The Honorable Orrin Hatch

June 5, 2003

Statement of Chairman Orrin G. Hatch

Before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary

Executive Business Meeting

On the Nominations of

J. Ronnie Greer to be U.S. District Judge, Eastern District of Tennessee;

Mark R. Kravitz to be U.S. District Judge, District of Connecticut; and

John A. Woodcock to be U.S. District Judge, District of Maine

Ronnie Greer, nominated to the Eastern District of Tennessee, has maintained a successful general legal practice for the past 20 years. He also served as a state senator in the Tennessee General Assembly for eight years, during which time he was a member of the Judiciary Committee, and Chairman of the Environment, Conservation and Tourism Committee.

Mark R. Kravitz, nominated for the District of Connecticut, served as a law clerk for the Third Circuit Judge James Hunter III and for Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist. In addition to practicing law, he currently teaches at the University of Connecticut School of Law.

John A. Woodcock, our nominee for the District of Maine, possesses over 25 years of litigation experience. He has been involved in 47 separate appeals to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court on issues ranging from criminal law to trust law. Former Senator and Clinton Administration Secretary of Defense William Cohen has attested to Mr. Woodcock's qualifications, writing, "The U.S. District Court for the District of Maine has a long practice of excellence in its judicial appointments and the nomination of John Woodcock is in every way consistent with that tradition."

I believe that all of these district court nominees are well suited for the federal bench.

# # #

Statement of Senator Orrin G. Hatch

Before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary

Executive Business Meeting

On the Nomination of

Richard C. Wesley to be

U.S. Circuit Judge for the Second Circuit

The circuit court nominee on our agenda, Richard C. Wesley, has been nominated to serve on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge Wesley has a strong record of bipartisan support. In 1994, Governor Mario Cuomo appointed him to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, then in 1996, Governor George Pataki appointed him to the New York Court of Appeals. He has the endorsement of both of his home state senators, as well as New York's Democratic Attorney General, Elliot Spitzer, who described Judge Wesley as "a skilled jurist committed to the highest standards of judicial decision-making."

I have every confidence that Judge Wesley will continue to impress both Democrats and Republicans alike upon his confirmation to the Second Circuit.

# # #