BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. TOOMEY. Thank you, Mr. President.
I rise to offer my support as well to the two nominees to serve as judges for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Jerry Pappert and Mark Kearney, whom we are scheduled to confirm in a short time.
Let me start by thanking Chairman Leahy and Ranking Member Grassley for facilitating this process and handling this at the committee level, and I want to thank Leader Reid and Leader McConnell for bringing these nominees to the Senate floor. I also want to take a moment to thank my colleague from the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Senator Casey, for all the work he and I have been able to do together. The collaboration we have had has been very constructive and it has been a pleasure to work with Senator Casey. In the 4 years I have been in the Senate, we have confirmed 11 district court judges. We have been able to place a judge in the Reading courthouse in Berks County which had been vacant for 3 years. We were able to place a judge in Easton courthouse in Northampton County which had been vacant for 10 years. With the confirmations that I am certainly hopeful about tonight, Mr. Pappert and Mr. Kearney, that number will rise to 13 members of the Federal bench from Pennsylvania in just the past 4 years.
We have one additional district court nominee, Joseph Leeson, awaiting a vote from the full Senate, and I am looking at a speedy confirmation of his candidacy as well.
Before I speak on the two nominees before us this evening, I want to briefly note how pleased I was that on November 20 the Senate confirmed Wendy Beetlestone to serve on the District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. She was confirmed unanimously by voice vote and I think that was a testament to her strong qualifications. I am delighted that Senator Casey and I were able to see that to completion.
Let me say a couple of words about Jerry Pappert.
Senator Casey spoke about Mr. Pappert. Jerry Pappert is eminently qualified for this post. He is a graduate of Notre Dame Law School and has an extensive and diverse legal background. He is currently a partner at Cozen O'Connor, which is a practice that has an emphasis on commercial litigation.
Prior to that he was the general counsel at Cephalon, where he oversaw all of the company's litigation, financial transactions, and intellectual property issues.
Not only has he handled a very wide range of issues in the private sector, but Mr. Pappert has also demonstrated his dedication to public service. As Senator Casey pointed out, he was a very successful attorney general for Pennsylvania for 6 years. He has successfully argued cases before the U.S. and Pennsylvania Supreme Courts. He won a landmark case before the U.S. Supreme Court, Booth v. Churner, which set forth the administrative exhaustion requirement for a prisoner seeking to sue in Federal court.
Mr. Pappert has also enjoyed bipartisan support in the Senate. The Senate Judiciary Committee successfully voted him out of committee on a voice vote back in September.
Mark Kearney is the other gentleman we will be voting on in a short time. He is a graduate of Villanova University School of Law and a very successful attorney. As Senator Casey pointed out, he is a managing shareholder at Elliott Greenleaf & Siedzikowski, where he has been for 24 years and practices commercial litigation.
Mr. Kearney is highly respected by his colleagues. He received the AV peer review rating in the Martindale-Hubbell system--the highest rating. He has also taken time to give back to his community. He put a lot of time and energy into an issue that is very important to me; that is, protecting children from dangerous predators. Mr. Kearney has worked with the Montgomery County Child Advocacy Project, representing abused children, and I commend him for that service.
Mr. Kearney has also enjoyed bipartisan support in the Senate. He was voice voted out by the Senate Judiciary Committee, reflecting unanimous support for his candidacy.
It is clear, and I believe strongly, that both Mr. Pappert and Mr. Kearney have the experience, acumen, and commitment to public service that will make them excellent additions to the Federal bench. I am pleased to speak on their behalf, and I am grateful to Senator Casey for the cooperative effort that has gotten us to this point.
I urge my colleagues to support the confirmation of these two outstanding individuals.
I yield the floor.