Nomination

Floor Speech

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Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I rise to speak about an important vote we are going to be taking today to confirm the next U.S. district judge for the Eastern District of Washington State.

It is not every day that I get to support a nominee who also happens to be a former intern in my Senate office, but it is also not every day that a man who is the son of a migrant farmworker and himself worked on farms in the Yakima Valley is called upon by the President of the United States to become the very first Latino Federal judge in the Eastern District of Washington. So I am incredibly proud to stand in support of Judge Salvador Mendoza, Jr., whose confirmation we will vote on shortly.

Through his life story, Judge Mendoza represents the very best of my home State's honest, hard-working spirit. Through his work ethic, his commitment to his community, and his belief in equal opportunity, Judge Mendoza is a leader and a role model for families throughout our State, particularly young men and women born into poverty and difficult circumstances. In fact, in his application to serve as Federal judge, he discussed his own upbringing, and I wish to quote him. Judge Mendoza wrote:

I wrote and studied hard to better myself and my family. I understood then what I believe now, that both the quality of the educational system coupled with a strong system of justice will lift up the entire community.

Those are the words of a man who belongs in our judicial system. It should come as no surprise that throughout his professional life, Judge Mendoza has stayed true to those words. From serving as a trustee for Columbia Basin College to helping to coordinate the annual Tri-Cities Youth and Justice Conference, to helping create the first drug court for Benton and Franklin counties, Judge Mendoza has given his time and experience, investing in

institutions that lift communities throughout our State.

Judge Mendoza is currently a superior court judge, but his judicial career spans private practice, service as an assistant attorney general, and years of experience in superior, district, municipal, and juvenile court. He is an experienced practitioner in Federal court and served from 2010 to 2013 as lawyer representative to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference.

Through his many years of legal practice and judicial experience, Judge Mendoza will come to the Federal bench well prepared.

Judge Mendoza has described his judicial philosophy as guided by the principles of patience, respect, and humility--the same principles that have guided his life and legal career--and principles that will serve him well as a member of the Federal judiciary.

Let me close by thanking him for his willingness to serve Washington State as a Federal judge. I have always believed that as a country we are at our best when good people are willing to give of themselves in service to others. It is that kind of service to others that has defined Judge Mendoza throughout his career and that will continue to define him as he assumes the duties of this new office.

I am proud to support his nomination to be U.S. district judge, and I urge our colleagues to support his nomination as well.

I thank the Chair.

I yield the floor and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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