Nominations

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, on another matter, this week, the Senate will continue to make headway and confirm the President's highly qualified nominees for important Federal offices.

We will begin by considering Daniel Bress, who has been nominated to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Mr. Bress is a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Virginia School of Law. Clerkships after law school included time at the Supreme Court clerking for the late Justice Scalia. Since then, he has built an impressive reputation in private practice.

I look forward to continuing the work of our colleagues on the Judiciary Committee, who favorably recommended Mr. Bress to the floor, when we vote to advance his nomination later today and vote on his confirmation later this week.

After him, the Senate will weigh three nominees for district court vacancies in Florida, Indiana, and Pennsylvania. After them, we will continue to staff up the executive branch with nominees for important posts in the Department of Education, the Department of Labor, and the EPA.

As I have said continually, I am sorry that it is necessary to file cloture on uncontroversial district court and Assistant Secretary nominees, but notwithstanding that hurdle, I am pleased that the Senate's modest rules change from several months back is proving successful and will enable us to get through this whole list of impressive professionals this very week. I look forward to getting these amply-qualified nominees on the job so they can go to work for the country and the American people can be governed by the government they elected.

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