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A story Saturday mentioned some of the recommendations that Sen. Kay Hagan made to the president regarding judicial appointments and U.S. marshals posts.

President Barack Obama will make the final call on whose nomination is sent to the Senate for confirmation, after a heavy dose of vetting from U.S. Justice Department officials.

Two retired Greensboro Police Department leaders are recommended for marshal in the Middle District. Hagan’s third Middle District nominee is Becky Wallace, of Montgomery County, who was U.S. marshal for the Middle District from 1994 to 2003. She is currently a reserve deputy in Montgomery. Other recommendations:

W.R. Stafford, a retired assistant Greensboro police chief who returned to the department in 2006 as a background investigator.

Al Stewart, a retired Greensboro police captain who worked with the Lebanese police and U.S. Department of State in Beirut from 2007 to 2008.

Other nominees for U.S. marshal with Triad ties include:

Chuck Peeler, of Browns Summit, is a deputy marshal in the Middle District. Hagan has recommended him for a spot in the Western District, where he grew up.

Richard Holden, a former state trooper, has been assistant vice chancellor for police and public safety at A&T since 2007. Hagan recommended him as a candidate for marshal in the Eastern District.

BILLED

From the Watch’s e-mail bin, some of the bills local honorables have been working on:

Hagan wants to rev up the motor-sports industry — read: stock car racin’ — with a new tax credit. The bill would make permanent a tax benefit for motor sports entertainment facilities, which would allow them to better plan facility upgrades.
Previous legislation applied only to facilities opened before Dec. 31, 2009. The primary sponsor is Sen. Debbie Stabenow, a Michigan Democrat, and Sen. Richard Burr, the Winston-Salem Republican, is a co-sponsor.

Rep. Brad Miller, a Raleigh Democrat who represents parts of Greensboro, filed a bill to update the Small Business Innovation Research and the Small Business Technology Transfer programs, both of which help funnel federal dollars into small businesses.

Miller says his legislation will “broaden the pool of businesses that participate in the programs by reaching out to rural entrepreneurs, veterans, minorities and women.”

Rep. Howard Coble, a Greensboro Republican, signed onto bill that would provide immunity to U.S. merchant mariners who injure or kill pirates attacking their vessel. Coble is a retired Coast Guard captain.

VOTES

Among the recorded votes taken in the House last week, the House voted down a series of GOP-sponsored amendments to trip the U.S. Department of Agriculture budget as outlined in HR 2997. One such amendment would have administered a 5 percent cut to the Food and Drug Administration, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and rural development programs.

The amendment failed 185-248.

Republicans Virginia Foxx, of Winston-Salem, and Coble voted for it.

Miller and Mel Watt, of Charlotte, voted against.

In the Senate, members debated HR 2892, a bill that makes appropriations for the Homeland Security Department. Senators voted 54-44 for an amendment to that bill that would require the government to build at least 700 miles of fence along the 2,000-mile border with Mexico. The amendment essentially speeds up construction of the fence.

Burr voted for the amendment. Hagan voted against.

Contact Mark Binker at (919) 832-5549 or mark.binker@news-record.com