Nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson

Floor Speech

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The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Hassan). Without objection, it is so ordered.

Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam President, later this week, the full Senate will take up and vote on the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Over the last several weeks, the Congress and the country and, indeed, the world have gotten to know Judge Jackson. We have learned about her broad life experience, her exceptional career, her deep love of the law.

Judge Jackson endured a verbal marathon of intense questioning from members of the Judiciary Committee. She endured challenging and sometimes specious lines of questioning from some of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle, but through it all, she shined. She approached every moment of the hearing with grace, with wisdom, and with brilliance. Her good judgment and sharp mind were on full display for all to see. She was unshakable; she was inspiring.

If confirmed, she will make history as the first Black woman to sit on the highest Court of the land. With Judge Jackson on the top Bench, we will get one step closer to ensuring that the Supreme Court of the United States looks like the Nation it serves; and with Judge Jackson on the highest Court, we will be even closer to realizing the noble ideal inscribed on the face of the Supreme Court building: ``Equal Justice Under Law.''

Her confirmation will be a victory for all of America.

My State of Maryland is also proud to have a small connection with Judge Jackson. Not only did she reside in Maryland for a period of time, but her brother served on the Baltimore Police Department for 7 years, and he has also served two tours of duty as a member of the Maryland National Guard. Other members of her family also pursued careers in public service. Two of her uncles were police officers, and her parents were public school teachers.

Like her family members, Ketanji Brown Jackson has taken up the mantle of public service as a public defender, as a member of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, as a district court judge, and as a Federal circuit court judge.

It is no mystery as to why her nomination has been met with widespread praise. She has been lauded by the Fraternal Order of Police and by the International Association of Chiefs of Police. Prominent Republican-appointed judges and lawyers have spoken in favor of her confirmation. The American Bar Association listed her as ``well-qualified'' for the position to which she has been nominated-- their highest rating.

There is no question in my mind that she will serve our Nation well and with distinction as the newest Justice of the Supreme Court, and I will vote in favor of her confirmation this week, proudly.

I have watched many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle strain to find some justification for voting against Judge Jackson. They know she is highly qualified. They know she is a person of integrity. They know she has the training and judgment required of a Supreme Court Justice.

Last week, one Republican member of the Senate Judiciary Committee called Judge Jackson a ``person of exceptionally good character, respected by her peers, and someone who has worked hard to achieve her current position.''

Another Republican member of the committee noted that she had ``impeccable credentials and a deep knowledge of the law.''

You would think these were words leading up to state support for Judge Jackson, but in both of those cases, those Senators have announced their decisions to vote against her. The pattern is the same for too many of our Republican colleagues. They come out and praise Judge Jackson and then announce they are voting against her.

So the question is, Why? What is the reasoning here? And I have been listening carefully.

Many of our colleagues tie their opposition to what they have called her ``judicial philosophy.'' They say Judge Jackson will push her own political ideology at the expense of the law. They say she is going to be an activist instead of a judge. They say she will create ``new rights from the Constitution out of whole cloth.'' In fact, that was a quote from my colleague, the senior Senator from Texas, who took to the floor last week in opposing Judge Jackson's confirmation.

When my friend from Texas made that statement, I happened to be sitting where the Presiding Officer is right now, as I was presiding over the Senate, and I listened very closely to his arguments and others that were made along similar lines. None of the claims that I have heard hold water when you look at the facts because here is what Judge Jackson herself said during her confirmation hearing when asked about judicial restraint:

I am acutely aware that, as a judge in our system, I have limited power, and I am trying in every case to stay in my lane.

This is not just a hollow promise. Judge Jackson has explained to this Senate her clear methodology for ruling on cases to ensure that she stays in her lane. The methodology is simple.

Step 1, start from a position of neutrality.

We have all seen the scales of justice. We want them to be evenly balanced. Everybody who walks into a court should get a fair shot. That is step 1.

Step 2, evaluate all of the facts from various perspectives.

Step 3, apply the law to those facts.

