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Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, today the Senate will vote to confirm Laura Provinzino to the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.

Born in St. Cloud, MN, Ms. Provinzino received her B.A. from Lewis & Clark College, her B.A. from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, and her J.D. from Yale Law School. After law school, she served as a law clerk to Judge Diana E. Murphy on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in Minneapolis.

Following her clerkship, Ms. Provinzino worked at Robins Kaplan LLP as a litigation associate, where her work involved civil litigation and criminal defense. Since 2010, she has been an assistant U.S. attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota. She handles all aspects of criminal investigation and prosecution and has prosecuted a wide variety of Federal crimes. Ms. Provinzino has served as a missing and murdered indigenous persons assistant U.S. attorney since 2023, after previously serving as deputy chief of the violent and major crimes section, deputy chief of the major crimes section, human trafficking coordinator, and Project Safe Childhood coordinator. She has tried 16 cases to verdict, all of which were jury trials.

The American Bar Association unanimously rated Ms. Provinzino as ``well qualified'' to serve on the district court. She has deep ties to the District of Minnesota, and she enjoys the strong support of both of her home State senators, Ms. Klobuchar and Ms. Smith. Ms. Provinzino's nomination has also received support from a range of individuals and organizations, including law enforcement officers, former Federal prosecutors, and organizations working to combat human trafficking.

Ms. Provinzino's significant litigation background and extensive experience in Federal court ensure that she will be a valuable addition to the district court. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting her nomination.

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