Floor Statements

I announce that the Senator from Colorado (Mr. Hickenlooper) is necessarily absent.

Madam President, today, the Senate will vote to confirm Micah Smith to the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii.

Mr. Smith attended Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania and Harvard Law School before completing two prestigious clerkships--first, for Judge Guido Calabresi on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals and, later, for Justice David Souter on the U.S. Supreme Court.

He then entered private practice and focused on complex civil litigation, including intellectual property, labor law, product liability, and the False Claims Act. In 2012, Mr. Smith joined the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York as an assistant U.S. attorney in the office's criminal division. As a line prosecutor, he handled cases including racketeering, murder-for-hire, drug trafficking, tax fraud, and money laundering. For 2 years, he also supervised 20 line prosecutors in the office's violent and organized crime unit. Mr. Smith is now a Federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Hawaii and currently serves as the deputy chief of the office's criminal division, as the criminal civil rights coordinator, and as the chief of appeals and legal strategy. Throughout the course of his career, he has tried 10 cases to verdict.

The American Bar Association unanimously rated Mr. Smith ``well qualified'' to serve on the district court. Senators Schatz and Hirono recommended him to the White House and strongly support his nomination.

Mr. Smith is a seasoned practitioner with significant litigation experience in federal court, and he will be an asset to the District of Hawaii. I will be supporting this outstanding nominee, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.

I announce that the Senator from Colorado (Mr. Hickenlooper) is necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from Colorado (Mr. Hickenlooper) is necessarily absent.

Madam President, today, the Senate will vote to confirm Jamel Semper to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

Mr. Semper attended Hampton University and Rutgers Law School before clerking for Judge Harold Fullilove on the Essex County Superior Court of New Jersey. He then spent 10 years as a state prosecutor in both the Union County Prosecutor's Office and the Essex County Prosecutor's Office, where he prosecuted a range of criminal offenses, including sexual assault, firearms offenses, fraud, and murder. During this time, he was also the lead prosecutor in a domestic terrorism and murder case that involved the first prosecution of a homicide under New Jersey's domestic terrorism statute. In 2018, Mr. Semper joined the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey. He now serves as deputy chief of the office's criminal division and is responsible for implementation of the office's violent crime reduction strategy. Mr. Semper is a highly experienced litigator, having tried at least 40 cases to verdict, including both jury and bench trials.

The American Bar Association unanimously rated Mr. Semper ``well qualified'' to serve on the district court, and the New Jersey Senators strongly support his nomination.

Mr. Semper's deep ties to New Jersey and proven dedication to equal justice will make him an asset to the district court. I will vote in favor of his nomination, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.

I announce that the Senator from Colorado (Mr. Hickenlooper) is necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from Colorado (Mr. Hickenlooper) is necessarily absent.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, today, the Senate will vote to confirm Judge Jeffrey Bryan to the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.

Judge Bryan received his B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin and his J.D. from Yale Law School. After clerking for Judge Paul A. Magnuson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, Judge Bryan worked in private practice at Robins Kaplan Miller & Ciresi LLP on a range of complex civil matters and Federal white collar criminal cases. Judge Bryan then went on to serve as a Federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's

Office for the District of Minnesota for 6 years, where he handled more than 1,000 hearings in Federal court. During his time as an assistant U.S. attorney, he directed the largest cocaine and methamphetamine investigations ever conducted in the district, recovering more than 9,600 grams of methamphetamine and securing the convictions of more than 60 defendants. In 2013, Judge Bryan was appointed as a trial court judge for the Second Judicial District of Minnesota, where he presided over more than 8,000 cases and nearly 120 trials. In 2016, Judge Bryan was appointed to the Minnesota Court of Appeals, where he has participated in more than 500 decisions and has authored over 180 written opinions and orders.

The American Bar Association unanimously rated Judge Bryan ``well qualified'' to serve on the district court, and he has the strong support of Senators Klobuchar and Smith. With nearly two decades of public service, as well as his extensive courtroom experience, Judge Bryan is well-positioned to handle the demands of the District of Minnesota from day one.

I urge my colleagues to support his nomination.

I announce that the Senator from Colorado (Mr. Hickenlooper), the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey), the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Ossoff), and the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Warnock) are necessarily absent.

Mr. President, today, the Senate will vote to confirm Margaret M. Garnett to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Born in Brooklyn, NY, Ms. Garnett earned her B.A. from the University of Notre Dame in 1992, her M.A. and M. Phil. from Yale University in 1995 and 1997, and her J.D. from Columbia Law School in 2000. Ms. Garnett began her legal career working as an associate at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz from 2000 to 2004, where she focused on bankruptcy litigation. She then clerked for the Honorable Gerald E. Lynch on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York from 2004 to 2005. Following her clerkship, Ms. Garnett joined the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, where she would go on to rise in the ranks throughout her 15-year tenure with the office. Although she presently serves as special counsel, Ms. Garnet has also served the Office as Deputy United States Attorney, Chief of Appeals, Deputy Chief of Appeals, Chief of the Violent and Organized Crime Units, Deputy Chief of the Violent Crimes Unit, and assistant United States attorney. From 2017 to 2018, Ms. Garnett served in the Office of the New York Attorney General, serving as the executive deputy attorney general for criminal justice.

In 2018, Ms. Garnett was nominated by the mayor of New York City and confirmed by the New York City Council to serve as the Commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigation, an agency charged with investigating individual and systemic corruption, waste, fraud, and abuse in city government. A substantial majority of the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary rated Ms. Garnett as ``well qualified,'' and her nomination is strongly supported by her home State Senators, Mr. Schumer and Mrs. Gillibrand.

With deep ties to the Southern District of New York and significant experience working on criminal matters, Ms. Garnett will serve on the bench with distinction. I am proud to support her nomination and urge my colleagues to do the same.

I announce that the Senator from Colorado (Mr. Hickenlooper), the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey), the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Ossoff), and the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Warnock) are necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from Colorado (Mr. Hickenlooper), the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey), the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Ossoff), and the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Warnock) are necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from Colorado (Mr. Hickenlooper), the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey), the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Ossoff), and the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Warnock) are necessarily absent.