district of columbia metropolitan police department. in 2002, terry game chief of the united states capitol police and was instrumental in facilitating the growth of that force, the substantial growth of that force after the challenging days of -- circling 9/11, 2001. after a brief stint in the private sector, terry returned to public service when he was appointed by majority leader harry reid to serve as sergeant at arms. harry reid himself a former capitol hill policeman understood the responsibility and understood that tea terry ws the right person for the job. terry has dorch an excellen don. his steady hand and his constant presence in the halses senior senator going to be greatly missed. mr. president, i want to thank terry gainer personally for his

friendship, support, the little favors which you've done for me and for every member of the senate to make our lives and the lives of our families better. you have truly added to this great institution as much as any person who's served because you have made your mark and you've kept us safe, and you've kept the millions of visitors during your tenure safe as well. congratulations to you and especially to irene, who has been patient throughout it all, with her own career and her own effort raising a family and making her mark professionally. the two of you are quite an example to all of us of public service at its best. thanks, terry, for your service. and now comes the tough responsibility of following in the steps of terry gainer. mr. president, majority leader reid has announced that drew williwhichwivment willison willy

gainer. he has been deputy sergeant-at-arms and has learned from the best. he had roles in the energy and water subcommittee effort as well as the legislative branch appropriations. his experience and knowledge of the legislative branch will serve him well. i congratulate drew and wish him the very best of luck. terry's service as sergeant-at-arms has set the bar very high but i know, drew, that you are up for the challenge. mr. president, let me end by thanking again terry, irene gainer, the gainer family and that you will support them for unselfishly giving to this senate such an extraordinary contribution, for sharing their husband, father, grandfather with our home state of illinois and with this great nation for so many years. terry and irene have more than earned the right to move to the next chapter in their life and

to celebrate that time with their six children and 14 grandchildren. i congratulate terry on the onei congratulate terry on his distinguished public service career, foyer his accomplishments as a law enforcement officer, decorated veteran and the senate sergeant-at-arms and doorkeeper. most importantly, i thank terry for his friendship. i yield the floor. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

the presiding officer: the republican whip. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i would ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be rescinded. officer sphe without objection. mr. cornyn: and before he leaves the floor, met me offer my congratulations to the sergeant at arnlings terry gainer, for his -- and also my thanks to him for his service to this great institution. we know we will miss him, but also we wish him well in the next chapter of his life. and i also want to express, as have the majority leader and republican leader, my best wishes to darryl schaap pell asl chappell, as he leaves after 40 years of service to the united states senate. there's some people that you run into each day and sort of just make you feel better and bryant your -- and brightening your day, and darryl is one of those. i know we get involved in some pretty tough debates around here

and people often walk around with a scowl on their face. it is nice when people like darryl remind us that we're lucky to be alive each day and come to such a wonderful place as the united states snavmen se. i wish chief gainer and darryl luck in the next chapter of their lives. i came to the floor to talk about our united states military and our commitment not only to those who wear the uniform of the military and of course the presiding officer, i'm aware of his long, distinguished service, but also the solemn obligation we have to our veterans once they leave active duty status. they have more than upheld their commitment in the mountains and valleys of afghanistan, in the deserts of iraq, in the postings

from korea, kuwait, israel, germany, and all across the globe. andificatioand, of course, theyd generations of men and women, the greatest generation, of which my dad was a member, the world war ii generation, and then of course those who fought in korea and vietnam and, of course, the most recent conflicts we've had, which i just mentioned in iraq and afghanistan. my strong conviction is that we owe a moral obligation -- not just a legal obligation -- to those veterans to keep our commitments to them once they separate from military service. and i'm sorry to say that the department of veterans affairs has repeatedly and outrageously failed to hold its own commitment to america's armed

forces and our veterans. now, we're -- i think the problem, the way i see it, is we've almost become desensitized to the problem, because we know -- we all know that as a result of the drawdown of our military after our exit from iraq and now afghanistan that we're getting a large number of people rye tiring from military -- retiring from military service and so it's understandable that there would be more pressure put on the veterans affairs -- department of veterans affairs to process these claims, to process these retirements with eacretirements.we've learned ths died because their names were taken off the appointment system

