Mr. President,
This week the judicial confirmation process went a bit off track. The 17 threatened cloture petition votes were unnecessary. I’m pleased that the Majority Leader determined to not move forward with that plan.
The Senate has now returned to its regular order of processing judicial nominations in a careful and deliberate manner. That’s just exactly what we ought to do when considering lifetime appointments. That means that nominees are called up, debated and voted upon, just as we have been doing. In fact, we’ve done that 131 times for President Obama’s judicial nominees. Of course, on rare occasions, as is within the tradition, rules and practice of the Senate, there will be difficulty in moving forward with consent to proceed.
So I view what happened yesterday not as some deal, but as a rejection of a political stunt in favor of returning to regular order, as we are doing today. I’ve worked with the Chairman and members of the Judiciary Committee, as well as with my colleagues throughout the Senate, to ensure nominees are treated fairly. I will continue to do so.
In the meantime, I’m pleased that the Senate has turned to the JOBS Act. It is imperative the Senate keep its focus on what the people back home think we should be doing - jobs, the economy, energy and other critical issues facing our nation.
Today, we turn to two judicial nominations, under the regular order and procedures of the Senate. Gina Groh is nominated to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of West Virginia. Michael Fitzgerald is nominated to be United States District Judge for the Central District of California.
Earlier this week, I heard remarks blaming the judicial vacancy rate on Republican obstruction. What was failed to be discussed, not even mentioned, was that 44 of the 83 judicial vacancies have no nominee. Of the 35 judicial vacancies designated as “judicial emergencies,” the President has failed to submit a nomination for 19 of those seats. We can’t proceed on nominations if he doesn’t even send them up.
This has been the pattern for most of this administration – failure or delay in submitting nominations to the Senate. For example, look at the nomination of Gina Groh, the nomination we are considering today. This seat became vacant in December 2006. President Bush submitted a nomination for this seat on May 24, 2007. That nominee never even had a hearing, but languished in committee for 19 months before being returned to the President. This is just one of the 53 nominees of President Bush who were subjected to what some have characterized as a “pocket filibuster” or otherwise went unconfirmed.
Even after President Obama’s election, it took until May 19, 2011 for him to nominate Ms. Groh. The President took 848 days to submit the nomination, nearly 2 years and 4 months. I have to ask, where was the nomination? Where was the outrage of the other party during all that time?
Again, we are moving forward under the regular order and procedures of the Senate. This year, we have been in session for about 28 days, including today. During that time we have confirmed 9 judges. That is an average of about one confirmation for every 3 days. With the confirmations today, the Senate will have confirmed 72 percent of President Obama’s Article III judicial nominations.
I want to say a few words about the nominees we are considering today.
Gina Marie Groh is nominated to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of West Virginia. Judge Groh graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. from Shepherd University in 1986, and with a J.D. from West Virginia University College of Law in 1989. From 1989 to 1998, she worked as a Litigation Associate for three separate firms. From 1989 to 1991, she was with Steptoe & Johnson and then she moved to Mell, Brownwell & Baker, where she worked until 1995. Finally she worked at Semmes, Bowen and Semmes until 1998. During this period, her practice primarily involved civil litigation, including workers compensation and personal injury defense.
From 1998 to 2006, she served as an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney. She served in this capacity with the Berkeley County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office until 2002 and then with the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. As an assistant prosecutor, she primarily prosecuted felony cases on behalf of the State of West Virginia. While with the Jefferson County Attorney’s Office, she also represented the county government in civil matters. While an Assistant County Prosecutor, she estimates she tried about 500 cases to verdict.
In December 2006, Governor Manchin appointed Judge Groh as a circuit judge in the 23rd Judicial Circuit of West Virginia. In November 2008, she was elected to the same position. As a judge serving on a court of general jurisdiction, she presides over a variety of civil and criminal cases and manages the grand jury in Morgan and Jefferson counties, which meets three times per year in each county. She estimates that she has presided over 93 cases that have either gone to verdict or judgment. In addition, she has issued orders in over 3400 cases.
Michael Fitzgerald is nominated to be United States District Judge for the Central District of California. He is a 1981 graduate from Harvard University and received his J.D. in 1985 from the University of California, Berkley (Boalt Hall) School of Law. After graduating from law school, Mr. Fitzgerald clerked for the Honorable Irving R. Kaufman on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
From 1986 – 1987, he was an associate at O’Donnell & Gordon where he represented individuals and small companies in civil litigation. In 1988, he became an Assistant United States Attorney where he served on the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force/Major. With the Task Force he primarily prosecuted cocaine rings. He also worked with a money laundering task force comprised of IRS criminal agents and Los Angeles Police Department narcotics officers. From 1991 – 1995 he worked as an associate at Heller, Ehrman, White & McAuliffe LLP, on commercial litigation.
In 1995, Mr. Fitzgerald joined the Law Offices of Robert L. Corbin, P.C. as an associate attorney, and became a partner in 1998, when the firm was renamed Corbin, Fitzgerald & Athey LLP. Initially he represented small businesses and individuals in small to medium-sized civil cases, as well as a variety of criminal cases in Los Angeles Superior Court. He also was involved in federal civil and criminal cases. For the past six years, the focus of his firm has been representing clients who are under investigation by federal agencies. These investigations have concerned securities, defense contracting, environmental law, health care, antitrust, tax and financial crisis. He has appeared in court regularly for most of his career and has tried 26 cases to verdict.
I thank the chair and yield the floor.