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“NOMINATION OF MICHAEL SIMON” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the Senate section on pages S3906-S3907 on June 20, 2011.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
NOMINATION OF MICHAEL SIMON
Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, tomorrow, the Senate will vote on the confirmation of Michael Simon to serve as U.S. District Court Judge for the District of Oregon. Michael Simon is a good and decent man. In my home State where we have a judicial emergency by the standards of Chief Justice Roberts, it is vitally important that Michael Simon be confirmed. To begin, I wish to thank Chairman Leahy; ranking minority member Grassley; the majority leader, Senator Reid, and minority leader McConnell for bringing this nomination to the floor today.
Senator Merkley and I have been proud to put forward Mr. Simon's name for consideration by the President. We were enthused by his subsequent nomination, and we are now hopeful he will soon be able to continue his service to the people of Oregon in this new capacity.
Michael Simon is both a distinguished lawyer and a legal scholar with a diverse and impressive legal career. That career includes work as a public servant, as a litigator, a pro tempore judge, and as a professor. Michael Simon now is a partner at the firm of Perkins Coie in Portland, and he has worked there since 1986. After graduating summa cum laude from UCLA, Mr. Simon attended Harvard Law School where he again graduated with honors cum laude.
He began his legal career in the Department of Justice antitrust division where he served as a trial attorney for 5 years. During his time working in Washington, DC, Mr. Simon also volunteered for and served as special U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. It was through his work at the antitrust division that Mr. Simon made one of his most notable contributions, and that was a contribution to strengthening consumer protection law. The distinguished President pro tempore of the Senate knows from his days in Connecticut as attorney general how important it is that there be public advocates for consumer rights because so often this is a field that gets short shrift. People say they are for the rights of consumers, but these cases can be hard and time consuming to bring. That is what Michael Simon did and did so well.
Working on behalf of the Department of Justice on the case of United States v. American Airlines, Mr. Simon successfully argued for extending the reach of the Sherman Act to include monopolization and attempted monopolization. In my view, this extension is one that benefits consumers each and every day across this country. Frankly, to have someone on the bench who has this kind of expertise in fighting monopolies and protecting the rights of consumers is a very special qualification that I would simply commend to the Senate as we consider the nomination of Michael Simon.
Throughout his work both in the public sector and in private practice, Mr. Simon has been an active member of our community. In fact, I have had many conversations with him in his capacity as the immediate past president of Congregation Beth Israel in my hometown where he constantly is the leader of the congregation, reaching out to conscript volunteers for a host of projects, particularly those that involve children. He has engaged in extensive pro bono work. He has volunteered for many local nonprofit organizations. I would call him the official champion of voluntarism, because when we look at some of the causes he has volunteered for--he has been a past board member of the Waverly Children's Home; he has been past president and current board member of the Classroom Law Project--we see that he consistently comes back to recognizing the importance of the well-being and security of children in our community. That, too, is a special area of expertise and advocacy that he will bring to the bench, confirmed by the Senate, and another area that I wish to commend Mr. Simon to the Senate for as we look at his candidacy this week.
This seat has been vacant for nearly 2 years. As the distinguished President pro tempore of the Senate knows, there is a process by which one actually determines a judicial emergency. It has essentially been defined by Chief Justice Roberts, and we clearly have such an emergency in my home State of Oregon. So it is very welcome news for Oregonians that we have this opportunity to have a full bench, to have all justices on deck, and it is my view that Mr. Simon is an outstanding nominee. I have absolutely no reservations that he will be a superior judge.
I strongly urge my colleagues to join me in supporting an exceptional individual--a person who is fair and thoughtful and who brings years and years of expertise and a host of very important legal assignments. I am especially grateful that he is a resident of my hometown where he has distinguished himself with extraordinary volunteering for a whole host of causes that are important, especially the future of our children.
Mr. President, I yield the floor.
I see the distinguished chairman of the Finance Committee here, so let me yield the floor at this time.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Montana.
Mr. BAUCUS. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered.
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