Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010

Floor Speech

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Mr. BENNET. Mr. President, I rise today to state my strong support for the nomination of Bill Martinez to serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado. Having recommended his candidacy to the President, along with my colleague Senator Udall, I believe he is eminently qualified for the Federal bench.

Bill was nominated to serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado in February of this year. His nomination cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee in April. Since then, he has been in a state of limbo awaiting a final vote allowing him to serve. That is why I am very grateful for the hard work of the Judiciary Committee, both Democrats and Republicans, who have moved this nomination forward and are trying to finish it before the end of the 111th Congress.

Our State has two vacancies on the district court. Both vacancies are over 2 years old, with one close to 3 years old. Because there are only seven Federal judgeships in our State, the other judges are facing ever-growing caseloads, resulting in significant backlogs for those seeking justice.

In fact, the administrative office of the courts has declared the vacancy situation in Colorado a judicial emergency. It is important that we move these nominations forward to prevent further backlogs and judicial emergencies, and I pledge to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to make sure we can work together to confirm judicial nominees such as Bill Martinez in a timely manner.

I believe, after careful review of Bill Martinez's experience, my colleagues will see this is someone well worth confirming. Bill is currently at a law firm in Denver, where he primarily represents plaintiffs in Federal and State courts and before arbitrators and administrative agencies. He is certified as AAA arbitrator in employment disputes.

Prior to starting his own firm, he was a regional attorney of the U.S. EEOC in its Denver district office. Senator Udall will be going into more detail regarding this nominee.

There, Bill had responsibility for the Commission's legal operations and Federal court enforcement litigation in the office's six-State jurisdiction.

Before joining the EEOC, Bill worked in private practice on employment, securities and commercial litigation.

I know some want to focus on his pro bono work and try to make political assumptions about him from a small portion of his career. But I know Bill, and he is the sum of a lot of great work in the public and private sectors.

For example, while at the EEOC Bill was in charge of an age discrimination class action suit that resulted in a settlement of nearly $200 million for 3,200 laid off engineers. This is one of the largest ever age discrimination class actions.

Bill began his career at the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago, representing indigent clients and other individuals seeking low- or no-cost counsel. This is a nominee whose breadth of legal experience has spanned the profession, and I think for that reason alone he should be confirmed.

Over the course of his legal career, Bill has been lead or colead counsel in complex litigation, resulting in 18 published opinions from Federal and State courts in Colorado and Illinois. Bill's time as a litigator and advocate has provided him with the necessary skills and perspective to deal with the diverse docket that comes before U.S. district court judges.

Beyond his distinguished legal skills, Bill's personal story is a tribute to this country and embodies the American dream. He is an immigrant success story. Bill was born in Mexico and immigrated with his family to the United States at a young age. He was the first in his family to attend college and law school. His rise through the legal profession is a great example for bright, young law students, and, indeed, for us all.

I urge my colleagues to vote for Bill's nomination. He is a model nominee for the Federal district court, an expert in labor and employment law who will serve Coloradans well. Bill Martinez has the experience and strong sense of civic responsibility we need on the Federal bench.

I thank the chairman for his guidance of this nomination, and I urge my colleagues to vote to confirm Bill to Colorado 's Federal bench.

I also would be remiss, if I didn't thank my senior Senator, Mark Udall, for his extraordinary efforts to make sure we had a fair, balanced, and thoughtful search process. I think that process for this appointment and for the others whom we have done already are a model for the country, and it is a real testament to Senator Udall's leadership.

With that, I yield the floor.

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