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Floor Speech

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Mr. WARNOCK. Mr. President, I rise today to express my joy in voting to confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court.

What a great day it is for the United States of America, for our system of government and the grand march toward the fulfillment of the sacred covenant we have with one another as an American people--``e pluribus unum": out of many, one.

Ketanji Brown Jackson's improbable journey to the Nation's highest Court is a reflection of our own journey, through fits and starts, toward the Nation's highest ideals. She embodies the arc of our history. The very fine product of public schools, both her parents attended segregated primary schools before graduating from historically Black colleges and universities.

She is a two-time graduate of Harvard; a former clerk to Supreme Court Justice Breyer, to whom the Nation owes enormous thanks for his decades of public service; a former Federal public defender who would be the first of her kind to serve on the Supreme Court; a jurist who has gone before the Senate on three separate occasions and each time has garnered strong bipartisan support; a judge who has heard cases both in the U.S. district court and our Federal court of appeals; a judge who has the strong endorsement of critical stakeholders from across our justice system. From the American Bar Association to those who advocate for civil rights, to organizations representing our Nation's brave law enforcement officers, all of them respect Ketanji Brown Jackson.

She is a wife and a working mom. She is America at its best. That, I believe in my heart after meeting with her in my office, talking to folks whom I trust who know her, and hearing her testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Under intense questioning before the committee--much of it appropriate and necessary; some of it outrageous and beyond the pale-- she demonstrated her legal acumen, sharp intellect, and the kind of temperament we need on the Bench, especially at a time like this. If there were any doubts about her character, she more than proved her poise, her skill, composure, and the depth of her patriotism through the process--amazing grace under pressure.

As a voice for Georgians in the Senate, I have said from the beginning that people in my State want someone on the Court who is fair, eminently qualified, and has a record of protecting the constitutional rights and freedoms of Georgians and Americans. That is why my office has received thousands of emails and phone calls from Georgians in every corner of our State voicing their support for Judge Jackson's confirmation.

After hearing from Georgians and thoroughly evaluating her nomination, I am ecstatic to say that Judge Jackson is an excellent jurist who has the temperament and discernment to sit on our Nation's highest Court.

The people of Georgia made this appointment possible by making history last year. So in addition to thanking Georgia for this moment, I want to acknowledge that the historic nature of her appointment isn't lost on me. Like my brother Senator Booker, I know what it has taken for Judge Jackson to get to this moment, and nobody is going to steal my joy.

Yes, I am a Senator; I am a pastor, but beyond all of that, I am the father of a young Black girl. I know how much it means for Judge Jackson to have navigated the double jeopardy of racism and sexism to now stand in the glory of this moment in all of her excellence. For my 5-year-old daughter and for so many young women in our country--but, really, if we are thinking about it right, for all of us--seeing Judge Jackson ascend to the Supreme Court reflects the promise of progress on which our democracy rests.

So what a great day it is in America. Today, the word of justice and equal protection under the law becomes flesh and lives among us in new ways. Today, at the highest levels of our government, the administration of our Constitution looks a little bit more like what it says. And it fills me with great pride for our country, how far we have come and what we can achieve together.

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is beyond qualified, and I am beyond thrilled to speak for Georgia in voting to confirm her to the U.S. Supreme Court.

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