Remarks of Senator Jim Webb Before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the Nomination of Justice Barbara Milano Keenan

Washington, DC – Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) delivered the following remarks today before the Senate Judiciary Committee Confirmation hearing to consider Justice Barbara Milano Keenan to be a Judge on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. If confirmed, Keenan would serve as the first woman from Virginia to sit on Fourth U.S. Circuit Court bench.

“Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to join my colleague from Virginia, Senator Mark Warner, for the purpose of introducing to this Committee Virginia Supreme Court Justice Barbara M. Keenan, whom the President has nominated for a seat on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.

“At the outset, I want to thank the Committee for scheduling this hearing today.  The seat on the Fourth Circuit that Justice Keenan seeks to fill has been vacant since the death two years ago of Judge Emory Widener of Abingdon.  It is important to the people of my state, and to the proper functioning of the court, that this vacancy be filled as expeditiously as possible.

“Mr. Chairman, I believe President Obama has made an extraordinary choice in nominating Justice Keenan. Earlier this year, our Senate offices jointly interviewed more than two dozen highly qualified candidates for this seat, including distinguished law professors, judges, private practitioners and government attorneys.

“From this very competitive field, Senator Warner and I were drawn to Justice Keenan’s record of achievement on the bench; her keen intellect and even temperament; and perhaps most importantly, her abiding sense of fairness.  We recommended her to the President for nomination in June of this year.

“I should add that Justice Keenan is held in the highest regard by members of the Commonwealth’s legal community, including the Virginia State Bar, which gave her a “Highly Qualified” rating.

“Justice Keenan has a distinguished record of service to our courts in Virginia.  She was appointed to the Fairfax County General District Court in 1980 at the age of 29.  She was promoted by the General Assembly to the Fairfax County Circuit Court in 1982; to the Intermediate Court of Appeals in 1985, and finally to the Supreme Court in 1991.  She is active in numerous boards and commissions intended to foster excellence in our judicial system.

“Justice Keenan is a 1971 graduate of Cornell University, and a 1974 graduate of the George Washington University School of Law.  She also holds an LLM from the University of Virginia School of Law.”