Executive Session

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Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I wish to address the Senate on the nomination of Michael Urbanski to be a U.S. district judge for the Western District of Virginia.

Since we have returned from the April recess, we have done very little else other than consider judicial nominations. This will be the third judicial nominee to be confirmed in the last 3 days and the 23rd confirmed this year. In fact, after today, we will have confirmed six judges in just 8 days. I know the liberal interest groups have been pressuring the other side to consider more nominees even though we have been moving at a very brisk pace this entire Congress, but it is surprising to me, with all the issues facing the Nation at home and abroad, that we would spend 2 weeks on the floor considering little else.

Our economy continues to struggle. Millions of Americans remain out of work and are unable to find jobs. The unemployment rate remains at approximately 9 percent. Those who do have jobs are finding it more and more difficult to get to work as gas prices are over $4 a gallon and inching even higher. Our Nation is facing significant national security issues. Every single day, our national debt continues to climb to unsustainable levels. These are incredibly important issues. I would not go so far as to say the majority does not care about the issues facing our Nation. Perhaps they are simply out of ideas. But as Americans continue to struggle in this economy, it is difficult to understand why we would spend 2 weeks voting on hardly anything but judicial nominations.

As I said, the Senate has been moving swiftly this year on those nominations. We have confirmed 23 nominees in just 49 days. That is a rate of one judge almost every other day the Senate has been in session since convening in January.

However, the Senate must not place quantity confirmed over quality confirmed. These lifetime appointments are too important to the Federal judiciary and the American people for the Senate to simply rubberstamp these nominations.

I was surprised during one of our recent debates to hear one of my colleagues on the committee come to the Senate floor and imply otherwise. During the debate on the confirmation of Edward Chen, a reference was made to what was characterized as the Senate's longstanding tradition--a deference to home State Senators with regard to the Federal district court nominations. That Senator stated that in his time in the Senate, where a Federal district court nominee is backed by the two home State Senators, it is usually almost pro forma that the nominee is confirmed.

The fact is that home State Senators do have a great deal to say in who should serve the country on the bench. That is part of the advise-and-consent process. But there are 100 voices in this body, and we speak for the American people who come before these jurists. We must ensure they are fit to serve as impartial arbiters.

I do not consider the confirmation process for a Federal judicial nominee to be a pro forma process. I will continue to give scrutiny to all nominees regardless of home State support. I do not consider it delay or obstruction to fulfill that duty. If the other side chooses to do so, of course, that is up to them, but I will not simply rubberstamp those nominees. We will continue to process the nominees fairly and with the standard to which the people rightly hold us.

I support today's nominee. Michael Francis Urbanski is nominated to be a U.S. district judge for the Western District of Virginia. He presently serves as a U.S. magistrate judge in the same district.

Judge Urbanski received his BA with high honors from William & Mary in 1978 and his juris doctorate from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1981. Upon graduation, he served as a law clerk to the Honorable James C. Turk of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia. From 1982 to 2004, Judge Urbanski worked in private practice, first as an associate at the Washington, DC, office of Vinson & Elkins and then with the firm of Woods Rogers, where he became a principal in 1989. In 2003, the nominee was appointed to his present position. In 2010, Chief Judge James Jones appointed the nominee to chair an advisory committee on the new local rules adopted in the Western District.

The American Bar Association Committee on the Federal Judiciary has given Judge Urbanski their highest rating--unanimously ``well qualified.''

I am pleased to support this experienced nominee, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.

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