Securing Growth and Robust Leadership in American Aviation Act--Motion

Floor Speech

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Mr. PADILLA. Madam President, I also rise today just a week after the Senate confirmed Judge Rita Lin to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Today, I would like to take a moment to celebrate her confirmation and share with the people of California a bit more about the outstanding public servant and jurist they have gained on the Federal bench.

Now Judge Lin earned her undergraduate degree from Harvard College and her law degree from Harvard Law School. After clerking on the First Circuit Court of Appeals for Judge Sandra Lynch, she started out her legal career as an associate and later became partner at the firm of Morrison Foerster in San Francisco.

But in 2014, she left private practice to pursue a career in public service, joining the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California.

Four years later, Governor Brown appointed Judge Lin to the San Francisco County Superior Court, where she presided over both felony and misdemeanor trials.

At every step, Judge Lin's career has been guided by her dedication to public service, whether by maintaining an extensive pro bono practice in the early years of her career or by leaving behind the promise of a very lucrative career in private practice to serve in the Northern District U.S. Attorney's Office. Judge Lin has proven she has the heart and mind worthy of a Federal district judge.

And as someone who has lived her entire life with a hearing disability, she also brings a unique perspective from a community not often represented in our Nation's Federal judiciary.

The State of California is now lucky to have a Federal district court judge not only with the judicial qualifications of Judge Lin but with the voice, the personal experience, and the passion for public service she brings each and every day.

So I want to thank my colleagues for confirming her nomination, and I want to congratulate Judge Lin once again on her confirmation. 266, Tara K. McGrath, to be the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California; that the Senate vote on the nomination without intervening action or debate, that if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate resume legislative session.

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Mr. PADILLA. Madam President, it has been 2 months since I first came to the floor to call for the confirmation of Tara McGrath, President Biden's nominee to serve as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California.

On that day in July, my Republican colleague from Ohio chose, as he does today, to put political gamesmanship over the safety of the American people and to hold her nomination hostage to leverage completely unrelated issues.

Two months later, clearly, nothing has changed. And as a result, since early August, the Southern District of California has gone without a confirmed U.S. attorney. That is despite the fact that a highly qualified candidate was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee after a confirmation hearing, after the proper vetting and review, and is awaiting a full vote on the Senate floor.

Yet, because my Republican colleague has chosen to politicize our Justice Department and the confirmation process and hinder the work of multiple law enforcement offices as they await confirmation of their leadership, law enforcement is now forced to work harder than necessary to keep our communities safe. That includes the Senator's own home State of Ohio where the Northern District is currently without a Senate-confirmed U.S. attorney for the longest stretch in that office's history.

Now, in my own State, the Southern District of California has become tangled in this political mess.

Make no mistake, these delays damage the effectiveness of U.S. Attorney Offices across the country. Like the confirmation of hundreds of our military leaders, these crucial law enforcement nominations are being treated like pawns in their political game.

If we truly care about public safety in our communities, if we truly care about enforcing the law, and if we truly care about cracking down on fentanyl and saving American lives--a claim I hear constantly from my colleagues--then confirm Tara McGrath in the Southern District and allow for the swift confirmation of a host of U.S. attorneys that are still being held up. The people of California and the people of the United States deserve better than this.

So I call on my colleague to stop weaponizing the Senate's procedures, to confirm Ms. McGrath and all the qualified nominees before us, and take seriously the job that Americans have sent us here to do.

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Mr. PADILLA. Madam President, I recognize that my colleague from Ohio cannot or will not speak on behalf of other Republican Members, but I would respectfully ask if he would lift his hold on the nomination of Tara McGrath to be U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California.

I yield to the Senator from Ohio to respond to my question.

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Mr. PADILLA. I respectfully ask if my colleague from Ohio will lift his hold on the nomination of Tara McGrath to be U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California; yes or no?

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