list in order to make the backlog not look add barre lookt was. many were put on a secret waiting list designed to conceal the unconscionably long wait times endured by up to 1,600 sick veterans. what i mean when i say what i think we've become almost desensitized to this backlog where almost half of the claims now made with the v.a. are backlogged according to the veterans -- department of the veterans affairs' own criteria, it takes something like this where 40 veterans have died because they were put on a secret waiting list in order to cook the books at the phoenix v.a. and to get us to do something about this situation. according to the investigation, high-level officials from the phoenix v. kne v.a. knew about d

did nothing about it. and it is even worse than that. not only did the phoenix officials tolerate thisly, they defended it. the list was deliberately put in place to avoid the v.a.'s own internal rules. that's why i have called this a case of cooking the books. to avoid accountability, to avoid solving the problem, they tried to sweep the problem under the rug, and it's outrageous. one of the victims of the secret waiting list was a 71-year-old navy veteran named thomas breen. in late september, mr. breen was rushed to the phoenix v.a. hospital after he became ill and doctors diagnosed him, knowing that he had a history of scare r

and they designated his condition as "urgent." so that would indicate that mr. breen should get another checkup within a week of his visit to the internationa emerg. and yet mr. breen was forced to wait and wait and wait and wait. even as he and his daughter-in-law made daily phone calls to the v.a. asking about an appointment and emphasizing the urgency of his medical condition. each time they were told to wait just a little longer, and finally a full two months after his initial e.r. visit, mr. breen passed away. the cause of death was stage-4 bladder cancer. a week after that, the v.a. finally called with mr. breen's appointment, as after he died. by then obviously it was too

late. mr. president, stories like mr. breen's should be a wake-up call to the united states senate. they should be a wake-up call to the white house. they should pierce our sense of moral indignation and say, when are we going to do something about this backlog? whr wwhr wewhen are we going toe accountable for cooking the books so they avoid accountability for a backlog that we all know exists? i am suggesting again that the president needs to designate a point person who will come in and deal with this on an emergency basis. it is that serious. and the president needs to treat this seriously, not ignore it, not sweep turned the rug -- not swreep isweep it under the rug.

and the senate needs to treat this with urgency as well. which is why i hope the majority leader would designate or ask the committees with jurisdiction to hold emergency hearings to get to the bottom of this, because we don't know whether this just happened in phoenix. chances are it did not, and i'll mention another outrageous example here in a minute. and we need to know if this was just a local matter or whether this is endemic to the whole v.a. disability and health care system. well, in pittsburgh, we know there have been other problems. six patients at the v.a. hospital died and more than 20 others became sick after an outbreak of legio legionnaires disease. patients in the pittsburgh facility were quept in the dark

about what was going on and it took cbs news to bring this to the light of day. cbs concluded that an internal memo shows that a top doctor knew that legionella could potentially be in the hospital's water system and he recommended the use of bottled water. though staff members were told to test patients for legionnai legionnaire's decease, therlegio evidence that patients or their families were informed of management's concerns about a potential outbreak. they were kept in the dark. it's scandals like this and a rampant lack of accountability that have prompted people like senator mark corubio from florida to introduce legislation that would give the v.a. secretary more authority to fire

and discipline senior officials for abuses and failures on the job. i think that's a smart move, and i'm proud to cosponsor that bill, because the lack of accountability leading to the problems i've just described is absolutely appalling. it should shock all of us. the underlying problem which we've known about, to which i fear that congress and the federal government have become desensitized is that there are literally hundreds of thousands of u.s. military veterans who are waiting to have their disability, compensation and pension claims processed and waiting more than the 125 days that the v.a. calls a backlog. according to the v.a.'s own figures in mid april, there were 602,000 compensation and pension claims pending nationwide, and a

majority of them had been pending and in the backlog category. for that matter, there are still 51,000 entitlement claims pending in just two v.a. hospitals -- excuse me, two v.a. regional offices, in houston and waco in my state, and a majority of those claims are backlogged, too. now, mr. president, i know that congress has taken steps to address the backlog in claims, and the national defense authorization bill from last year included some provisions which -- which authorized state-based veterans' organizations like those in texas to help the federal veterans administration expedite processing of these -- of these backlogged claims, but it's not enough. the evidence from pittsburgh and the evidence from phoenix indicate that it's not enough, so we have got to do more.

