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“THE HONORABLE STEPHEN M. McNAMEE” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the Senate section on pages S4329 on May 10, 2006.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
THE HONORABLE STEPHEN M. McNAMEE
Mr. KYL. Mr. President, it is with great pride that I rise today to honor a respected jurist and dedicated public servant upon the occasion of his stepping down as the Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Arizona.
The Honorable Stephen M. McNamee earned his bachelor of arts in history from the University of Cincinnati in 1964. He received his master of arts degree in 1967 and his juris doctor degree in 1969 from the University of Arizona.
Judge McNamee began his professional career as an assistant U.S. attorney, a position he held from 1971 to 1985. During that time, he was chief of the civil division in Tucson, chief assistant U.S. attorney, and first assistant U.S. attorney.
In 1985, President Reagan appointed him U.S. attorney for the District of Arizona. He made prosecuting violent crime within the 21 Native American communities in Arizona a top priority, particularly the prosecution of those who victimize Native American children. He also implemented model collection procedures for fines and penalty assessments of Federal defendants--the source of funding for the entire Victims of Crime Act program. Additionally, he testified before congressional committees on behalf of the Department of Justice regarding a variety of issues from terrorist threats to the southwest border, to child abuse and neglect on Indian reservations, to theft of Indian artifacts from archeological sites, to the reauthorization of the Victims of Crimes Act of 1984. At the behest of Attorney General Richard Thornburgh, he helped organize the first major conference to bring together American and Mexican criminal justice officials.
In 1990, he was appointed to the Federal bench by President George H.W. Bush, and in that capacity he developed a similar program to bring Mexican and U.S. Federal judges together to learn about each other's processes and procedures. As the chief judge of the District of Arizona, Judge McNamee managed a burgeoning docket. Since 1999, the filing of criminal cases went up 80 percent and civil case filings went up 59 percent. Nevertheless, under his leadership, the number of cases pending for 3 years or more has declined nearly 20 percent.
Judge McNamee has been an active liaison to Congress for the Administrative Office of the United States Courts and the Federal judiciary. He was appointed to the board of directors of the Federal Judges Association and has served on several Ninth Circuit and District of Arizona committees addressing a wide range of issues, from capital cases to racial, religious, and ethnic fairness to security issues.
As a distinguished member of the community, Judge McNamee has been the recipient of almost two dozen international, national, and State commendations and awards. He exemplifies the highest standards that we have come to expect from our judiciary, and we thank him for his service.
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