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Floor Speech
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Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I ask for unanimous consent to speak up to 5 minutes before the scheduled rollcall.
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Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I want to echo the comments from Senator Hawley. This is a very proud day for the State of Missouri and significant that the first district court judges that are coming before this body under President Trump's second term in office will be filling the bench, the four vacancies, in the Eastern District of Missouri: Josh Divine, Cris Stevens, Maria Lanahan, Zach Bluestone.
I want to talk about Mr. Divine and Mr. Stevens, briefly, here, both of whom worked in the office when I was attorney general, Josh very briefly. He came on, originally, with Senator Hawley. But Cris Stevens, I want to talk about him first.
You know, when you are in a role like attorney general, you need a lot of good people around you, and you have a core team. And for me, that process, you kind of rely on a lot of social capital over the years, and you ask around. You have some relationships, but you have people who then refer you to people, and you go through an interview process. And Cris Stevens was the name that just kept coming up. And I didn't know Cris before that. I knew his reputation just a little bit.
But when he and I got together and visited about the vision for what we wanted to do with the office, we instantly clicked. He is an incredible family man, a devout Catholic, his wife Leigh--they have great kids. He is a wonderful father.
And before he came to my office, he was probably one of the more decorated and storied criminal prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney's Office in generations. I mean, if there was a tough criminal case, Cris Stevens was the guy. And so I brought him in originally as our criminal chief. He later--when Tom Albus, who was my first assistant, went on to become a judge, Cris Stevens then took that first assistant role. And what I was always impressed by Cris was not only his work ethic but his willingness to work with younger lawyers, to be a mentor. His legal acumen was beyond reproach. He is a brilliant guy. He is going to do an incredible job on that court.
I am just so proud for him and his family today as this vote happens, and he will ascend to that really important role, a lifetime appointment, and will do the business of the people on that bench. We need more people like Cris Stevens so it is really a special day.
Josh Divine, as Senator Hawley mentioned, is a very, very smart guy. He has done a great job in the Solicitor General's Office with the current attorney general, Andrew Bailey. He will do a phenomenal job on the bench.
We are really lucky to have such a deep legal bench in the State of Missouri. As these nominees came forward, we just have an embarrassment of riches in Missouri. I think that is true, and the first two of them will be voted on here today.
And as I mentioned, Maria Lanahan and Zach Bluestone will come after that.
So I just want to wish congratulations to them as this vote takes place, and I can't recommend both of them more strongly. And, again, it is a real honor for the State of Missouri to have these two incredible jurists before this body for their confirmation vote.
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