WRITTEN STATEMENT OF ROBERT N. DAVIS

PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE TO THE POSITION OF ASSOCIATE JUDGE
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR VETERANS' CLAIMS

HEARINGS BEFORE THE UNITED STATES SENATE COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS
THURSDAY, APRIL 1, 2004
2:30PM

April 1, 2004

Chairman Specter, Senator Graham and the distinguished members of this committee.  I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you today as you consider my nomination to serve as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans’ Claims.  I would also like to thank the distinguished Senators from Mississippi, Senator Thad Cochran and Senator Trent Lott for their joint appearance here today and that very kind introduction. 

My remarks will be brief.  If confirmed, I will dedicate my efforts to assisting my fellow judges to efficiently and fairly adjudicate cases and decrease the backlog of matters pending before the Court consistent with the rule of law.   If confirmed, a priority mission will also be to ensure that those veterans who have business before the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans’ Claims receive thorough, expeditious, and objective decisions.  My diverse background and twenty-six years of experience as a lawyer will allow me to bring a fresh perspective to the Court, if confirmed.  This experience includes thirteen years as a law professor, and an equal amount of time as a government attorney trying both criminal and civil cases, a Commissioner to the National Commission on Uniform State Laws, an Arbitrator and Mediator with the American Arbitration Association and the United States Postal Service, a Hearing Officer for the SFOR Claims Tribunal in the Republic of Serbia, Sarajevo, Bosnia, and a member of the United States Navy Reserves. This diverse background and experience will assist me, if confirmed, in adjudicating the variety of veteran’s benefit claims that fall within the jurisdiction of the Article I United States Court of Appeals for Veterans’ Claims. 

As a young boy growing up in Davenport, Iowa, I dreamed of becoming a lawyer someday.  That dream became a reality when I graduated from law school.  It was made possible because of the support I received from my parents and family members, teachers at all grade levels, and friends.  It was also made possible because of the freedoms we enjoy as Americans.  However, I did not dream that some day I would be teaching law at the University of Mississippi School of Law or at my present station, Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport, Florida, the home state of my father who is now deceased, and my grandparents with whom I would frequently visit in Fort Pierce as a child.  And I most certainly did not dream that some day I would be nominated by the President of the United States of America to become a federal judge.  However, this great nation of ours with all of its quirks and imperfections has a way of making dreams become reality.  Even things that I may not have dreamt, may happen to any one of us if given the opportunity to achieve in a free nation.

  In conclusion, I would like to thank the Committee for the opportunity to appear before you today and present this statement.   I would be happy to answer any questions that you may have.