How they voted: U.S. Senate on first openly LGBTQ federal district judge in Puerto Rico
WASHINGTON, D.C. >> Here’s how area senators were recorded on major votes during the legislative week of Feb 13-17. The House was not in session. Readers can visit www.VoteFacts.com for additional information on top congressional issues and individual voting records.
Gina Mendez-Miro, Federal District Court Judge: Voting 54-45, the Senate on Feb. 14 confirmed the nomination of Gina R. Mendez-Miro as a judge on the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico. She becomes the first openly LGBTQ federal judge to serve in Puerto Rico and the 100th Biden administration judicial nominee to receive Senate confirmation. Born in 1974, Mendez-Miro served most recently on the Puerto Rico Court of Appeals, and before that she was chief of staff of the Puerto Rico Senate, an assistant attorney general in the Puerto Rico Department of Justice and a lawyer in private practice. President Biden’s 100 confirmed judicial appointees include 76 women, one Muslim and 68 persons of color including 21 Hispanics. Former President Donald Trump appointed 226 judges to the federal bench over four years and former President Barack Obama appointed 320 over eight years. The federal judiciary has about 800 judges on district (trial) and appellate courts and nine Supreme Court justices. A yes vote was to confirm Judge Mendez-Miro.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Mendez-Miro “would make history” as the first openly LGBTQ federal district judge in Puerto Rico. “That is something to celebrate, something to be proud of and something that shows America can, little by little, live up to its promise of opportunity for all, regardless of his or her background.” No senator spoke against the nomination.
Schumer, D, and Kirsten Gillibrand, D, voted yes.
Cindy K. Chung, Federal Appellate Judge: Voting 50-44, the Senate on Feb 13 confirmed the nomination of Cindy K. Chung for a seat on the 3 rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. She becomes the court’s first Asian-American judge. Based in Philadelphia, the court hears appeals from federal district, or trial, courts in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and the Virgin Islands. Chung, born in 1975, had been U.S. attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Before that, she served in the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice and the office of the Manhattan District Attorney. The Omaha, Neb., native received her undergraduate degree from Yale University and a juris doctor degree from Columbia Law School. A yes vote was to confirm Judge Chung.
Schumer and Gillibrand voted yes.
Lester Martinez-Lopez, Assistant Secretary of Defense: Voting 61-34, the Senate on Feb. 16 confirmed the nomination of Lester Martinez-Lopez as assistant secretary of defense for health affairs. Born in Puerto Rico in 1955, Martinez-Lopez was the first Hispanic to head the Army Medical and Research Command at Fort Detrick in Maryland. Among his overseas deployments, he was chief medical officer for U.S. forces in Haiti in 1995 and oversaw military relief for victims of Hurricane Mitch in Central America in 1998. In civilian work, Martinez-Lopez was chief medical officer at Brandon Regional Hospital in Brandon, Fla., and administrator of the Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital in Houston, Texas. He has a master’s degree from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health with a specialty in environmental health sciences. A yes vote was to confirm Martinez-Lopez.
Schumer and Gillibrand voted yes.
VoteFacts.com News Reports is a nonpartisan, fact-based news site whose mission is to help civicminded individuals and organizations track the most consequential and newsworthy issues debated in the U.S. House and Senate. Readers can visit www.VoteFacts. com for additional information on top congressional issues and individual voting records.