THANK YOU MR. CHAIR. JUDGE JACKSON WELCOME, IT IS GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN. TODAY AND THROUGHOUT THIS WEEK THE COMMITTEE AND THE COUNTRY ARE GOING TO HEAR FROM JUDGE JACKSON. SHE HAS BEEN NOMINATED TO BE THE NEXT ASSOCIATE JUSTICE OF THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT. ANY NOMINATION TO THE COURT'S HISTORIC. THERE HAVE ONLY BEEN 115 JUSTICES IN OUR NATION'S HISTORY. JUDGE JACKSON'S NOMINATION IS HISTORIC IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE. HER NOMINATION, PENDING CONFIRMATION BY THE SENATE, WILL BRING US ONE STEP CLOSER TO HAVING A SUPREME COURT THAT IS MORE REFLECTIVE OF OUR NATION. ONE WITH DIVERSITY OF RACE, GENDER, BACKGROUND OF EDUCATION. AN EXPERIENCE THAT WILL ALLOW ALL AMERICANS TO LOOK AT THE COURT AND SEE IN ITS JUSTICES A REFLECTION OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. JUDGE JACKSON, WITH YOUR PRESENCE HERE TODAY YOU ARE WRITING A NEW PAGE IN THE HISTORY OF AMERICA, A GOOD PAGE. WHO THE PRESIDENT NOMINATES AND THE SENATE DECIDES TO CONFIRM, BEFORE THE FEDERAL JUDICIARY ESPECIALLY TO THE NATION'S , HIGHEST COURT, IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, OUR CONSTITUENTS, AND THEIR FAITH IN THE COURTS IS CENTRAL TO OUR DEMOCRACY. THEY LOSE THAT FAITH, DEMOCRACY LOSES. THE DECISIONS MADE IN OUR COURTS AND ULTIMATELY IN THE SUPREME COURT AFFECT THE DAILY LIVES OF EACH ONE OF US. FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS ABOUT, FOR EXAMPLE, ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE, THE INTEGRITY OF OUR ELECTIONS, THE FAIRNESS OF OUR CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM, THE PRESERVATION OF BEDROCK, ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS PROTECTIONS FOR WORKERS. , THESE ISSUES AND MANY MORE ARE ROUTINELY DECIDED BY THE COURT. EVERY AMERICAN MUST BELIEVE THAT THE COURT IS GOING TO BE IMPARTIAL. THEY MUST BELIEVE OUR COURTS ARE NOT A MERE POLITICAL ARM OF THE EXECUTIVE OR THE CONGRESS, BUT FAITHFUL ONLY TO THE RULE OF LAW. MISTAKES IN DEMOCRACY ARE SIMPLY TOO HIGH. LET'S MAKE A FEW THINGS CLEAR. JUDGE JACKSON IS KNOWN AS A JUDICIAL ACTIVIST. SHE IS NOT A PUPPET OF THE SO-CALLED RADICAL LEFT. SHE HAS BEEN PRAISED BY REPUBLICAN APPOINTED JUDGES, LAWYERS FROM THE RIGHT AND THE LEFT WHO APPEARED BEFORE HER IN COURT AND CALLED HER JUDICIOUS AND EVENHANDED. I TRIED A LOT OF CASES IN TRIAL COURT AND COURTS OF APPEAL. THAT IS WHAT I WANTED, SOMEBODY WHO WAS JUDICIOUS AND EVENHANDED. I DID NOT CARE WHAT THEIR POLITICS WERE. JUDGE JACKSON IS NOT ANTI-LAW ENFORCEMENT. SHE HAILS FROM A LAW ENFORCEMENT FAMILY. SHE IS ALSO ONE OF THE SUPPORTERS OF PREEMINENT LAW ENFORCEMENT ORGANIZATIONS, INCLUDING THE NATIONAL PATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE. NO, SHE IS NOT SOFT ON CRIME. HER BACKGROUND AS A FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER WOULD BRING AN INFORMED PERSPECTIVE ON OUR CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM TO THE SUPREME COURT. I AM PROUD OF BEING A FORMER PROSECUTOR. THE CONFIDENCE IN MY PROSECUTION OF A CASE WAS STRONGEST WHEN I KNEW THE DEFENDANT HAD THE BEST POSSIBLE REPRESENTATION. WHEN BOTH SIDES AND THE PRESIDING JUDGE HAVE A REAL GRASP ON OUR CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM THAT IS WHEN JUSTICE IS MOST LIKELY TO BE DONE. SO, I WOULD SAY JUDGE JACKSON'S BACKGROUND IS NOT A LIABILITY TO THE COURT, IT IS A MUCH NEEDED ASSET TO THE COURT. AND SINCE HER NOMINATION, TODAY WE HAVE LEARNED ABOUT THE LONG, DISTINGUISHED RECORD OF JUDGE JACKSON. GRADUATE OF HARVARD. HARVARD LAW SCHOOL. A JUDICIAL CLERK, FEDERAL DISTRICT COURT JUDGE, AND MEMBER OF THE U.S. SENTENCING COMMISSION, AN ATTORNEY OF PRIVATE PRACTICE, AND A A FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER. WHAT A RESUME. ALL OF THESE EXPERIENCES AND PERSPECTIVES HAVE PROVIDED HER MASTERY