THANK YOU, MR. CHAIRMAN. JUDGE JACKSON, ALOHA. I KNOW THERE ARE PEOPLE HERE TO SUPPORT YOU. ALOHA TO ALL OF YOU. CONGRATULATIONS, JUDGE JACKSON, TO ALL THAT YOU HAVE ACCOMPLISHED THROUGHOUT YOUR LIFE AND CAREER. I KNOW A LOT OF YOUR BACKGROUNDS AND EXPERIENCES HAVE BEEN CITED, BUT SOME THINGS ARE WORTH REPEATING, SO I AM GOING TO REPEAT THEM. YOU ARE THE NATIONAL CHAMPION OF SPEECH AND DEBATE AS A HIGHSCHOOLER. YOU HAVE UNDERGRADUATE AND LAW DEGREES FROM HARVARD, EACH WITH HONORS, THREE CLERKSHIPS OF FEDERAL COURT, INCLUDING ONE FOR JUSTICE BREYER, WHO YOU HAVE BEEN NOMINATED TO REPLACE. IN WASHINGTON DC TO TO PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS. YOU MOVED TO MIAMI, FLORIDA AT A YOUNG AGE. THAT WAY YOUR DECK TO GO TO LAW SCHOOL. YOU ARE INSPIRED TO PURSUE A CAREER IN LAW BY WATCHING YOUR DAD STUDY HIS LAW CLASSES AT THE KITCHEN TABLE. YOU CONSIDERED ATTENDING HARVARD, I THOUGHT THAT HAD NOT PREVIOUSLY ENTERED YOUR MIND AFTER ATTENDING A SPEECH ON THE HARVARD CAMPUS. YOU HAVE BEEN CONFIRMED THREE TIMES BY THE SENATE. ALL ON A BIPARTISAN BASIS. YOU ARE THE SECOND-GENERATION AND YOUR FAMILY TO GO TO COLLEGE AND WORKED EXTREMELY HARD TO GET WHERE YOU ARE TODAY. YOU ARE A WIFE AND MOTHER OF TWO CHILDREN. CLEARLY YOUR WIFE AND CAREER HAVE MORE THAN PREPARED YOU TO SERVE ON OUR NATION'S HIGHEST COURT. THAT IS WHY THERE IS BROAD CONSENSUS ACROSS THE GLOBAL SPECTRUM THAT YOU ARE EMINENTLY QUALIFIED AND IS A FORMER COURT CIRCUIT JUDGE, YOU ARE AS HIGHLY EXPERIENCED IN THE LAW AS ANY NOMINEE IN HISTORY. IN HISTORY, THE ATTORNEY GENERAL SAID JUDGE JACKSON IS A HIGHLY QUALIFIED LEGAL MIND. AND WILL SERVE OUR NATION WELL IS THE FIRST BLACK WOMAN TO SERVE ON THE U.S. SUPREME COURT. A GROUP OF LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS SAID JUDGE JACKSON BRINGS A DEPTH OF CHARACTER, PUBLIC SERVICE AND JUDICIAL SERVICE THAT LEADS TO ONE CONCLUSION. SHE IS EMINENTLY QUALIFIED TO SERVE ON THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES. YOU HAVE ISSUED NEARLY 600 OPINIONS THAT DEMONSTRATE A CLEAR, EVENHANDED APPROACH TO THE LAW. YOU HAVE SERVED FOR AND AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT. THOMAS GRIFFITH, A GEORGE W. BUSH APPOINTEE SUMMED IT UP BEST WHEN HE SAID YOU WILL ADJUDICATE BASED ON THE FACTS AND THE LAW AND NOT AS A PARTISAN. HAVING REVIEWED YOUR RECORD, I STRONGLY AGREE WITH THIS STATEMENT. BUT YOU ARE NOT JUST EXTREMELY QUALIFIED TO SERVE IN THE SUPREME COURT, YOUR NOMINATION IS HISTORIC. THE SUPREME COURT HAS EXISTED FOR OVER 233 YEARS. 