so, mr. president, this is not partisan politics, this is not -- should not be treated as business as usual. this should be a call to action on the part of the united states senate and the federal government to live up to its obligations and its commitment to our nation's veterans. just a few concluding words and thoughts about the challenges that face our current generation of military veterans. according to a recent survey, more than half of those who served in afghanistan and iraq struggle with some sort of physical or mental health issues stemming from their service. some of them are relatively minor. some of them are very serious indeed. the serious ones have manifested themselves in horrible ways. for example, one out of every

two afghan and iraq war veterans say they know a fellow service member that is either -- that has either attempted or committed suicide. as i said a moment ago, those who -- who sign up for the united states military and are -- and our all-volunteer force receive a promise, a promise that if they serve their country, if they do their part, their country, our country would do our part. all they're asking for is to make good on that promise. serving america's veterans is one of the most important responsibilities the federal government has. the v.a.'s failure to meet its responsibility is an ongoing scandal, one that i will continue drawing attention to until our veterans get the support they so rightfully deserve. so i hope my other colleagues who i know share this commitment

to our veterans will come to the floor and will urge the majority leader to ask the committees with jurisdiction to convene emergency hearings to get to the bottom of this, to find out are what happened in phoenix and pittsburgh isolated events or is this a cancer that is eating away at our v.a. health care and disability system? and i would call upon the president once again to appoint a point person to make sure that we get to the bottom of this as soon as possible because of course this is an executive branch function, the veterans' health care system. i remember when health care health care.gov was rolled out and the web site did not work

the way the president expected it to. he appointed a point person to help make sure that all hands were on deck and we got to the bottom of the problem as soon as possible. i would think that this scandal in the veterans administration and the way our veterans are being treated would at least equal the same sense of urgency in a call for the same sort of response as the failure of the web site for healthcare.gov. so i hope our colleagues here in the senate could pull together, come to the service of our veterans in a way that they deserve, and i hope the president views this with the kind of urgency that it really deserves and appoints a point person who can get to the bottom of this, working with congress as quickly as possible so we can meet our obligations to our nation's veterans. mr. president, i yield the floor. and i would suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.

quorum call:

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. moran: i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. moran: mr. p -- mr. moran: mr. president, thank you for giving me the opportunity to be here. i want to add my voice to others who have paid tribute to daryl chappelle who retires today after 42 years of work in the united states senate. i can tell you in the time i've been here, i look forward to running into daryl as i make my trip back and forth between the us are ells building and the capitol floor. there are people who just brighten your day. on every occasion that i have encountered daryl during the work darks it has just been that experience. so i fraibt to of an individual

that i -- so i pay tribute to an individual that i don't know personally, his background, his family. it is a sad thing about the nature of today's busy world in which we don't know people like -- i certain will i do back hom, but i will tell you that the opportunity to deal, to be with and to experience the conversation and joy that daryl adds to this place has been a real treat and a wonderful experience for meevment wish he and his family a great time, best wishes in their retirement and thank him for his service to the united states senate and the people of our country. today want to tell my colleagues about a nomination we're considering, and i speak in support of justice nancy moritz, currently a supreme court justice on the kansas supreme court. today she is a nominee to sit on the united states circuit court,es appeals court for the 10th circuit.

i appreciate working with my colleague senator roberts and those in the white house as we came together to try to find an acceptable and honorable nominee, and i believe we did that. and i extend my appreciation to justice moritz for having agreed to answer the call to serve her country in a new capacity; that is a a member of the 10th circuit court of appeals. she comes today before the united states senate and again on monday as someone who is highly qualified by -- greatly prepared, has the necessary background, certainly the educational requirements are there, but the experience that she's a encountered in her distinguished legal career both public and private, they really add a di dimension to this persn and something that i would look for in a member of the 10th circuit. for the past four years the justices -justices has been a jn the kansas supreme court. and prior to that, she spent 15

years an an attorney in the u.s. attorney's notifies our state, in both kansas city a understand ttopeka and prior to that she hs six years experience in private practice as well. justice moritz was raised in the small town -- neighboring town of mine. her hometown is tipton, a typical small kansas town, i know folks in tipton would tell me how exceptional they are. i have seen on many instance ins how that is. i have witnessed their characteristic, integrity, their kindness and care and genuine keconcern for others. when you grow up in a town of just a few people is a great benefit in becoming who we are and i admire the justice for the that brac grounbackground and kf experience knows in molding her