OF OUR JUSTICE SYSTEM. IN PARTICULAR, THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM. IF SHE IS CONFIRMED, SHE WOULD BECOME THE FIRST EVER JUSTICE TO HAVE SERVED AS A FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER. THAT IS AN IMPORTANT EXPERIENCE GIVEN HOW MUCH THE COURT SHAPES OUR CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM. I SAY THAT FROM EXPERIENCE AS A SENATOR BUT ALSO MY EXPERIENCE FOR NEARLY A DECADE AS A PROSECUTOR. AND PERHAPS MOST OF ALL IT IS JUDGE JACKSON'S NEARLY 10 YEARS AS AN APPELLATE AND TRIAL JUDGE TO UNDERSCORE THE EXPERIENCE SHE WOULD BRING TO THE SUPREME COURT. SHE WAS CONFIRMED UNANIMOUSLY BY THE SENATE IN 2013 TO THE D.C. CIRCUIT COURT. SHE SERVED WITH DISTINCTION FOR EIGHT YEARS, ISSUED OVER 500 OPINIONS, PRESIDED OVER A DOZEN TRIALS. A BIPARTISAN MAJORITY OF THE SENATE CONFIRMED HER TO THE D.C. CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS LAST YEAR. LET'S BE HONEST. SHE IS A FAIR AND IMPARTIAL JURIST WITH FIDELITY TO THE LAW ABOVE ALL ELSE. THAT IS WHAT AMERICANS WANT TO SEE IN THE SUPREME COURT JUSTICE. YEARS OF SO-CALLED JUDICIAL WARS HAVE LEFT AMERICANS FEELING LIKE THE COURT HAS BECOME INCREASINGLY PARTISAN. THE EXTREME PRESSURES FROM BOTH SIDES OF THE POLITICAL SPECTRUM HAVE LEFT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WONDERING IF THEY CAN GET A FAIR SHAKE IN OUR COURTS. AND YET, IN THIS MOMENT WE HAVE BEFORE US A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY TO CHANGE THAT NARRATIVE. I AM UNDER NO ILLUSION THAT WE CAN MEND THIS PROCESS OVERNIGHT. BUT WE HAVE BEFORE US A NOMINEE WHO HAS BROUGHT US TOGETHER ACROSS PARTY LINES BEFORE AND ONE I HOPE THAT CAN BRING US BACK TOGETHER AGAIN. THE SENATE CAN CHANGE COURSE ON HOW WE FAIRLY AND OBJECTIVELY EVALUATE NOMINEES. WE CAN DO THAT WITH THE HIGHLY QUALIFIED NOMINEE WE HAVE IN JUDGE JACKSON. AS CHAIR DURBIN SAID, I AM THE PRO TEMPORE OF THE SENATE. I'M A FORMER CHAIRMAN OF THIS COMMITTEE. I HAVE PARTICIPATED IN 20 NOMINATION PROCESSES, MOSTLY INTO CONFIRMATIONS. A SMALL HANDFUL. THE FIRST WAS JOHN PAUL STEVENS. I SUPPORTED NOMINEES FROM BOTH DEMOCRATIC AND RUBBLE -- BOTH DEMOCRATIC AND REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTS. JUDGE JACKSON, I FIND A DISTINGUISHED NOMINEE WITH UNASSAILABLE RECORDS. AND RESPECT REGARDLESS OF PARTY. THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WILL SEE WHAT I HAVE COME TO LEARN IN MY REVIEW OF HER CAREER AND HER LIFE STORY HER NOMINATION IS A REFLECTION OF OUR DEMOCRACY. WE HAVE START TO BECOME MORE INCLUSIVE, MORE REPRESENTATIVE. WE LOOK TO ELECTED OFFICIALS AND JUDGES TO STRENGTHEN OUR DEMOCRACY AND TO RECOGNIZE OUR STRENGTH COMES FROM OUR DIVERSITY. JUDGE JACKSON'S STORY, HER NOMINATION TODAY AS PART OF THE EVOLVING STORY OF AMERICA. SO JUDGE JACKSON, I WANT TO , CONGRATULATE YOU ON THIS NOMINATION. DESPITE ALL THE DARKNESS IN THE WORLD, THE POLITICAL BREAKS OF THE SHIP HAS BECOME A HALLMARK OF CONGRESS IN RECENT YEARS. YOUR NOMINATION FILLS ME WITH HOPE. HOPE FOR THE COURT. HOPE FOR THE RULE OF LAW. HOPE FOR THE COUNTRY. ONE NEED LOOK NO FURTHER THAN THE CHAOS, THE DEVASTATION, AND THE INHUMANITY HALFWAY AROUND THE WORLD IN THE UKRAINE TO KNOW HOW PRECIOUS OUR DEMOCRACY IS AND HOW PRECIOUS THE LEGACY WE HAVE IN OUR INDEPENDENT JUDICIAL -- INDEPENDENT FEDERAL JUDICIARY. I NEED LOOK NO FURTHER THAN MY OWN GRANDCHILDREN, ALL OF THEM, TO KNOW HOW NECESSARY OUR FIGHT FOR FREEDOM, FAIRNESS AND EQUALITY IS. THE INDEPENDENCE AND IMPARTIALITY OF OUR COURTS THROUGH THE SUPREME COURT ARE CORNERSTONES OF THE GREAT EXPERIMENT THAT IS THE UNITED STATES. AND YOU, THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, HAVE A NOMINEE IN WHOM YOU CAN BE PROUD. WE HAVE BEFORE US AN HISTORIC MOMENT AND I HOPE WE CAN MEET IT AS SENATORS. I LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR TESTIMONY. THANK YOU. 