Default Prevention Act of 2013 - Motion to Proceed
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. DURBIN. Let me first thank the senior Senator from Vermont and the President pro tempore of the Senate.
I wish to say to the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, it has been my great honor for 15 or 16 years to work with the Senator from Vermont. He is an extraordinary person and an extraordinary leader on one of the most important committees in Congress.
I see Senator Barrasso on the floor. I have about a 10-minute statement if the Senator's schedule allows. I thank the Senator.
NOMINATION OF ANDREA WOOD
In a short time, a little more than 1 hour, the Senate will come to consider two judicial nominees. I will speak to one of these nominees from the State of Illinois. The other I am sure will be addressed by other Members of the Senate.
I rise to speak in support of the nomination of Andrea Wood to serve on the U.S. District Court in the Northern District Illinois.
Ms. Wood has the qualifications, integrity, and judgment to be an outstanding Federal district court judge. I was proud to recommend Ms. Wood's name to the President of the United States to be considered for this position. I was prouder still when the President concurred in that recommendation. She has my support and the support of my Colleague Senator Mark Kirk to fill the Chicago-based judgeship which was left vacant by the untimely death of Judge Bill Hibbler.
I wish to say a word about Judge Bill Hibbler. Judge Hibbler was one of my earlier appointments, a State judge who became an important asset to the Federal bench in Chicago. His untimely death left an extraordinary vacancy. I was at his memorial service, and the tributes that were paid to him for his life of public service were truly fitting. Ms. Wood now has difficult shoes to fill, and it may be impossible, but I think in her own special way she will make an extraordinary contribution to the court as well.
This vacancy has been designated as a judicial emergency by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, and I am pleased the Senate is moving to confirm Ms. Wood today.
Ms. Wood currently serves as a senior trial counsel at the Securities and Exchange Commission's Division of Enforcement in Chicago. In this capacity she represents the SEC in complex litigation matters. She is a native of St. Louis, and she received her B.A. from the University of Chicago, where she was selected as one of the student convocation speakers. She received her law degree from Yale, where she served on The Yale Law Journal.
After graduating from law school, Ms. Wood clerked for Judge Diane Wood of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. She then joined the Chicago law firm of Kirkland & Ellis, where she worked on securities, bankruptcies, tax, and other litigation matters.
She joined the SEC in 2004 as a senior attorney in the Division of Enforcement, where she investigated and litigated securities law violations, including fraud, insider trading, and other misconduct. In 2007, she became a senior trial counsel, serving as the lead SEC attorney on litigation matters and coordinating with the U.S. Attorney's Office and other regulators on parallel enforcement actions.
Ms. Wood knows the world of litigation at the highest levels. She has received numerous awards for her work at the SEC, including the Director's Award from the Director of the Division of Enforcement, as well as eight Special Act Awards for her work on individual matters. In addition to her busy government service, Ms. Wood has found time to serve the Chicago community through a variety of charitable causes.
She appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee for a hearing on June 19 and was reported out of the committee on July 18 by a unanimous voice vote. She is an outstanding nominee for the Federal bench, and I urge my colleagues to support her nomination when it comes to the floor of the Senate later this afternoon.
I see on the floor the Senator from North Dakota, who has asked permission to speak.
I yield the floor.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source