Senate Floor Speech
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison
February 5, 2002 -- Page: S312

THE NOMINATION OF PHILIP R. MARTINEZ TO BE A UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

MRS. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I am sure the distinguished chairman of the committee will be here shortly. I am very pleased that I am the first person to speak on behalf of Judge Phil Martinez to be a United States District Judge for the Western District of Texas.

Of all the courts in the country that are desperate for judges, those on the United States-Mexico border have the most critical need. According to statistics from 2000, the Western District of Texas handles the most criminal cases in the country, 4,434 per year, while the Southern District of Texas, for which Randy Crane awaits confirmation, has the third highest level after California's Southern District.

Currently, the Western District of Texas is facing a criminal caseload of 1,983 pending cases and 2,758 defendants waiting for trial because we do not have these judgeships filled.

In El Paso, 884 cases are pending overall, more than any other region in the district. Each day, more cases are added, overwhelming an already overburdened Western District. Relief is needed.

Our war against terrorism is heating up as well as our war on drugs. Therefore, it is more crucial that we have highly qualified judges and law enforcement officials in charge of our justice system along the United States-Mexico border. This is a decisive time for our Nation and our borders.

Senator Dianne Feinstein and I have introduced a bill to expand the number of Federal courts along the border. While I encourage Senators to support that bill, I also urge my colleagues to expedite the confirmation of border prosecutors and other judges such as Judge Martinez and Randy Crane.

At the same time, certainly we must be very careful with the selection of U.S. district judges because, as we all know, they have lifetime appointments. That is why I am very pleased to recommend Judge Martinez.

Judge Martinez has presided over a State district court in El Paso since 1991. Previously, he was a judge of a county court at law, having been elected by the people of El Paso. He has also been a practicing lawyer with the firm of Kemp, Smith, an excellent firm in El Paso. He has more than 10 years of experience at the trial court level, presiding over felony, juvenile, and civil cases. In 1979, Judge Martinez graduated from the University of Texas-El Paso with highest honors, receiving his law degree in 1982 from Harvard University.

In addition, he has been a director of the El Paso Legal Assistance Society, the El Paso Holocaust Museum, the El Paso Cancer Treatment Center, and the Hispanic Leadership Institute. He was named the 1991-1992 El Paso Young Lawyers Association's "Outstanding Young Lawyer'' after winning its 1990 Outstanding Achievement Award.

Judge Martinez is known in El Paso as a brilliant thinker and an effective and hard worker. He is known to make fair and thoughtful judgment based on principle. I cannot think of anyone to better fill the pending judicial vacancy in El Paso at a pivotal time for this court.

I am very pleased to recommend to my colleagues Judge Phil Martinez to be a United States district judge for the Western District in El Paso.