[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 192 (Monday, December 12, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S7089]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       Business Before the Senate

  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, Members are working around the clock to 
finish the year on a strong note. This week, the Senate will consider 
the bipartisan National Defense Authorization bill, which I hope we 
will send to the President's desk very soon. The NDAA has consistently 
been a bipartisan effort, and that is my expectation this year too.
  On the nominations front, we are going to keep working as long as we 
can to confirm as many exceptional Biden nominees as possible. Since 
the start of the Biden administration, we have confirmed a total of 
95--95--judicial nominees to the bench, including 1 Supreme Court 
Justice, 68 district judges, and 26--26--circuit court judges.
  Let me say that again. Over the past 2 years, we have confirmed 95 
new judges to the bench, including 26 circuit court judges, surpassing 
the first 2 years of the past two administrations.
  Today, we will confirm judge No. 96 when we vote on Tamika 
Montgomery-Reeves to serve as a circuit judge on the Third Circuit. An 
alumnus of the University of Mississippi and Georgia Law School, Judge 
Montgomery-Reeves served as a clerk in Delaware before embarking on a 
successful career in private practice. In 2005, she was appointed to 
the Delaware Court of Chancery and then to the State supreme court in 
2020, becoming the first Black woman to ever serve in either court.
  When confirmed, Judge Montgomery-Reeves will join in the proud 
company of so many other Biden appointees who, little by little, are 
reshaping our courts for the better. Of the 95 judges we have confirmed 
to date, 71 are women, about 75 percent; 65 are people of color, almost 
70 percent; 45 are women of color, nearly 50 percent; and 23 are Black 
women, nearly 25 percent.
  We have never seen a class of new judges that brings so much 
diversity, variety, and dynamism in a single 2-year stretch.
  And, of course, it is not just the diversity of demography that 
matters. In the last 2 years, the Senate has confirmed more civil 
rights lawyers, public defenders, election attorneys, immigration 
lawyers than we typically see in this Chamber. It is a big reason today 
why our courts are more balanced and more dynamic and more experienced 
than they were 2 years ago.
  You can be sure that judges will remain a top priority in the 
Congress to come. More judges mean a more balanced judiciary, and a 
more balanced judiciary will mean greater trust in our courts in the 
long run--so important for our country at this moment in time because 
the MAGA Supreme Court and so many of these other MAGA judges have 
caused people to lose faith in the courts.