democrats, are to the detriment of all Americans. Most people, when
they go into court, do not go in as a Republican or Democrat. They are
just an American seeking justice. But the courts' doors are now being
closed; closed because the Senate will not allow confirmation of the
judges who could open those doors. That is wrong. It is a stain on the
judiciary, and it is a stain on this body.

Exhibit 1

U.S. District Court,

Southern District of Florida,

Miami, FL, July 21, 2011.
Re Nominations of Kathleen Williams and Robert Scola to the
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Senator Mitch McConnell,
Russell Senate Office Building,
Washington, DC.
Dear Senator McConnell: As Chief Judge of the United States
District Court for the Southern District of Florida, I urge
you to expedite the Senate's confirmation of Kathleen
Williams and Robert Scola to the positions of district judges
in our district. I understand that the Judiciary Committee
has sent both nominations by unanimous voice vote and is
awaiting a vote by the full Senate. Ms. Williams, our
district's Federal Public Defender, has been awaiting
confirmation for the longest period of any present nominee to
the district court in the entire country. State Judge Robert
Scola's nomination is of a more recent vintage but the
litigants are eagerly awaiting his confirmation.
The judgeship Ms. Williams has been nominated to fill has
been vacant for two years! At the present time, our district
has three vacancies. Unfilled positions in our Court present
an undue hardship on the citizens residing in the Southern
District of Florida, particularly those with cases pending in
the affected division of the Court. Our district is huge and
heavily populated. It includes the most populous counties in
Florida, Miami-Dade, Broward (where Fort Lauderdale is
located) and Palm Beach Counties. The district also includes
Monroe, St. Lucie, Highlands, Okeechobee, Martin, and Indian
River Counties.
We have been laboring under a judicial shortage for quite
some time. The Judicial Conference of the United States has
for the past several years annually recommended to Congress
three additional permanent judgeships and to convert one
temporary judgeship into a permanent one.
This shortage is exacerbated by the fact that we are one of
the busiest district courts in the nation. Our district had
10,556 new filings in both criminal and civil cases in 2010,
an increase of 6.7% over the year 2000. The latest national
statistics (FY 2010) are attached and show that our district
is first in ``weighted filings'' in the Eleventh Circuit.
In sum, the judicial shortage with three vacancies in our
district is becoming acute. For this reason, I ask your
assistance in expediting both confirmations. The Judiciary
Committee has found the nominees qualified and the people of
South Florida eagerly await their service.
Please call me if I can provide any additional information.
I thank you in advance

[[Page S4862]]

for your consideration of this important matter.
Sincerely,
Federico A. Moreno,
Chief U.S. District Judge.

Mr. LEAHY. I suggest the absence of a quorum, and I ask unanimous
consent that the time be equally charged to both parties.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, today the Senate will vote on the
nomination of Paul Engelmayer to be United States District Judge for
the Southern District of New York and Ramona Villagomez Manglona to be
Judge for the District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands. The seat
to which Mr. Engelmayer is being considered has been deemed a judicial
emergency. With this vote, we will have confirmed 29 article III
judicial nominees. Eighteen have been for such judicial emergencies.
Ms. Manglona's confirmation vote marks the second article IV judicial
confirmation this year. I am pleased we are moving forward with filling
two more vacancies.
We continue to make great progress in processing President Obama's
judicial nominees. As of today, the Senate has confirmed 60 percent of
President Obama's nominees since the beginning of his Presidency. That
is not including the two Supreme Court Justices nominated by President
Obama. As I am sure my colleagues recall, those nominations consumed a
considerable amount of time in the committee and on the Senate floor.
During this Congress, the Judiciary Committee has held hearings on
more than 72 percent of the President's nominees. Another hearing is
scheduled to take place this Wednesday. During the comparable time
period for President Bush, only 64 percent of President Bush's nominees
had hearings by this time. We have also reported 64 percent of the
judicial nominees, compared to only 56 percent of President Bush's
nominees.
Let me say just a few words about Mr. Engelmayer and then Judge
Manglona. Mr. Engelmayer graduated summa cum laude from Harvard
University in 1983. He then graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law
School in 1987. Following law school, the nominee clerked for Judge
Patricia Wald on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
and then for Justice Thurgood Marshall of the Supreme Court of the
United States.
After his clerkships, Mr. Engelmayer joined the U.S. Attorney's
Office for the Southern District of New York as an assistant U.S.
attorney. In 1994, he became an assistant to the Solicitor General of
the United States. In 2000, the nominee entered private practice with
Wilmer Hale and was later named Partner-in-Charge of the New York
office.
The ABA Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary has given Mr.
Engelmayer a unanimous ``Well Qualified'' rating. I support this
nomination and congratulate him on his professional accomplishments.
Now I have a few words about Judge Manglona. Judge Manglona received
her bachelor off arts degree from the University of California at
Berkeley in 1990. In 1996, she graduated from the University of New
Mexico School of Law. Following law school, the nominee clerked for the
Superior Court of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. She
then worked in the Attorney General's Office and in 2002, the Governor
appointed her attorney general for the Northern Mariana Islands. In
2003, she was appointed to serve as an associate judge for the Northern
Mariana Islands Superior Court. During her time on the superior court,
she has also served as a judge pro tem on the Guam Superior Court and
the Guam Supreme Court.
The ABA Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary has rated Judge
Manglona unanimously ``Qualified.'' I also support this nomination and
congratulate her on her professional accomplishments.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.
Mr. REID. We have an unusual situation. It looks nice outside today.
The Sun is shining. But earlier today, if someone looked out the
window, we had some violent storms. They are all over the area. We have
Senators stuck in airplanes trying to get out of New York. We have one
Senator traveling from the Midwest stuck in Richmond, VA, now. I think
it would be in everyone's interest--and I apologize to people who
worked hard to get back here today--but I think it is in everyone's
interest that we not have a vote tonight. We have a lot of people who
simply would miss the vote unless we keep it open for a matter of
hours. I again apologize to people who came here to vote, but I think
this is the best thing to do. I have spoken to the Republican leader
and this is what we should do.
I ask unanimous consent the votes scheduled for tonight be vitiated,
and that on Tuesday, July 26, at 12:15 p.m., the Senate proceed to
executive session and resume consideration of the nominations, Calendar
Nos. 83 and 84, that there be 2 minutes for debate, equally divided in
the usual form; that upon the use or yielding back of time, the Senate
proceed to vote without intervening action or debate on Calendar Nos.
83 and 84, in that order; the motions to reconsider be considered made
and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate; that no
further motions be in order; that any related statements be printed in
the Record; and that the President be immediately notified of the
Senate's action and the Senate then resume legislative session.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant editor of the Daily Digest proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the
quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

____________________