Thank you, Chairman, Durban, ranking member, Grassley.
Judge Jackson
Congratulations on your nomination. It is a joy and a blessing to
welcome you and your family and your supporters here this morning.
As both senators, Klobuchar and crews have laid out in great and
forceful detail.
The decisions of the United States Supreme Court have daily impact
regular bearing on the lived experience of Americans, and that is
in part why hearings for this important role are so contentious.
I have been looking forward to this day since President Biden announced
your nomination in February.
And over the next several days, members of this committee will have
the privilege of helping introduce you to the American people so
that they can gain the sense of
Confidence that I have in your values, your skills, your competence.
And the necessity of confirming you to the Supreme Court.
Will be inviting you to speak directly to the American public and
share the lived experiences.
The strong qualifications, the judicial temperament and the strength
of character that made you not only and historic nominee to the Supreme
Court, but an outstanding
One as well.
I want to acknowledge up front that President Biden selected you
to fill the seat on the court being vacated by Justice Breyer Justice
whom I admire and in the work he's done as a jurist over decades
has shown us a model.
Of a Supreme Court justice in his 42 years on the federal bench,
30 years on the Supreme Court, he's lived up to the highest ideals
of American jurisprudence.
He has served with wisdom with fairness and respect for the Constitution.
The laws of our nation and its people. He has a keen legal mind and
love of the law that are obvious to anyone who's heard him, ask questions
or read his decisions and certainly does someone who clerked for
him on the Supreme Court.
And it has had the benefit of his mentorship over many, many years.
You've had broad experience in your stellar legal career that will
make you a unique contributor to the Supreme Court.
You've worked as a lawyer, or is a judge in just about every level
of our legal system, engaging in just about every area of federal
law.
Your experiences as a private practice attorney with large law firms
as a federal public defender as vice chair of the U. S Sentencing
Commission.
And you're near decade of service as a federal judge have given you
insights into the ways that our constitution our statutes are sentencing
guidelines and judicial decisions all come together.
To directly impact individuals, families and our communities.
You're able to perceive the full sweep of our law.
Without losing sight of the human beings. The individuals and families
impacted by it caught up in it, and it is critically important in
my view that we have justices on the Supreme Court.
With this practical and proximate view.
You began your legal career with the invaluable experience of clerking
for judges.
The federal District Court at the Circuit Court and for Justice prior
on the Supreme Court judges appointed by presidents of both parties.
He developed your career as a legal advocate in private practice
and in the federal Public Defenders service.
As part of this work he took on complex cases.
Involving challenging and unsettled areas of the law. You worked
pro bono on behalf of clients without regard to their political views
or the political consequences of those cases.
And you helped ensure bedrock constitutional guarantees in our legal
system held strong even in times of great stress and crisis.
The work you did in these roles distinguished you
As a talented appellant litigator with a formidable legal mind.
You helped to craft policy as counsel to the U. S Sentencing Commission,
the independent agency within the judicial branch that establishes
sentencing guidelines, followed by all federal judges.
And then years later, you served again on the commission as its vice
chair.
Well on the U. S Sentencing Commission. You partnered with colleagues
whose perspectives on the law span the ideological spectrum, and
together you enacted meaningful reforms designed to reduce on justice
parities.
An increased fairness in sentencing.
The days ahead. I expect to discuss your sentencing commission experience
with you in some detail.
Nearly all the decisions you are part of while serving on the commission
were unanimous.
And they grew out of a careful consideration of highly complex numerous
factors and involved commissioners working hard to achieve common
ground.
In at least one notable instance You ended up joining two conservative
commissioners to oppose an amendment.
Because you thought the law required a different result and you followed
the law.
Something that often gets lost in our debates and discussions about
the Supreme Court is that many in some terms of majority of Supreme
Court decisions are unanimous.
Or decided by very broad majorities. These decisions are every bit
as critical to the rule of law and the functioning and legitimacy
of the court as the handful that are very contentious and widely
discussed publicly.
Your service on the sentencing commission.
And your time on the circuit court have prepared you to be a positive
force for consensus among the justices in this challenging chapter
in American history.
I also think we will have some extended discussions this week about
your record of service on the federal bench.
Confirmed to the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia
in 2013 have written more than 500 published opinions. You were confirmed
to the D C Circuit Court of Appeals last year.
And in your near decade as a judge, you've authored opinions in cases
spanning a myriad of complicated issues, from administrative law
to civil rights from criminal environmental matters, labor and employment
law, national security and sovereign immunity, Immigration law and
many more.
Your rich, complex and deep decisional record gives us the best possible
evidence of what kind of justice you will be.
And I've concluded your judicious
And impartial.
Great qualities for a justice.
In every case, you methodically consider the party's arguments, the
relevant facts and the law, including, Of course, the foundation
of the Constitution, the text of applicable statutes.
And the precedents that apply and ultimately, from what I've seen
you come to a decision based on that methodology.
Not on any particular policy preferences or activism.
This committee has also received a striking outpouring of support
for your nomination from a very broad range of sources.
I'm certain we'll be hearing about some of the more enthusiastic
statements in detail in the coming days. But in several of the letters
I've had a chance to review personally, I've been struck. These were
letters from lawyers that held appointed positions in Republican
administration.
Administration's letters from a prominent law enforcement organizations,
federal judges appointed by Republican presidents they praise your
qualifications, your character, your experience.
And your commitment to even handed and impartial judging and the
role of law.
This is the fourth Supreme Court nomination process in which I'm
participating as a senator. And I know our role in confirming a justice
to the highest court is among the most solemn obligations we have
as senators.
We begin this week's hearings. I remain hopeful.
That we can come together as a committee and engage in respectful
good faith, bipartisan consideration of your nomination.
I look forward to your testimony this week. I'm excited. So many
of my colleagues have had a chance to get to know you a bit to meet
with you to talk with you one on one and get a sense of your character
experiences and your background and then
Will have the opportunity question you to bring that out in more
detail.
I have every expectation that at the end of this week's hearings,
it will be clear to all that. You are impeccably qualified in the
law. I think it will be playing to any American watching.
You have a demonstrated record of excellence. As a jurist. You will
decide cases as a justice on the basis of the facts and the law and
that you will be faithful to the Constitution.
It's also my hope folks will get a chance to meet the family that
shaped you.
It was
Delightful to have a few moments to get to talk with your parents
and your brother before we began today.
And to reflect on how having parents.
Graduates of Hbcu s public school teachers who then went on to great
careers of accomplishment.
Johnny Brown, Esquire.
And Dr Ellery Brown set a great standard.
But frankly, to me one of the most memorable sentences before this
was in talking to your brother to Taj who said, Oh, I'm not surprised
to be here at all.
This was the sort of thing for which my sister was destined from
the very start.
Destined, Perhaps
But today you're beginning a process of walking through this store
because of courage, humility, determination and commitment to excellence.
Just as another person in American history. Ruby Bridges walked through
critical door in our history with her chin held high, her back held
straight.
And a fierce determination to make a difference. So you two today
begin the process of walking through this next open door.
With the sort of
Sparkling wit, brilliant mind and commitment to excellence that will
make its mark in American history.