Senator Lieberman and I have appeared before the Judiciary Committee on their behalf. I see our colleague from Alabama here on the floor, who is a member of that committee and who very graciously heard the two nominees.

They are two very highly confident, very qualified nominees. Janet Hall has superlative work experience, both in government service and in private practice. She has worked in the Antitrust Division of the Justice Department from 1975 to 1979. She later joined one of the finest law firms in the State of Connecticut, Robinson and Cole, where she has been a partner since 1982. She has appeared before Federal, State, and appellate courts, and even the U.S. Supreme Court, and her work has focused primarily on complex commercial litigation. In short, she is a very, very fine nominee.

She is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College and the New York University School of Law. She has received numerous awards and recognitions including Mount Holyoke's Alumnae Medal of Honor, and she has served on the Board of the Connecticut Bar Foundation since 1993. She also serves on the Parents' Advisory Committee of her hometown high school and has volunteered in numerous other activities in her community.

She is a very fine lawyer, a very fine person, very community oriented, and she brings wonderful legal knowledge and expertise to this nomination. I am confident that my colleagues across political lines here will be very proud of their vote in casting it this afternoon for Janet Hall to be a district court judge in Connecticut.

The other nominee is Christopher F. Droney. Some of our colleagues know Christopher Droney. He has been our U.S. attorney in Connecticut for the last 4 or 5 years and a very successful one. He is known as one of the leading U.S. attorneys in the country for his anticrime efforts, and in particular for fighting juvenile crime.

I might point out that he also knows something about what it is like to be in elective office. He served as the mayor of West Hartford, CT, and did a wonderful job there. He is a graduate of the University of Connecticut Law School, where he was on the Law Review. He was named Citizen of the Year by the Connecticut District of the Boy Scouts of America, and he received the Distinguished Law Enforcement Award from the Hartford Police Union. He also received special recognition award from the Spanish-American Merchants Association. He is very community-oriented and very successful in his community activities. He is a member of the Federal Bar Council, a member of the St. Timothy Roman Catholic Church in his community, and very involved in the YMCA and YWCA in our State, as well.

Again, given his background experience as a U.S. attorney, I think my colleagues can feel very, very proud, Mr. President, in casting a vote this afternoon to confirm the nomination of Christopher Droney, as well, to be a district court judge in Connecticut. I urge support for these nominees. I think they will do us all proud. The Senate can be proud of the work they will perform on behalf of all of us. I yield the floor.