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Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, this week, the Senate continues the important work of confirming highly qualified, diverse nominees to the Federal Judiciary. Working closely with Senate Democrats, the Biden administration has prioritized the selection of judicial nominees who are faithful to the rule of law, who are evenhanded and impartial, and who understand the critical distinction between being an advocate and being a judge. And together, we are building a Federal judiciary that is more representative of the Nation as a whole, both in terms of demographic and professional diversity. The five nominees under consideration by the Senate this week are no exception, and I want to speak briefly on each of them.

Yesterday, the Senate confirmed Judge Stephanie Davis to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Since 2019, Judge Davis has served as a U.S. District Court Judge in the Eastern District of Michigan. She was nominated for the District Court by President Trump. And she was voted out of the Judiciary Committee by voice vote and confirmed by voice vote as well.

Prior to serving on the District Court, Judge Davis served as a U.S. magistrate judge for approximately 3 years, also in the Eastern District of Michigan. In total, Judge Davis has served as a Federal judge for more than 6 years. Before assuming the bench, Judge Davis was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Michigan for nearly two decades. During her last 5 years in the U.S. Attorney's Office, she served as the Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney. She also spent 3 years as the deputy chief of the Controlled Substances Unit. While serving as a Federal prosecutor, Judge Davis prosecuted elder fraud cases, served on a committee that addressed a backlog of untested rape kits, and led one of the earliest prosecutions combating the opioid epidemic in the Eastern District of Michigan. Judge Davis also spent 5 years in private practice. During this time, she volunteered with the Women's Justice Center, helping victims of domestic violence obtain personal protection orders.

Born in Kansas City, MO, Judge Davis earned her college degree from Wichita State University and her law degree from Washington University School of Law.

Judge Davis has been unanimously rated ``Well Qualified'' for the Sixth Circuit by the American Bar Association, and she has the strong support of her two home State Senators, Ms. Stabenow and Mr. Peters.

Once sworn in, Judge Davis will be the first Black woman from Michigan to serve on the Sixth Circuit--and only the second ever Black woman to serve on the court.

With Judge Davis's extensive experience as a judge, a prosecutor, and a litigator in private practice, as well as her decades-long commitment to public service, she is clearly well qualified to serve on the Sixth Circuit.

This morning, the Senate also confirmed the nomination of Evelyn Padin to the District of New Jersey. A native of New Jersey, Ms. Padin received her B.A. from Rutgers University, her M.S.W. from Fordham University Graduate School of Social Services, her certificate in European legal studies from Tulane University, and her J.D. from Seton Hall Law School. Since graduating from law school, Ms. Padin has spent nearly three decades practicing law.

In 1995, Ms. Padin opened her own law firm, and she has appeared regularly in both State and Federal courts ever since. She has tried approximately 10 jury trials to verdict, judgment, or final decision. In addition to her lengthy career as a litigator, Ms. Padin also has judicial experience, having served as a municipal court judge for the Jersey City Municipal Court. In this role, she presided over nearly 3,000 cases--all bench trials--that went to verdict or judgment, primarily involving minor criminal-type offenses, traffic violations, and municipal ordinance offenses.

Outside the courtroom, Ms. Padin has been active in the legal community. She was the first Latina to serve as the president of the New Jersey State Bar Association. In that role, she worked to improve access to justice in New Jersey, including by starting legal clinics to serve the economically disadvantaged.

Ms. Padin received a ``Qualified'' rating from the American Bar Association and has the strong support of her home State Senators, Mr. Menendez and Mr. Booker. Ms. Padin's years of experience with New Jersey's legal system, coupled with her broad legal expertise, make her well-suited to serve on the Federal bench.

And the Senate also confirmed the nomination of Charlotte Sweeney to the District of Colorado. Ms. Sweeney is a trial litigator who has spent over 26 years defending the employment rights of Americans who have faced discrimination or harassment--based on their race, national origin, gender, age, or disability--in the workplace. Practicing primarily in Federal court, she has tried more than 20 cases to verdict or judgment.

Through her work, Ms. Sweeney has earned a reputation for integrity and fairmindedness, both from her peers and from those before whom she has practiced. Twenty-six attorneys who regularly work as opposing counsel to Ms. Sweeney have offered their ``strong support'' of her nomination, writing that she ``will be an impartial, prepared, and reasoned jurist.'' Similarly, 17 former judges and employment lawyers who have acted as settlement or arbitration proceeding neutrals have also endorsed her nomination. Based on Ms. Sweeney's advocacy before them, they believe she ``will make an exceptional district court judge.''

With so much support from the Colorado legal community and as a Colorado native herself, it is no surprise that Ms. Sweeney has the strong support of her home State Senators, Mr. Bennet and Mr. Hickenlooper, or that she was rated ``Well Qualified'' by the American Bar Association.

Additionally, Ms. Sweeney will advance President Biden's commitment to ensuring the Federal judiciary reflects the country it serves. She will be the first openly LGBTQ article III judge in Colorado and the first openly LGBTQ woman to serve as a Federal district court judge in any State west of the Mississippi.

The Senate is also considering Nina Morrison, nominated to the Eastern District of New York. Ms. Morrison attended Yale College and New York University Law School before clerking for Judge Pierre N. Leval on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. She then worked in private practice and at the American Civil Liberties Union before joining the Innocence Project.

Ms. Morrison is now one of the most senior attorneys at the Innocence Project, where she works to exonerate wrongfully imprisoned individuals by petitioning for access to DNA evidence and other post-conviction relief. Thanks to Ms. Morrison's efforts, nearly 30 wrongfully convicted individuals in more than 10 States have been freed from prison or death row. In addition, her work has helped to correctly identify the perpetrators of violent crimes, delivering justice to both their victims and to those who have been wrongfully imprisoned.

Ms. Morrison is a seasoned litigator who has practiced in State and Federal courts all across the country. The American Bar Association unanimously rated her ``Well Qualified'' to serve as a district judge, and she has the strong support of both of her home State Senators, Mr. Schumer and Mrs. Gillibrand.

Ms. Morrison has dedicated her career to ensuring that our justice system lives up to America's ideals. Her dedication, breadth of experience, and unique perspective will make her an asset to the Eastern District of New York.

Finally, the Senate will consider Robert Huie, nominated to the Southern District of California. Mr. Huie is an accomplished litigator who previously served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the district to which he has been nominated. Notably, he was counsel of record in more than 600 district court cases and was lead appellate counsel in approximately two dozen appeals.

After leaving the U.S. Attorney's Office, Mr. Huie went into private practice, where he is currently Of Counsel in the San Diego office of Jones Day and a leader in the firm's Investigations and White Collar Defense Practice. He is also the San Diego office's pro bono coordinator and chair of the diversity and inclusion committee. A graduate of Yale Law School and a lawyer with extensive criminal and civil experience, Huie is well-positioned to join the Federal bench. He has tried 22 cases--both jury and nonjury--to verdict, judgment, or final decision.

Mr. Huie has the strong support of Senators Feinstein and Padilla, and he was rated unanimously ``Well Qualified'' by the American Bar Association. His legal work both in and out of the courtroom, coupled with his decades-long career serving the Southern District of California, make him an outstanding nominee.

I am pleased that three of these nominees received bipartisan confirmation votes and another nominee has already received a bipartisan cloture vote. And I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting those nominations that have not yet come up for a vote.

With their records, experience, and evenhanded approach, all of these nominees will be ready on day one to serve this Nation as Federal judges.

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