[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 46 (Tuesday, March 15, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S1159]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                  Nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson

  Now, on one final matter, what can the Senate conclude about a 
Supreme Court nominee from the nature of their fan club?
  That is a question the Democratic leader answered very clearly a few 
years back. In 2005, Senator Schumer accused future Chief Justice John 
Roberts of being ``embraced by some of the most extreme ideologues in 
America.''
  Our colleague continues:

       That gives rise to a question many are asking: What do they 
     know about you that we do not know?

  That was Senator Schumer questioning the Chief Justice. Of course, 
there was nothing extreme about then-Judge Roberts, nor about 
mainstream scholarly groups like the Federalist Society. But given 
Democrats' principle that the Senate ought to examine nominees' fan 
clubs, let's take a look at the loudest cheerleaders for President 
Biden's nominee, Judge Jackson.
  Before the 2020 election, one far-left dark money group put Judge 
Jackson on their Supreme Court short list--well, not at first. She was 
left off their first version, but, shortly thereafter, the judge 
published a fiery 118-page opinion in a politically charged case that 
won attention and praise from liberal pundits.
  One cable TV host observed that Judge Jackson's opinion was not 
standard legal writing, but was written with ``a broader audience in 
mind.''
  Not long after, Judge Jackson was added to the next version of the 
activists' short list. Practically as soon as President Biden was sworn 
in, this group began spending big sums of money boosting Judge 
Jackson's profile. They put her face on posters around the Senate. They 
paid for billboards pushing Justice Breyer to retire.
  This is a far, far-left group. They agitate for partisan Court 
packing. They drive around town trying to harass Justice Kavanaugh. 
They filed a frivolous ethics complaint against former DC Circuit Judge 
Tom Griffith. Last week on television, one of their board members said 
our Constitution--listen to this--our Constitution ``is kind of 
trash.''
  This group's entire purpose and fundraising model is waging war on 
the legitimacy of the judiciary itself, and for some reason, these 
people desperately wanted Judge Jackson in particular to end up on our 
highest Court. Why? Well, Senators will need to explore that.
  A representative from this radical outfit told the Washington Post 
that they like Judge Jackson for reasons that include her work ``as a 
public defender and on the U.S. Sentencing Commission.''
  We are in the middle of a violent crime wave, including soaring rates 
of homicides and carjackings. Even last summer, when the pandemic posed 
a bigger challenge, more Americans said violent crime was a bigger 
problem than said COVID was.
  Amid all this, the soft-on-crime brigade is squarely in Judge 
Jackson's corner. They wanted her above anyone else on the short list. 
And they specifically cite her experience defending criminals and her 
work on the Sentencing Commission as key qualifications.

  As Leader Schumer once asked, what do these folks know that Senators 
may not? I hope the vigorous Senate process ahead, including all the 
necessary documents and records from Judge Jackson's time on the 
Sentencing Commission, may begin to shed more light.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The majority whip.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I am glad I was on the floor to hear the 
Republican leader's comments about our Supreme Court nominee, Ketanji 
Brown Jackson, because there are a couple of elements that he obviously 
inadvertently missed that he should have reported when he was talking 
about the support that she has received from across the political 
spectrum. He made her out to be a product and creation of some far-left 
political cause or movement, but she is much more than that.
  He went on to say that Judge Thomas Griffith of the DC Circuit was 
harassed by the same special interest group that supports Judge 
Jackson. He missed one key element. I just received a letter within the 
last 2 weeks from Judge Thomas Griffith, a well-known, retired, 
conservative Federal judge, endorsing Ketanji Brown Jackson. How about 
that?
  It doesn't sound like a special interest group to me. It sounds like 
a Republican-appointed judge who saw her in action and wants to make 
sure that she gets a chance to serve on the Supreme Court of the United 
States.
  It makes a big difference because, if you take a look at what he had 
to say about her, Judge Griffith wrote:

       Judge Jackson has a demonstrated record of excellence, and 
     I believe, based upon her work as a trial judge when I served 
     on the Court of Appeals, [that] she will adjudicate based on 
     the facts and the law and not as a partisan.

  That is exactly the opposite of the point that was being made by 
Senator McConnell. She has the support across the political spectrum. 
He failed to mention that she has been endorsed by the Fraternal Order 
of Police.
  Oh, she is supposedly suspect of being too liberal. Well, I can just 
tell you that she is a person of quality, integrity, and values, and 
she has the support across the political spectrum to prove it.
  I believe she is going to be an extraordinary Justice on the Supreme 
Court, and President Biden made a good choice in selecting her.