but just by way of a little bit of a biographical background on both of these nominees. mark kearneyis currently managing shareholder at elliott greenleaf and sigiekowski, where he has worked since 1990. so almost a quarter of a century in a firm that does a wide variety of legal matters. i know this firm well and i know the work that they do on litigation and all kinds of complex litigation. and mark has had broad and diverse experience in that -- in that firm. previously he worked at the elliott, meni on and flarrety firm, going back to his days before the other firm. after law school, he clerked in the delaware court of chancery, following his legal training. and, of course, that's a court that has a high degree of specialization. a lot of business matters, obviously corporate matters come before that -- that very well-known court in delaware. mark kearney is also obviously very active in his community and i've known him for a couple of decades now. he serves on various charitable and civic organizations, including director for legal aid of southeastern pennsylvania, the pennsylva

the clerk: mark a. kearney of pennsylvania to be united states district judge for the eastern district of pennsylvania. the presiding officer: under the previous order, there will be two minutes of debate prior to the vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the pappert nomination. who yields time? without objection. the clerk will report the motion. 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 gerald j. pappert of pennsylvania to be united states district judge for the eastern district of pennsylvania. signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is: is it the sense oof the senate that debate on te nomination of gerald j. pappert of pennsylvania to be the united states district judge for the eastern district of pennsylvania, shall be brought to a close? the yeas and nays are mandatory under the

the senate judiciary committee voted him out of committee successfully on a voice vote back in september. mark kearney is the other gentleman that we'll be voting on in a short time. he's a graduate of villanova law school. a very successful attorney. managing shareholder, as i think senator casey pointed out, at the firm where he has been for 24 years. he practices commercial litigation. mr. kearney is highly respected by his colleagues. he received the highest rating in the martindal e-rating system. he has put a lot of time and energy into an issue that is very important to me, mr. president, and that is protecting children from dangerous predators. mr. kearney has worked with the montgomery county child advocacy project, representing abused children, and i commend him for that service. mr. kearney has also enjoyed bipartisan support in the senate, also being voice voted out by the senate judiciary committee, reflecting unanimous support for his candidacy. i think it's just very clear and i believe strongly that both mr. pappert and mr. kearney have the experience, the acumen and the commitment to