Senate Floor Statement of Senator Lugar Senate Confirms Judge Lawrence Thursday, June 26, 2008 The U.S. Senate today confirmed the nomination of Judge William T. Lawrence to serve as a U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Indiana. The vote was 97-0. Following is U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar’s Senate floor statement:   Mr. LUGAR.  Mr. President, I appreciate this opportunity to support the President’s nomination of Judge William Thomas Lawrence to serve as a United States District Judge for the Southern District of Indiana.   I would first like to thank Senate Judiciary Chairman Pat Leahy, Ranking Member Arlen Specter, the respective Leaders, and Senator Bayh for their important work to facilitate timely consideration of this nomination.   Mr. President, on December 18, 2007, the Senate voted to confirm the nomination of John Tinder to serve on the Seventh Circuit Court.  John was a distinguished leader on Indiana’s Southern District Court, and I knew that his successor would need to possess the same degree of integrity and intelligence.   Given this need for strong leadership, I was pleased to commend William Lawrence to President Bush for consideration.  This selection was the product of a bipartisan process and reflective of the importance of finding highly qualified federal judges to carry forward the tradition of fair, principled, and collegial leadership.   I have known Bill for many years, and I have always been impressed with his high energy, resolute integrity, and remarkable dedication to public service.    William Lawrence attended Indiana University where he received both his undergraduate and law degrees.  He immediately entered private practice but also devoted time to serve as a public defender in the Marion County, Indiana courts.  Subsequently, he served part-time as a Master Commissioner of the Marion County Circuit Court.     In 1996, Judge Lawrence was elected to the Marion County Circuit Court.  In this position, he built a reputation for fairness and efficiency. The Marion County Circuit Court is one of the busiest in the state of Indiana.  In less than three years, Judge Lawrence reduced the number of pending cases by twenty percent.  This impressive performance on the bench led to his appointment in 2002 to serve as a United States Magistrate Judge.    Throughout Bill’s career, his reputation for personal courtesy, fairness, decency and integrity was equally well-earned and widespread among colleagues and opposing counsel alike and on both sides of the political aisle.    I am also pleased that Bill’s experience and professionalism were recognized by the American Bar Association which bestowed a rating, by a substantial majority of the committee, of “well qualified.”    I would like to thank, again, Chairman Leahy and Ranking Member Specter for their important work on this nomination.  I believe that Judge Lawrence will demonstrate remarkable leadership and will appropriately uphold and defend our laws under the Constitution.   # # #