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Floor Speech

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Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I rise today in support of the nomination of Judge Salvador Mendoza, from my home State of Washington, to serve on the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

I was honored to recommend Judge Mendoza for this seat to President Biden and to introduce him before the Senate Judiciary Committee in May.

I was thrilled to see him advance out of the committee in a bipartisan vote, and I couldn't be happier to support him today and to strongly urge all my colleagues to join me in voting for his confirmation to the bench.

Judge Mendoza is a lifelong Washington State resident and a tremendously qualified candidate to join the Ninth Circuit Court. He has served as a district court judge for the Eastern District of Washington since 2014, when he was confirmed by the Senate with an overwhelming, bipartisan majority of 92-4.

In his time on the bench in the Eastern District, he has presided over nearly 1,500 cases--including appellate cases--where he treated every party who came before him with fairness and respect.

And before that, he served Washington State as a Superior Court Judge.

He also has experience as a prosecutor, in the State attorney general's office, and as a solo practitioner, where he often represented defendants who could not afford their own attorneys.

He also worked to establish the first drug court in Benton and Franklin counties, along with prosecutors, defense attorneys, mental health professionals, and other judges.

From representing those without means, to establishing drug courts, to serving with distinction on the Eastern District Court, Judge Mendoza has been a trailblazer, focused on building a more fair and just legal system that works for everyone--not just the wealthy and well-off.

Judge Mendoza's many years of public service and even-handed application of the law have earned him not only the support of people across the State of Washington, but also the respect of both Democrats and Republicans.

It is why my bipartisan judicial merit selection committee, which includes top Republican lawyers, recommended him to serve in his current district court judgeship 8 years ago and why he was confirmed to that judgeship in an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote. And that should be no different today.

Beyond just his impeccable professional qualifications, Judge Mendoza will bring an important perspective to one of the most consequential appellate courts in this country: the perspective of someone whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico and worked as farm laborers, maids, and factory workers to build a better life for their family; the perspective of someone who, as a child, worked beside them on farms in the Yakima Valley; the perspective of someone who was the first Latino Federal judge in the Eastern District of Washington and who would break new ground once again as the first Latino from Washington State to serve on the Ninth Circuit.

Confirming Judge Mendoza will bring us even closer to building a Federal bench that reflects the diversity of the people it serves. That is especially important to me and to the many people across the country who don't currently see themselves represented on our Nation's courts.

I have no doubt--and based on his record, I think there can be no doubt that serving on the Ninth Circuit, Judge Mendoza will carefully review each case as an appellate judge, respect every party that appears before him, and protect the rights of the American people.

I urge all of my colleagues to join me in supporting his confirmation.

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