characteristic as well as her work ethic. she also served for a period of time as a law clerk to judge ed alreadlarson. ed larson was a law partner of mine, and he remains a good friend, and i called to visit with him about the nomination of justice moritz. he not only was a law partner in practice with me -- or really i was in practice with him -- but he then went to the kansas court of appeals and then elevated to the kansas supreme court, and of all the many people i met in life and certainly among the many attorneys that i met in life and judges, if you were looking for someone whose opinion and judgment you would trust, judge ed larson is certainly that person, and he has made clear to me that justice moritz was one of the very best law clerks that he ever had, and he believes her to be highly qualified, and with

his recommendation, my judgment about justice moritz was even increased, enhanced, again convinced that her background and growing up the way that she did and her experience with judge larson and his stamp of approval upon her characteristic and abilities, again, suggest to me that we have a great person here to join the 10th circuit. so i would encourage my colleagues to review her qualifications, and i would hope and would assume that they would reach the same conclusion that i have; that the 10th circuit court of appeals will be well-served with this kansas onand it a understand i look forward to supporting her confirmation, and i ask my colleagues to do the same. mr. president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that floor privileges be granted to margot hecht, a member of my legislative staff during today's

session of the senate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cardin: mr. president, i rise today in support of the nominations of george hazel and theodore chuang to be united states district judges for the district of maryland. let me say from the beginning that i am very proud in the manner in which senator mikulski, the southern senator from maryland, and i have established a process to review and make recommendations to the president for the vacancies in the united states district for maryland. we've used the process that we think works. iit get us the most qualified individuals and the two today are certainly an example of highly qualified individual whose want to be judges for the right reasons. they have a demonstrated track record of public service. i particularly appreciate their commitment to pro bono. they understand that the courts need to be open to all and that

we have a special responsibility as lawyers and members -- as judges to make sure that there is equal access to justice. and that they understand the appropriate role of a judge in our system, to be objective and to carry out the laws of this land. george jarrod hazel received his b.a. from morehouse college. he was nominated to fill the vacancy created by the taking of senior status in may of 2013 by judge alexander williams jr. i might just say, judge williams had a very distinguished record on district court. mr. hazel's legal career and private practice from 1999 to 2004. he then became a government prosecutor as an assistant united states attorney in the district of columbia in 2005 to

2008. he then grands the greenbelt, maryland, office district attorney. he now serves at chief depend states attorney general. mr. president, i can attest that being the chief deputy states attorney in baltimore city is a demanding position. mr. hazel helps to oversee 200 prosecutors and 200 support staffers and he has fought tirelessly to keep our communities safe and make them safer, and in fact has played a key role in achieving those objectives. he has demonstrated in his entire career as a lawyer a commitment to public service. in each of the positions that he has held, he wants to serve the public. that's the type of people that i would hope we'd like to see on our district court. mr. hazel has extensive litigation experience including criminal and civil matters, as

well as jury trials. he as served as manager of a large legal office. he is an active member of his community, he's leader in the metro politan baptist church of largo, maryland. he as served as a deacon. in terms of his pro bono commitment, mr. hazel has been president of his church's legal ministry where he has assisted members of the church including many who could not afford lawyers in obtaining legal representation when they are in need. he also prepares meals at the church and teaches sunday school classes. mr. chuang was nominated to fill the vacancy created by roger titus when he took senior statistic news january of this year. judge titus had a very distinguished record and continuation to have a very distinguished record on our distinguished court. mr. chuang received his j.d.

