[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 185 (Wednesday, November 8, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5409-S5410]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Judicial Nominations

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, over the past 2 years, something profound 
has taken place on this Senate floor. We have been building one of the 
most important accomplishments of the Biden era's administration: the 
confirmation of highly qualified, independent, evenhanded judges to the 
Federal bench.
  This week, the Senate will confirm the 150th lifetime judge since 
President Biden took office. This is a historic slate of judges who I 
believe will rule with reason and restraint. These judges respect the 
rule of law, adhere to precedent, and, above all, answer only to the 
U.S. Constitution.
  Some Senate Republicans, including their leader, have not been shy in 
criticizing these nominees. According to the minority leader's 
retelling of history, under the former President, Senate Republicans 
``spent 4 years confirming staggeringly qualified and incredibly 
brilliant men and women to the courts.'' I would like to set the record 
straight.
  For each judicial nominee who comes before the Senate, the American 
Bar Association conducts a nonpartisan peer review and ranks their 
qualifications. Those rankings are based on integrity, professional 
competence, and judicial temperament.
  During the Trump administration, Senate Republicans confirmed eight--
eight--Trump nominees who were

[[Page S5410]]

found unqualified to serve on the Federal bench by the American Bar 
Association. Compare that to President Biden's record.
  During the Biden administration, not one--not one--of the 150 judges 
we have confirmed had an unqualified rating--not one. So when I hear 
some Senate Republicans waxing about the glory days of judicial 
nominees under President Trump, I can't help but wonder what they are 
talking about.
  Are they talking about that district court nominee who had never 
tried a case but had instead worked as a ghost hunter and written blog 
posts defending the Ku Klux Klan?
  What about another Trump trial court nominee who had never tried a 
case, never examined a witness, never taken a deposition, never argued 
a motion?
  Or the Sixth Circuit nominee who likened abortion to slavery?
  How about the Ninth Circuit nominee whose colleagues called him 
``arrogant, lazy, an ideologue, and lacking in knowledge of the day-to-
day practice'' of law?
  In addition, Senate Republicans relied on increasingly absurd 
criticism in an attempt to undermine President Biden's nominees. Some 
Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee criticized one of Biden's 
nominees as soft on crime because she had dedicated her career to 
exonerating wrongfully imprisoned individuals, mainly using DNA 
evidence. That is right. Senate Republicans argued that releasing 
people from prison who did not actually commit the crime is somehow 
dangerous for society.
  Just last week, one of my Republican colleagues criticized a nominee 
who had served as a Federal prosecutor for 16 years because he did not 
ask a judge to impose a sentence that was higher than the maximum 
sentence allowed by law in one case.
  Let me be clear. This nominee would have been asking a Federal judge 
to violate the law if he had made such a request. Those types of 
attacks are simply not credible.
  President Biden's nominees are qualified, and they have demonstrated 
impeccable temperament.
  Something that stands out about these nominees, aside from their 
exceptional qualifications and loyalty to the rule of law, is the 
professional and demographic diversity they bring to the bench. When 
you go into a Federal courthouse today and look at the judges who are 
likely to be trying or deciding a case, you are going to find more 
diversity than ever before.
  Under President Biden, in fact, we have made history, confirming more 
Black women to the Federal circuit courts than all prior Presidents 
combined. Of course, we also confirmed the first-ever Black woman to 
serve on the Supreme Court, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, and we have 
confirmed historic numbers of Asian-American judges, Latino judges, and 
LGBTQ judges.
  It is not just demographic diversity that we have seen under 
President Biden. It is also professional diversity. In the past 2 
years, we have confirmed more circuit judges with experience as public 
defenders than all prior Presidents combined.
  For the record, I voted over and over again for former prosecutors--
White males. The bench is made up of a lot of people whom I have voted 
for in the past, and I believe that they were ready for the job and 
competent to handle it. But we believe now that there should be more 
diversity, and this President is making sure the nominees sent our way 
meet that standard.
  We have confirmed State court judges, Federal magistrates, bankruptcy 
judges, and prosecutors who have made significant and critical 
contributions to this country's justice system. One of President 
Biden's nominees served as a special prosecutor in the trial of Derek 
Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd. And we have confirmed jurists 
with experience protecting the rights of voters, the rights of workers, 
civil rights, women's rights, and LGBTQ rights.

  Another notable aspect of this record--and this, I am very happy to 
report--is that the vast majority, nearly 90 percent, of all these 
judicial confirmations have been bipartisan. Even on the appellate 
courts, over three-quarters of President Biden's nominees have received 
support from both sides of the aisle. This focus on qualified, 
consensus nominees goes a long way toward restoring trust and faith in 
our judiciary.
  Let me also remind you that, in the first 2 years of the Biden 
administration, we had a 50-50 Senate and a 50-50 Judiciary Committee. 
We needed bipartisanship for anything to work.
  The American people deserve Federal judges who not only look like 
America but understand what it means to be an American. That is an 
important part of our work that we began under President Biden. It is a 
work we must finish.
  We celebrate these 150 judges, and we will continue elevating jurists 
who are qualified, principled, and committed, above all, to protecting 
our constitutional rights. The American people deserve nothing less.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.