Executive Session

Floor Speech

EXECUTIVE SESSION

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Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I am reminded of a quote from Daniel Webster when he said that ``justice is the greatest aspiration of man on earth.'' I think the reason we take these judicial nominations so seriously is because the judiciary--the people who wear the black robe--is the personification of that aspiration for justice.

Today, it gives me great pleasure to speak in support of the nomination of Judge Jennifer Elrod of Houston to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. In a few moments, the Senate will vote on her nomination.

As Judge Elrod's career makes clear, she is well qualified for a seat on the Federal appellate bench. She has demonstrated the legal acumen, the judicial temperament, and dedication to public service which the Senate wisely requires of all judicial nominees.

Since 2002, Judge Elrod has been a State district court judge, serving on the 190th District Court in Harris County, TX. As a trial judge, she has presided over more than 200 jury and nonjury trials. Before that, Judge Elrod practiced law in Houston, TX, in the trial department of Baker Botts, a top national law firm.

Judge Elrod is known for her outstanding intellect, her strong work ethic, her integrity, and her courteous demeanor. She has an outstanding record as a practicing attorney and as an active State court judge. She has demonstrated an impressive commitment to public service and pro bono work throughout her career.

Both while in private practice and while serving the people of Texas as a trial judge, Judge Elrod has dedicated much of her free time to improving the lives of those less fortunate in the community.

Even with the demands of a career in the law, she also found time to serve as a board member and chairwoman of the Gulf Coast Legal Foundation, now called Lone Star Legal Aid. This organization serves more than 1 million low-income Texans, making it the fourth largest legal aid program in the Nation. She also served as general counsel to Communities in Schools in Houston and as the cochair of the Houston Volunteer Association's Legal Hotline.

As a judge, she assisted the Houston Bar Association with numerous fundraising activities aimed at providing scholarships for diversity and equal access to justice. Judge Elrod dedicated her time to hosting and mentoring legal interns from less-privileged backgrounds, opening her courtroom to them and teaching these young men and women valuable oral advocacy skills. She has been an active participant in the Texas Access to Justice Commission, helping young lawyers to provide legal services to indigent clients.

Mr. President, I know of few lawyers, much less judicial nominees, with such an outstanding record of consistent commitment to pro bono services and public service.

While my colleagues undoubtedly will acknowledge the importance of Judge Elrod's career achievements and dedication to her community, we also recognize that the most important attributes of a judicial nominee are their temperament and commitment to the rule of law. Above all else, a judge must faithfully interpret and apply the law as written and not as they wish we in Congress should have written it. I am confident Judge Elrod has demonstrated her ability to fairly and impartially resolve cases before her.

Her demonstrated fairness and respect for all is a key reason why her nomination is supported across the Houston legal community. She has the personal endorsement of the past and current presidents of the Houston Bar Association, the Hispanic Bar Association of Houston, and the Mexican American Bar Association of Houston, which are just a sampling of the broad base of her support. By all accounts, Judge Elrod has exercised her judicial duties with nothing but neutrality and a commitment to fundamental fairness for every litigant before her.

In sum, Judge Elrod is an accomplished lawyer and judge of high character and uncommon integrity. I am honored to enthusiastically recommend to the Senate that it vote to confirm her to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. I am confident she will serve this Nation with honor and distinction.

Let me say in closing how much I appreciate the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Senator Leahy, for giving Judge Elrod a timely hearing and for putting it on the markup on the Judiciary Committee schedule. I appreciate the majority leader, Senator Reid, for allowing this nomination to come forward to the floor so we can give this good judge a vote very soon, I hope.

With that, I yield the floor.

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Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I thank the distinguished ranking member.

I certainly respect the right of the Senator from Maryland to express his views. I do want to put this in some context.

I don't know if it is a unique experience currently in the Senate, but perhaps it is currently that I am the only Member of the Senate who actually served for 13 years as a State judge, both on our State trial bench and the supreme court. That does not give me any particular qualifications other than to say what it means to have served in those capacities, as Judge Elrod has for 5 years. She worked also as a clerk for a U.S. district judge, Judge Sim Lake, for 2 years.

I hope we are not saying that it is a prerequisite for confirmation to the job of an appellate judge that one actually has to have served as an appellate judge. Of course, rarely do any of us have experience in the jobs to which we are assigned or to which we are elected or to which we are hired until we have actually had a chance to perform that job. What we look at is not whether they have actually done that job before, but whether they have done a good job of everything they have taken on previously.

By that standard, Judge Elrod not only has an impressive resume for a lawyer of her age, but she has demonstrated her competence, indeed, her excellence as a State district court judge.

I have some sensitivity to the suggestion that she does not have lengthy enough experience, alluding to her relative youth. I remember when I became a State district judge, I was 32 years old. But, more importantly, of the 19 judges currently serving on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, 10 were in their forties or younger when appointed; three were 41--Judge Elrod's age--or younger. Judge Edith Jones, the chief judge of the Fifth Circuit, was 36 when confirmed by the Senate.

Judge Higginbotham, to whose vacancy Judge Elrod is nominated, was 44, and Judge Sim Lake, with whom Judge Elrod clerked, was 44 when he was appointed.

I also think of the members of the Judiciary Committee in the Senate who have been elected to important positions of responsibility. My recollection is--and I have to rely on the distinguished Senator from Maryland to remind me--but I think he was one of the youngest, if I am not mistaken, speakers of the Maryland House ever elected. He was elected at a young age, and that is to his great credit.

The fact is, age alone should not determine competence for these jobs. I think the demonstrated public service and record of excellence is sufficient.

I appreciate the Senator from Maryland acknowledging her tremendous record of pro bono service. That is a record of service above and beyond the call of duty which I think demonstrates Judge Elrod's commitment.

Finally, on the issue of diversity, I note that Judge Higginbotham, who currently occupies the seat to which Judge Elrod has been nominated and will serve, is somebody who looks like me. He is a White male. I think we ought to celebrate the fact that a woman of Judge Elrod's capability and experience has been deemed qualified by the President of the United States and by the Senate Judiciary Committee to serve in this important position. I think that counts for some diversity.

I do share the concerns of the Senator from Maryland that too few African Americans are attending law school. It reduces the pool of potential applicants for people to serve in positions on the judiciary, and we need to do more to try to encourage and facilitate that situation. But I certainly would not hold it against Judge Elrod that she is not an African American. I think she is qualified on the merits.

I appreciate the Senator from Pennsylvania, the distinguished ranking member, giving me a few minutes to explain, perhaps, another side of the story.

Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, will the Senator yield for a question?

Mr. CORNYN. I will.

Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I know the distinguished Senator from Texas was also an attorney general of his State. I wonder if in that capacity the staff who served the appellate function in the attorney general's office, a solicitor general, are separate and he recognizes appellate practice, in many ways, is a specialized skill in that context, and I wonder what appellate argument experience the candidate for the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has?

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, the distinguished questioner, the Senator from Rhode Island, is himself a distinguished lawyer and a former attorney general with whom I served as a State attorney general. He knows as well as I do that a trial judge and a trial lawyer have to craft written and legal arguments the same way as an appellate lawyer does. Those are the same basic skills that Judge Elrod brings to her job.

It is true, when I became attorney general of my State, I created an Office of Solicitor General, recognizing the increasingly specialized nature of appellate practice.

Again, I believe Judge Elrod, by virtue of her extensive trial experience, the fact she graduated at the top of her class from law school and undergraduate school, served with one of the premier law firms in the Nation and with distinction as a trial judge, more than adequately qualifies her for this new responsibility.

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