The Honorable Orrin Hatch

United States Senator
Utah
September 17, 2003

Statement of Chairman Orrin G. Hatch

Before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary

Hearing on the nominations of

Margaret Catharine Rodgers to be United States District Judge

for the Northern District of Florida;

Roger W. Titus to be United States District Judge

for the District of Maryland; and

George W. Miller to be Judge for the

United States Court of Federal Claims

It is with great pleasure that I welcome to the Committee these three esteemed candidates for the federal trial court bench.

Margaret Catharine Rodgers is our nominee for the Northern District of Florida. Judge Rodgers graduated from California Western School of Law in the top 2% of her class. She then served as a law clerk for Judge Lacey Collier, the same judge whose seat she has now been nominated to fill. She enjoyed a successful career in private practice before her appointment last year as a federal magistrate judge. She will undoubtedly serve with distinction upon her elevation to the district court.

Roger Titus has been nominated for the District of Maryland. Mr. Titus, a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center, is a partner in the prestigious firm of Venable, Baetjer and Howard. He has received many accolades in recognition of his outstanding legal skills. For example, in 1999 he was one of only seventeen living attorneys to be awarded the Century of Service Award by the Bar Association of Montgomery County. Mr. Titus will bring nearly 40 years of legal experience and a sterling record to the federal bench.

George Miller, our nominee for the Court of Federal Claims, has distinguished himself in virtually everything he has done as a lawyer. After graduating from Harvard Law School, he clerked for the late Judge Bruce Forrester on the U.S. Tax Court. For the next three years he served in the Navy JAG Corps, then joined the highly regarded law firm of Hogan & Hartson, where he became a partner in 1979. He has represented clients in civil litigation and arbitration proceedings involving a wide variety of matters, including environmental regulation, government contracts, eminent domain, banking, products liability, unfair competition, employment discrimination, aviation, mining, legal ethics, civil rights, and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. His more than 35 years of litigation experience will serve him well as a federal trial judge.

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