Mr President, this Capitol building.
Has served as the backdrop for some of the most notable moments in
America's history.
In this building wars have been declared.
Peace treaties have been signed.
In the march toward progress is either moved forward.
Or has been stopped in its tracks.
Today, The members of this Senate have the opportunity to take a
monumental step forward.
We will vote to confirm a once in a generation legal talent.
A jurist with outstanding credentials and a lifetime of experience.
And the first ever African American woman to serve as justice of
the Supreme Court.
Judge Gitanjali Brown Jackson.
Judge Jackson's confirmation will be a glass shattering achievement.
For America.
Consider this moment in history.
When the Supreme Court first met in this building.
In February of 18. Oh, one.
There were one million slaves in this nation.
A nation of five million people.
This very building.
Was built.
With the labor of enslaved people.
And at the time the court met.
Neither black Americans nor white women.
Had a constitutionally guaranteed right to vote.
Women had no place.
In that first Supreme Court chamber.
And black women.
Would only enter to clean it in the dark of the night.
We know what followed
America's battled in slavery saw a bloody civil war.
Decades of efforts to break down racial barriers.
And the efforts continue to this day.
And our struggle to enfranchise and empower women.
Did not end with the 19th amendment 102 years ago.
It continues to this day as well.
As we strive to give our daughters the same opportunities we give
our sons
This confirmation of the first black woman to the Supreme Court.
Honors the history that has come before it. It honors the struggles
of the past of the men and women who wage them.
And this confirmation draws America one step closer, one step
To healing our nation.
One step closer to a more perfect union.
Nearly a century after our founding, we guarantee the rights of citizenship
finally, to every American
Including for the first time those who were born into bondage with
the ratification the 14th amendment.
It took a long century later for us to expand the bounds of liberty
again.
We ensured the federal government could vigorously protect the right
to vote the most fundamental of rights with the passage of the Voting
Rights Act of 1967.
One victory for progress began the next
Two years after the Voting Rights Act. We confirmed the first Black
American to ever serve on the Supreme Court.
Justice Thurgood Marshall.
But I'd like to remind you
That was 50 years ago.
Now with the passage of that time.
We are beginning to write another chapter in our nation's quest for
equal justice under the law.
And that chapter begins with three letters.
K B. J.
With Judge Gitanjali Brown Jackson's confirmation to the highest
court in the land. We are not only making history we are carrying
on a great American tradition, elevating one of our nation's best
and brightest legal minds.
To an honored position of service.
There's no one more deserving of this high honor.
As we have learned over the past month.
She is the best of us.
She has devoted her life to serving our country. She's done so at
every level of the federal judiciary.
And at every turn, she's distinguished herself.
What I hear the critics say she's soft on crime.
I wonder how they explained that she was endorsed by the largest
law enforcement agency organization in America, the Fraternal Order
of Police as well.
As the international chiefs of police as well.
As an army of federal prosecutors who have appeared in the courts.
She is dedicated to protecting judicial independence.
To advancing freedom and liberty.
Deciding every cases, she says, from a neutral posture. That's exactly
What you'll find in evaluating nearly 10 years of service on the
bench. I hear senators come to the floor and say, Well, there's one
opinion. I disagree with.
For goodness sakes. She's issued almost 600 written opinions in 10
years on the bench in the District court.
She's been reversed a small percentage of the time.
Her work speaks for itself.
And when you evaluate it, you'll find out she's thoughtful and evenhanded.
As the American people saw during last month's hearing in the Judiciary
Committee, Judge Jackson has the right judicial temperament.
Calm collected. She answered every question, even when the questions
were hostile and confrontational.
She answered them with dignity and grace.
And stood by for more than 24 hours of questioning.
She's a proven consensus builder.
She has been confirmed by the Senate on a bipartisan partisan basis
more than three times three times I should say, and soon we hope
she'll be confirmed again by a bipartisan majority.
She has earned the support from leaders across the political and
ideological spectrum, civil rights leaders leaders in law enforcement
former federal judges appointed by Democrats and Republicans.
All of them have lined up proudly to endorse her.
Perhaps most importantly, justice Jackson will help ensure that the
law works for the people.
And that the people understand the workings of the court.
For many Americans. What happens in the courtroom can be cold and
impersonal.
Judge Jackson has made a habit of making it real. She looks people
in the eye, walks them through her decision making with patience
and empathy, and she reaches everyone over decisions by following
the facts and the law wherever they leave.
She said that her opinions can run long. That's by design.
Because she wants America to rest assured whether she writes in the
majority that concurrence or dissent.
They want to know exactly where she stands on the most important
issues.
Serving as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee during Judge Jackson's
confirmation has been one of the highest honors of my Senate experience.
I want to give a special thanks to the man who spoke before me.
Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa.
His friendship and fairness have really guided our relationship throughout
this historic process.
