[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 16] [Senate] [Pages 22205-22206] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]SENATE JUDICIAL CONFIRMATIONS IN COLORADO Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President, I would like to take a moment to thank the chairman of the Judiciary Committee for working with Senator Salazar and myself in getting two individuals finally confirmed by the Senate; that is, Phillip Brimmer and Christine Arguello to the District Court of Colorado. I know it was not an easy task that the chairman of the Judiciary Committee had before him. I know he had to buck some of the persistent rules of his committee, he had to buck a very tight timeline at the end and had to deal with some misunderstandings that further delayed their confirmation. I respect him highly for his good work as chairman of the Judiciary Committee. I respect him for the fact that he was able to keep his commitment to both myself and Senator Salazar on these two individuals. Senator Salazar and I worked hard to work out an agreement where we could fill at least two of the vacancies of the three existing vacancies on the District Court of Colorado. I also compliment my good friend and colleague Senator Salazar for being willing to work with me to meet [[Page 22206]] the needs of this district court. When you have three vacancies on a district court, they are reaching the status of what we call emergency status. That means there is considerable more workload there because of the vacancies, and as a result of that it begins to impede their ability to deal with the cases that might come before that district court. I also state for the record that this is a court that deals with a very heavy workload and probably should have an additional seat on the bench there in this district court because of the heavy workload we have in the Colorado District Court. Philip Brimmer I would like to take a moment to talk about the two fine individuals on whom Senator Salazar and I ended up agreeing--first of all, in regard to Mr. Brimmer. Mr. Brimmer is an outstanding lawyer. He is a graduate of Harvard and Yale Law School, institutions that provided him with tremendous analytical tools and an arsenal of knowledge which have served him well in his career. Upon graduation from law school, Mr. Brimmer spent 2 years clerking for the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado. Thereafter, he joined a Denver law firm, where he spent 7 years in private practice before making a decision to devote his career to public service. This decision led Mr. Brimmer to the Denver District Attorney's Office, serving first as a deputy district attorney and later promoted to chief deputy district attorney, Former District Attorney and current Governor of Colorado Bill Ritter wrote, ``throughout Mr. Brimmer's service at the Denver District Attorney's Office, he upheld the highest standards of integrity, fairness, honesty, hard work--and a dedication to public service.'' Governor Ritter felt he could trust Phil Brimmer with the most challenging cases that came through the office; Phil Brimmer did not disappoint. Current Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey recently wrote of his former colleague in a similar fashion. ``[Phil Brimmer] never failed to impress me both with his work ethic and his knowledge of the law . . . He was one of our most valued attorneys.'' The sentiments of Governor Ritter and District Attorney Morrissey are reflected in numerous other letters sent to my office from people who worked with Mr. Brimmer throughout the years. Similar to his experience as deputy district attorney, Mr. Brimmer has been exceptionally successful as Federal prosecutor. Almost 7 years ago, he joined the U.S. Attorney's Office as an assistant U.S. attorney and has worked on an assortment of criminal cases as chief of the major crimes section and now as chief of special prosecutions section. As chief of special prosecutions in the U.S. Attorney's Office, Mr. Brimmer handled very challenging and procedurally complex case, dealing with an assortment of crimes, including child exploitation, cyber crimes, capital crimes, and prison crimes. Attorney general of Colorado John Suthers hired Phil Brimmer in the fall of 2001, recognizing his ``excellent work ethic'' and his ``tremendous intellectual capability''. It seems Mr. Brimmer continues to impress everyone he works beside as he continues to serve Colorado's legal community with great distinction. Anyone familiar with Philip Brimmer's professional credentials can attest to his intelligence and his talent. Anyone familiar with Philip Brimmer, as an individual, would certainly observe that he is respectful, loyal, and good-humored. His integrity, honesty and professional dedication to public service also contribute to making Philip Brimmer a ``rare find.'' From my conversations with Mr. Brimmer, it is clear that he recognizes the proper role of the judiciary. His personal qualities and character, coupled with his professional experience, an ABA rating of ``well qualified'', and outstanding bipartisan recommendations from within Colorado's legal community make Philip Brimmer ideally suited to service on the federal district court. christine arguello I would also like to welcome Ms. Christine Arguello to the U.S. Senate. This is not my first endorsement of Ms. Arguello. In 1999, I made a recommendation to then President Clinton to nominate Ms. Arguello for a seat on the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado. This past January, I again offered her name to President Bush and urged he consider nominating Christine Arguello to fill a vacant judgeship on Colorado's Federal district court. I speak before the Senate today in support of the nomination of this fine lawyer for service on the Federal bench. In her more than 25 years of legal experience, she has worn many different hats. She has experience as a trial lawyer, in-house counsel, law professor, and public servant. She is a skilled attorney with impressive credentials and a diverse professional background. Ms. Arguello earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado and her law degree from Harvard. She began her distinguished professional career working as an associate for a law firm. She moved to a public service career after 19 years of private practice when she joined the Colorado Attorney General's Office, where she served as the chief deputy attorney general under the former attorney general, and now my currently Senate colleague, Ken Salazar. In 2003, she returned to private practice as a civilian litigation attorney, and in 2006 she assumed her current job as managing senior associate counsel for the University of Colorado at Boulder. She has been described by many as a trailblazer. Ms. Arguello and the wide-ranging experiences and accomplishments she brings with her would make her a great asset to the Federal bench. In addition to being the first Hispanic from Colorado to be admitted to Harvard Law School and the first Hispanic to be promoted to partner at one of the ``big four'' law firms in Colorado, Ms. Arguello has added law professor to a long list of accomplishments. She became a tenured professor at the University of Kansas Law School and joined the faculty at the University of Colorado School of Law and the University of Denver College of Law as an adjunct professor and visiting professor, respectively. It is with a great deal of pleasure that I am able to see to conclusion the confirmation of Phil Brimmer and Christine Arguello to the District Court of Colorado. Again, I cannot say how thankful I am I have a good friend and colleague such as Senator Ken Salazar who is willing to work with me on issues that are facing the Colorado District Court and many other issues that are facing the State of Colorado. I yield the floor. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maryland is recognized. ____________________