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a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. ms. klobuchar: mr. president, i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. klobuchar: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that my detailee michael keatis, be granted floor privileges through march 31, 2016, while detailed to the united states senate. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. klobuchar: thank you. mr. president, i rise today to speak about the adoptee citizenship act, legislation that will secure citizenship for adopted children. i want to thank senator coats for cosponsoring the bill with me along with senator merkley and senator gillibrand is also a cosponsor. the child citizenship act of 2000 guaranteed citizenship to

most international adoptees. and this was very important because sometimes children have been adopted, they come over, they live in this country for years, and in fact for some reason that the paperwork wasn't filed, they're not actually -- they do not actually have their citizenship. the problem with that law back in 2000 was that it did not apply to adoptees who were over 18 at the time the bill was passed. and is i'm sure there was some reasons for that, but it really makes no sense. because a kid who was 17 at the time and had been legally adopted was no different than a child who was 19 at the time who had been legally adopted. so what our bill does -- it's very limited -- it fixes that. the loophole denies some adult adoptees the right to citizenship even though they were legally adopted by u.s. citizens and raised in the united states. they're over 18 so they have for the most part lived in the united states for a very long

period of time. in fact, they were over 18 back in the year 2000. the bipartisan adoptee citizenship act would fix this problem by giving citizenship to international adoptees, people who are legally adopted, who were 18 in that year 2000, or older regardless of how old they were when the child citizenship l act passed. these adoptees grew up in american families. they went to american schools. they lead american lives. yet, adopted children who are not covered by the child citizenship act are not guaranteed citizenship. because of their lack of citizenship, adoptees have been refused admission to college and turned down for jobs. the constant threat to the life that they know is unjust, and this bill would simply ensure that international adoptees are recognized as the americans that they truly are.

the bill is especially important in my home state of minnesota. many people don't know this, but minnesota actually has one of the highest rates of international adoptions in the country. minnesota families have opened their homes and their hearts to children from all over the world, from vietnam to guatamala to nepal, to haiti. as cochair of the congressional coalition on adoption, i've worked with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support adoptive families and children. our kids, all kids deserve so much more than just a roof over their heads and a bed to sleep in. each and every child deserves a loving home, a nurturing family and a brighter future. that's what this bill is all about. it fixes something and closes a loophole and has bipartisan support. and i ask my colleagues to consider it as we move forward. there's obviously a lot of interest from adoptees all across the country that have been living with this through no

fault of their own, for years and years and years. and now, mr. president, i'd like to turn to a completely different topic and ask that these remarks be recorded separately. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. klobuchar: mr. president, i rise today to h honor u.s. air force major adriana vordubruken killed two days before christmas when a taliban suicide bomber killed her in afghanistan. she was the highest ranked military officer there who was killed. there were several others who twajically lost their -- tragically lost their lives as well. today i had the honor of attending the major's funeral service at the fort meyer memorial chapel.

senator franken was also there. she was laid to rest with full military honors at the arlington national cemetery. she is survived by her wife, heather; her son jacob; her father joseph and her brothers dan, john and chris. and i will note that three of the four members of family -- since i was talking about adoption -- were in fact adopted. adrianna was a native of my hometown of plymouth, minnesota, where she attended my alma mater. she excelled in both academics and athletics and was a three-year starter on the wysetta women's high school team. this is a very large suburban high school. the year that she was a starter and captain, she led the team to the state championship. she was also the captain of the wysetta high school hockey team.

she went on to the united states air force academy in colorado and graduated in 2002. in her senior year, she led the women's rugby team to the national championship title. she was the cocaptain. so you can imagine she was a starter on the soccer team and helped lead that team in high school to a state championship. she was a captain of the hockey team, which is a big deal in minnesota, of a big high school. and then she was also the cocaptain of the rugby team and helped lead that team to a national championship title out of the air force. you can imagine the leadership that adrianna has shown through her life, and she always loved sports, something that was talked a lot about today by her family. after graduating, she investigations academy and was deployed to iraq until 2005.

