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Floor Speech

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Mr. MARKEY. Mr. President, I come to the floor today to speak in support of the confirmation of Julie Rikelman to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

In just a few minutes, the Senate will vote to invoke cloture on Julie Rikelman's nomination, and, soon after, we will vote on her confirmation.

Julie Rikelman has a distinctively American story. In 1979, her family emigrated to the United States from the Soviet Union--Ukraine, to be specific--settling in Massachusetts. Like so many Soviet immigrants in the 1970s, her family sought freedom, and especially, as Soviet Jews, they sought religious freedom.

As a child, Ms. Rikelman and her family left behind the only home they knew. They endured the challenges of beginning anew in an unfamiliar country, as refugees, mastering a new language and a new culture. They embraced their new home and became naturalized U.S. citizens. Ms. Rikelman's experience as a Soviet political refugee shaped her lifelong commitment to the American legal system as well as her commitment to true ``justice for all'' and to the fundamental principles of the rule of law.

With 25 years of experience, her legal career has been nothing short of stellar. Julie attended Harvard College and Harvard Law School. She clerked for Justice Dana Fabe on the Alaska Supreme Court and for Judge Morton Greenberg on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

She has worked in private practice and in public interest law, litigating a range of issues, from reproductive rights cases across the country to civil and criminal cases at both the trial and appellate levels. She has experience in securities law, antitrust law, election law, and constitutional law. Ms. Rikelman's Federal and State court cases have involved defamation, intellectual property, and employment discrimination claims. She is a brilliant legal mind and brings deep experience to issues commonly before the First Circuit.

Julie Rikelman has dedicated her career to the protection of Americans' fundamental rights, including the rights to liberty and privacy, distinguishing herself as one of our Nation's leading reproductive rights attorneys. In 2021, she argued the Supreme Court case Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, a seminal case in the history of our highest Court's considering that issue.

I have complete confidence that Ms. Rikelman will bring a broadened perspective, steadfast integrity, and deep knowledge to the bench. And I am not alone in my enthusiasm. My office has received letters in support of Ms. Rikelman's nomination from dozens of individuals and organizations, including members of the Alaska State Bar, current and former prosecutors, law enforcement officials, the National Council of Jewish Women, and many of her former colleagues.

Colleagues describe Julie Rikelman as ``brilliant, committed to the rule of law, and deeply devoted to honoring the Constitution and protecting our civil rights and civil liberties.''

These are precisely the qualities we are looking for in a nominee to a Federal appeals court. We have them in Julie Rikelman.

It is essential that our Nation's courts reflect the diversity of our country, and Ms. Rikelman, when confirmed, would be the first immigrant woman and the first Jewish woman to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. That is what this Nation is all about.

Senator Warren and I are proud and enthusiastically recommend Julie Rikelman's nomination to President Biden and are proud to speak in favor of her nomination before the full Senate today. She will make an exceptional addition to the First Circuit.

I urge all of my colleagues to vote yes on cloture and then on her confirmation.

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