Motion to Discharge

Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. The Senate will soon be voting on a highly qualified nominee to the Ninth Circuit, Jennifer Sung.

She is a distinguished jurist who will bring an underrepresented perspective to the bench. She is a graduate of Oberlin and Yale Law School. She clerked for Judge Betty Binns Fletcher on the Ninth Circuit. She received a prestigious Skadden Fellowship and worked on economic legal issues at the Brennan Center. She spent more than a decade representing American workers, often minorities from low-income and underserved communities, in labor disputes.

In 2017, Oregon Governor Kate Brown appointed her to serve on the Oregon Employment Relations Board, known as the ERB. It is a three- member, quasi-judicial agency charged with resolving labor disputes. As a member of that board, she sits on a three-member panel that reviews evidentiary records, independently evaluates the law, and works in a collaborative manner to reach consensus on opinions and issues. If that sounds like the same process she would follow in Federal court, it is. In her nearly 5 years on that board, she has presided over more than 200 matters, and only 3 of the 200 have ever been overturned.

She has exhibited the kinds of qualities we expect of a circuit court nominee. She has been criticized for one thing that she did in her life, and some of her critics won't forget it. She signed a letter that was opposed to Judge Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court. She has testified under oath before our committee that some statements in that letter were, in fact, overheated. More importantly, she testified that she respects the authority of all members of the Supreme Court and recognizes the importance of faithfully following law and precedent.

The best evidence of how she will serve on the circuit is her impressive record in the State of Oregon. When you look at that record, you see that she has the support not only of many colleagues but also of employees, unions, and employers. Here is what they said: ``impressive intelligence, diligent preparation, respectful courtroom demeanor, and judicial impartiality.'' How about that for a checklist for a judgeship?

When I hear some of my colleagues express outrage over one letter she signed in her life, I wonder if they remember some of the nominees that they brought before us in the last 4 years. It appears there is a double standard.

Ms. Sung has the strong support of Senators Merkley and Wyden, and the American Bar Association rated her as ``well qualified.'' As the first Asian-American woman--she will be the first to hold the Oregon seat in the Ninth Circuit, bringing diversity to that bench. Her professional accomplishments and her commitment to fairness and impartiality are profound and impressive.

I support her, and I hope my colleagues will as well.

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