in 2009 she was selected as an air force institute of technology student in forensic sciences and earned a master's degree in forensics sciences at george washington university. in 2010, she became a special agent of the air force office of special investigations which investigates felon-level crimes committed by or against air force personnel in the united states and overseas. major vordubrugen was an outspoken opponent to the military's former don't ask, don't tell policy. she and heather and air force veteran were among the first service members to marry after the policy was rescinded in 2010. adrianna chose to serve her country in spite of the military's policy and fought for reform rather than hiding her identity. as her older brother chris said, she's inspired us all by just

being herself and being proud of who she was. adrianna was known by her family and friends for her positive attitude and her infectious smile. at the service this morning, her dad remembered adrianna's ability to remain upbeat even under challenging circumstances and she loved their little boy jacob and he was there today with the loving family around him. major vordubrugen will be remembered for the service -- work she did in service to her country and the work she did to make sure all brave men and women in uniform will receive the honor and dignity and that they receive that honor and dignity they so rightfully deserve. i am proud to call major adrianna vordubrugen a daughter of minnesota. she gave her life for a country

that she loved. thank you, and i yield the floor. i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. ms. klobuchar: mr. president, i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to consider the following nomination which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination -- the judiciary. wilhelmina marie wright of minnesota to be united states district judge. the presiding officer: under the previous order, there will be 30 minutes of debate. ms. klobuchar: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. ms. klobuchar: mr. president, i am proud today to rise in support of justice wilhelmina marie wright's confirmation as a district court judge for the

district of minnesota. justice wright, as the members of the judiciary committee learned during her fine hearing, justice wright is a dedicateed public servant with a distinguished career spanning the state and federal legal system. she is the first person in the history of minnesota to serve at all three levels of the judiciary and receive this nomination. she served as a district court judge in minnesota. she served for the minnesota court of appeals, and she now serves on the minnesota supreme court. her 15 years of judicial experience make her ready to do this job on day one. and i can tell you when you hear the statistics about the overload for the district of minnesota, we need her to start tomorrow on day one. her qualifications are impeccable. justice wright has sat on panels

deciding over 2,000 cases and presided over nearly 700, yet with all those cases, imagine over 2,000 cases, nearly 700, all these opinions, there were no questions seriously raised at all about her being biased in some way in her work as a judge or unfair. in fact, it was the opposite. she had the support of former senator norm coleman, a republican, and many others in our state who are in -- serve in the party across the aisle. her decisions reveal a thoughtful and a talented jurist, one who applies the law to the facts of each case. justice wright currently serves as associate justice of the minnesota supreme court, a position she has held since her appointment in 2012. as the first african-american woman to serve on the court,

justice wright has earned the respect of litigants, lawyers and judicial colleagues alike. justice wright has born in norfolk, virginia. she graduated from yale college cum laude in 1986 and received her law degree from harvard law school in 1989. after law school, justice wright clerked for judge damon keith of the circuit circuit court of appeals. she then went into private practice for five years at hogan and hartson. but before long, she felt the pull of public service. she joined the u.s. attorney's office for the district of minnesota as an assistant u.s. attorney, and has been a dependable, dedicated leader of the minnesota legal system ever since that time. during her time as a federal prosecutor, she received the united states department of justice director's award and the department's special achievement

award. so if you look at her path before she became a judge, every step of the way she excelled. she excelled growing up. she excelled in college and law school in terms of her record. she excelled as a judicial clerk. she excelled in private practice. and she then excelled in the u.s. attorney's office where she received numerous awards. she was then appointed by, i believe, governor jesse ventura, so this is not a -- she did not start her career as a political appointee. he was independent party. she served as a ramsey county district court judge from 2000-2002 when she was appointed then to the minnesota court of appeals. she served for ten years until her most recent appointment to the minnesota supreme court. justice wright is also involved in a variety of civic and bar

