E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 109 CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION Vol. 152 WASHINGTON, TUESDAY, JUNE 6, 2006 No. 70 Senate The Senate met at 9:45 a.m. and was time in executive session for the con- The PRESIDENT pro tempore. It will called to order by the President pro sideration of Renee Bumb to be U.S. be equally divided. tempore (Mr. STEVENS). district judge for New Jersey. Fol- Mr. MCCONNELL. I suggest the ab- lowing those statements, we will vote sence of a quorum. PRAYER at around 10:20 a.m. on the confirma- The PRESIDENT pro tempore. With- The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- tion of that nomination. out objection, it is so ordered. fered the following prayer: Immediately after the vote, we will The clerk will call the roll. Let us pray: resume debate on the motion to pro- The bill clerk proceeded to call the Eternal Spirit, You see our thoughts ceed to the Marriage Protection roll. Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I from a distance. You look not merely Amendment. We reserved blocks of ask unanimous consent that the order on our exteriors but also at our inte- time throughout the session for Mem- riors. You see our desire to please You for the quorum call be rescinded. bers to come to the Senate to give The PRESIDENT pro tempore. With- and to honor You with our lives. You their remarks on the marriage amend- out objection, it is so ordered. know our remorse for neglected duties, ment. Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I missed opportunities, and selfish pur- The Senate will recess, as usual on rise to express my pleasure and support suits. Tuesdays, from 12:30 to 2:15 for our for the confirmation of Ms. Renee You are aware that we need strength weekly policy luncheons. Bumb to the U.S. District Court of New for today and hope for tomorrow. I remind our colleagues, I filed a clo- Jersey. Today, meet the needs of our law- ture motion on the motion to proceed Ms. Bumb is one of four accomplished makers as they confront the challenges to the Marriage Protection Amend- individuals from New Jersey who have of our time. Give them faith to trust ment. That vote will occur on Wednes- been nominated to vacancies on the that Your sovereign providence will day. Later today, we will alert all district court. prevail in the unfolding events of our Members as to the precise timing of Just before we left for the Memorial world. Remind them that they are that cloture vote on the marriage Day recess, the Senate unanimously never alone, for You will never forsake amendment which, as I indicated, will confirmed Judge Susan Wigenton for them. occur Wednesday. the district court. Judge Wigenton has We pray in Your holy Name. Amen. f been a Federal magistrate judge since f 1997. She also worked at a law firm, EXECUTIVE SESSION PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE served as a public defender in Asbury Park, NJ. She has been a first-rate The PRESIDENT pro tempore led the magistrate judge. She will be an excel- Pledge of Allegiance, as follows: NOMINATION OF RENEE MARIE BUMB TO BE UNITED STATES lent district court judge. She served I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the the public well. We are pleased to have United States of America, and to the Repub- DISTRICT JUDGE FOR THE DIS- lic for which it stands, one nation under God, TRICT OF NEW JERSEY her join the bench in New Jersey. indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Now we discuss today’s nominee, The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under Renee Bumb. She is exceptionally well f the previous order, the Senate will pro- qualified and will be an excellent addi- RESERVATION OF LEADER TIME ceed to executive session for consider- tion to the court. She is currently at- The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under ation of Executive Calendar No. 626, torney in charge of the Camden—our the previous order, the leadership time which the clerk will report. southernmost city—U.S. Attorney’s Of- is reserved. The bill clerk read the nomination of fice. She is a gifted prosecutor and has Renee Marie Bumb, of New Jersey, to f handled cases ranging from drug traf- be U.S. District Judge for the District ficking to white-collar crime. RECOGNITION OF THE ACTING of New Jersey. For 6 years, Miss Bumb has super- MAJORITY LEADER The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under vised all of the attorneys in the Cam- The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The the previous order, the time until 10:20 den U.S. Attorney’s Office. At the same acting majority leader is recognized. a.m. shall be equally divided between time, she has tried cases herself, espe- f the two managers or their designees. cially those dealing with public corrup- Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, be- tion. SCHEDULE fore I suggest the absence of a quorum, Ms. Bumb is from south Jersey. We Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, this will the time run during the quorum are pleased she will be sitting as a Fed- morning we have set aside some debate call? eral judge in Camden. There have been ∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. S5435 . VerDate Mar 15 2010 23:37 Feb 05, 2014 Jkt 081600 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\2006SENATE\S06JN6.REC S06JN6 mmaher on DSKCGSP4G1 with SOCIALSECURITY S5436 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE June 6, 2006 openings there for some time. The peo- Award, the highest award given to an to provide fair compensation to asbes- ple of south Jersey deserve judges who assistant U.S. attorney presented by tos victims and reduce the litigation understand that area of the State and the U.S. Attorney General. Ms. Bumb burden that asbestos cases have im- the unique communities therein. Ms. is currently the attorney in charge of posed on our civil justice system. Bumb fits that bill. the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Camden, We worked together to report a com- When people look at tiny New Jersey NJ. prehensive immigration reform bill and on the map, they envision a small The American Bar Association has continued to work with Senators KEN- State but they are wrong. While we are rated Ms. Bumb as well qualified for NEDY, MCCAIN, HAGEL, MARTINEZ, and relatively small geographically, we the position to which she has been others in a bipartisan coalition that have the 10th largest population in the nominated. It is a view I share as well. culminated in Senate passage of S. 2611 country. New Jersey is the most dense- I would also like to talk about the late last month. We look forward to ly populated State in the country. package of four nominees for district help from the President to enact that While physical distance between north judge of New Jersey that Ms. Bumb is measure later this year. and south Jersey is not significant, a part of. It is a package that is bal- We worked together to revive and re- there are differences between the two anced in every sense of the word, from authorize the expiring provisions of the areas politically, economically, and geographic to gender perspectives, as USA PATRIOT Act. I supported the Ju- culturally. The Federal Government well as to quality. I should note that diciary Committee and Senate bill. needs to respect these distinctions. Ms. Bumb is not the first nominee of When our bill was hijacked, I appre- Thus, we have Renee Bumb, who is a that package to be confirmed by the ciated Chairman SPECTER’s efforts to judge from South Jersey. She will dis- Senate. The day before the Memorial restore some balance and his efforts to pense justice with the unique character Day district work period began, the work with those of us seeking improve- her community brings—not having the Senate confirmed Susan Wigenton to ments. Sadly, the final product insisted large cities, and with the population be a district court judge. Judge upon by the Bush-Cheney administra- density much less than the north. They Wigenton graduated from Norfolk tion and House Republicans was not also lack some of the services imme- State University and the Marshall- one I could support. We are working together now in a bi- diately available in the northern part Wythe School of Law from the College partisan, bicameral partnership to re- of our State. Ms. Bumb will represent of William and Mary. She has spent the authorize the expiring provisions of the the Federal Government and represent last 8 years doing an exceptional job as Voting Rights Act. We need to com- a U.S. magistrate judge for the district the Judiciary extremely well. plete hearings on our bill without fur- At the same time, we have two other of New Jersey, and she will do an ex- ther delay, and I hope that we can re- excellent nominees for vacancies on ceptional job in the district court. port our bipartisan bill by mid-June so the U.S. District Court for New Jersey. I look forward to working with Sen- that these important provisions, in- One is Noel Hillman, another is Peter ator LAUTENBERG, the chair and rank- cluding those in section 203 providing ing member of the Judiciary Com- Sheridan. These nominees have been voting access for language minorities, mittee, and the leadership in bringing approved by the Judiciary Committee.