Washington - U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) today applauded the Senate confirmation of Judge Joseph Greenaway to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit by a unanimous 84-0 vote. Menendez has taken to the Senate floor on numerous occasions to speak forcefully in favor of Greenaway as Republicans blocked his nomination. Greenaway has been a District Judge on the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey since 1996.

"Judge Greenaway's record, experience and integrity will make him effective in protecting New Jersey's families by ensuring the court maintains a healthy respect for the Constitution, the rule of law and basic fairness," said Menendez. "I was proud to recommend him along with Senator Lautenberg to President Obama, and I look forward to his service in this important post."

Although his nomination was reported by the Judiciary Committee on October 1 by unanimous consent, the Republicans had delayed Senate consideration of the nomination for months by refusing to agree to consent requests for a time agreement. Judge Greenaway becomes only the 15th of President Obama's circuit or district court nominees to be confirmed despite more than 100 current vacancies on federal courts. The 12 lower court nominees the Senate confirmed in 2009 were the lowest in the first year of a Presidency in more than half a century.

Prior to his confirmation to the Federal bench, Judge Greenaway was an in-house general counsel at Johnson & Johnson (1990-96). Before that, he served as an Assistant United States Attorney in Newark, New Jersey (1985-90) and as a litigation associate at New York law firm Kramer, Levin, Nessen, Kamin & Frankel (1981-82, 1983-85). Judge Greenaway was a law clerk to the late Judge Vincent Broderick on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (1982-83). Judge Greenaway was born in London, England to West Indian parents. Raised in Harlem and the Bronx, New York, he currently resides in Newark. He earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School (1981), and his B.A. from Columbia University (1978).

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