now, stephen higginson is a well-respected consensus nominee.served as a federal prosecutor for 23 years. he serves as a law clerk to justice byron white of the united states supreme court and to patricia wall of the d.c. circuit. he currently teaches law at the new orleans college of law. the american bar association's standing committee on the federal judiciary unanimously rated him well qualified, the highest rating they can give. to serve on the fifth circuit. and the two senators from louisiana, one a democrat, one a republican, democratic senator mary landrieu and republican senator david vitter, support his nomination. in the past, mr. president, such a nominee would go sailing through and would not just have to wait week after week, month after month after month. it's been stalled for months by the republican leadership. i should, incidentally, just so the record is clear, the day, july 14, when he was confirmed in the -- by the judiciary committee or nomination was sent forward by the judiciary committee, we cleared his nomination on th

and i rise to support the confirmation of stephen higginson to the u.s. court of appeals for the fifth circuit. i was pleased, mr. president, to recommend mr. higginson to president obama to be considered for this nomination to this important post. and i'm pleased to be joined by my colleague from louisiana that also supports this nomination and supports this confirmation. i'd like to take just a moment to share with some of my colleagues a few highlights of mr. higginson's background and resume. he has been well prepared for this position. he has resided in new orleans with his wife, colette, with their three children: christopher, katie and n oel. prior to that he began with a degree from harvard graduating summa cum laude. after graduating, he went on to earn a masters in philosophy, which is unusual but very welcomed in this field from cambridge university. he went, mr. president, as a harvard scholar. with degrees from two very prestigious institutions, he decideed to pursue his j.d. from yale law school where he graduated three years later. he earned