[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 15] [Senate] [Pages 22936-22938] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]NOMINATION OF ELLEN LIPTON HOLLANDER TO BE UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE FOR THE DISTRICT OF MARYLAND The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, there will be 2 minutes of debate on the Hollander nomination. The Senator from Maryland. Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I am pleased to rise today in support of the confirmation of two judicial confirmations pending before the Senate from my home State of Maryland. Both James Bredar and Ellen Hollander have been nominated by the President to be U.S. district judges for the District of Maryland. I was pleased to work with our senior Senator, Ms. Mikulski, to recommend these nominations to the President last year. I chaired their confirmation hearing in May of this year before the Judiciary Committee, on which I serve. These two judges were approved by a voice vote in the Judiciary Committee in June. Judge Ellen Hollander currently serves as a judge on the Maryland Court of Special Appeals, Maryland's second highest court, which hears mandatory appeals from our State trial courts in Maryland. She has served as a judge on that court since 1994. Judge Hollander comes to the Senate with an impressive amount of experience in Federal and State court. She served as a Federal prosecutor in Maryland for 4 years, served as a State circuit court [[Page 22937]] judge in Baltimore City for 5 years, and has served as a State appellate court judge for 16 years. As a State trial court judge, she heard thousands of criminal and civil cases--hundreds of which went to verdict or final judgment--and handled both jury trials and bench trials. As an appellate judge, she has authored over 1,000 opinions. The American Bar Association's Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary evaluated Judge Hollander's nomination and rated her unanimously ``well qualified,'' the highest possible rating. Judge Hollander, really exemplifies the spirit of public service. She is well known by lawyers and jurors alike in Maryland for her meticulous reasoning process and well-crafted legal opinions. She really is a model of a fair and impartial judge who will dispense equal justice under the law. I know Judge Hollander has also supported efforts to reduce recidivism and is a strong supporter of our drug treatment courts and juvenile diversion programs. Judge Jim Bredar also comes to the Senate with a wide range of courtroom and litigation experience. He served as a Federal prosecutor in Colorado for 4 years before coming to Maryland and serving as a Federal public defender for 6 years. Since 1998, he has served as a U.S. magistrate judge for U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, where he works closely with our judges of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. He conducts preliminary proceedings in felony cases, all proceedings in petty offense cases, and all proceedings in misdemeanor and civil matters upon the consent of the parties. Judge Bredar has conducted over 700 mediation and settlement conferences in civil cases. Judge Bredar has been a member of the Maryland Bar since 1995. The American Bar Association's Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary evaluated Judge Bredar's nomination and rated him unanimously ``well qualified,'' the highest possible rating. With Judge Bredar, I see a nominee who is genuinely concerned about broadening the access to justice of Americans to their courts. He believes that we can do better with both our criminal and civil justice systems. I know of Judge's Bredar work as a mediator in our Federal court's alternative dispute resolution program, which has received high praise from Maryland lawyers and litigants alike. The people of Maryland will be well served by having Judge Bredar and Judge Hollander on the Federal bench in Baltimore. I look forward to the Senate confirming these two outstanding nominations. We are extremely pleased that we are now getting a chance to vote on the confirmation of Judge Hollander to the Maryland District Court. Senator Mikulski has taken the leadership in bringing forward the nominations that we strongly support, the two of us. I would yield the time to the senior Senator from Maryland. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maryland. Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, it is with great pleasure that Senator Cardin and I bring to the Senate Judge Ellen Hollander, an outstanding woman who is currently a member of the Maryland Court of Special Appeals; has been deemed qualified, very qualified by the Maryland Bar, and every specialized bar in the State of Maryland. She brings a sense of judicial temperament, great judicial competence, and a commitment to impartial justice. She will be a great addition to the Federal bench in Maryland and to the Federal bench of the United States. She does not live in an ivory tower. Her work on boards and commissions in the nonprofit areas shows a keen involvement in civic affairs. I urge that we adopt the nomination of Judge Hollander. I would hope that we could do it by voice. Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, we will now finally have a vote on the nomination of Ellen L. Hollander to serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. Her nomination has been pending on the Senate's Executive Calendar since the Judicial Committee reported it unanimously on June 10, more than 6 months ago. Judge Hollander, a well-respected Maryland State judge for the last 16 years, was unanimously rated ``well qualified'' by the ABA Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary and has the strong support of both of her home State Senators, Senator Mikulski and Senator Cardin. After the confirmations today, 30 Federal circuit and district court nominations favorably reported by the Judiciary Committee remain ready for final vote. These include 21 nominations reported unanimously and another 3 reported with strong bipartisan support and only a small number of ``no'' votes. These 24 nominations should have been confirmed within days of being reported. In addition, 17 nominations ready for action on the Senate calendar are to fill judicial emergency vacancies. With judicial vacancies at historic highs, we should act on these nominations. We should do as we did during President Bush's first 2 years in office, when the Senate with a Democratic majority had up-or-down votes on all 100 judicial nominations favorably reported by the Judiciary Committee. That included controversial circuit court nominations reported during the lameduck session in 2002. In contrast, during this first Congress of President Obama's administration, the Senate has considered just 49 of the 80 nominations reported by the Judiciary Committee. I congratulate Judge Hollander and her family on her confirmation today. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the nomination. The bill clerk read the nomination of Ellen Lipton Hollander, of Maryland, to be United States District Judge for the District of Maryland. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the nomination of Ellen Lipton Hollander, of Maryland, to be U.S. District Court Judge for the District of Maryland. Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The yeas and nays have been requested. Is there a sufficient second? There appears to be a sufficient second. The clerk will call the roll. The legislative clerk called the roll. Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Louisiana (Ms. Landrieu) and the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Manchin) are necessarily absent. Mr. KYL. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Kentucky (Mr. Bunning), the Senator from New Hampshire (Mr. Gregg), and the Senator from Utah (Mr. Hatch). Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Kentucky (Mr. Bunning) would have voted ``yea'' and the Senator from Utah (Mr. Hatch) would have voted ``yea.'' The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Cardin). Are there any other Senators in the Chamber desiring to vote? The result was announced--yeas 95, nays 0, as follows: [Rollcall Vote No. 280 Ex.] YEAS--95 Akaka Alexander Barrasso Baucus Bayh Begich Bennet Bennett Bingaman Bond Boxer Brown (MA) Brown (OH) Brownback Burr Cantwell Cardin Carper Casey Chambliss Coburn Cochran Collins Conrad Coons Corker Cornyn Crapo DeMint Dodd Dorgan Durbin Ensign Enzi Feingold Feinstein Franken Gillibrand Graham Grassley Hagan Harkin Hutchison Inhofe Inouye Isakson Johanns Johnson Kerry Kirk Klobuchar Kohl Kyl Lautenberg Leahy LeMieux Levin Lieberman Lincoln Lugar McCain McCaskill McConnell Menendez Merkley Mikulski Murkowski Murray Nelson (NE) Nelson (FL) Pryor Reed Reid Risch Roberts Rockefeller Sanders Schumer Sessions Shaheen Shelby Snowe Specter Stabenow Tester Thune Udall (CO) Udall (NM) Vitter Voinovich Warner Webb Whitehouse Wicker Wyden NOT VOTING--5 Bunning Gregg Hatch Landrieu Manchin The nomination was confirmed. [[Page 22938]] The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the motions to reconsider are considered made and laid upon the table. The President will be immediately notified of the Senate's action. ____________________