Texas Insider Report: WASHINGTON D.C. U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) will today join Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) in introducing U.S. Magistrate Judge Diana Saldaa of Laredo before the Senate
Judiciary Committee during her nomination hearing to be District Court Judge for the Southern District of Texas.
The following are Senator Cornyns remarks as prepared for delivery:
Mr. Chairman I am pleased to join Senator Hutchison in welcoming Judge Diana Saldaa of Laredo to the Senate and the Judiciary Committee. I want to welcome Dianas sons Thomas and Luke who are here to witness this proud occasionas well as her mother Blanca Hernandez Rodriguez.
I also want to acknowledge Dianas husband Robert who protects and serves as a police officer in Laredo Texas. Robert thank you for your service.
Senator Hutchison has detailed why we believe Judge Saldaa is the best-qualified candidate for this positionand why we recommended her to the President for this nomination.
I want to talk for a few moments about what makes Diana such a remarkable personand why she is an inspiration and role model to so many.
In short Mr. Chairman I believe that Judge Saldaas journey to this moment truly represents the American Dream.
Throughout this selection process the more I learned about Dianas story the more I grew to admire not only what she has accomplishedbut what she stands for: that ours is a nation of opportunity for all.
At the age of ten Diana began traveling with her mother and siblings from their home in Carrizo Springs Texas to Minnesota and North Dakotato work as migrant farmers in the soybean sugar beet and potato fields.
Because of the seasonal nature of migrant farmwork Diana and her siblings would often leave South Texas before the school year ended and return after the next school year had begun. Of course this constant uprooting made keeping up in school all the more difficult.
In fact Diana traveled the 1500 miles north and worked with her family in the fields every summer through high school and college. She even worked in the fields after her first year of law school.
Despite these hardships Diana was the first in her immediate family to earn a college degree.
She recalls while working in the fields her mother telling the family that an education was the only way out of being a farmworker.
Diana was once asked what person has had the greatest impact on her. She answered without hesitation: her mother. Diana explained: My mother has a third grade education but she was able to raise six children by working hard and having a deep faith in God. . . . I remember her working up to three jobs at one time taking naps in the family car when our finances were especially tight to make ends meet. . . . My mother instilled in us a strong work ethic and encouraged us to dream of a better life.
Today Judge Saldaa mentors young people using her own story as inspirationand stressing that anything is possible if one is willing to work hard sacrifice and stay focused.
Mr. Chairman I could go on and on about Judge Saldaa. Her life story is remarkable.
But I will conclude with this: Diana has been nominated to fill the vacancy left by her mentor Judge George Kazen who is taking senior status. Judge Kazen knows Diana well. She served as his law clerk appeared before him as a federal prosecutor and presided over many of his cases as a federal magistrate judge.
Judge Kazen described Diana as one of the finest law clerks he ever had; a tough no-nonsense prosecutor; and the quintessential judgeintelligent hard-working honest fair and decisive. Finally Judge Kazen told us that it would be his personal honor if Judge Saldaa is confirmed as his successor. I cant think of much higher praise.
Mr. Chairman I look forward to working with you and our colleagues to swiftly confirm Diana Saldaa as a United States District Judge for the Southern District of Texas."
Background: Biography of the Hon. Diana Saldana (SDTX - Laredo)
Ms. Saldana 39 hails from Carrizo Springs Texas and currently resides in Laredo with her husband Roberto Arredondo. She received her bachelors degree from the University of Texas in 1994 and earned her law degree from the University of Texas in 1997.
Ms. Saldana began her legal career as a law clerk to Chief Judge George Kazen of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. She then worked as a staff attorney for the General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Agriculture before transferring to the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.
From 2000-2001 Ms. Saldana worked as an associate at Beirne Maynard & Parsons LLP in Houston. She then joined the U.S Attorneys Office for the Southern District of Texas as an Assistant U.S. Attorney. Ms. Saldana handled approximately 350 active cases a year heading up the Human Trafficking Task Force and the Anti-Gang Task Force.
In 2006 Ms. Saldana was sworn in as a U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Southern District of Texas Laredo Division.
As a Magistrate Judge Ms. Saldana has handled thousands of illegal entry pleas and sentencings and has presided over thousands of criminal proceedings.
