Yesterday, America and the Supreme Court took an enormous step forward towards a more perfect and more just future. The Senate confirmed the first Black woman and the first public defender to sit on the Supreme Court. I am proud to have supported Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination, I was honored to witness her confirmation vote, and I congratulate her on blazing a trail for others to follow.
As Chair of the Courts Subcommittee, I know that there is a crisis of confidence in our courts, particularly the Supreme Court. That is why I am championing legislation to increase transparency in our courts, to protect employees of the federal judiciary, and to create a code of ethics for the Supreme Court.
In this moment, I am also reminded that elections matter. President Biden promised to make our government look more like America, and he continues to follow through on that promise. And without Democrats' historic victory in Georgia’s two Senate races last year, this moment would not have been possible. Three Republican senators joined with Democrats to confirm Judge Jackson, and I’m thankful that they used reason in their decision making and recognized the qualifications of the candidate before them.
Yet those three are the exception. As I watched the vote I was reminded that the overwhelming majority of Republican senators appeared aggrieved by this historic nominee and opposed this historic confirmation on phony grounds. They attacked and misrepresented her record throughout this process. And now that she is confirmed, Republicans are threatening not to hold hearings on any future Biden Supreme Court nominees if they take the majority. If Republicans take control of Congress, they’ll try to take us backwards.
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