Francine Motley Clark, who is also from Durham, North Carolina, who drove up last night to be here today.

I take special pleasure to introduce my two nephews. They are both attending college, North Carolina A&T. One is Morris Jefferson Clark, who is graduating on Saturday. The other is Jason Motley Clark, who is a rising senior.

I have colleagues who are here today. First, let me start off with my present boss, Wilma A. Lewis. She is the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. And I am happy that she is here. We have a lot of work to do back at the office.

With her today is Special Counsel J. Ramsey Johnson, and I would like to thank him for being here today, and also Channing Phillips.

My second boss is here also. She is my secretary, and I would add that she is probably the best secretary in the government, Felicia People, and I would like to thank her for being here. I would like to thank Lydia Griggsby for being here, Monty Wilkinson for being here, Chief Judge Hamilton, of course, and other colleagues or future colleagues on the Superior Court bench, Lee Satterfield, Mary Terrell, and Judge Long.

I don't think I left anybody out, but if I did‒‒

Senator VOINOVICH. Well, you certainly have a lot of support, Mr. Motley.

Mr. MOTLEY. I would like to add that Judge Ricky Roberts is here. Judge Roberts was a colleague of mine in the U.S. Attorney's Office. I think all three nominees know Judge Roberts, and he's here for all three of us.

That's it.

Senator VOINOVICH. Well, we would like to welcome all of you here. Mr. Motley, would you like to share with us your feelings about the opportunity to serve on the bench?

Mr. MOTLEY. Yes. It is an honor to appear before this Committee to discuss my qualifications to become an associate judge on the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. I would like to thank the members of the District of Columbia Nomination Commission for recommending me and the President of the United States for nominating me. I appreciate the hard work that your able staff has already performed in reviewing my nomination.

Finally, I would like to thank Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton for her kind introduction of myself and John Mott. As you know, the Superior Court of the District of Columbia is one of the finest trial courts in the country. If I am confirmed to serve on that court, I will work diligently to continue that fine reputation.

As a native Washingtonian, I look forward to the opportunity to serve the citizens of this community as an associate judge on the Superior Court, and I'm happy to answer any other questions that the Committee may have.

Senator VOINOVICH. Thank you very much.

Mr. Mott, welcome. Are there any family members that you would like to introduce today, and friends?

TESTIMONY OF JOHN MOTT,1 TO BE ASSOCIATE JUDGE OF THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Mr. MOTT. I will keep my introductions short, but I'd like to introduce my wife, Cristina, who is behind me. I'm also very pleased that my old boss, the Hon. Richard Roberts from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia is here, and Chief Judge Hamilton is here from the Superior Court.

Senator VOINOVICH. And I am sure that they are pleased to be here with you today.

Mr. MOTT. I'd also like to thank my many colleagues and friends who are in the audience, who I will not introduce by name.

Senator VOINOVICH. I can pretty well tell who your wife was when you were introduced. Very proud.

Mr. MOTT. Thank you.

Senator VOINOVICH. Would you like to make an opening statement?

Mr. MOTT. Thank you, Senator. I'm honored to be here, and I want to thank you and thank your staff. I would echo the comments that were made earlier and thank the Committee staff for their graciousness and their professionalism through this process.

I am extremely grateful to have been nominated for a position on the D.C. Superior Court. It's the court where I learned to be a trial lawyer. It's a tremendous responsibility, and I will do everything in my power to live up to that responsibility if I'm nominated for a position on the court.

Senator VOINOVICH. Thank you. Again, I would like the record to reflect that the three nominees today have gone through a very extensive screening process, and I suspect that this hearing this morning is going to be rather short, and I wouldn't want anyone to interpret the shortness of it as an indication that the three of you haven't gone through quite a long ordeal to get to this hearing table today. And I want to publicly thank our staff for the fine work that they have done, and I want you to know that I have visited with the Justice Department in regard to all three of your nominations and have gone over them personally, and I am most impressed with your credentials.

There are some mandatory questions for the record, though, that need to be answered this morning, and I suspect that you have been familiarized with those questions. And I would like to ask each of you those questions, and, Ms. Blackburne-Rigsby, we will start with you.

The first is: Are you aware of anything in your background that might present a conflict of interest with the duties of the office to which you have been nominated?

Ms. BLACKBURNE-RIGSBY. No, sir. However, Senator, I feel I should mention something that has been previously discussed with your Committee staff, and that is that my husband, Robert Rigsby, is the Corporation Counsel of the District of Columbia, and some of the attorneys in that office practice in Superior Court. He has been in other management positions in the office while I have served on the court as a hearing commissioner, and we have dealt

63.

The biographical and professional information of Mr. Mott appears in the Appendix on page

with any possible appearances of a conflict of interest by me recusing myself from cases where I thought there might be a conflict or even an appearance of a conflict. And I certainly would continue that practice if I'm confirmed as an associate judge.

Senator VOINOVICH. I appreciate your bringing that out this morning.

Do you know of any reason, personal or otherwise, that would in any way prevent you from fully and honorably discharging the responsibilities of the office to which you have been nominated?

Ms. BLACKBURNE-RIGSBY. No, Senator, I do not.

Senator VOINOVICH. And do you know of any reason, personal or otherwise, that would in any way prevent you from serving the full term for the office to which you have been nominated?

Ms. BLACKBURNE-RIGSBY. No, sir.

Senator VOINOVICH. Thank you.

Mr. Motley, are you aware of anything in your background that might present a conflict of interest with the duties of the office to which you have been nominated?

Mr. MOTLEY. No, I am not.

Senator VOINOVICH. Do you know of any reason, personal or otherwise, that would in any way prevent you from fully and honorably discharging the responsibilities of the office to which you have been nominated?

Mr. MOTLEY. No, I do not.

Senator VOINOVICH. And, last, do you know of any reason, personal or otherwise, that would in any way prevent you from serving the full term for the office to which you have been nominated? Mr. MOTLEY. No, I do not.

Senator VOINOVICH. Thank you.

Mr. Mott, are you aware of anything in your background that might present a conflict of interest with the duties of the office to which you have been nominated?

Mr. MOTT. No, Mr. Chairman.

Senator VOINOVICH. Do you know of any reason, personal or otherwise, that would in any way prevent you from fully and honorably discharging the responsibilities of the office to which you have been nominated?

Mr. MOTT. No, I do not.

Senator VOINOVICH. And do you know of any reason, personal or otherwise, that would in any way prevent you from serving the full term for the office to which you have been nominated?

Mr. MOTT. No, Mr. Chairman.

Senator VOINOVICH. Well, those are the mandatory questions, and as I mentioned, I have gone over your files thoroughly, and Í haven't any questions for you. As many of you know, when we set these hearings, we never know what we are going to be doing at the time. And, again, I want to apologize for being late for this hearing, but we had a vote this morning and I had to be there to exercise that vote.

Do any of you have any other questions you would like to ask or any comments?

Mr. MOTT. No, thank you.

Mr. MOTLEY. No, Mr. Chairman.

Senator VOINOVICH. OK. Well, we would like to thank everyone then for coming. The Members of the full Committee will vote on your nominations at a subsequent markup. I don't know when that is going to be, but I can say that it is going to be in the next several weeks. And if the Committee approves your nominations, which I hope they will, the full Committee will consider the nominations and then the Senate will vote on them.

Ms. Rigsby, I want you to know that Senator Schumer's fine testimony to your background and to your New York connections will be in the record. We will insert them in the record.

Ms. BLACKBURNE-RIGSBY. Thank you, Senator.

Senator VOINOVICH. You can share those with posterity.
Ms. BLACKBURNE-RIGSBY. Thank you.

Senator VOINOVICH. I want to again thank you very much, and I want to thank members of the family for coming today. I know this is a very special day in the lives of your family, and it is a proud day. One of the things I have learned in life is that we rejoice and get much greater satisfaction out of the accomplishments of our children than the accomplishments that we achieve in our own right. So I know it is a big day for all of you. Thank you very much, and this hearing is adjourned.

[Pause.]

Senator VOINOVICH. Although the hearing was adjourned, Senator Schumer, I said that they would be able to read your words in the record, but I am sure they would rather hear your eloquent words. What we will do is we will reconvene the hearing so that we can get Senator Schumer's words.

Senator we are glad to have you here.

