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Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, today, the Senate will vote to confirm Michael Etan Farbiarz to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

Born in New York, NY, Mr. Farbiarz received his A.B. from Harvard University in 1995. After graduation, he studied as a Fiske Scholar at Trinity College, Cambridge University, from 1995 to 1996 before earning his J.D. from Yale Law School in 1999. He then clerked for Judge Michael B. Mukasey on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York from 1999 to 2000 and Judge Jose Cabranes on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 2000 to 2001.

Mr. Farbiarz began his legal career in 2001 as an associate at a law firm in New York City, where he worked for 3 years and tried two cases. In 2004, he joined the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York--SDNY--as an assistant U.S. Attorney. Over the course of a decade, Mr. Farbiarz led more than 100 investigations, tried 7 cases, and argued 13 appeals before the Second Circuit. Within 5 years, he rose to serve as the deputy chief of the Terrorism and National Security Unit for 1 year and was further elevated to serve as the cochief of the Terrorism and International Narcotics Unit for 4 years.

After leaving the SDNY, Mr. Farbiarz became a senior fellow at New York University Law School from 2014 to 2016 and worked as an adjunct instructor at Columbia Law School in 2014. Most recently, Mr. Farbiarz has served as the general counsel of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey since 2016.

The American Bar Association has unanimously rated Mr. Farbiarz ``well qualified'' to serve on the District of New Jersey. Senators Menendez and Booker strongly support his nomination as well.

I will be supporting this outstanding nominee, and I urge all of my colleagues to do the same.

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