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[Page S5702]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
JUDICIAL NOMINATIONS
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I rise to speak about the package of four
Illinois district court nominees who are scheduled to receive votes on
the floor this week.
In my State, Democrats and Republicans have long worked together in a
respectful, bipartisan way to select Federal judges.
For example, when two Illinois vacancies opened up on the 7th Circuit
in 2017, back before Senate Republicans decided to abandon the circuit
court blue slip, we were able to negotiate a package of two well-
qualified nominees, Amy St. Eve and Michael Scudder, who both were
confirmed by the Senate unanimously.
For district court vacancies, Illinois has a longstanding ``three to
one'' system.
Under this system, the President's party gets to select the
candidates for three out of four district court vacancies, and the
other party gets to select the candidate for the fourth. Then the
parties negotiate until they reach agreement on packages of nominees
that can move forward to confirmation.
Under this system, Democrats and Republicans have to work together
and compromise. Neither side gets everything they want, but for several
decades, this bipartisan process has kept both parties at the table and
has served Illinois well.
During President Trump's tenure, there have been two packages of
Illinois district court nominees that we have negotiated with the
senior Member of the Republican congressional delegation--
Representative John Shimkus--and the White House.
The first was a package of four Chicago nominees--now judges--that
included Democratic pick Mary Rowland, a former Federal public defender
and the first openly LGBT judge on the Chicago bench.
The second package of Illinois nominees, which we negotiated
throughout 2019 and agreed upon last December, includes Federal
Magistrate Judge Iain Johnston of Rockford; Illinois 3rd Judicial
Circuit Judge David Dugan of Madison County; Illinois 20th Judicial
Circuit Judge Stephen McGlynn of St. Clair County; and the Democratic
pick, Judge Franklin Valderrama of the Cook County Circuit Court.
All of the nominees in the current Illinois package have significant
judicial experience and were rated well-qualified by the American Bar
Association.
Each nominee also was reviewed by judicial screening committees that
we established, including a Southern District judicial screening
committee, chaired by former Federal judge Patrick Murphy, and a
Northern District committee, chaired by former Federal judge David
Coar. Each nominee received screening committee approval based on their
qualifications and their record as judges.
I want to say that I recognize and respect the opposition that has
been expressed to two of the Republican picks in this package, Judges
Dugan and McGlynn.
These nominees have made statements and expressed views with which I
disagree, particularly on matters involving reproductive rights.
These nominees would not have been Democratic picks in our Illinois
system, but under the system, Democrats and Republicans have to work
together on bipartisan packages, and neither side gets everything their
way.
While I disagree with statements that Judges Dugan and McGlynn have
made, I agreed to this package of nominees as part of our bipartisan
State process, and I will support all four nominees in the package.
I also want to briefly discuss the Democratic pick in this package,
Judge Franklin Valderrama.
For the past 14 years, he has served as an associate judge on the
Circuit Court of Cook County. He has extensive experience both as a
judge and as a practitioner and is highly respected.
When a Chicago-based Federal judgeship became vacant last year, we
put out a public call for applications. An extraordinary group of 50
candidates applied. Our screening committee vetted them all, and Judge
Valderrama was at the top of the list.
I believe he will be an outstanding addition to the Federal bench in
Chicago.
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