Nomination of Kurt Engelhardt

Floor Speech

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Mr. CASSIDY. Mr. President, the nomination before us is for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, specifically for Judge Kurt Engelhardt, and I rise today to voice my strong support.

Judge Engelhardt is a Louisiana native, earning both his bachelor's degree and law degree from Louisiana State University. I should note that Judge Engelhardt was a member of the Golden Band from Tigerland as a law student, one of the great college marching bands. He may have missed all of that marching because he took up marathon running a few years ago and has now completed 13 full marathons, including the Boston Marathon and the New York City Marathon. All of this is to say that the man has a personal life that is active and vigorous, but he also has a legal life.

After law school, Judge Engelhardt clerked for Judge Charles Grisbaum of the Louisiana Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. He then practiced law at Little & Metzger in Metairie before becoming an associate and then partner at Hailey, McNamara, Hall, Larmann & Papale in Metairie.

In 2001, President George W. Bush nominated Judge Engelhardt for a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. The Senate confirmed him by a voice vote in December 2001, demonstrating that this body gave him bipartisan support as the quality candidate he was. He has been the chief judge of the Eastern District of Louisiana since 2015.

Judge Engelhardt has been an active member of the New Orleans Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, serving on the board of directors for 10 years and as chapter president in 2011. He has active memberships in the Federal District Judges Association, the Louisiana State Bar Association, the New Orleans Bar Association, the Jefferson Bar Association, and the Fifth Circuit District Judges Association.

In 2004, Judge Engelhardt was appointed by the Supreme Court to serve on the Judicial Conference Committee on Federal-State Jurisdiction for two terms, and he has also served on the Louisiana Supreme Court's Judiciary Commission.

Judge Engelhardt was also very active in serving the New Orleans community, having served on the board of directors of the Cancer Association of Greater New Orleans for more than 20 years.

Judge Engelhardt was confirmed out of the Judiciary Committee on February 8, 2018, on a bipartisan basis. The committee recognizes that confirming good, qualified judges who uphold the Constitution is one of the Senate's top priorities.

Judge Engelhardt is the kind of fair-minded and experienced person we need to serve on the bench. He has served the people of Louisiana well as an article III judge for the past 17 years, and I have no doubt he will continue to serve with the same high standards on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

I support the nomination of Judge Kurt Engelhardt and urge all of my colleagues to do so as well.

Thank you.

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