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“NOMINATION OF MARK A. BARNETT TO BE A JUDGE OF THE UNITED STATES COURT OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Commerce was published in the Senate section on pages S3877-S3878 on May 23, 2013.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
NOMINATION OF MARK A. BARNETT TO BE A JUDGE OF THE UNITED STATES COURT
OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE
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NOMINATION OF CLAIRE R. KELLY TO BE A JUDGE OF THE UNITED STATES COURT
OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE
Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to consider Calendar Nos. 11 and 12; that the Senate proceed to vote on the nominations listed with no intervening action or debate, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening debate; that no further motions be in order to the nominations; that any statements related to the nominations be printed in the Record, and President Obama be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate then resume legislative session.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk will report the nominations.
The assistant legislative clerk read the nomination of Mark A. Barnett, of Virginia, to be a Judge of the United States Court of International Trade, and the nomination of Claire R. Kelly, of New York, to be a Judge of the United States Court of International Trade.
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, as we vote today on two nominations to the Court of International Trade, I want to note that this week we reached a milestone. It is 5 months into President Obama's second term, and we have just now reached the same number of circuit and district confirmations that President George H.W. Bush achieved in his 4 years as President. Of course, we remain nearly 20 confirmations behind the pace we set when President George W. Bush was in office. While some have argued that this is because President Obama has not made enough nominations, the fact is that he has sent up more district nominees at this point in his presidency than President George W. Bush had at the same point. The reason the Senate confirmations are lagging behind is because Senate Republicans have engaged in unprecedented obstruction of district court nominees. At this point in 2005, over 97 percent of President Bush's district nominees had been confirmed, but just 86 percent of President Obama's have been confirmed.
Today's vote on Mark Barnett is also a milestone of a sort. He was one of the 11 judicial nominees who were stalled at the end of last year because Senate Republicans refused to allow him a vote. We are approaching the Memorial Day recess and the Senate is still working on nominations that could and should have been completed last year. These unnecessary delays on confirmations are bad for the Senate, bad for our Federal courts, and bad for the American people.
After today's votes, there will be another seven nominees pending on the Executive Calendar, and all but one were reported unanimously by the Judiciary Committee. There is no reason to further delay action on these nominees: We should follow Senate tradition and vote on all of them before the recess. Nitza Quinones Alejandro, Luis Restrepo, Jeffrey Schmehl, Kenneth Gonzales, Gregory Phillips, Ray Chen, and Jennifer Dorsey are awaiting confirmation.
These nominees would fill important vacancies. For example, three of these nominees would fill vacancies in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, where there are seven current vacancies. These are vacancies we need to fill, and, since the nominees are supported by every Republican on the Judiciary Committee, as well as their home State Republican Senator, there is no reason not to vote on them today.
Mark Barnett is currently the Deputy Chief Counsel in the U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Chief Counsel for Import Administration, where he has worked since 1995. From 2008 to 2009, he was on detail to the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means, Subcommittee on Trade. Prior to his government service, Mr. Barnett was an associate in the Washington, DC office of Steptoe & Johnson.
Claire Kelly is a professor of law at Brooklyn Law School, where she teaches classes on international trade, international business law, and administrative law. Prior to entering academia, she spent 4 years as an associate and 3 years as a consultant specializing in customs and trade law at the law firm Coudert Brothers in New York City.
I congratulate both nominees. Nominations to the Court of International Trade have historically been noncontroversial and have been moved quickly by the full Senate. The most recent confirmation to that court came less than a month after the nominee had been reported, so it is unfortunate that Mark Barnett and Claire Kelly have been unnecessarily stalled for more than 3 months.
Earlier this week I placed in the Record a Wall Street Journal article titled ``Open Judgeships Show D.C. Dysfunction.'' I, again, urge Senate Republicans to work in a bipartisan way and show that the Senate can make real progress. All Senate Democrats are ready to vote on all these judicial nominees.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. If there is no further debate on the nomination, the question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the nomination of Mark A. Barnett, of Virginia, to be a Judge of the United States Court of International Trade?
The nomination was confirmed.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. If there is no further debate on the nomination, the question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the nomination of Claire R. Kelly, of New York, to be a Judge of the United States Court of International Trade?
The nomination was confirmed.
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