Patrick Leahy: “as the Senate concludes this second session of the 105th Congress, I want to take a moment to thank Senator Hatch, the…”

“as the Senate concludes this second session of the 105th Congress, I want to take a moment to thank Senator Hatch, the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, for working with us to confirm judges desperately needed around the country. He pressed forward with three confirmation hearings in October, which resulted in sending another nine judicial nominees to the Senate calendar. He supported each of the nominees confirmed by the Senate this year and worked hard to clear judicial nominees reported by the Committee for action by the Senate. I also thank the Majority Leader for proceeding to consider the judicial nominations confirmed in these last days of the session. For the year, the Senate confirmed 65 federal judges to the District Courts and Courts of Appeals around the country and to the Court of International Trade. In addition, we confirmed a number of judges to the United States Court of Claims and to the court for the Northern Mariana Islands. Senator Hatch is fond of saying that the Senate could do better. I agree with him and hope that we will continue to do better next year.”