activities. she devotes 50 hours per year to educating the public on the law. if that's not enough, justice wright has also worked to improve the legal system. she has been a member of the minnesota judicial counsel, the minnesota courts public trust and confidence working group and the minnesota state bar association task force on the minnesota bar association model rules of professional conduct. in 2006, the minnesota women lawyers honored her with the myra bradwell award for her service, and in 2012, the minnesota association of black lawyers presented her with the president's award. but the law has always been more than a profession for justice wright. it has been central to her own development. growing up, she watched her parents fight the norfolk, virginia, school system to ensure her access to the same educational opportunities as everyone else. the protection enforced by the legal system were crucial to her

family's struggle. as justice wright herself has said about the supreme court's decision in brown v. board of education, aside from the bible, that court order was the most important written document in my family's life. the law worked for justice wright. in turn, she has dedicated her own life to the law and to fairness and impartiality. justice wright deserves to be confirmed. as i said, the judiciary committee hearing went extremely well. she has the support of many members of that committee, and in fact her nomination went through without an objection when we had the vote. she has explained any questions that the members of the judiciary committee have had, and there are some obviously,

very good senators who asked a lot of questions on that committee, and she explained any questions they had about past legal writings from law school and other issues, and they felt secure in her nomination and again passed her off without any objection and no new issues has been raised since that time, and there were no serious questions about 2,300 cases that she has handled. i can't think of many nominees that we have had with that kind of record. i would add that this nomination is particularly important to the district of minnesota. the united states judicial conference has deemed the current vacancy in our state to be a judicial emergency. our district's caseload has increased significantly in recent years. in 2014, the district saw a 57% jump in case filings with nearly 6,000 cases, 6,000 federal cases currently pending, and judge

davis, the position for which he has been nominated, assuming senior status last august, failing to fill this judicial vacancy is failing the people of minnesota. and i am so proud of my colleagues and thank them for their support, both democrats and republicans, on the judiciary committee who will be voting for her today. justice wright is the type of nominee we strive for, the best candidate for the job. we had a bipartisan committee led by a private practice -- two private practice lawyers but one who had served as u.s. attorney for the state of minnesota under the first president bush and the second president bush, tom hafelfinger, with a very good record. he helped head up this committee and was the chair, and they looked at so many qualified nominees and made this recommendation to senator franken and myself. so this process from the

beginning has been completely bipartisan and impeccable, and we are proud of that process. the a.b.a. standing committee on the federal judiciary unanimously rated justice wright as well qualified to serve as a district court judge for the district of minnesota, which is the highest rating that the committee awards. it is based on a confidential peer review of justice wright's professional competence, integrity and judicial temperament. as senator coleman, the former senator from the state of minnesota, republican senator said, i fully support her nomination and have communicated that to my former colleagues. why does senator coleman support this nomination? because you look at the record of a woman of integrity. a woman that not one case was questioned before the very thorough judiciary committee who has the support of many of the

republican senators, no objections raised when the vote was taken. this is exactly the kind of nominee that we want. justice wilhelmina wright will make a fine federal district court judge for the district of minnesota. i urge all my colleagues to support this superb nominee. the people of minnesota need and deserve a judge of wilhelmina wright's caliber. we are proud of our federal judges in minnesota. some came from democratic administrations, some came out of republican administrations, but they have always had a reputation of integrity. justice wright will continue to uphold that reputation of integrity, and i ask my colleagues to support her. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. and i see that my colleague, senator franken, is here as well.