magna cum laude from march vard law school and his b.a. summa cum laude. he gang his legal career for judge dorothy w. nelson on the united states court of appeals for the ninth circuit from 199 to 1995. tbr 1995 to 1998, mr. chuang served in the civil rights division of the united states department of juvment. he served as an assistant united states attorney in the district of mass ma. served as deputy chief investigative counsel for the united states house committee on oversight and government reform from 2007 to 2009. in 2009 he became the chief investigatorrive counsel for the united states committee on energy and commerce in the house

of representatives. mr. yhuang serves as deputy chief counsel of the united states department of homeland security where he has worked sings 2009. like mr. hazel, mr. chuang has devoted his entire professional career to serving the public. he is very much interested in helping his community and again that's the type of individual i would hope that we would all like to see on our district court. mr. chuang has extensive litigation experience in both civil and criminal cases including jury trials. he has served in all three branches of government as a clerk, law clerk, congressional investigative counsel, and agency deputy general counsel. the american bar association gave hem a well-qualified rating. he has the type of experience and the type of sensitivity to understand the appropriate role of a district court judge. mr. chuang lives in bethesda with his wife and two children. he is an energetic member of his

community. in terms of his pro bono work, he has served on the board of directors of the ara asian-pacic center that serving serves low-income arab shank americans and immigrants in maryland and washington, d.c., and virginia, which provides legal representation and referral services in cases involving domestic violence, family law, immigration law, employment law, and a variety of other areas. mr. chuang also has told us that from approximately 2002 to 2003, as president of the asian-american lawyers association of mass marks he oversaw and promoted a project of the organization's community service committee in which attorneys provide general information about immigration and employment law. he is committed to helping his

community and he has demonstrated that during his entire professional career. mr. chuang's parents e parents d from taiwan. mr. chuang would not only be the first asian-american federal judge in maryland but also the first asian-american federal judge in the first circuit. #*s president obama has nominated these two individuals in september of 2013. the judiciary committee held their confirmation hearings in december 12013. the judiciary committee then favorably reported both nominations in january of this year. i urge the senate to confirm these very well-qualified nominees and fill these important vacancies to better serve the people of maryland. mr. president, i would suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.

quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. leahy: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: mr. president, i ask consent the call of the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. leahy: mr. president, last year, the senate came together to pass meaningful legislation. this was supported by victims of

violence and by law enforcement and those who are committed to working to end domestic and sexual abuse. that bill, the leahy-crapo violence against women reauthorization act, was signed into law a year ago. i mention this because in a sharply divided congress, this historic reauthorization was made possible because so many victims and service providers stood together to push for a comprehensive bill and pushed to have both republicans and democrats support it. the violence against women reauthorization act, which i was proud to co-author with senator mike crapo of idaho, strengthens protections on campuses, but far too many students have become victims of devastateing violence instead of enjoying the experience of learning and growth that we wish for all our

children. for women like laura dunn, these provisions have real meaning, and with skeptics -- and when skeptics called for a watered down bill to make it easier to pass, champions like miss dunn, a courageous survivor of campus sexual assault, urged us to stand strong for all victims, not just those on campus but all victims. more than 200 survivors of campus violence, 176 colleges and universities joined her in a letter to congress calling for passage of the leahy-cray poe-fallah bill. people like her made all the difference in efforts to pass this legislation. one year after its enactment, i'm heartened that the obama administration has now begun to implement the leahy-crapo bill. it announced a year later that steps to help colleges and

universities meet the new requirements contained in the law. that includes stronger reporting requirements, better training for university officials, more coordination between campus police and local law enforcement and new privacy policies to protect the victims. mr. president, i sometimes have nightmares remembering the horrific scenes i witnessed when i was a prosecutor in vermont. i can remember this, these victims. i never asked the vaims about their national, their immigration status or their religion or their sexual orientation or their political orientation. i felt as the police who worked with me felt a victim is a victim is a victim. providing a victim with the services they need in a safe environment is common sense. i'm glad that the obama administration is now making the

protections senator crapo and i fought for last year, they are now making them a year later a reality for students across the country. we should be doing even more to protect all victims of crime. that's why i urge my fellow senators to support the justice for all reauthorization act. justice for all reauthorization act enhances protections for crime victims, provides them with increased resources. it reauthorizes the debbie smith d.n.a. backlog reduction act, the paul coverdell forensic science improvement grant act, it strengthens the post-conviction d.n.a. testing grant program, one of the key programs created in the protection act. kirk bloodsworth was the first inmate to be exonerated from death row with the use of d.n.a. evidence. even though he had been on death

row in maryland, when he was exonerated, they found you know there is another person in the prison who looks just like him, and then they found -- they almost executed the wrong person when they had the right person behind bars. there are certain others like kurt bloodsworth now waiting for the day when d.n.a. evidence will prove their innocence and set them free. we must never stop trying to improve our imperfect criminal justice system to bring closure to cases swiftly but accurately and support law enforcement to keep us safe. the justice for all reauthorization act is a bipartisan bill that senator cornyn and i introduced nearly one year ago. all senate democrats, every one of them, has supported passage of this bill. it is also cosponsored by the minority leader, senator mcconnell, but it has not passed the senate because one or two senate republicans object. in the face of this obstruction,

some would have us pick apart pieces of the justice for all reauthorization act, hoping that maybe sometime in the future we could pass the other parts. that is really not acceptable. just last year, we showed the country with all victims of domestic and sexual violence. when the critics told us we could only protect some victims, we refused to let them pit survivors of injustice against one another. we passed and the president signed the leahy-crapo bill and the historic violence against women reauthorization act, and for the first time expanded the vawa, for the first time we provided key protections for college students, tribal women and members of the lgbt community. i again stand by all victims of crime and do what is right by passing a comprehensive justice for all reauthorization act.

the bill senator cornyn and i cosponsored. we should not let the other body, the house of representatives, diminish our resolve to reauthorize public safety programs that are widely supported, not only by crime victims but by law enforcement. so i remain steadfast in my resolve to get this done. i know every single member of my caucus and every single senate democrat shares this commitment, and i know that law enforcement, civil rights leaders, victims groups, countless other leaders feel the same way. so i urge the others on the other side of the aisle, senate republicans, to join us to pass legislation to support all victims of crime. we should stand united for all victims, not just some. i urge all senators to clear the justice for all act without further delay.

mr. president, i ask consent that my full remarks be made part of the record. the presiding officer: without objection. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: i'm going to take a few minutes on one of the nominations we have up today, the nomination of theodore chuang to be district judge for maryland. this nomination was voted out of committee on a 10-8 vote. i opposed the nomination in committee, and i would urge my colleagues today to do the same. i can't support the nomination because of the central role that mr. chuang played in the administration's persistent and steadfast stonewalling of the congressional investigation into the attack on our diplomatic mission in benghazi

september 11, 2012. that attack resulted in the first murder of a sitting united states ambassador in over 30 years. three other brave americans serving their country were killed there in benghazi as well. as we all know too well, just hours after the fighting had ended, this administration in the middle of a presidential campaign at the time rushed to blame the attack on an obscure internet video. the administration denied what was already clear, that what had happened at benghazi was a premeditated terrorist attack that had nothing to do with any video. the c.i.a.'s libya station chief and other administration officials immediately recognized and reported that the attack was an act of terror, not a

spontaneous demonstration. the american people demanded answers. congress demanded answers as well, but the administration has systematically stone called our ability to get those answers. and that is where this nominee's role comes in to play. following the benghazi attack, mr. chuang left his position at the department of homeland security to undertake a special detail at the state department. his job at state department was to provide legal guidance and manage the department's responses to the congressional investigation into a terrorist attack. for months, the state department ignored congressional inquiries that forced the house oversight and government reform committee to issue subpoenas in all 2013.

mr. chuang received those duly issued subpoenas but continued the administration's policies of systematic stonewalling. so let me be very clear. the state department has never asserted that the e-mails, the documents, or witness interviews conducted in the benghazi accountability review board are protected by executive privilege. the state department has never asserted that any privilege justifying its refusal to disclose documents responsive to these subpoenas. the state department has never provided any legal basis, any legal basis whatsoever, for its continued stonewalling of this investigation. so following mr. chuang's nomination hearing before our

judiciary committee, i asked him several questions for the record about why the state department refused to comply with its legal obligation to respond to subpoenas. mr. chuang, who was in charge of coordinating the state department's responses, couldn't come up with a legal basis. instead, he cited only -- quote, unquote -- "institutional concerns." now, mr. president -- and i hope all my colleagues in the senat senate -- that ought to not be a good enough answer for what is a legitimate role of the congress of oversight, trying to get answers to legitimate questions. in other words, abstract -- quote, unquote -- "institutional concerns" do not permit the executive branch to toss a congressional subpoena into the

