Executive Session

Floor Speech

EXECUTIVE SESSION -- (Senate - August 06, 2009)

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I am honored to be here today. In a few hours, we will have achieved something truly great as a nation. Our first African American President has nominated the first Hispanic Justice to the U.S. Supreme Court. Times are changing.

If there are two words that sum up this nomination, it is these: ``It's time.'' It is time that we confirm a nominee to the Supreme Court who will improve its diversity. It is time that we confirm a moderate nominee to the Supreme Court who will pull it back into the mainstream and away from the extreme. It is time we confirm a nominee whose life story, personal history, intelligence, and experience represent the best America has to offer.

Judge Sotomayor's story is a true American story, a true New York story, and a great story. When Sonia Sotomayor was growing up, the Nancy Drew stories inspired her sense of adventure, developed her sense of justice, and showed her that women could and should be outspoken and bold. Now, in 2009, there are many more role models for a young student from her alma mater, Cardinal Spellman, to choose from, with Judge Sotomayor foremost among them.

If one listened to the debate over the last 2 days, one could easily think that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are not talking about the same person we are. Those who are voting for Judge Sotomayor's confirmation have focused, as they should, on her history and her record. Judge Sotomayor was a prosecutor and a commercial litigator. She was nominated to the district court bench by a Republican President. Her record shows she is a true moderate. She has agreed with her Republican colleagues 95 percent of the time. She has ruled for the government and against the immigrant petitioner in 83 percent of immigration cases. She has denied race claims in 83 percent of race cases. All of these numbers place her squarely in the middle of the judges on her circuit.

But my Republican colleagues have chosen instead to focus on the speeches she has given outside the courtroom. They have zeroed in on a few choice quotes we have heard over and over again about the ``wise Latina woman'' quote. Is this the same person who has sat on 3,000 cases in 17 years, who ruled against Hispanic and African American plaintiffs in a wide variety of cases, and who ruled in favor of a police officer who engaged in blatantly racist speech because the first amendment protected him? Should three words outweigh 3,000 cases? Only if you have something against her in the first place.

``Bias'' and ``activism'' are now code words for ``not hard right.'' My colleagues say they don't want activist judges. What they really mean is they don't want judges who disagree with them and who put rule of law ahead of moving America in ideological directions.

We must and will continue to fight for mainstream judges. We must and will continue to free our unelected branch of government from ideologues and result-oriented extremism.

With the nomination of Judge Sotomayor, we have an opportunity to restore faith in the notion that the Court should reflect the same mainstream ideals that are embraced by America.

Judge Sotomayor is clearly a moderate. She is highly qualified. She is extremely intelligent. She represents the American ideal that at the end of the day, race and ethnicity and class aren't supposed to predetermine anything; through hard work and a good education, a girl from a Bronx housing project can rise to the highest Court in the most democratic country in the world.

I am so proud to cast my vote for Judge Sonia Sotomayor. I yield the floor.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source