mr. franken: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. mr. franken: thank you, mr. president. i want to thank the senior senator from minnesota for her remarks about wilhelmina wright. i join her today in rising not just to -- not just in strong support but enthusiastic support for justice wilhelmina wright's nomination to serve on the united states district court for the district of minnesota. we call her justice wright because she is on the minnesota supreme court. she is an excellent consensus

nominee. i'd like to thank chairman grassley and ranking member leahy for working to ensure the judiciary committee reported her nomination out favorably. i'd also like to thank leader mcconnell for scheduling today's -- this afternoon's vote. as of today, justice wright's nomination has been pending for 2779 days, more than nine months, and the seat that she is nominated to fill is considered a judicial -- has been declared a judicial emergency. so i'm pleased that the senate today is moving to confirm justice wright and that minnesotans seeking justice will soon be able to have their day in court. justice wright is without question the best candidate for

this position. not only did she earn a stellar reputation as a federal prosecutor in minnesota, but justice wright is the only person in our state's history to serve as a judge at all three levels of minnesota's judiciariary. in her 15 years on the bench, justice wright has heard more than 2,000 cases, an none of her rulings in those cases raise concern during her hearing, which is why her nomination was approved without objection by the judiciary committee in september. for those who know her, this comes as no surprise. justice wright understands the role of a judge. her unwavering commitment to fairness and impartiality as well as her reputation for professionalism explain why

justice wright enjoys a deep well of support in minnesota from both sides of the aisle. and i emphasize that. senator klobuchar and i formed a bipartisan selection committee to assist us in identifying a nominee for this vacancy. that committee was cochaired by thomas heffelinger, a republican, former u.s. attorney for the district of minnesota under presidents george h.w. bush and george w. bush -- they're two different people, h.w. and w. bush. mr. heffelfinger said that her nomination was -- this is a quote -- "continues the long minnesota tradition of selecting federal judges based on their professionalism and experience

rather than political connections. justice wright embodies everything one could look for in a federal judge," he said. "experience, intellectual firepower, a calm and patient demeanor, and a deep, personal understanding of the issues facing the people of this country." and i think that everybody on that panel absolutely agreed with tom heffelfinger, who is a great public servant -- excuse me, mr. president. i'm just making sure this doesn't interrupt my speech, which i'm doing myself right now. tom heffelfinger, who is a great public -- a great public figure himself, says those words. they are high praise indeed. it was echoed by other conservative voices during justice wright's hearing before the judiciary committee. chairman grassley noted that

several republicans had called him to voice support for her nomination. one of those calls came from my colleague in the house, representative eric paulsornings a republican who -- eric paulson, a republican who represents minnesota's third district. it is clear to me why the people of my state, regardless of their political persuasion, support her nomination. justice wright's integrity, her dedication to public service, and her commitment to equal justice reflect minnesota values. mr. president, i strongly urge all of my colleagues support wilhelmina marie wright, and i look forward to her foul confirmation. -- to her confirmation. this is very important. we have other judges that are up for confirmation that come from states like iowa and nebraska

who have been signed off on by both of their senators, including the presiding officer, and this is -- this is a bipartisan commission with bipartisan support, and i would urge all of my colleagues to vote for justice wilhelmina wright who sits on the minnesota court now to sit on the federal district court. so thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. i would suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. leahy: doemr. leahy: yesterr nation celebrated the birthday of dr. martin luther king jr., a here reto millions of americans. he helped break down racial barriers in this country. i was glad to so that he we returned today, while we delay so many of these judicial votes, we're finally going to one that would increase racial diversity on our federal bench. judge wilhelmina wright is nominated to a judicial emergency vacancy on the u.s. district court, the district of minnesota.

she currently serves on the minnesota supreme court. she is the first african-american woman to serve in that court, the first person in minnesota history to serve as a judge at all three levels. now, she was nominated a year -- or nine months ago. she was voted out of the judiciary committee by unanimous vote over four months ago. i think this african-american woman, extraordinarily qualified and certainly in my experience far more qualified than a lot of people, men and women, we've confirmed to the bench. the time is well overdue. i would ask that my full statement be placed in the record and urge a vote for her confirmation. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. leahy: and -- mr. president, i ask consent that all time on both sides be yielded back.

the presiding officer: without objection. the question is on the nomination. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote:

vote:

vote: