Executive Session
Floor Speech
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Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, today the Senate will confirm four nominees to be U.S. district judge. Three of these seats, the vacancy for the Southern District of Texas, the vacancy for the Southern District of Florida and the vacancy for the District of Colorado, have been designated as judicial emergencies. With the votes today, we will have confirmed 33 article III judicial nominees. Twenty-one of those confirmed have been for judicial emergencies.
We continue to make great progress in processing President Obama's judicial nominees. As we head into our August recess, the Senate has confirmed 62 percent of President Obama's nominees since the beginning of his Presidency. That is not including the two the Supreme Court Justices nominated by President Obama. As my colleagues are aware, those nominations consumed a considerable amount of time in the committee and on the Senate floor.
During this Congress, the Judiciary Committee has held hearings on more than 75 percent of the President's judicial nominees. During the comparable time period for President Bush, only 70 percent of President Bush's nominees had hearings by this time. We have also reported 61 percent of the judicial nominees, which is comparable to President Bush's nominees.
I support these nominations and congratulate each of them. I would like to say a few words about each one of the nominees.
Sara Lynn Darrow is nominated to be U.S. district judge for the Central District of Illinois. Ms. Darrow graduated from Marquette University in 1992 and received her J.D. degree from St. Louis University School of Law in 1997. From 1997 to 1998, Mrs. Darrow worked in the law offices of Clarence Darrow, a small general practice firm in Rock Island, IL. She became an assistant State's attorney in 1999, where she handled juvenile, misdemeanor, and felony traffic cases. Upon promotion in 2000, she handled felony cases and serious juvenile abuse cases. In 2003, Mrs. Darrow began work as an assistant U.S. attorney, prosecuting Federal crimes including drug conspiracy, gun, racketeering, child exploitation, fraud, and bankruptcy. She has prosecuted approximately 300 defendants and tried 10 cases to verdict before a jury.
The ABA Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary has given Ms. Darrow a unanimous ``Qualified'' rating.
Nelva Gonzales Ramos is nominated to be U.S. district judge for the Southern District of Texas. After graduation from the University of Texas School of Law in 1991, Judge Ramos began her career as an attorney at Meredith & Donnelly in Corpus Christi. She worked primarily in personal injury litigation, employment litigation, and insurance defense. In 1997, she resigned from the firm to enter duty as a municipal court judge. During her campaign for district court judge during 1999 to 2000, she briefly worked as a solo practitioner. During this time, she practiced primarily personal injury but also family and criminal law. While in private practice, she tried approximately 17 cases to judgment or verdict.
Judge Ramos was appointed as a municipal court judge for Corpus Christi in 1997 where she had a criminal docket. She presided over 500 cases that went to verdict or judgment. When she announced her candidacy for district court judge in 1999, she resigned from this position as required by the city charter. In 2001 she was elected as district court judge for the 347th Judicial District. She was reelected in 2004 and in 2008. As district court judge, she has presided over 1,200 cases that went to verdict or judgment. While serving as a district court judge she helped establish a domestic violence court, and served as the local administrative judge for the Nueces County district courts. In this capacity she presided over meetings of the district court judges, ensured compliance with local rules, appointed committees regarding court management, and handled assorted other administrative tasks regarding the court.
The ABA Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary gave her a split rating of ``Qualified''--substantial majority--and ``Well Qualified''--minority.
Kathleen M. Williams is nominated to be U.S. district judge for the Southern District of Florida. She received her B.A. in 1978 and her J.D. in 1982 from the University of Miami School of Law. Ms. Williams began her legal career in 1982 as an associate attorney at Fowler, White, Burnett, Hurley, Banick & Strickroot. At Fowler White, she participated in insurance defense litigation defending insurance companies, city and county interests, hospital trusts and corporations.
From 1984 to 1988, Ms. Williams served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of Florida. While an assistant U.S. attorney, she prosecuted individuals on charges ranging from simple narcotics and weapons matters to complex money-laundering and RICO Litigation. In 1988, Ms. Williams returned to the private sector as an associate attorney for Morgan, Lewis & Bockius. While at Morgan, Lewis, & Bockius, she represented financial institutions, government contractors, and multinational corporations in labor litigation and white collar criminal defense matters.
In 1990, Ms. Williams joined the Federal Public Defender's office as the chief assistant public defender, where she represented persons accused of violating Federal criminal statutes but who cannot afford to retain an attorney. In 1995, she was appointed to be the public defender for the Southern District of Florida, where she continues to serve. As a Federal public defender she has litigated a wide range of matters including immigration, complex fraud, and national security. She was also appointed to be the acting Federal public defender for the Middle District of Florida from 1999 to 2000.
The ABA Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary has given her the rating of majority ``Well Qualified'' and Minority ``Qualified.''
Richard Brooke Jackson is nominated to be U.S. district judge for the District of Colorado. Judge Jackson received his A.B., magna cum laude, from Dartmouth College in 1969 and his J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 1972. Following law school, Judge Jackson joined the firm of Holland & Hart as an associate, where he focused on a combination of commercial litigation and personal injury litigation. In 1978, he became a partner and opened the Washington, DC, office of the firm. Additionally, he served on a number of committees within the firm and was chairperson of the litigation department. His pro bono work focused on personal injury claims and occasional representation in criminal defense and family law matters.
In 1998, he was appointed to serve as district judge for the First Judicial District of Colorado. As a district judge, he handled a mixed docket of criminal, civil, and domestic relations cases. In 2003, he was appointed chief judge.
The ABA Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary has given Judge Jackson the rating of unanimous ``Well Qualified.''
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