Executive Session

Floor Speech

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Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, at 5:30 we will be voting on the nomination of Paul Watford for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. I would like to say a few words about him at this time. But before I do, I think Members might want to consider the fact that the Ninth Circuit is by far the busiest U.S. circuit in the Nation. It has over 1,400 appeals pending per three-judge panel. That is the most of any circuit. It is over two times the average of other circuits combined.

The Judicial Conference of the United States has declared each Ninth Circuit vacancy a ``judicial emergency.'' So today we are, in fact, filling one of the seats which is a judicial emergency. The candidate is Paul Watford, a Ninth Circuit nominee with stellar credentials and support across the political spectrum. I am delighted that cloture was vitiated so the vote will be directly on his nomination, and it is anticipated that he will be confirmed without controversy.

Mr. Watford earned his bachelor's degree from the University of California Berkeley in 1989 and his law degree from UCLA in 1994 where he was editor of the UCLA Law Review and graduated Order of the Coif. After finishing law school, Mr. Watford clerked for Ninth Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski, an appointee of President Reagan's. He then clerked for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Following his two clerkships, he spent a year in private practice at the prestigious firm of Munger, Tolles, and Olson and then moved into public service as an assistant U.S. attorney in Los Angeles in 1997. There he prosecuted a broad array of crimes, including bank robberies, firearms offenses, immigration violations, alien smuggling, and various types of fraud.

He later served in the major fraud section of the criminal division, focusing on white collar crime. Among his many cases, he prosecuted the first case of an online auction fraud on eBay in California. During his tenure as a Federal prosecutor, Mr. Watford appeared in court frequently, typically several times per week. He tried seven cases to verdict, and he worked on numerous Ninth Circuit appeals, arguing four of them.

In one such case, a cocaine dealer had already convinced the State court that a drug seizure had violated his fourth amendment rights. Mr. Watford prevailed on appeal in forcing the dealer to forfeit over $100,000 in drug trafficking proceeds.

In 2000, Watford rejoined Munger, Tolles, and Olson where he is currently a partner. This is one of the premiere appellate law firms in California. Paul Watford specializes in appellate litigation at the firm. Like most major law firms, Munger's docket is dominated by business litigation. Thus the focus of Mr. Watford's work has been appellate litigation for business clients. For example, he represented Verizon Communications in a consumer class action case. He represented the technology company, Rambus, in two complex patent infringement cases. He also represented Shell Oil in an antitrust case.

Mr. Watford and his colleagues at Munger won a 9-to-0 reversal on behalf of Shell Oil in the Supreme Court. He has also represented numerous other American businesses, such as Coca-Cola and Berkshire Hathaway, as well as business executives and municipal government agencies.

In total he has argued 21 cases in the appellate courts, and he has appeared as counsel in over 20 cases in the U.S. Supreme Court. So he is well equipped.

His extensive experience as a prosecutor and private practitioner, including his specialty in appellate work, will serve the Ninth Circuit extremely well. Mr. Watford is also regarded by attorneys on both sides of the aisle, including conservative Republicans who praise him for his keen intellect and fair-minded approach to the law. He has been endorsed by two former presidents of the Los Angeles chapter of the Federalist Society.

One, Jeremy Rosen, says Watford is, ``open-minded and fair,'' and a ``brilliant person and a gifted appellate lawyer.'' The other, Henry Weissman, says that although he ``do[es] not agree with President Obama on issues, [he] completely agree[s] with his nomination of Paul Watford.'' So that is a good thing.

Daniel Collins, who clerked for Justice Scalia and served as an Associate Deputy Attorney General in the Bush Justice Department, says Watford ``embodies the definition of judicial temperament--very level-headed and even keeled.''

Thirty-two Supreme Court clerks from the term when Watford clerked for Justice Ginsburg have written in support of the nomination. These include clerks from every Justice on the Court at that time, including all of Justice Scalia's clerks from that year, as well as several from Justices Rehnquist, Thomas, and Kennedy. I find that quite amazing.

A group of over 40 former clerks for Judge Kozinski have also written in support of Watford's nomination. This group includes numerous individuals with unquestionable conservative credentials. Many clerked for Justices Rehnquist, Scalia, Alito, and Kennedy. Several, such as Steve Engel, Charles Duggan, and Ted Ullyot also served in the Bush administration, including in the White House Counsel's Office and the leadership of the Justice Department.

Watford also has strong support in the business community. The general counsels of leading American corporations, including Google, Mattel, Verizon, and CIRCOR, have also written in support of Mr. Watford. They say Watford ``is exactly the kind of individual that any plaintiff or defendant--person, business, or government--would welcome deciding their case.''

In short, Paul Watford is truly both an excellent and distinguished choice for the Ninth Circuit. He is extremely bright. He is experienced at the trial and appellate level and in both civil and criminal cases. He is uniquely respected for his intellect and judgment, and he has broad support across the political spectrum and in the business community.

Maybe this is the reason cloture was vitiated. He is not filibusterable. I hope people see the fine and keen intellect this man is, and he should have a very large vote. If confirmed, he would be one of just two African-American active judges on the Ninth Circuit. The Ninth Circuit, by far the busiest circuit in the Nation, urgently needs him to begin his service.

As I said the Ninth Circuit is a judicial emergency. This will fill one vacancy. So I urge my colleagues to vote at 5:30, in 15 minutes, for Mr. Watford's nomination.

I yield the floor.

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