[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 38 (Wednesday, March 2, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S921-S922]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  NOMINATION OF KETANJI BROWN JACKSON

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, now for my remarks.
  Earlier this morning, it was an honor--a truly rare honor in my time 
in public service--to meet with Judge Jackson for the first time since 
her nomination to the Supreme Court. Before the meeting, I said Judge 
Jackson was brilliant and beloved, but now that I have met her, I will 
add another word: ``belongs.'' She is not only brilliant and beloved 
but belongs on the Supreme Court.
  I believe her nomination certainly merits a good number of votes from 
both parties, and I hope we see that as we move forward in the process. 
I am certain that when other Senators have a chance to meet with Judge 
Jackson, they will understand why she is beyond qualified to replace 
Justice Breyer on the Supreme Court.
  For one, if confirmed, Judge Jackson would have one of the most 
diverse professional backgrounds of any sitting Justice. Throughout her 
career, she has been a Federal defender; worked in private practice; 
sat on the U.S. Sentencing Commission; served as a district judge and 
as a circuit court judge on the DC Circuit; and of course, she was a 
clerk to Justice Breyer, the very same Justice whose seat she would now 
fill.
  As a district judge, Judge Jackson rendered more than 550 rulings and 
was rarely reversed by higher courts, illustrating her evenhanded 
application of the law and facts. Then, when you meet with her, you see 
that she has brought that broad experience and adopted it into her 
being. She empathizes with people. She emphasized to me that as a 
judge, she should try to understand both sides. You could tell, when 
you met her, that she really believed it and, since, has sort of 
integrated all of her experiences into her being. She had an incredibly 
phenomenal interview, as well as has an amazing record.
  For all of these reasons, Judge Jackson's nomination has already won 
support from individuals and organizations across the political 
spectrum. She is supported by civil rights advocates; she is supported 
by conservative judges and lawyers; she is supported by the Fraternal 
Order of Police. Someone who was a public defender is now supported by 
the Fraternal Order of Police? You can't get much better than that. And 
she is supported by scores of

[[Page S922]]

men and women who had the honor of working with her over the years.
  I have gone through her record. You can hardly find a single person 
she has met, as she has walked through life and met people, who has 
said a bad thing about her. And when you meet her, you can see why. 
When you meet her, you can see why.
  America will be much better off with someone like Judge Jackson on 
the Supreme Court. Our country deserves someone deeply experienced, 
broadly supported, and someone whose elevation as the first Black woman 
Justice signifies a long overdue step toward perfecting our Union.
  I am grateful to have had the chance to have met with the judge. I 
thank her for her time this morning, and I look forward to working with 
my colleagues to elevate this outstanding nominee to the Supreme Court 
very soon.
  In having met her and having studied her record, she deserves the 
support of Members from the other side of the aisle, and I am hopeful 
she will get a good number of them to support her.

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