Executive Calendar

Floor Speech

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Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, for 3 years now, I have been hard at work alongside an administration that prioritizes filling vacancies on the Federal bench with smart, dedicated, constitutionalist judges. When I am at home in Tennessee, that is what people tell me they want to see--constitutionalist judges, not activist judges.

I know that I have sounded like a broken record in my reiterating just how important it is to keep these judicial nominations moving through the Committee on the Judiciary and moving to the floor, but I will tell you this: I think it is a message that needs to be repeated day in and day out because the American people and, as I said, Tennesseans know that this should be a priority, for this is how we continue to protect freedoms from generation to generation.

Since 2017, we have confirmed over 180 nominees, and even in the face of partisan bickering, we have no plans at all to slow that pace. We were in the Committee on the Judiciary today, hearing again from the nominees whom we will move forward and bring to this floor for confirmation. I want to shine light on a court that doesn't get a whole lot of attention, but let me tell you that we would be in real trouble if we did not have this one.

I have come to the floor to support President Trump's latest nominee to the U.S. Court of Federal Claims--Eleni Maria Roumel.

I first met Eleni when she joined the nonpartisan Office of General Counsel for the House of Representatives. During her 6-year tenure, Eleni advised those of us who were members of the Energy and Commerce Committee as we faced some challenging and high-profile legal matters and as we looked at laws that were going to affect the American people and how they lived their lives every single day.

The Energy and Commerce Committee in the House has wide jurisdiction. Of course, energy policy, commerce and trade, healthcare, manufacturing, pro sports, privacy, and the internet all come under that jurisdiction. So Eleni served us well in providing advice. I witnessed her commitment to bipartisanship as she served both sides of the aisle with the same quality of representation. She did it all while she was pregnant with her son, John, who is now 2 years old, and as someone who has been a working mom, I know the challenges that this presents.

From her time as a truly excellent student at Tulane Law, to her work in the private sector and beyond, Eleni's professionalism has elevated her above the rest of the pack.

She practiced intellectual property law and earned a promotion to partner as she represented both pro bono clients and publicly traded Fortune 500 companies.

She taught and mentored students as an adjunct professor at Charleston Law School.

She solidified her reputation as a lawyer committed to the rule of law in her work handling government oversight of Federal agencies. These cases were vital to the safeguarding of the separation of powers and emphasized the supremacy of the Constitution as what it is--the law of the land.

In her 19-year career, she has appeared before 20 different Federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, and just last year, she was elevated to the role of Deputy Counsel to Vice President Mike Pence.

I am truly honored to have supported Eleni Roumel's nomination to the Court of Federal Claims. She will be an excellent role model on the bench, especially to young women in the legal profession. I encourage my colleagues to take a look at her resume, get to know her, and then join me in wholeheartedly supporting her confirmation.

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