On the recordMarch 28, 2011
As I said, I have not seen a chairman--now he is the Presiding Officer of the Senate for the moment--I have not seen a chairman try to be fairer and with more patience and more honor as chair of the Judiciary Committee than Senator Leahy. I hope my colleagues will heed his call because he is trying to be as fair and down the middle as possible at a time when we have a record number of vacancies in too many of our circuits. I rise today to express my full support for Mae D'Agostino, the nominee for the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York. I am very hopeful we will confirm her with overwhelming support tonight, and I agree wholeheartedly with Chairman Leahy that we should proceed quickly to confirm the other nominees for the many long vacant seats across the country. Mae D'Agostino's entire career is a tribute to her skill, her intelligence, and her pioneering spirit. When she is confirmed today, she will be the only woman sitting on the Federal bench in upstate New York, and only the second in the history of the region. Mae D'Agostino has earned the distinction of being one of the most well respected and revered trial attorneys in the State of New York. When I suggested her name to President Obama, I was amazed--I knew she had a good reputation and, of course, I had interviewed her--I was amazed at the acclaim throughout the entire Northern District that nomination received.…
