The Honorable Ted Kaufman

United States Senator
Delaware
January 20, 2010

Opening Statement of Senator Ted Kaufman (D-DE)
Senate Judiciary Committee Nominations Hearing

I am pleased to call this nominations hearing of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary to order. And I thank Chairman Leahy for permitting me to chair this hearing.

I'd like to welcome each of the nominees, their families, and friends to the United States Senate, and congratulate them on their nominations.

I would also like to welcome those of my colleagues who are here to introduce the nominees. I'm pleased to note that Republican and Democrat Senators have worked together to bring us these well-qualified individuals today.

Today we welcome first the First Lady of Wyoming, Nancy Freudenthal, nominated to be a Judge in the District of Wyoming. If confirmed, Ms. Freudenthal will be Wyoming's first female federal judge. Wyoming has a history of promoting equal rights for women. It first gave women the right to vote in 1869, 21 years before achieving statehood and 51 years before the ratification of the 19th Amendment. She will be introduced by her home state Senators, Senator Michael Enzi and Senator John Barrasso.

We would also like to welcome The Honorable Denzill Price Marshall, Jr., nominated to be a Judge in the Eastern District of Arkansas. Judge Marshall is currently a judge on the Arkansas Court of Appeals.

He will be introduced by his home state Senators, Senator Blanche Lincoln and Senator Mark Pryor.

We further welcome The Honorable Benita Pearson, nominated to be a Judge in the Northern District of Ohio. If confirmed, Judge Pearson will be Ohio's first African-American female federal judge. She will be introduced by her home state Senator, Senator Sherrod Brown.

Welcome also to The Honorable Timothy Black, nominated to be a Judge in the Southern District of Ohio. Judge Black currently serves the Southern District as a magistrate judge and previously was a municipal court judge in Hamilton County, Ohio. He will also be introduced by Senator Brown.

Finally, we welcome Dr. James Patrick Lynch, nominated to be Director for the Bureau of Justice Statistics at the U.S. Department of Justice.

Over the last 30 years, Dr. Lynch has been involved in major efforts to build and improve our crime and criminal justice statistics systems. I look forward to introducing him.