In the weeks since President Biden announced her nomination. Judge
Jackson has already lifted the spirit of countless Americans inspiring
a new generation of aspiring jurists and public servants.
Millions of Americans see themselves in Judge Jackson.
Black Americans, members of law enforcement families working moms
public high school public high school graduates like her fellow Palmetto
Panthers in Florida.
Everywhere. I've gone for the last few weeks when I go home.
Visiting law School's going to the grocery store. I've been approached
by people who have been following this nomination closely.
They tell me how deeply impressed they are with Judge Jackson.
Even under fire from her critics.
Hannah and Edmondson.
Is one of those people.
She's a law student in Waukegan, Illinois, a city on the shores of
Lake Michigan.
In a letter to my office, Hannah wrote, And I quote her and saying,
If you can see it, you can be it.
And I'm very excited to see America's first black female justice.
Reverend Christa Alston.
Is a Baptist minister in the city of Chicago.
Comes from a long line of Baptist ministers. She calls herself a
civil rights, baby.
Born in 64. The year LBJ signed the Civil Rights Act.
Ricky Jones is also from Chicago. She's been working for civil rights
for nearly 60 years since she was a teenager.
Well late last month, Reverend Alston and Miss Jones with four other
people.
Drove 11 hours from Chicago to attend.
An hour.
Of Judge Jackson's hearing.
Reverend Alston said she was moved by the judge, judges, courage,
grace, integrity and wisdom.
She imagined what it will be, like years from now to tell her future
grandchildren what it was like to be in that room for that historic
moment.
And Ricky Jones said she never even expected to hear about a black
woman being nominated to the Supreme Court, let alone to be in the
room for her hearing.
She said it she watched Judge Jackson. It felt like the fulfillment
of everything I've worked for my whole life.
She thought of all the strong black women who came before her and
help make the movement possible.
Sojourner truth.
Harriet Tubman.
Ida B. Wells and my personal late friend, The Reverend Willie Barrow.
A black woman minister from Chicago who worked alongside Dr Martin
Luther King.
This moment was about them, too, she said.
In this moment is possible because of Judge Jackson and who she is
her qualifications or integrity, her record of excellence.
She has earned her seat on the Supreme Court.
That's why it's so unfortunate that several Republicans on the Judiciary
Committee did not approach Judge Jackson's hearing.
With that same level of fairness and respect.
As their colleagues.
Thankfully.
Thankfully, there are members of the Senate who are willing to rise
above the partisan fray.
I want to particularly commend Senator Susan Collins of Maine, Senator
Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Senator Mitt Romney of Utah for their
political courage.
And their willingness to support a singularly qualified and historic
nominee to the Supreme Court.
You know when Senator Romney announced his support for Judge Jackson's
confirmation, I couldn't help but remember his father, the late George
Romney.
Who served as governor of Michigan in the 19 sixties during the height
of the civil rights movement.
Governor George Romney knew a thing or two about political courage.
As a proud Republican governor in 1963, he marched alongside of the
ACP Detroit President Edward Turner in support of civil rights that
same year when Dr Martin Luther King organized a march in Detroit.
Governor George Romney declared the occasion Freedom Day in Michigan.
To my colleagues, Senator Mitt Romney.
You are your father's son.
This week marks 54 years since the shot rang out in Memphis, Tennessee.
Claiming the life of Dr Martin Luther King, an American who spoke
with greater moral clarity than nearly any other in our history.
The night before he died. Dr. King spoke at a rally in support of
the city, striking sanitation workers.
There was tension in the air.
From the moment he set foot in Memphis received a barrage of death
threats and as Dr King spoke to the crowd at the Mason Temple
Death was on his mind.
He said. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life.
Longevity has its place.
But I'm not concerned about that now.
I just want to do God's will.
And he's allowed me to go up to the mountain.
His next words proved prophetic.
Dr King said. I've looked over and I've seen the promised land.
I may not get there with you.
But I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the
promised land.
Ricky Jones said that she thought about Dr King's prophecy when she
realized
The Judiciary Committee was voting on Judge Jackson's nomination
on the anniversary of Dr King's death.
It felt like the prophecy had come to pass.
Dr King didn't make it to the promised land.
But Judge Jackson's ascension to the Supreme Court brings us closer
to that long for place.
I'd like to close with one last personal plea to my Senate colleagues.
I hope you'll think about this.
In the years to come.
Long after we have left the Senate
One of our grandchildren may ask where we were on this historic day,
April 7th 2022.
When America broke down what seemed like an impossible racial barrier.
And voted to send the first African American woman to serve on our
highest court.
I will be proud to say I was on the Senate floor, standing at my
desk and casting my vote with pride.
For the next associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United
States. Justice Catania Brown Jackson.
I hope my colleagues will join me in sharing this historic moment.