Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act
Floor Speech
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Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Mr. President, I am honored to offer my support for the nomination of Ronnie Abrams to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. I also want to thank President Obama for acting on my recommendation and nominating another superbly qualified female jurist to the Federal bench.
I have had the privilege of knowing Ronnie for many years. I know her as a fair-minded woman of great integrity. Throughout her distinguished legal career she has proven herself as an exceptional attorney. As the Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division at the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York, she supervised 160 prosecutions of violent crime, organized crime, white-collar crime, public corruption, drug trafficking, and computer crime. She helped shape the policy and management of the U.S. Attorney's Office, guiding its success in a broad range of high-level, high-stakes cases. Her record shows her commitment to justice. I can tell you she has a deep and sincere commitment to public service.
There is no question that Ms. Abrams is extremely well qualified and well suited to serve on the Federal judiciary. I strongly believe this country needs women such as her serving in the Federal judiciary, an institution that I believe needs more exceptional women. Ronnie Abrams received bipartisan support among the Senate Judiciary Committee members. Yet because of the political games we have today, she has waited more than 227 days to be confirmed. As my colleague from Oregon pointed out, that is far longer than any nominee had been waiting under the George Bush administration.
I have traveled all across New York State, at event after event, urging more women to enter public service. I am encouraged that women now make up nearly half of all our law students and about 30 percent of the Federal bench. For the first time in history, women also represent nearly one-third of the seats on trial courts, courts of appeal, and--after the confirmations of Justice Sotomayor and Justice Kagan to the highest Court in the land--the Supreme Court.
The Obama administration has taken significant steps toward maintaining and indeed increasing the representation of women in the Federal judiciary. Forty-seven percent of President Obama's confirmed nominees have been women, compared to only 22 percent of the judges confirmed under his predecessor.
While it is true women have come a long way in filling the ranks of the legal world, we still have a long way to go to achieve equality and a Federal bench that is truly reflective of the American people. I believe it is incredibly important we reach that point of equality because it can bring us closer to full equality and justice throughout our legal system and throughout our Nation. Not only is Ms. Abrams an exceptional jurist, there is no doubt that having Ms. Abrams serving in the Federal judiciary will bring us closer to that goal.
I ask my Republican colleagues to come together now around this shared value that we believe as a Nation, as a body, that everyone deserves justice.
We have to work together because, as it stands, there are not enough judges right now to do the work our overloaded courts need them to do. We have to be able to hand out justice in a timely manner.
Former Attorney General to President George W. Bush Michael Mukasey recently remarked that the civil litigation system has ground to a halt. That is not the kind of system the American people deserve, and we cannot let partisan politics and political bickering get in the way of allowing our judicial system to function properly.
I recommend Ms. Abrams because of her dedication to the law, her commitment to fairness, and her ability to serve the people of the great State of New York with dignity and integrity. I have been very honored to recommend her for this position, and I urge my colleagues to move forward to support her confirmation.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
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