[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 194 (Monday, November 16, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S6718]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                  Nomination of Kristi Haskins Johnson

  Mr. WICKER. Mr. President, observers of the U.S. Senate might take 
note that their Senators just passed a host of bills and cleared a host 
of items from the calendar, representing bipartisan accomplishments on 
behalf of the leadership of the Senate--Republican leadership and 
Democratic leadership--a great deal of work by chairs and ranking 
members of committees and subcommittees, and I salute both sides of the 
aisle for these accomplishments.
  In the same vein, we will vote in a few moments on a cloture motion 
for the judicial nomination of Kristi Haskins Johnson, and I would 
think that this would be another opportunity for a strong bipartisan 
vote. We passed two judges last week, as I recall, and both judges were 
confirmed with strong bipartisan support--strong support and welcome 
support on both sides of the aisle. And I would think that with regard 
to this particular nominee--our Mississippi candidate, Kristi Haskins 
Johnson--she would continue in that vein this afternoon and later on 
this week when I hope we will be voting to confirm her.
  It is noteworthy that the Southern District of Mississippi has never 
had a woman Federal judge, and so Kristi Johnson will break new ground 
in that regard, and I am particularly delighted that this momentous 
accomplishment is right upon us.
  She has had the distinct honor for the last several months of being 
Mississippi's first solicitor general. So this could turn out to be a 
groundbreaking year and a barrier-shattering year in more than one way 
for soon-to-be Judge Johnson.
  In her current role as solicitor general, she serves as Mississippi's 
lead advocate for appellate litigation and works closely with the State 
attorney general in crafting legal strategy for significant legal cases 
in Mississippi and on a national scale. She has received the highest 
recommendation that a candidate for U.S. district judge can receive 
from the American Bar Association, and that is a ``qualified'' rating. 
As we know, candidates for appeals court judge can get a rating of 
``highly qualified.'' The best you can get for district judge is 
``qualified,'' so she received the highest rating she could possibly 
receive and rightly so.
  She has a unique record of accomplishment as a public servant, a 
private attorney, a scholar, and a professor. She served over 5 years 
in the U.S. attorney's office in Jackson. There she prosecuted fraud 
and financial crimes as part of the Civil Division. Before that, she 
made her mark in private practice at the firm of Ogletree, Deakins, 
Nash, Smoak & Stewart in Jackson, MS, focusing there on labor law and 
employment issues.
  Kristi Johnson is a native of Hurley, MS, population 985, in Jackson 
County, MS. She attended school there and then went on to receive her 
undergraduate degree at the University of Mississippi, graduating in 
2003. And then she was admitted to law school at Mississippi College 
School of Law, where she graduated summa cum laude, second in her 
class. As a law student, she served not only on the law review but as 
executive editor of the Mississippi College Law Review and received 
numerous American jurisprudence awards in areas such as criminal 
procedure, legal research and writing, and employment discrimination.
  So excellence all the way through, including the time that she served 
as a clerk, both as a clerk at the district court level for Judge 
Sharion Aycock, Mississippi's first female district court judge in the 
Northern District of Mississippi, and then for appeals court judge, 
Leslie Southwick in the Fifth Circuit.
  She takes time to share her skills as a teacher and an adjunct 
professor at her alma mater of Mississippi College School of Law. Ms. 
Johnson is a member of the American Inns of Court, the Federal Bar 
Association, and the Federalist Society. She resides in Brandon, MS.
  In summary, I am just delighted by the fact that we are going to make 
some news and hurdle some previously existing barriers with this 
outstanding nominee. She has the academic, judicial, and personal 
qualifications necessary for a Federal jurist. I think she is going to 
make a great judge. People back home in Mississippi believe this also. 
It is my hope that we can invoke cloture in just a few moments in a 
strong bipartisan way, leading to the confirmation later on this week 
of Kristi Haskins Johnson
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee.