SENATORS WEBB AND WARNER APPLAUD SENATE CONFIRMATION OF BARBARA KEENAN FOR FEDERAL JUDGESHIP

From the Office of Senator Webb

March 02, 2010

Contact: Jessica Smith - 202-731-5096
Kevin Hall -- 202-224-2425

Washington, DC - Senators Jim Webb and Mark Warner today applauded the Senate's unanimous vote to confirm Virginia Supreme Court Justice Barbara M. Keenan as a federal judge on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. Recommended by Senators Webb and Warner on June 2, 2009, Keenan will be the first female judge from Virginia to serve on the federal appeals court.

Keenan currently serves on the Supreme Court of Virginia.

"I am pleased by the unanimous confirmation of Justice Barbara Keenan to the Fourth Circuit," said Senator Webb. "Justice Keenan is an extraordinary choice to fill this vacancy. She has been a dedicated public servant, a fair and balanced jurist, and a trailblazer for women in the law throughout her career. There is a wide bipartisan support for Justice Keenan in Virginia, and I know she will continue her distinguished record of service in this new capacity."

"After interviewing many quality candidates, Senator Webb and I were pleased to put Justice Keenan's name forward last summer. She was nominated by the President in September, and the Judiciary Committee endorsed her unanimously more than four months ago," Senator Warner said. "I am disappointed that Justice Keenan's noncontroversial nomination was delayed more than four months by unnecessary filibusters that came to an end with two unanimous, bipartisan votes today. I urge my colleagues in this institution, on both sides of the aisle, to step away from the politics of obstruction and delay, and work together to move our nation and our troubled economy forward."

Justice Keenan, 59, has served on the Supreme Court of Virginia since 1991. Prior to that, Keenan served as a judge on the General District and Circuit courts of Fairfax County and the Virginia Court of Appeals. She was the first woman appointed to the bench in Virginia, and one of the initial ten appointees to the Virginia Court of Appeals following its creation in 1985. Earlier in her career, she worked as an assistant prosecutor in Fairfax and briefly worked as an attorney in private practice.

To read the senators' full statements from today in support of Justice Keenan's confirmation, please go to: http://webb.senate.gov/newsroom/floorandcommitteestatements/03-02-2010-01.cfm

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