[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 189 (Tuesday, December 6, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S6972]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Judicial Nominations

  Today, Mr. President, the Senate reaches an important milestone. We 
will confirm our 89th and 90th judicial nominees to serve lifetime 
appointments on the Federal bench. Starting at noon, the Senate will 
hold a total of four rollcall votes throughout the afternoon on the 
nominations of Frances Behm to the Eastern District of Michigan and 
Kelley Hodge to the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
  We are on pace to finish this year with more judges confirmed to the 
bench than were confirmed in the first 2 years of either of the 
previous two administrations. These nominees stand out not just in 
their numbers but also in their groundbreaking diversity. Almost 50 
percent of the judges we have confirmed are women of color--50 percent. 
That has never happened before, and I am confident that a more diverse 
bench will go a long way in cultivating trust in our courts and in our 
democracy.
  Just as important, once we confirm the nominations of Tamika 
Montgomery-Reeves and Dana Douglas very soon, the Senate will also have 
confirmed a total of 11 Black women to serve as appellate judges, by 
far the most ever under any single President.
  Before President Biden, only 8 such nominees had been confirmed in 
total, and now, in our first 2 years, we are already on the brink of 
confirming 11.
  Today, our Federal judiciary is far more balanced, far more diverse, 
and far more experienced than the one our country had 2 years ago. It 
is something we are very proud of. You can rest assured, Mr. President, 
that Senate Democrats are going to maintain this priority on judges as 
the 118th Congress begins next year.