[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 128 (Tuesday, September 28, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11527-S11528]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      JUSTICE SANDRA DAY O'CONNOR

  Mr. KYL. Mr. President, Sandra Day O'Connor was born on March 26, 
1930, the first of three children of Harry A. Day and Ada Mae Wilkey 
Day. After attending secondary school in El Paso, she pursued her 
undergraduate education at Stanford University.
  Justice O'Connor initially studied economics at Stanford with the 
ultimate goal of running her family ranch. She was uninterested in the 
law until she took a business law class her junior year. She fell in 
love with law. Justice O'Connor enrolled in Stanford law school, and 
was able to graduate with her undergraduate and law degrees in 6 years. 
She excelled in law school, becoming a member of the Stanford Law 
Review's board of editors and graduating third in her class. While in 
Stanford Law School, she met her future husband, John Jay O'Connor III, 
as well as future Chief Justice William Rehnquist.
  Upon graduating, the only job offer she received was for a position 
as a legal secretary. Unable as a female attorney to find employment 
with a private firm, she became a deputy county attorney in California. 
Soon after, her husband joined the Judge Advocate General's office for 
the U.S. Army and was stationed in Germany. Justice O'Connor joined her 
husband oversees as a civilian lawyer for the Quartermaster Corps.
  The young couple returned to the United States in 1957, settling in 
Phoenix, Arizona. Within 6 years, the O'Connor's had three sons: Scott, 
Brian, and Jay. In 1958, after the birth of her first child, Justice 
O'Connor and a friend started their own law firm. Two years later, 
after the birth of her second child, Justice O'Connor became a full-
time mother and immersed herself in volunteer work. She was a volunteer 
juvenile-court referee, chair of a juvenile home visiting board, and 
she organized a lawyer-referral service. In 1965, she returned to 
public service as an assistant state attorney general for Arizona.
  In 1969, Justice O'Connor was appointed to a vacated seat in the 
Arizona Senate by the County Board of Supervisors. She won reelection 
to the Senate for two successive terms. Not surprisingly, she excelled 
as a state senator, and in 1972 she was elected majority leader. As 
would become standard for her, she was the first woman to hold such a 
senior legislative office anywhere in the United States.
  In 1974, Justice O'Connor was elected to the Maricopa County Superior 
Court, where she served for 5 years. She was later encouraged to run 
for Governor, but declined. In 1979, Governor Bruce Babbitt's first 
appointee to the Arizona Court of Appeals was Sandra Day O'Connor.
  On August 19, 1981, President Reagan nominated Justice O'Connor to 
become the 102nd Supreme Court Justice, replacing the retiring Justice 
Potter Stewart. She was the first woman nominee to the Supreme Court. 
She was confirmed by a vote of 99 to 0, and took the oath of office on 
September 25, 1981.
  Justice O'Connor's tenure on the Court has been marked by her defense

[[Page S11528]]

of states' rights, equal protection, and religious liberty. Justice 
O'Connor is known as a restrained jurist, a strong supporter of 
federalism, and a cautious interpreter of the Constitution.
  She has been described not only as committed and intense, but also as 
warm and down-to-earth, and a loving mother and grandmother.
  Last Wednesday, September 22nd was the 18th anniversary of their 
confirmation as Justice of the United States Supreme Court, and last 
Saturday was the 18th anniversary of the day she took the oath of 
office. To honor her service to this nation and to the law, Senator 
McCain and I have introduced a bill to name the new Phoenix courthouse 
in her honor as the ``Sandra Day O'Connor United States Courthouse.''
  Obviously Justice O'Connor, being extremely modest, has repeatedly 
declined my overtures to have the courthouse named after her. However, 
in the face of my continued campaign and my obvious determination to 
see that she is given the recognition she has earned--and because the 
timeline of the courthouse's construction and dedication next spring 
require immediate action on the Senate's schedule--the Justice finally 
relented and allowed me to go forward with this legislation.
  Justice O'Connor's place in history is set: she has been a 
trailblazer for women in the law--rising to the top in every area in 
which she has worked. Justice O'Connor is one of the most important 
jurists in our nation's history, It is fitting that a beautiful, yet 
very functional new Federal courthouse in Phoenix, Arizona, be 
dedicated in her honor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Enzi). Under the previous order, the Chair 
recognizes the Senator from Kansas for 15 minutes.

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