[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 62 (Thursday, April 7, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2061-S2062]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                  Nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, today is a historic day. Today, each Member 
of the Senate will have the opportunity to cast a vote on the 
nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to be an Associate Justice of 
the U.S. Supreme Court. I say ``historic'' because throughout our 
Nation's history, only 115 people have served on the Supreme Court. 
Until now, only five of the Supreme Court Justices have been women. 
Only two of the Justices have been Black. And none has been a Black 
woman. So history, indeed, and long overdue.
  But I am not going to cast my vote in support of Judge Jackson's 
confirmation because she is a woman or because she is Black; I will 
cast that vote because she is eminently qualified to serve in the 
position to which she has been nominated.
  Her nomination shouldn't just be welcomed; it should be celebrated. 
It is a major step forward for our democracy. It is further widening 
the lens to help make our Nation more inclusive and more representative 
with each passing generation.
  She is one of the most qualified nominees to the Supreme Court that I 
have ever considered in my 48 years here: a graduate of Harvard and 
Harvard Law School; a judicial clerk at the district, circuit, and 
Supreme Court levels; a Federal appellate judge; a Federal district 
court judge; a member of the U.S. Sentencing Commission; an attorney in 
private practice. And she will be the first ever Justice who has served 
as a public defender, bringing that much needed perspective to the 
Court. No one--no one--can argue that Judge Jackson is not objectively 
qualified to be confirmed.
  The manufactured accusations that were thrown at her by some of our 
committee during our hearings not only fell flat, but they have been 
refuted and debunked by serious voices across the political spectrum. 
They hold no water. They serve only to showcase the vitriol and the 
contempt with which some Members of this body approach their sacred 
constitutional role of advice and consent.
  I said it during the hearings, and I will say it again: It is 
distressing, it is disheartening, and as the dean of the Senate, it is 
saddening. Yet I find hope in the fact that Judge Jackson's 
confirmation to our highest Court will have the bipartisan support it 
deserves and it commands. I commend the Republican Senators who have 
lauded her qualifications and staked their support of her nomination. 
Judge Jackson has earned the President's nomination, and she has earned 
confirmation from the Senate.
  Each and every day, millions of American families are living their 
lives, and how they live those lives--from the salaries they make to 
the education their children receive and scores of issues in between--
is directly impacted by the decisions made at the Supreme Court.
  The Supreme Court--in fact, all of our courts can't be ivory towers, 
accessible only to and bending to the will of a select few in our 
society. They have to be accountable to all--all--all Americans. To do 
so, they must reflect the diversity of our Nation, the diversity that 
is at the foundation of our democracy--diversity of gender, of race, of 
creed, of education and history--but also diversity of thought and life 
experiences. Judge Jackson brings that and more to the Bench.
  Mr. President, I am proud to be the President pro tempore of the 
Senate, and I was proud to chair the Senate Judiciary Committee in the 
past. In that regard, I voted for the first woman to ever serve on the 
Supreme Court. I voted for the first Latina to serve on the Supreme 
Court. I voted on thousands of judicial nominations, nominees of both 
Republican and Democratic Presidents. I voted for nominations to the 
Supreme Court who were put forward by Republican Presidents.
  I have long lamented the increasing political gamesmanship that has 
infected our current confirmation process, and many times on this 
floor, I have warned about the dire consequences for our courts and for 
our democracy of converting our confirmation process into a zero-sum 
game where one party wins and one party loses. But to change that 
gamesmanship requires that we have some adults in the room, that we all 
come here to the floor of the U.S. Senate not to score a headline or a 
trending tweet but simply to do our jobs. There are only 100 of us to 
represent this whole country. So who is going to do that today, simply 
do their job?
  I have taken a clear look at Judge Jackson's record. I heard her 
testimony 2 weeks ago. I met with her. I read opinions that she has 
written. I spent hours listening to her. I saw her intellect, her 
humility, and her temperament on full display.
  Mr. President, she is the Justice we need now. For America today, for 
the generations to come, for our children and our grandchildren, for 
all of us, I will cast my vote to confirm Judge Jackson, and I will do 
it proudly.
