[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 142 (Thursday, September 12, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6008-S6009]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                         Judicial Confirmations

  Mr. President, on a separate topic, over the past 3 years, something 
profound has happened on the floor of the Senate. We have been building 
on the most important accomplishments of the Biden-Harris 
administration: the confirmations of highly qualified, independent, 
even-handed judges to the Federal bench.
  To date, we have confirmed 208 judges to lifetime positions on the 
Federal judiciary during my time as chairman of the Senate Judiciary 
Committee over the last 3\1/2\ years. This is progress. We have stayed 
on pace with the number of judges confirmed during the Trump 
administration, even though we have had the longest evenly divided 
Senate in history. We now only have a narrow majority of 51 to 49.

  These confirmations highlight the Senate Judiciary Committee's and 
Biden-Harris administration's commitment to filling vacancies with 
highly qualified, diverse candidates who will ensure the fair 
administration of justice. This is a historic slate of judges we have 
approved who will rule with reason and restraint. They respect the rule 
of law, adhere to precedent, and answer only to the Constitution.
  I have served on the Senate Judiciary Committee for more than two 
decades, including as chair for the past 3\1/2\ years. During that 
time, I have evaluated and voted on more than 1,000 judicial nominees. 
The record is clear: President Biden's nominees to the Federal bench 
represent the best. Every single one--every single one--of the 
President's 208 judges so far has received at least a ``qualified'' 
rating from the American Bar Association, an indication that their 
peers found them to be high in integrity, professional competence, and 
judicial temperament.
  Something that also stands out about President Biden's nominees, 
aside from their exceptional qualifications, is the professional and 
demographic diversity they bring. We have made history on the Senate 
Judiciary Committee and in the Senate in confirming more Black women to 
the Federal circuit courts than all of the previous Presidents of the 
United States combined. Of course, we have confirmed the first-ever 
Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court, Justice Ketanji Brown 
Jackson.
  With Hispanic Heritage Month beginning this weekend, I would like to 
celebrate the historic nature of the Hispanic and Latino judges whom 
President Biden has nominated and we have approved. Just this week, we 
confirmed Jeannette Vargas to the Southern District of New York. During 
the Biden administration, the Senate has confirmed 37 Hispanic judges, 
more than any other President in history. President Biden also has 
appointed historic firsts to the bench, including the first-ever 
Hispanic judge to sit on the DC Circuit and the first Latina to sit on 
the Fifth. In my home State, Judge Nancy Maldonado became Illinois' 
first Latina Federal judge and, more recently, the first-ever Hispanic 
judge to serve on the Seventh Circuit.
  Beyond this demographic diversity, there is recordbreaking 
professional diversity. In the past 3 years, we have confirmed more 
public defenders and circuit judges than all prior Presidents combined. 
There is nothing wrong with a former prosecutor being a Federal judge. 
I have voted for dozens of them, and I am sure they are competent in 
doing a good job. But if we want balance on the bench, we should make 
sure that we have diversity in professional background.
  Another notable aspect of this record is that the vast majority--
nearly 90 percent--of the Federal judges approved during the Biden 
administration have been bipartisan. This includes three-quarters of 
the appellate nominees. I want to thank my several Republican 
colleagues who have joined us in good faith to make this happen.
  This focus on qualified, consensus nominees will go a long way to 
restoring trust in the judiciary. The American people want judges who 
look like America and understand the American experience in all of its 
forms. We will continue elevating judges who are qualified, principled, 
and committed--above all--to faithfully following the Constitution. The 
American people deserve nothing less.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.

[[Page S6009]]

  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.