Executive Session
EXECUTIVE SESSION -- (Senate - June 06, 2006)
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Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I rise to express my pleasure and support for the confirmation of Ms. Renee Bumb to the U.S. District Court of New Jersey.
Ms. Bumb is one of four accomplished individuals from New Jersey who have been nominated to vacancies on the district court.
Just before we left for the Memorial Day recess, the Senate unanimously confirmed Judge Susan Wigenton for the district court. Judge Wigenton has been a Federal magistrate judge since 1997. She also worked at a law firm, served as a public defender in Asbury Park, NJ. She has been a first-rate magistrate judge. She will be an excellent district court judge. She served the public well. We are pleased to have her join the bench in New Jersey.
Now we discuss today's nominee, Renee Bumb. She is exceptionally well qualified and will be an excellent addition to the court. She is currently attorney in charge of the Camden--our southernmost city--U.S. Attorney's Office. She is a gifted prosecutor and has handled cases ranging from drug trafficking to white-collar crime.
For 6 years, Miss Bumb has supervised all of the attorneys in the Camden U.S. Attorney's Office. At the same time, she has tried cases herself, especially those dealing with public corruption.
Ms. Bumb is from south Jersey. We are pleased she will be sitting as a Federal judge in Camden. There have been openings there for some time. The people of south Jersey deserve judges who understand that area of the State and the unique communities therein. Ms. Bumb fits that bill.
When people look at tiny New Jersey on the map, they envision a small State but they are wrong. While we are relatively small geographically, we have the 10th largest population in the country. New Jersey is the most densely populated State in the country. While physical distance between north and south Jersey is not significant, there are differences between the two areas politically, economically, and culturally. The Federal Government needs to respect these distinctions.
Thus, we have Renee Bumb, who is a judge from South Jersey. She will dispense justice with the unique character her community brings--not having the large cities, and with the population density much less than the north. They also lack some of the services immediately available in the northern part of our State. Ms. Bumb will represent the Federal Government and represent the Judiciary extremely well.
At the same time, we have two other excellent nominees for vacancies on the U.S. District Court for New Jersey. One is Noel Hillman, another is Peter Sheridan. These nominees have been approved by the Judiciary Committee. They are ready to go. We should not delay the confirmation of these nominations past this week.
I offer thanks to Chairman Specter and Ranking Member Leahy for moving these nominees so efficiently through the process. I am confident these four individuals will serve the people of New Jersey extremely well on the Federal bench. They will bring distinction to the court. We urge their quick confirmation in the Senate.
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