U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today delivered his opening remarks at the first day of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court.
Key quotes:
“In its more than 230 years, the Court has had 115 Justices. 108 have been white men. Just two Justices have been men of color. Only five women have served on the Court—and just one woman of color. Not a single Justice has been a Black woman. You, Judge Jackson, can be the first.”
“President Biden nominated you because he knew your qualifications are outstanding. This Committee knows you. You have appeared three previous times, and each time, you have been confirmed with bipartisan support. And your professional record and life experience tell us what kind of lawyer, what kind of judge, and what kind of person you really are.”
“You are independent-minded—and understand the critical importance of judicial independence. Your record is one of excellence and integrity—from your championship debate team at Miami Palmetto Senior High School, to Harvard and Harvard Law School, to your three judicial clerkships, to your work as a federal public defender, a lawyer in private practice, a member of the Sentencing Commission, a federal district and circuit judge.”
“Throughout your career, you have been a champion for the rule of law. Determined to get it right even at the risk of public criticism.”
“Now there may be some who claim—without a shred of evidence—that you will be a rubberstamp for this President. For these would-be critics, I have four words: Look at the record. Your complete record which has been scoured by this Committee on four different occasions: all of your nearly 600 written opinions; 12,000 pages of transcripts, meeting minutes, and other materials from the Sentencing Commission; your sworn testimony before this Committee less than a year ago; every published and reported word you have written or spoken; your detailed answers to lengthy questionnaires.”
“In selecting you as his nominee, President Biden undertook a transparent selection process. He sought the input of Senators from both parties…At the end of the day, the President alone chose you. He has put his faith in you to deliver justice on the highest court in the land. I share that faith.”
“Would law enforcement officials and organizations—including the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, and the Fraternal Order of Police—have endorsed your nomination if you were soft on crime? Of course not. I am confident the American people will see through these attacks and any other last-minute desperate attempts to derail your nomination.”
“Judge Jackson, we are all just temporary occupants—of the Senate, the House, even with a lifetime appointment to the highest court in the land. You, Judge Jackson, are one of Mr. Lincoln’s living witnesses of an America that is unafraid of challenge, willing to risk change, confident of the basic goodness of our citizens. And you are a living witness to the fact that, in America, all is possible.”
Original source can be found here
