Judicial Nominations
Floor Speech
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Mr. SCHUMER. On judges, last night I moved to file cloture on the nomination of Sarah Merriam to be U.S. circuit judge for the Second Circuit. She will be the sixth circuit court judge this Chamber has considered since the beginning of this work period--the sixth. She will be in exceedingly good company.
Later today, we will vote on the nomination of Arianna Freeman to be U.S. circuit judge for the Third Circuit, followed by cloture on the nomination of Lara Montecalvo to serve on the First Circuit.
Altogether, the Senate has now confirmed 80--80--judicial nominations to serve lifetime appointments on the Federal bench. I made clear that confirming more of President Biden's judicial nominees would be a top priority for Senate Democrats, and we are making good on our promise by being on track to vote on six circuit court judges in the first 2 weeks of this work period alone.
Among the judges confirmed this month are a number of notable firsts: the first Latino to serve from the State of Washington to the Ninth Circuit, the first Black Tennessean to ever sit on the Sixth Circuit, and the first Asian American from anywhere to sit on the Seventh Circuit. And that is just in the last 2 weeks.
The 80 jurists we have confirmed also include the first Native American judge, the first Muslim American district judge, and the first Black woman, of course, in the history of the U.S. Supreme Court. I mention these firsts because even though it takes a lot to be a successful jurist, representation is a key part of the equation.
There has been a lot of talk lately about the public's trust in our courts--in my judgment, for very good reasons. So if our courts are to long endure--to say nothing of our democracy--they must reflect the rich vibrancy of our country.
So as we continue confirming judges, we will make sure that the individuals on the bench meet this important standard. We have come a very long way, but there is much work left to be done.
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