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Floor Speech
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Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, an hour or so ago on the floor of the Senate was an amazing sight. It has been a long, long time since I have seen the Galleries full. COVID-19 kept us apart. I missed it. I didn't realize how much until those full Galleries were here to witness the vote on the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court.
It was a time of great celebration for most Members of the Senate and I think for the Nation because we have achieved something which many doubted would occur.
It has been 50 years since the first African American--Thurgood Marshall--was appointed to be a member of the U.S. Supreme Court. It was another 50 years for us to wait for the opportunity to put a person, a woman of color, on the Court. And we did it today.
Soon, in the coming future, the President will be swearing in Judge, now-Justice Jackson. I am certain that she will be a credit to our Nation. She has already proven that in her lifetime of service.
Many Members of the Senate, of course, were excited and happy about it. I was one of them. I want to thank my colleagues for their kind words, but I also want to acknowledge the obvious.
All of the hard work that led up to this successful vote happened a lot behind the scenes. There were members of our staff who worked long hours--20-hour days--to prepare for this and to be ready to handle the important Judiciary Committee hearings. I would like to acknowledge the staff members on both sides of the aisle who worked tirelessly on Judge Jackson's nomination.
I have got quite a team on my side, and I am very proud of them. I want to recognize the following individuals who played an important part in this historic process: Pat Souders, my chief of staff; Joe Zogby, my Senate Judiciary Committee staff director; Dan Swanson, general counsel; Stephanie Trifone, deputy general counsel; Sally Brown-Shaklee, my deputy chief of staff; Maalik Simmons and Miriam Wheatley, my floor staff who are often sitting right in the back of this Chamber; Claire Reuschel and Riley Foti, my schedulers; my press staff, including Emily Hampsten, my communications director; Jenna Valle-Riestra; Maddie Carlos; Theresa Bordenave; and Laura Keller, and many others on my Judiciary team, including Phil Brest, who was my chief nominations counsel--he worked so hard on this, and he is so good--Sarah Bauer, who was right by his side working every minute; and Gabe Kader, as well; Ziya Smallens, speechwriter; Joe Charlet; Vaishalee Yeldandi; Maggie Hopkins; Anna Shepard; David Adeleye; Eric Chung; Eliza Lehner; Samir Sheth; David McCallum; Mady Reno; Katya Kazmin; Rachel Martinez, Yashi Gunawardena; Doug Miller; Chastidy Burns; Nicole Walton; Lane Giardina; and many, many others.
I also would like to recognize some members of Senator Grassley's staff. Now, he--for those who wouldn't know--is my Republican counterpart. I chair a committee evenly divided--11 to 11--and Senator Grassley is in charge of the Republican side. We have developed a strong friendship and trust over the years that really meant a lot during this process.
I want to recognize Senator Grassley's staff members, in particular: Kolan Davis, his staff director of many years; Brendan Chestnut, his chief nominations counsel; and Lauren Mehler, his senior counsel for nominations.
Our two staffs worked very well together in this process, and I really appreciate that. I want to thank Senator Grassley, again, for it.
I want to thank the committee's nondesignated staff, including Heather Vachon, Michelle Heller, Bryan Palmer, Kara Dubbs, Shannon Bartley, Chuck Papirmeister, and others.
I want to also express my gratitude to the larger Senate community who played a part in Judge Jackson's nomination process: the staff of the Architect of the Capitol, the Sergeant at Arms, and of course the men and women of the U.S. Capitol Police Force who were critical to the success of the hearing and markups for Judge Jackson's nomination. More than 1,000 people occupied the chairs in the back of the committee room in the 4 days of hearings. It was the largest gathering, largest crowd, short of the State of the Union Address, in modern memory on the Senate. And today's Gallery attendance, again, was something, a welcome change from the forlorn empty Chamber's Galleries that we have come to be used to.
I also want to thank and add the names of the Senate staff who were so instrumental in supporting the committee's proceedings.
SAA--Security Planning and Police Coordination Director Wendy Colmore............................. SAA--Access Control and Transportation Director Jaivon Gibbs.............................. SAA--Police Coordination Analyst Amanda Simmons............................ SAA--Senior Program Manager Mike Mastrian............................. SAA--Radio & TV Director Erin Yeatman.............................. SAA--Sr. Media Relations Coordinator Tamara Robinson........................... SAA--Media Relations Coordinator Charles Moxley............................ SAA--Media Relations Coordinator Jeff Kent................................. SAA--Press Photographers Director Mark Abraham.............................. SAA--Press Photographers Deputy Director Tricia Munro.............................. SAA--Press Photographers, Senior Assistant Director Matt Grant................................ SAA--Press Photographers, Assistant Director Justin Wilson............................. SAA--Periodical Press Director Spencer Barks............................. SAA--Media Relations Coordinator Lindsey Bowen............................. SAA--Media Relations Coordinator Laura Lytle............................... SAA--Daily Press Director Kristyn Socknat........................... SAA--Daily Press, Sr. Media Relations Coordinator Amy Gross................................. SAA--Daily Press, Sr. Media Relations Coordinator Kate Leavitt.............................. SAA--Daily Press, Media Relations Assistant Inspector John Erickson................... USCP Senate Division Captain Kenneth Wheeler................... USCP Senate Division Captain Matthew Tighe..................... USCP Senate Division Lieutenant Vidal Adams.................... USCP Senate Division Sergeant Adam Descamp..................... USCP Senate Division Sergeant David Van Benschoten............. USCP Senate Division Sergeant John Ruskoski.................... USCP Senate Division Sergeant Howard Jaslow.................... USCP Senate Division Sergeant Jeffery Andrews.................. USCP Senate Division Sergeant Charles Nelson................... USCP Senate Division ------------------------------------------------------------------------
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