[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 45 (Thursday, March 9, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S734-S735]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                    Nomination of Maria Araujo Kahn

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, today, the Senate will vote on the 
nomination of Justice Maria Kahn, who has been nominated to the U.S. 
Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
  Since 2017, Justice Kahn has served as an associate justice for the 
Connecticut Supreme Court. Over the past 6 years, she has authored over 
55 opinions. Prior to her appointment, she also briefly served on the 
Connecticut Appellate Court, where she authored eight opinions. Justice 
Kahn began her judicial career on the State's Superior Court in 2006 
and presided over thousands of matters, 50 criminal trials, and several 
civil trials.
  Prior to joining the bench, Justice Kahn spent her entire time in 
practice in government service. She began her legal career as a deputy 
assistant public defender for the Connecticut Public

[[Page S735]]

Defender Services in 1991. In 1993, she became a staff attorney in the 
Connecticut Office of Protection and Advocacy for Persons with 
Disabilities. Most recently, Justice Kahn served as an Assistant U.S. 
Attorney for the District of Connecticut. As an AUSA, she worked in the 
civil division from 1997 to 1999 and the criminal division from 1999 to 
2004 before being promoted to computer crimes coordinator. Across these 
roles, she tried dozens of cases and argued two appeals before the 
Second Circuit and one before the Connecticut Supreme Court.
  Born in Benguela, Angola, Justice Kahn immigrated to the United 
States when she was 10. She earned her B.A. cum laude from New York 
University in 1986 and her J.D. from Fordham Law School in 1989. She 
also clerked for the Honorable Peter C. Dorsey on the U.S. District 
Court for the District of Connecticut for 2 years.
  Justice Kahn enjoys the strong support of Senators Blumenthal and 
Murphy, and she has been unanimously rated ``well qualified'' by the 
American Bar Association to serve on the Second Circuit. I hope all of 
my colleagues will join me in supporting this eminently qualified 
nominee.