That is it. She was clear. That is how she makes decisions. That is how she rules from the bench.

So what about the Constitution itself, that great document? What about this notion that she would be a runaway Justice, ``creating new rights from the Constitution out of whole cloth''?--to use the language, the expression, of some of my colleagues.

That, too, is just plain wrong.

Here is Judge Jackson again when she said:

I believe that the Constitution is fixed in its meaning. I believe it is appropriate to look at the original intent, original public meaning of the words when one is trying to assess because, again, that is a limitation on my authority to import my own policy.

Judge Jackson understands the boundaries of her authority as a judge. She has stayed within those boundaries for over a decade on the Federal bench.

So enough of the spurious arguments that she is going to be an activist on the Court. Her method is clear; it is fair; it is balanced and honest, and I am confident that her rulings will be clear, fair, balanced, and honest.

Let's not forget this: There are certain rights that most Americans would acknowledge are central to our Nation's traditions and values but that are not specifically and expressly enumerated in the Constitution, not each and every one with its own sentence.

I have a short list here: the right to travel, the right to vote, the right to privacy, the right to marry. None of these rights are explicitly, expressly referenced in the text of the Constitution, but all of them have been derived by a close analysis of the letter and spirit of our Constitution and laws. These are rights we all embrace. These are rights the American people don't want elected officials to be able to take away from them.

Let's not forget that the First Amendment, as written, only protects Americans from Federal action, from congressional action, that would violate their right to freedom of religion, press, speech, and assembly.

Over time, the Court has taken action to protect these rights in the face of all government action, whether Federal or State or local, to make sure that those rights are protected against all government action no matter what its source.

Justices appointed by Presidents of both parties have worked to protect rights Americans hold dear.

President Reagan's appointee Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the majority opinion in the case of Obergefell v. Hodges, which protects the rights of same-sex couples to marry. His fellow Reagan appointee Sandra Day O'Connor joined the majority in the case of Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which reaffirmed the reproductive liberties guaranteed under Roe v. Wade.

Let's be clear: The Supreme Court considers the most challenging questions in American law. Judge Jackson will have to take on these challenging questions, like her peers on the Court, if she is confirmed; but one thing is crystal clear from her testimony and from the record: She will apply the law based on the facts. She will not be a partisan in a robe. She will be a fair, independent Justice of the Supreme Court, and she is very deserving of that title.

I had the great privilege of meeting with Judge Jackson just yesterday. During our conversation, I was struck, again, by her brilliance, her intelligence, her kindness, and resolve. That came across on television during the hearings, but it was very evident in our one-on-one meeting. I thought about another Supreme Court nominee who broke barriers nearly 55 years ago, a man from Baltimore, MD: Thurgood Marshall. He was the first Black man to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States.

So, during my conversation with Judge Jackson, I invited her to join me in West Baltimore at P.S. 103. This is public school building 103. It is in West Baltimore. It is the school where Thurgood Marshall learned to read and write. It is no longer an active school. The building is in bad condition. Just this year, as part of the omnibus appropriations bill, Senator Cardin and I were able to secure some Federal funds to help renovate that building and to turn it into a living memorial to Justice Thurgood Marshall and to expand opportunities for people in West Baltimore. So I told Judge Jackson that once she gets settled, it would be a great honor and privilege to bring her, the first Black woman on the Supreme Court, to the place where the first Black man on the Court grew up and went to school.

Justice Thurgood Marshall inspired a generation of leaders and public servants to enter the legal field. Soon, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson will do the same. Young people from all across our country will look at the Supreme Court of the United States and feel more included. Her presence on the Court will be a victory for ``we the people.''

In 1978, Justice Thurgood Marshall said to a group of university graduates:

This is your democracy. Make it. Protect it. Pass it on.

I am deeply honored to work alongside my colleagues in the Senate to advance that vision, as we all strive to form a more perfect Union. And there is no doubt in my mind--no doubt at all--that elevating Judge Jackson to Justice Jackson will make our Union a little more perfect.

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