garbage. benghazi raises questions of vital national importance that to this very day remain unanswered. they remain unanswered because this administration refuses to honor its legal obligations to comply with the congressional oversight that is being done through the extraordinary measure of subpoena. the american people deserve better and so do we. we are members of coequal branch of the federal government, but the benghazi scandal isn't simply going to go away. in fact, just this week additional e-mails came to light demonstrating that the white house led a coordinated messaging effort on benghazi from the very beginning. this is what one of the e-mails said. it was the administration's go

goal -- quote -- "to underscore that these protests are rooted in an internet video and not a broader failure of policy." that quotation is from an e-mail sent by the administration's deputy national security advisor on september the 14th, 2012, two days after the attack. that e-mail was sent even though officials on the ground in libya had reported that the act was an act of terror. some have called this e-mail the smoking gun, proving that the administration intentionally misled the american people about the terrorist attack. but forget that. no matter how this e-mail is characterized, it was clearly responsive to congressional subpoena and does not seem to have been produced until a

government watchdog group filed a freedom of information lawsuit seeking to compel the administration to comply. so let me be clear. from what we know now, it took a freedom of information act request and an ensuing lawsuit to force the state department to produce documents that were obviously related to the terror attack at benghazi, and this is the case even though the house committee made multiple requests for those documents and then issued subpoenas compelling their production. i'm sure mr. chuang thought he was doing his duty to zealously represent his client when he was managing the document subpoenas the state department received from congress. but his role in coordinating

administrative responses was plainly unsatisfactory and unacceptable and something that goes against the grain of an administration that on day two of their administration -- in other words, january 21, 2012 -- or 2009 -- said this was going to be the most transparent administration in the history of the country. we should demand more and expect more respect for congressional oversight. for this reason, i've decided to oppose this nomination, a nomination that was reported out of committee on a 10-8 vote. i yield the floor. ms. mikulski: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. ms. mikulski: mr. president, i rise to speak on the nominations related to -- and the cloture vote to theodore chuang and george hazel.

mr. president, senator cardin and i are recommending these two outstanding men to serve on the united states district court in maryland. senator cardin and i are proud to nominate these men because of the outstanding qualities that they will bring to the federal bench in maryland that has had a long and distinguished career of absolutely fantastic judges. we have before us two maryland judges that will be taking a different status. judge titus and george wil geor. both have served in the southern district of the maryland federal court and we really salute those two for their outstanding service. on another day, i'll say what a great job they've done. but senator cardin and i take our responsibilities for recommending to the president the people of the highest caliber to serve as judges.

we believe very strongly in the concept of an independent judiciary, people who will bring to the bench absolute integrity, judicial competence and temperament, a commitment to the core constitutional principles that have made our country great, and also, though, a history of civic engagement in maryland because a judge is not only how many law review articles you write but can you administer equal justice and continue to honor equal protection under the law. that's who mr. chuang and mr. hazel meet. they meet and exceed these standards. mr. hazel comes with an incredible background. he served as assistant u.s. attorney to the district court of maryland. he has been the southern division coordinator on tough issues like project exile, a

federal-state partnership addressing gun and violent crimes in prince george's county and surrounding areas. he spent five years in private practice at wall, gochel and menges. he's also a man of faith, involved deeply in his church, metropolitan baptist church, where he serves as a d decon. most recently he has worked with the baltimore state's attorney's office. baltimore state's attorney's office faced a lot of challenges. it faced dated technology, difficulties in maintaining chain of custody on evidence. he came in to work with our new state's attorney, which was an elected position, and a real reformer -- a real reformer, so that whether you were a prosecutor or you were a defendant, you knew it was going to be one of the best, well-organized offices in maryland. hazel brought that kind of

know-how both to make sure the apparatus of government worked, because that was all part of making sure you got equal justice. did we have the right guy when we were a prosecutor? did we have the right evidence? did the prosecutor have the right tools? and did the public defender ha r their private counsel have the opportunity to provide the defense of that? we've been able to do that. and also working in his church, he's showed that he's been available to provide all kinds of pro bono services. he's a graduate of a distinguished law school and he's a morehouse man. i think when he takes the federal bench and takes that oath, we're going to be proud of the service he does. then there's mr. chuang, the one that's been under dispute here today. gosh, i wish the whole senate could meet him, as well as mr. hazel.