TESTIMONY OF HON. CHARLES E. SCHUMER, A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF NEW YORK

Senator SCHUMER. I thank you, and I apologize to everybody, particularly the Blackburne-Rigsby family, for being late. And since my entire statement will be read in the record, I will be very, very brief. I am just so proud to be here for the nomination of Anna Blackburne-Rigsby to be an associate judge of the D.C. Superior Court. As I am sure has been mentioned, her experiences in law and, among other things, her devotion to helping victims of violence and child abuse make her an excellent choice to serve.

She was born and raised in our Nation's capital. D.C.'s gain was New York's loss. She attended Duke University in Durham and graduated from Howard Law School in the top 5 percent of her class. She has had wide-ranging experiences and has just done a great job as Hearing Commissioner in the Superior Court of D.C. Her experience is across the board.

In addition, she cares about her community and her kids, and she has the title of coach of the girls' basketball team at St. Gabriel Petworth Catholic Youth Organization for the last 7 years, which is just-as a father of two Little Leaguers, I understand the devotion that that takes.

Just two other words, Mr. Chairman. First, I have known the Blackburne family for a very long time. They are among leaders in New York City, and thank God, praise God that the apple has not fallen far from the tree. Both her dad and her mom have been lead

ers in our community in New York City for 25 years. I see them smiling there in the audience, very, very proud.

And, second, I just speak on behalf, I think, of all of us. We are so glad that someone of your talent has decided to become a judge. I know there are many, many other opportunities open to you, but the fact that you will continue in public service is very meaningful to all of us. So I want to congratulate Anna, the entire Blackburne and Rigsby families, and this is just a fine day for me and even a finer day for all of you.

Thank you.

PREPARED STATEMENT OF SENATOR SCHUMER

I want to first thank Senator Voinovich, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, Restructuring, and the District of Columbia, for holding today's nomination hearing.

Mr. Chairman, I am here today to introduce to the Committee Anna BlackburneRigsby, who has been nominated by the President to be an Associate Judge of the District of Columbia Superior Court. I hope that the Committee will look favorably upon her nomination and that the Senate as a whole will confirm her soon.

Ms. Blackburne-Rigsby's experiences in the law and, among other things, her devotion to helping victims of violence and child abuse make her an excellent choice to serve on the District of Columbia Superior Court.

Ms. Blackburne-Rigsby was born and raised in our Nation's capital. She attended Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, and after receiving her Bachelors of Arts in Political Science, she returned to her hometown of Washington, DC, to enroll at Howard University School of Law. She graduated in 1987 in the top 5 percent of her class.

After law school, she worked as an associate at the prominent law firm of Hogan and Hartson, where she litigated before State and Federal courts and administrative agencies in the areas of real estate, commercial law, employment discrimination law and education law.

After 5 years as an associate, Ms. Blackburne-Rigsby accepted the position of Special Counsel in the Office of Corporation Counsel in Washington, DC. In that capacity, she managed a staff of more than 300 individuals, and gave legal guidance regarding vital District of Columbia government programs.

Two years later, she was promoted to Deputy Corporate Counsel within the Family Services Division, where she supervised the prosecution of child abuse and neglect cases, child support enforcement actions, domestic violence cases, and elder abuse cases. In particular she served as lead counsel in the case of LaShawn A. v. Barry, a class action lawsuit that led to significant reforms in the District's child welfare system.

Since 1995, she has served as a Hearing Commissioner in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. She presides over and adjudicates proceedings in the Civil, Criminal, and Family Divisions, and the Domestic Violence Unit of the Superior Court. It seems that, in many respects, she has already been performing the duties that she would take on as an Associate Judge. And she's been doing it for 5 years. Somehow, Anna also finds the time to serve her community and the bar on numerous professional associations. She has also given back to her law school as a mentor to law students at Howard University's law school. And, as importantly, she has held the title of Coach of the Girls Basketball Team at St. Gabriel's Petworth Catholic Youth Organization for the last 7 years. (I don't have her win-loss record however).

Mr. Chairman, Anna Blackburne-Rigsby is a dedicated and hard-working individual whose outstanding professional and personal accomplishments will make her a wonderful Associate Judge on the Superior Court in the District of Columbia. I urge the Committee to speedily approve her nomination, so that the Senate can soon do the same.

Ms. BLACKBURNE-RIGSBY. Thank you, Senator.

Senator VOINOVICH. Thank you, Senator.

The hearing is adjourned.

[Whereupon, at 10:16 a.m., the Committee was adjourned.]