  I hope the Senate can rise to this moment. I hope it can be the 
deliberative body the Founders envisioned when they conceived of this 
great experiment. Our independent judiciary--in fact, our democracy--
demands it of us.
  Mr. President, history will remember the votes cast here today. I 
will proudly vote aye.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Schatz). The Senator from Georgia.
  Mr. WARNOCK. Mr. President, I rise today to express my joy in voting 
to confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court.
  What a great day it is for the United States of America, for our 
system of government and the grand march toward the fulfillment of the 
sacred covenant we have with one another as an American people--``e 
pluribus unum": out of many, one.
  Ketanji Brown Jackson's improbable journey to the Nation's highest 
Court is a reflection of our own journey, through fits and starts, 
toward the Nation's highest ideals. She embodies the arc of our 
history. The very fine product of public schools, both her parents 
attended segregated primary schools before graduating from historically 
Black colleges and universities.
  She is a two-time graduate of Harvard; a former clerk to Supreme 
Court Justice Breyer, to whom the Nation owes enormous thanks for his 
decades of public service; a former Federal public defender who would 
be the first of her kind to serve on the Supreme Court; a jurist who 
has gone before the Senate on three separate occasions and each time 
has garnered strong bipartisan support; a judge who has heard cases 
both in the U.S. district court and our Federal court of appeals; a 
judge who has the strong endorsement

[[Page S2062]]

of critical stakeholders from across our justice system. From the 
American Bar Association to those who advocate for civil rights, to 
organizations representing our Nation's brave law enforcement officers, 
all of them respect Ketanji Brown Jackson.
  She is a wife and a working mom. She is America at its best. That, I 
believe in my heart after meeting with her in my office, talking to 
folks whom I trust who know her, and hearing her testimony before the 
Senate Judiciary Committee.
  Under intense questioning before the committee--much of it 
appropriate and necessary; some of it outrageous and beyond the pale--
she demonstrated her legal acumen, sharp intellect, and the kind of 
temperament we need on the Bench, especially at a time like this. If 
there were any doubts about her character, she more than proved her 
poise, her skill, composure, and the depth of her patriotism through 
the process--amazing grace under pressure.
  As a voice for Georgians in the Senate, I have said from the 
beginning that people in my State want someone on the Court who is 
fair, eminently qualified, and has a record of protecting the 
constitutional rights and freedoms of Georgians and Americans. That is 
why my office has received thousands of emails and phone calls from 
Georgians in every corner of our State voicing their support for Judge 
Jackson's confirmation.
  After hearing from Georgians and thoroughly evaluating her 
nomination, I am ecstatic to say that Judge Jackson is an excellent 
jurist who has the temperament and discernment to sit on our Nation's 
highest Court.
  The people of Georgia made this appointment possible by making 
history last year. So in addition to thanking Georgia for this moment, 
I want to acknowledge that the historic nature of her appointment isn't 
lost on me. Like my brother Senator Booker, I know what it has taken 
for Judge Jackson to get to this moment, and nobody is going to steal 
my joy.
  Yes, I am a Senator; I am a pastor, but beyond all of that, I am the 
father of a young Black girl. I know how much it means for Judge 
Jackson to have navigated the double jeopardy of racism and sexism to 
now stand in the glory of this moment in all of her excellence. For my 
5-year-old daughter and for so many young women in our country--but, 
really, if we are thinking about it right, for all of us--seeing Judge 
Jackson ascend to the Supreme Court reflects the promise of progress on 
which our democracy rests.
  So what a great day it is in America. Today, the word of justice and 
equal protection under the law becomes flesh and lives among us in new 
ways. Today, at the highest levels of our government, the 
administration of our Constitution looks a little bit more like what it 
says. And it fills me with great pride for our country, how far we have 
come and what we can achieve together.
  Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is beyond qualified, and I am beyond 
thrilled to speak for Georgia in voting to confirm her to the U.S. 
Supreme Court.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Hampshire.