i mean, this is a new generation coming into the maryland federal judiciary. mr. chuang's parents and his own story is that of the american dream. mr. chuang's parents came with practically nothing from taiwan seeking the american dream and a better life for their family. he worked very hard and then went on to some of our most distinguished schools. he went to harvard law school and harvard university. he was a summa cum laude as an undergraduate and named by "time" magazine as one of the high achievers. at harvard, he was with the law review. but as i said, it's not how many law review articles you write, it's do you right wrongs in our society. yes, he has served at the united states department of homeland security.

yes, he's worked in government positions. yes, he's worked in private practice at willmar cutler. is my time up? yes, he's been at the department of justice. and, yes, he did provide legal counsel to the state department. i want to talk about that. first of all, i'm kind of tired of this benghazi witch hunt stuff that's been going on here but i'm not going to go into that. i respect my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. congress has a right to oversight. but let me make the record cle clear. mr. chuang's role during his temporary assignment was a legal counsel, providing legal advice and representation to his client. his client was the state department. although he provided legal advice related to the house committee on government reform, he did not have decision-making

authority over whether to provide subpoena documents to the committee. that was at higher levels. and if the committee had a beef with the state department, they should have taken it up with the secretary of the state. which i know they did. during his six-month detail, the state department produced a vast majority of documents and witnesses requested by the hgogr. in the case of the subpoena question, which was for internal files of the independent accountability review board that conducted the benghazi investigation, the state department agreed to produce most of the documents but has to date declined to produce memoranda of interviews of state department personnel because disclosure of those witness statements might show cooperation in future a.r.b.'s. although state offered to discuss alternative means of

serving the committee's request, the house committee on government reform has not actively engaged the state department on this since fall of 2013. opposition to mr. chuang's nomination will have no impact on whether state produces those documents. and he is not a state department employee. so i respect my colleague wanting to have cooperation. there, and -- and i don't dispute whether they have a legitimate grievance. i leave that in that field, in that domain. but i would say mr. chuang's role was that of a civil servant providing advice to the leadership of the state department on this matter. then the state department's job at its highest level was to negotiate with the house committee on government reform, chaired by mr. issa and the

ranking member, by our very good colleague, congressman cummings of baltimore. so if we're going to vote against chuang because the state -- the secretary of state did or did not do something, i think we've got other problems. but i tell you what we will have a problem -- the presiding officer: the senator's time has expired. ms. mikulski: i ask for one additional minute to summarize. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. mikulski: and to close. if we continue to attack people because of the job they did for which they had no decision power, we're going to have a chilling effect on who comes into government. these two men that i'm recommending and that the president has nominated, if they were in private practice they could be making hundreds of thousands of dollars because these two men are duty griffin with outstanding educations and backgrounds and experience,

they've chosen public service. i hope the senate chooses them to serve on the federal bench. you're going to really be proud of them the way senator cardin and i are to bring them to your attention. i urge that we vote for cloture and then their approval. mr. president, i yield the floor and ask that we follow regular order. the presiding officer: morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session. the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion, we the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate hereby move to bring to a close the debate on the nomination of theodore david chuang of maryland to be united states district judge for the district of maryland signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is, is it the

sense of the senate that the debate on the nomination of theodore david chuang of maryland to be united states district judge for the district of maryland shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

the presiding officer: anyone wishing to vote or change their vote? if not, the yeas and the nays, the yeas are 54 and the nays are 43. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination.

the clerk: theodore david chuang of maryland to be united states district judge. ms. mikulski: mr. president, the senate is not in order. the presiding officer: will the senate come to order. the senate will come to order. ms. mikulski: mr. president, i couldn't hear. has the clerk reported the nomination of the gentleman from maryland? the presiding officer: the nomination has been reported. ms. mikulski: in the interest of expediting the procedures of the senate, i yield back all time. the presiding officer: without objection, all time is yielded back. the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: we the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate hereby move to bring to a close the debate on the nomination of george jarrod hazel of maryland

to be united states district judge for the district of maryland signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. the senate will come to order. by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is, is it the sense of the senate that the debate on the nomination of george jailed hazel of north dakota -- george are harold hazeful maryland to be district judge be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

the presiding officer: are there any senators wishing to change their vote or to vote? if not, the ayes are 55