Nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. REED. Madam President, we are debating the President's nominee to succeed Justice Stephen Breyer, who has served this country admirably and with great distinction.

As a law student, I was fortunate to have Justice Breyer as an adviser, and I remain grateful for his guidance, encouragement, and counsel as I began my legal career. I have immense respect and admiration for him as a Justice, but even more so as a person.

When Justice Breyer announced his retirement, I stated my belief that the next Justice on the Supreme Court should be someone with Justice Breyer's integrity, independence, and keen intellect--someone with real-world experience who reflects the depth and breadth of the American people. You could not find someone who better fits that description than Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, and I rise today in wholehearted support of her nomination to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court is a powerful arbiter of justice in our Nation, with few checks on the decisions of the Justices once they are on the Court. Therefore, a vote on a Supreme Court nominee is one of the most consequential that any Senator can cast. The Constitution makes the Senate an active participant, along with the President, in the confirmation of a Supreme Court Justice.

Article II, section 2, clause 2 of the Constitution states that nominees to the Supreme Court shall only be confirmed ``by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate.'' The Senate's role in the confirmation process places an important democratic check on America's judiciary. As a result, this body's consent is both a constitutional requirement and a democratic obligation. It is in upholding our constitutional duties as Senators to give the President advice and consent on his nominations that I believe we have one of our greatest opportunities and responsibilities to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.

As I have stated before, my test for a nominee is simple and is drawn from the text, the history, and the principles of the Constitution. A nominee's intellectual gifts, experience, judgment, maturity, and temperament are all important, but these alone are not enough. I need to be convinced that a nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court will live up to both the letter and spirit of the Constitution. The nominee needs to be committed not only to enforcing laws but also to doing justice.

The nominee needs to be able to make the principles of the Constitution come alive--equality before the law, due process, full and equal participation in the civic and social life of America for all Americans, freedom of conscience, individual responsibility, and the expansion of opportunity. The nominee also needs to see the unique role the Court plays in helping balance the often conflicting forces in a democracy between individual autonomy and the obligations of community, between the will of the majority and the rights of the minority. A nominee for the Supreme Court needs to be able to look forward to the future, not just backwards. The nominee needs to make the Constitution resonate in a world that is changing with great rapidity.

Judge Jackson passes these tests with flying colors. Beyond her unquestioned intellectual gifts, her legal career over the past two decades demonstrates that she has the deep fidelity to equality, justice, and the Constitution required to be our next Supreme Court Justice.

We want Justices to be familiar with the Federal court system. Judge Jackson is. Indeed, soon after law school, Judge Jackson chose to clerk at three levels of the Federal courts, gaining valuable insights into the courtroom and learning directly from incredible jurists, including Judge Bruce Selya of Rhode Island, who was President Reagan's nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, as well as Justice Breyer himself.

We want Justices to understand that a guilty verdict involves the hard task of deciding the appropriate punishment. So while many of her law school classmates likely plotted paths to law firm partnerships, she chose instead to serve as Assistant Special Counsel and, later, Commissioner and Vice Chair at the U.S. Sentencing Commission, working to prevent unjust disparities in sentencing.

We want Justices to embody the fundamental notion of fairness at the heart of our justice system, that defendants have a right to counsel and must be proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. So Judge Jackson chose to serve as a Federal public defender. If confirmed, she will bring this valuable, real-life perspective to our highest Court, where it is very much needed.

Over the past 10 years, first as a district judge and then as a circuit judge, Judge Jackson has been evenhanded and impartial in her decisions from the bench, without regard to partisanship, personal views, or ideology. Her opinions showcase an admirable commitment not only to fairness but to transparency. She takes the time to ensure that the parties fully understand her rulings and that the record clearly captures her thought process in deciding a case. She does not hide the ball--there are facts, there are arguments, and everyone is invited to read and understand them.

Beyond her career choices and accolades, she demonstrated her judgment, maturity, and equanimity during her recent confirmation hearings. In the face of hours of questioning, some of it quite pointed, political, and discomfiting, she showed incredible patience, resilience, and grace. Her independence, integrity, and deep understanding of the Constitution shined through in her answers. Her cool in that crucible was not only admirable, it was inspiring.

Judge Jackson is a trailblazer, not in the least because she is the first Black woman and first Federal public defender nominated to the Supreme Court. While her individual accomplishments are personal, Judge Jackson's elevation to the U.S. Supreme Court will bring America closer to the ideal our country aspires to. Her service on the Supreme Court in the years to come will ensure that the Justices better reflect the diversity of our great nation and may help restore the people's faith in the fairness of the Court and in our justice system.

It is with great pleasure that I support her nomination to the highest Court in the land and urge my colleagues to do the same.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source