[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Pages 15284-15285]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               RETIREMENT OF JUSTICE SANDRA DAY O'CONNOR

  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, today we have learned that one of our 
Nation's finest jurists will step down from our highest court. Despite 
her departure from the Supreme Court, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor will 
leave a lasting mark on American jurisprudence characterized by 
fairness, balance, and integrity.
  Justice O'Connor's career and service to our Nation have been truly 
remarkable. This country will miss her presence on the Supreme Court 
dearly.
  Some have said that no other individual in our Nation's history has 
come to the Supreme Court under greater expectations. Not only did 
Justice O'Connor meet these expectations, she far exceeded them. When 
President Reagan nominated and the Senate unanimously confirmed Justice 
O'Connnor in 1981, she became the first woman to sit on the Supreme 
Court and, over time, she grew to be one of the crucial swing votes on 
the court--her decisions driven both by her conservative sensibilities 
and also by her practical nature.
  Justice O'Connor grew up on the Lazy-B Cattle Ranch in southeastern 
Arizona. She learned to drive at age 7 and could fire rifles and ride 
horses by the time she turned 8. Perhaps it was her Arizona roots that 
fueled both her pragmatism and her desire to succeed.
  Mr. President, after high school, Justice O'Connor attended Stanford 
University where she majored in economics and graduated with high 
honors. A legal dispute over her family's ranch, however, inspired her 
interest in law and her decision to enroll at Stanford Law School. 
Justice O'Connor completed law school in only two years, but she still 
managed to serve on the Stanford Law Review and receive highest honors. 
O'Connor graduated third out of a class of 102. First in the class was 
fellow Arizonan William H. Rehnquist. I suggest that maybe we should 
turn to Arizona once again for a Supreme Court nominee, considering the 
track records of Justices O'Connor and Rehnquist.
  In law school, Justice O'Connor also met her future husband, John Jay 
O'Connor, a fine man and husband.
  Mr. President, Justice O'Connor faced a difficult job market after 
leaving Stanford. No law firm in California wanted to hire her and only 
one offered her a position as a legal secretary. Later, in Arizona, she 
again found it difficult to obtain a position with any law firm, so she 
started her own firm. It is truly remarkable to realize just how far 
Justice O'Connor has risen during her life despite the adversity she 
has faced.
  After she gave birth to her second son, Justice O'Connor withdrew 
from her professional life to care for her children. Nevertheless, she 
became involved in many volunteer activities during this time. She also 
began an involvement with the Arizona Republican Party. After five 
years as a full-time mother, Justice O'Connor returned to work as an 
assistant State Attorney General in Arizona. Arizona Governor Jack 
Williams later appointed her to occupy a vacant seat in the Arizona 
Senate. O'Connor successfully defended her Senate position for two more 
terms and eventually became the majority leader. By rising to the 
position of majority leader, Justice O'Connor achieved another first 
for American women.
  In 1974, Justice O'Connor ran and won a judgeship on the Maricopa 
County Superior Court, which resulted in her service in all three 
branches of Arizona government. A year later, she was nominated to 
serve on to the Arizona Court of Appeals. Almost two years after that, 
President Reagan nominated her to the Supreme Court to replace the 
retiring Justice Potter Stewart. The Senate rightly confirmed 
O'Connor's nomination unanimously and the Court soon abandoned its use 
of ``Mr. Justice'' as the form of address. Justice O'Connor herself 
described the significance of her nomination in the following way. She 
said, ``A woman had never held a position at that level of our 
government. And it was a signal that it was all right that women could 
be in such positions. That they could do well in such positions.''
  Mr. President, Justice O'Connor brought to her position on the 
Supreme Court her remarkable life history characterized by 
independence, perseverance, and achievement. Early in her tenure on the 
Court, observers identified her as part of the Court's conservative 
faction. The public often associated her with Justice Rehnquist because 
of their shared roots and values. Over time, though, Justice O'Connor 
combined her conservative sensibilities with a desire to find pragmatic 
solutions based on sound legal interpretation. She approached each case 
thoughtfully.
  It will be difficult to fill the void that Justice O'Connor's 
resignation has created, nor can anyone assume a similar place in 
American history. There can be only one first, and Sandra Day O'Connor 
was it.
  Mr. President, very rarely do I presume to speak on behalf of all of 
the citizens of my State of Arizona. But I know, with confidence, that 
I do so now when from the bottom of our hearts we thank Justice 
O'Connor for her magnificent service to her State and to her Nation. 
She and her magnificent husband John will be in our thoughts and 
prayers as they enter the struggle ahead. We are confident that with 
her traditional courage, she will face this new challenge and emerge 
victorious. We thank her for her service.

[[Page 15285]]

We thank her for her family. We are, most of all, confident that 
Americans and Arizonans will remember her with great pride.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Massachusetts is recognized.

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