Executive Session

Floor Speech

Executive Session

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Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, in addition to my support for Judge Saldana and Mr. Holmes, I rise in support of Marco A. Hernandez to be U.S. district judge for the District of Oregon.

I am pleased the Senate is finally turning to this nomination. This is the third Congress to consider Mr. Hernandez's nomination. President Bush nominated Judge Hernandez to this seat in the 110th Congress. Unfortunately, his nomination stalled in the Judiciary Committee, although he had the full support of every Republican on the committee. After pending for over 5 months with no action, his nomination, at that time, was returned to the President.

This vacancy has been designated a judicial emergency. Therefore, I would have expected his nomination to have been made very early in the 111th Congress. However, it was not sent to the Senate until July of last year. Because of that delayed nomination, the Senate was unable to complete action on the nomination in that Congress. At the close of the 111th Congress, the nomination was again returned to the President.

Mr. Hernandez has been rated ``qualified'' by the American Bar Association. He received his B.A. from Western Oregon State College and his J.D. from the University of Washington School of Law.

After graduating from law school, he served as an attorney for Oregon Legal Services, where he represented migrant farmworkers. He later joined the Washington County district attorney's office as a deputy district attorney.

Mr. Hernandez is a fine nominee under President Bush's standards but also a fine nominee under President Obama's standards. I am pleased this nomination is finally before the Senate. I am, however, disappointed that we have a vacancy that could have been filled over 2 years ago. With our vote today, the President can fill this judicial emergency seat with a qualified nominee.

Mr. President, I also support the nomination of Diana Saldana to be a U.S. district judge for the Southern District of Texas. She has the support of both home State Senators who spoke very highly of her at her September 29, 2010, nomination hearing.

Judge Saldana received a BA in history and in government from the University of Texas. She received her JD from the University of Texas School of Law. Upon graduation, she clerked for the Honorable George Kazen.

She has had a very successful career. Judge Saldana has been a staff attorney in the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a trial attorney with the Department of Justice, and served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of Texas. She was appointed to be a U.S. magistrate judge in 2006.

Judge Saldana was nominated by the President on July 14, 2010. She was rated unanimously well qualified by the American Bar Association.

I am pleased to support Judge Saldana's nomination to this very important seat. Not only has it been deemed to be a judicial emergency but it is also the seat to which her mentor, Judge Kazen, previously occupied.

Mr. President, I also support Paul Kinloch Holmes III, a nominee to be a U.S. district judge for the Western District of Arkansas. A graduate of Westminster College and the University of Arkansas School of Law, Mr. Holmes has been rated unanimously well qualified by the American Bar Association.

After graduating from law school, Mr. Holmes became an associate at the law firm of Warner & Smith, a firm that focused on general civil practice. On August 6, 1993, President Clinton nominated him to be the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Arkansas. The Senate confirmed his nomination shortly after, and he served his role with distinction until 2001. Since then, Mr. Holmes has been in private practice handling both criminal and civil litigation.

Again, I am pleased to support the nomination of Mr. Holmes to this seat that has been deemed a judicial emergency.

I yield the floor.

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