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Cloture Motion
Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The cloture motion having been presented under rule XXII, the Chair directs the clerk to read the motion.
The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
Cloture Motion
We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of Executive Calendar No. 1032, Sarah A.L. Merriam, of Connecticut, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Second Circuit.
Charles E. Schumer, Richard J. Durbin, Robert P. Casey,
Jr., Sherrod Brown, Tammy Baldwin, Tina Smith, Jeanne
Shaheen, Chris Van Hollen, Elizabeth Warren, Catherine
Cortez Masto, Raphael G. Warnock, Tim Kaine, Benjamin
L. Cardin, Christopher Murphy, Maria Cantwell,
Christopher A. Coons, Jack Reed, Gary C. Peters, Tammy
Duckworth.
Mr. SCHUMER. Finally, I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum call for the cloture motion filed today, September 12, be waived.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. SCHUMER. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Ms. CANTWELL. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Nomination of Salvador Mendoza, Jr.
Ms. CANTWELL. Madam President, I come to the floor today to urge my colleagues to vote to confirm Judge Mendoza to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
This is a historic moment. If confirmed, Judge Mendoza would be the first Hispanic judge to serve on the Ninth Circuit from Washington.
Judge Mendoza, whom I met before nominating him to the White House Counsel's Office as a candidate for U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington, has been somebody who, when you think about his childhood growing up in the Yakima Valley--an agricultural area in Eastern Washington--he comes from a family of farm workers and has worked in the fields himself.
As a young student at Prosser High School, it was not uncommon for him to wake up before dawn to work in the fields before rushing home to change and head to school. His hard work earned him admission to the University of Washington.
After graduating from the University of Washington, he left the State to get his law degree from UCLA. After earning his degree, he returned home to Washington, where he worked as assistant attorney general in the Washington State AG's Office.
He went on to serve the community he grew up in, first as a deputy prosecutor for Franklin County and then as a judge in the Benton-
Franklin Superior Court. He has been an outstanding judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington, where he has served since 2014. Clearly, my colleagues here in the Senate saw his potential since he was confirmed to the Eastern District 92 to 4.
Judge Mendoza is not just an outstanding jurist; he is a community leader as well. He has served on the boards of directors for numerous organizations in Central Washington, including the Benton-Franklin Legal Aid Society, the Benton and Franklin Counties Circle of Hope Foundation for Drug Courts, and the United Way of Benton and Franklin Counties.
I know Judge Mendoza will make an excellent addition to the Ninth Circuit Court, and I urge my colleagues to support his nomination to the court of appeals.
Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, today the Senate is poised to confirm another outstanding judicial nominee: Judge Salvador Mendoza, Jr., nominated to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Judge Mendoza is a highly experienced jurist with a lifelong commitment to public and community service. After graduating from the University of Washington and UCLA School of Law, Judge Mendoza joined the office of the Franklin County, WA prosecuting attorney, where he handled a range of felony and misdemeanor cases. Following this role, Judge Mendoza entered private legal practice, simultaneously serving as a judge pro tempore on various Washington State municipal, district, and juvenile courts. He then served 2 years on the Washington State superior court.
In 2014, President Obama nominated Judge Mendoza to the Eastern District of Washington, and the Senate confirmed him on an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote, 92-4. Judge Mendoza has distinguished himself on the bench, presiding over dozens of trials and demonstrating evenhandedness and impartiality in all matters that have come before him. And once confirmed, Judge Mendoza will be the first judge of Hispanic origin to sit on a Washington seat on the Ninth Circuit.
The American Bar Association has unanimously rated Judge Mendoza
``well qualified,'' and he enjoys the strong support of his home State Senators, Mrs. Murray and Ms. Cantwell.
I will support Judge Mendoza's confirmation, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.
Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I rise today in support of the nomination of Judge Salvador Mendoza, from my home State of Washington, to serve on the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
I was honored to recommend Judge Mendoza for this seat to President Biden and to introduce him before the Senate Judiciary Committee in May.
I was thrilled to see him advance out of the committee in a bipartisan vote, and I couldn't be happier to support him today and to strongly urge all my colleagues to join me in voting for his confirmation to the bench.
Judge Mendoza is a lifelong Washington State resident and a tremendously qualified candidate to join the Ninth Circuit Court. He has served as a district court judge for the Eastern District of Washington since 2014, when he was confirmed by the Senate with an overwhelming, bipartisan majority of 92-4.
In his time on the bench in the Eastern District, he has presided over nearly 1,500 cases--including appellate cases--where he treated every party who came before him with fairness and respect.
And before that, he served Washington State as a Superior Court Judge.
He also has experience as a prosecutor, in the State attorney general's office, and as a solo practitioner, where he often represented defendants who could not afford their own attorneys.
He also worked to establish the first drug court in Benton and Franklin counties, along with prosecutors, defense attorneys, mental health professionals, and other judges.
From representing those without means, to establishing drug courts, to serving with distinction on the Eastern District Court, Judge Mendoza has been a trailblazer, focused on building a more fair and just legal system that works for everyone--not just the wealthy and well-off.
Judge Mendoza's many years of public service and even-handed application of the law have earned him not only the support of people across the State of Washington, but also the respect of both Democrats and Republicans.
It is why my bipartisan judicial merit selection committee, which includes top Republican lawyers, recommended him to serve in his current district court judgeship 8 years ago and why he was confirmed to that judgeship in an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote. And that should be no different today.
Beyond just his impeccable professional qualifications, Judge Mendoza will bring an important perspective to one of the most consequential appellate courts in this country: the perspective of someone whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico and worked as farm laborers, maids, and factory workers to build a better life for their family; the perspective of someone who, as a child, worked beside them on farms in the Yakima Valley; the perspective of someone who was the first Latino Federal judge in the Eastern District of Washington and who would break new ground once again as the first Latino from Washington State to serve on the Ninth Circuit.
Confirming Judge Mendoza will bring us even closer to building a Federal bench that reflects the diversity of the people it serves. That is especially important to me and to the many people across the country who don't currently see themselves represented on our Nation's courts.
I have no doubt--and based on his record, I think there can be no doubt that serving on the Ninth Circuit, Judge Mendoza will carefully review each case as an appellate judge, respect every party that appears before him, and protect the rights of the American people.
I urge all of my colleagues to join me in supporting his confirmation.
Ms. CANTWELL. I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Ms. CANTWELL. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
____________________
SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 168, No. 146
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