OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

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Floor Speech

Date: March 22, 2024
Location: Washington, DC

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, today, the Senate will vote to confirm Ernest Gonzalez to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.

Born in San Antonio, TX, Mr. Gonzalez received his B.B.A. from the University of Texas at San Antonio and his J.D. from the Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University. From 1994 to 2000, he worked at the Bexar County District Attorney's Office in San Antonio, where he prosecuted misdemeanor and felony crimes. In 2000, he joined the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas in Del Rio as an assistant U.S. attorney, where his portfolio consisted primarily of immigration and narcotics violations.

From 2003 to 2023, Mr. Gonzalez worked as an assistant U.S. attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Texas in Plano. While there, he served as chief of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces Section, and he represented the United States in a variety of domestic and international criminal cases, including drug-trafficking cases. Since 2023, he has worked as a senior attorney advisor for the U.S. Department of Justice in the Narcotics and Dangerous Drug Section of the Criminal Division in Washington, DC.

Mr. Gonzalez has an extraordinary amount of trial experience in both State and Federal court. He has tried more than 250 jury trials to verdict, including more than 120 State jury trials and more than 135 Federal jury trials. He enjoys the strong support of both of his home State senators--Mr. Cornyn and Mr. Cruz--and the American Bar Association unanimously rated Mr. Gonzalez as ``well qualified'' to serve on the Western District of Texas.

During Mr. Gonzalez's confirmation hearing, Senator Cornyn expressed his belief that Mr. Gonzalez's ``temperament, his knowledge of the law, and ability to handle a large docket will serve the Del Rio Division of the Western District well.'' I agree with that assessment. I strongly support Mr. Gonzalez's nomination, and I urge my colleagues to join me.

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