[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 123 (Tuesday, July 18, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S2976]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                    Nomination of Rachel Bloomekatz

  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, today, the Senate will vote to confirm 
Rachel Bloomekatz to an Ohio seat on the Sixth Circuit Court of 
Appeals.
  Ms. Bloomekatz is a longtime appellate litigator who has represented 
a diverse range of clients, across the political and ideological 
spectrum, throughout her career. She received her bachelor's degree 
from Harvard College and her law degree from the University of 
California, Los Angeles School of Law, before clerking for Judge Guido 
Calabresi on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
  Following this role, Ms. Bloomekatz clerked for Chief Justice 
Margaret H. Marshall of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and 
spent 1 year serving as an assistant attorney general in the 
Massachusetts Attorney General's office. She then clerked for Justice 
Breyer on the U.S. Supreme Court.
  She later entered private practice, where she focused on protecting 
voting rights and holding government actors accountable. During this 
time, she represented a wide variety of clients on appellate matters, 
including, in one case, representing one of our Republican colleagues 
in the Senate.
  Today, Ms. Bloomekatz works as a solo practitioner. And throughout 
her legal career, she has amassed significant experience briefing and 
arguing dozens of Federal and State appeals. In each matter, 
irrespective of her client, she has proven herself to be an effective 
advocate and has regularly won praise from opposing counsel.
  The American Bar Association has unanimously rated Ms. Bloomekatz 
``well qualified,'' and she has the strong support of Senator Brown.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in voting for her confirmation.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Markey). The Senator from Ohio.
  Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, it is my honor today to rise in support of 
Rachel Bloomekatz to serve as a judge on the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court 
of Appeals. People often think of the courts, especially the circuit 
courts--this comes from a nonlawyer, keep in mind--as something like an 
ivory tower, detached from everyday people's lives.
  We know the decisions judges make affect Ohio's workplaces and affect 
Ohioans in their paychecks and in their own personal freedom about how 
to live their lives. That is why it matters so much whom we promote to 
these important jobs.
  We want our brightest talent. We need our brightest talent on the 
bench. We need thoughtful judges--thoughtful judges who adhere to the 
highest ethical standards, who follow the letter and the spirit of the 
law. We need judges who are compassionate, capable of recognizing and 
understanding the many different perspectives of the people who will 
come into their courtrooms. And we need judges with wisdom and with a 
love for our country's core values.
  Rachel Bloomekatz will be all of those things. She will protect the 
rights of all Americans, not just the powerful and the privileged--
something, unfortunately, we see far too much of in the Nation's 
highest courts.
  Ms. Bloomekatz brings with her not only impressive legal credentials 
but the empathy, the intellect, and the deep commitment to justice 
required to serve the people of the Sixth Circuit.
  Rachel had an impressive academic career, to be sure. She clerked for 
highly respected judges on the State supreme court, in the Federal 
district, and in circuit levels, and she clerked on the U.S. Supreme 
Court. Rachel has a robust and successful litigation practice where she 
has advanced the cause of justice.
  Throughout her career, Ms. Bloomekatz sat on both sides of the table. 
She represented people across the ideological spectrum. She has 
represented companies and consumers. She has argued on behalf of the 
government and for the rights of private citizens.
  She has been recognized for the breadth of her practice, which 
includes work on both civil and criminal matters, both types of cases 
she will see as a judge on the Sixth Circuit.
  She has worked with women's groups, and she has worked with veterans 
groups, seeking justice for women harmed while giving birth on Active 
Duty at military hospitals. She helped to represent our colleague 
Senator Marco Rubio with an amicus brief, arguing in support of his 
legislation providing protections for victims of human trafficking.
  Don't just take it from me. Listen to the chorus of people from all 
across the ideological and political spectrum who enthusiastically 
support Rachel Bloomekatz's nomination. Twenty fellow Supreme Court 
clerks, including several Scalia clerks and Kavanaugh clerks, wrote to 
the Judiciary Committee saying:

       We hold diverse opinions on many areas of law. We are 
     united in our view, though, that Rachel is an extraordinary 
     nominee who will uphold the best traditions and defining 
     attributes of the Federal courts, the rule of law, equal 
     justice, fidelity, and the Constitution.

  They are joined by 25 Ohio appellate lawyers--again, from across the 
political and ideological spectrum--who also wrote in support. They 
said:

       Some of us will no doubt disagree with some of the opinions 
     Rachel will author or join on in the Sixth Circuit. We are 
     united, though, in urging the Judiciary Committee and the 
     United States Senate to confirm her to the Sixth Circuit.

  The letter goes on:

       Rachel has the right temperament to serve as an Article III 
     judge, and her intelligence, diligence, and respect for the 
     rule of law will make her an excellent addition to the Sixth 
     Circuit.

  Perhaps Ms. Bloomekatz's most powerful endorsement is from the judges 
already on the Sixth Circuit who have appointed her to represent 
clients in serious cases with fundamental rights at stake.
  Ms. Bloomekatz is supported by Jewish leaders who represent the 
breadth and diversity of Ohio's Jewish community--Eric Fingerhut, 
former Member of the House, the president and CEO of Jewish Federations 
of North America; Howie Beigelman, the executive director of Ohio 
Jewish Communities, who recently brought a group of his colleagues to 
Washington, last week, to talk to Members of the Ohio delegation in 
both parties about the evil scourge of anti-Semitism.
  Rabbi Kanter, Rachel's rabbi when she was a child in Nashville, said:

       Rachel's deep values, informed by her Biblical faith, have 
     led to her compassion for people and her commitment to 
     justice and to the law. I can think of no better endorsement 
     than that. I can think of no better candidate to serve the 
     States of the Sixth Circuit--my State of Ohio, Kentucky, 
     Michigan, and Tennessee. There is no better candidate than 
     Rachel Bloomekatz.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting Rachel Bloomekatz's 
confirmation.