Nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, now for my remarks.

Earlier this morning, it was an honor--a truly rare honor in my time in public service--to meet with Judge Jackson for the first time since her nomination to the Supreme Court. Before the meeting, I said Judge Jackson was brilliant and beloved, but now that I have met her, I will add another word: ``belongs.'' She is not only brilliant and beloved but belongs on the Supreme Court.

I believe her nomination certainly merits a good number of votes from both parties, and I hope we see that as we move forward in the process. I am certain that when other Senators have a chance to meet with Judge Jackson, they will understand why she is beyond qualified to replace Justice Breyer on the Supreme Court.

For one, if confirmed, Judge Jackson would have one of the most diverse professional backgrounds of any sitting Justice. Throughout her career, she has been a Federal defender; worked in private practice; sat on the U.S. Sentencing Commission; served as a district judge and as a circuit court judge on the DC Circuit; and of course, she was a clerk to Justice Breyer, the very same Justice whose seat she would now fill.

As a district judge, Judge Jackson rendered more than 550 rulings and was rarely reversed by higher courts, illustrating her evenhanded application of the law and facts. Then, when you meet with her, you see that she has brought that broad experience and adopted it into her being. She empathizes with people. She emphasized to me that as a judge, she should try to understand both sides. You could tell, when you met her, that she really believed it and, since, has sort of integrated all of her experiences into her being. She had an incredibly phenomenal interview, as well as has an amazing record.

For all of these reasons, Judge Jackson's nomination has already won support from individuals and organizations across the political spectrum. She is supported by civil rights advocates; she is supported by conservative judges and lawyers; she is supported by the Fraternal Order of Police. Someone who was a public defender is now supported by the Fraternal Order of Police? You can't get much better than that. And she is supported by scores of men and women who had the honor of working with her over the years.

I have gone through her record. You can hardly find a single person she has met, as she has walked through life and met people, who has said a bad thing about her. And when you meet her, you can see why. When you meet her, you can see why.

America will be much better off with someone like Judge Jackson on the Supreme Court. Our country deserves someone deeply experienced, broadly supported, and someone whose elevation as the first Black woman Justice signifies a long overdue step toward perfecting our Union.

I am grateful to have had the chance to have met with the judge. I thank her for her time this morning, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to elevate this outstanding nominee to the Supreme Court very soon.

In having met her and having studied her record, she deserves the support of Members from the other side of the aisle, and I am hopeful she will get a good number of them to support her.

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