THANK YOU. IF YOU ARE CONFIRMED, YOU WOULD BE ONE OF ONLY TWO JUSTICES WHO HAS SERVED ON A FEDERAL DISTRICT COURT, THE OTHER ONE BEING JUSTICE SOTOMAYOR OR. YOU WROTE NEARLY 600 OPINIONS AND RESIDED OVER NINE JURY TRIALS AND THREE BENCH TRIALS. AS YOU KNOW FROM YOUR SERVICE ON THE DISTRICT COURT, IT IS IMPORTANT FOR APPEALS COURTS AND ESPECIALLY THE SUPREME COURT TO BE CLEAR IN THEIR DECISIONS. THE CLARITY IS NECESSARY TO DO THEIR JOB AND PROPERLY APPLIED LEGAL PRECEDENTS THAT ARE FAIR AND CONSISTENT. AS A DISTRICT JUDGE, YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR APPLYING PRECEDENT FROM THE SUPREME COURT AND COURTS OF APPEAL TO YOUR CASE AND NOW AS A JUDGE IN THE D.C. CIRCUIT JUDGE YOU ARE DRAFTING THOSE PRECEDENTS. YOUR EXPERIENCE AS A TRIAL JUDGE IS ONE OF YOUR MOST SIGNIFICANT ASSETS AND I WANT TO ADD A PERSONAL COMMENT. THIS IS A TOUGH PLACE. YOU ARE HANDLING IT VERY WELL. I APPRECIATE YOUR DIRECTNESS AND I THINK THAT IS IMPORTANT. I HAVE TWO ELATED QUESTIONS. HOW DID YOU MAKE SURE THAT YOU ARE PROPERLY APPLYING THE RELEVANT PRECEDENTS AS A DISTRICT COURT JUDGE? IF YOU ARE CONFIRMED TO THE SUPREME COURT, WHAT WOULD YOU DO TO MAKE SURE YOUR OPINIONS ARE CLEAR SO THEY COULD BE APPLIED CORRECTLY BY DISTRICT COURTS? YOU, SENATOR. AS YOU NOTED, IN MY TIME AS A DISTRICT COURT JUDGE, I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO APPLY PRECEDENTS THAT WERE HANDED DOWN BY THE COURT OF APPEALS SUPREME COURT. THE DISTRICT COURT IS BOUND BY THE LAW AS STATED BY THOSE OTHER TRIBUNALS AND I WAS VERY FOCUSED ON MAKING SURE THAT I FOUND THE RIGHT PRECEDENTS AND APPLIED THEM FAITHFULLY. AS I MENTIONED WITH RESPECT TO MY METHODOLOGY, PART OF THE PROCESS IS RECEIVING INFORMATION FROM THE PARTIES IN A CASE. THE PARTIES WRITE BRIEFS AND IN MOST CASES, THEY IDENTIFY THE PRECEDENTS THAT THEY BELIEVE ARE APPLICABLE THEN THE COURT DOES ITS OWN LEGAL RESEARCH AS WELL TO DETERMINE WHETHER ALL OF THE RELEVANT CASES HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED. THEN YOU LOOK TO SEE WHETHER THERE IS ANYTHING THAT DIRECTLY CONTROLS AND IF IT DOES, THAT IS YOUR ANSWER. IN MANY CASES, THE PRECEDENTS MIGHT BE A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT IN CERTAIN WAYS AND YOU ARE ASSESSING THE PARTIES ARGUMENT IN DETERMINING WITHIN YOUR PROPER ROLE WHETHER WHAT THE APPELLATE COURTS HAVE SAID PROVIDES THE LAW OF DECISION FOR THE CASE. WHAT IS IMPORTANT AS YOU MENTIONED IS THE CLARITY BY WHICH COURTS OF APPEALS AND THE SUPREME COURT NEED TO OPERATE SO THAT THE LOWER COURTS CAN FOLLOW THE PRECEDENT. I AM CONSCIOUS OF THAT AS YOU SAID AS SOMEONE WHO IS HAD TO FOLLOW PRECEDENT AND I WOULD THINK CAREFULLY ABOUT THAT AND USE MY COMMUNICATION SKILLS TO ENSURE THAT THE PRECEDENTS ARE CLEAR SO THE LOWER COURTS CAN FOLLOW THEM. 