150 INJUSTICES IN THE HISTORY OF THE SUPREME COURT. ONLY FIVE OF THEM HAVE BEEN WOMEN. ONLY TWO OF THEM HAVE BEEN BLACK. NOT A SINGLE ONE HAS BEEN BLACK WOMEN. THIS IS A COURT THAT HAS DECIDED CASES THAT HAVE HAD SWEEPING EFFECTS ON EVERYDAY LIFE AS A NUMBER OF MY COLLEAGUES HAVE POINTED OUT. INCLUDING DECISIONS THAT SOLIDIFIED RIGHTS FOR THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY. THIS IS ALSO THE SAME COURT THAT UPHELD SLAVERY, JIM CROW LAWS AND JAPANESE-AMERICANS. THE INDIVIDUAL MAKING DECISIONS THAT HAVE ALTERED THE COURSE OF THIS COUNTRY HAVE ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY BEEN WHITE MEN. IT IS PRETTY REMARKABLE WHEN YOU CONSIDER THE POWER THAT THIS COURT HAS AND THE HISTORICAL LACK OF DIVERSITY OF THE PEOPLE WHO EXERCISE THAT POWER. INSTEAD OF CELEBRATING THE LONG OVERDUE DIVERSITY, MY COLLEAGUES AND FIGURES HAVE ATTEMPTED TO UNDERMINE QUALIFICATIONS THROUGH THE PEJORATIVE USE OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION. THEY MAY HAVE IMPLIED THAT YOU ARE SOLELY NOMINATED DUE TO YOUR RACE AND NOT FOR OTHER FACTORS. SOME HAVE EVEN CLAIMED THAT YOU NEED TO SHOW YOUR L SOURCE -- LSAT SCORES. THIS IS INCREDIBLY OFFENSIVE AND CONDESCENDING. THE NOMINATION IS NOT ABOUT FILLING A QUOTA. IT IS ABOUT TIME. IT IS ABOUT TIME THAT WE HAVE A HIGHLY QUALIFIED, HIGHLY ACCOMPLISHED BLACK WOMEN ON THE SUPREME COURT. IT IS ABOUT TIME OUR HIGH SCORE BETTER REFLECT THE COUNTRY IT SERVES. IT IS ABOUT TIME THAT BLACK WOMEN AND GIRLS ACROSS THE COUNTRY CAN FINALLY SEE THEMSELVES LOOK LIKE THEM SITTING ON THE HIGHEST COURT. MAKING DECISIONS THAT WILL IMPACT THEIR LIVES. THEY WILL KNOW IT IS POSSIBLE FOR THEM TO DO THE SAME. ONE CANNOT OVERSTATE THE IMPORTANCE OF REPRESENTATION. YOUR EXPERIENCE AND BACKGROUND AS A TRIAL JUDGE AND SO MUCH MORE PROVIDE YOU WITH A UNIQUELY DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE THEN ANY OF THE EIGHT OTHER JUSTICES ON THE COURT. I KNOW YOU WILL ENGAGE WITH THE OTHER JUSTICES BOTH LIBERAL AND CONSERVATIVE. YOU ARE A CONSENSUS BUILDER, TO SHARE THEIR PERSPECTIVE, CHALLENGE THEIR VIEW AND SHAPE THE COURT POSITIVE ACTION FOR THE BETTER. WITH THE PROFESSIONAL AND PERSONAL DIVERSITY YOU BRING, YOU HAVE THE DECISIONS THE COURT MAKES WHICH WILL BE BETTER AS A RESULT. BEFORE I END, I WANT TO MENTION THAT I WAS SO GLAD TO HEAR THIS REFERENCED DURING YOUR INTRODUCTORY PRESS CONFERENCE. SHE HELPED THE ARGUMENT. THAT FINALLY PUT AN END TO SEPARATE BUT EQUAL. SHE WAS THE FIRST BLACK WOMAN TO ARGUE BEFORE THE SUPREME COURT. ULTIMATELY ARGUING 10 CASES BEFORE THE COURT AND WINNING NINE, INCLUDING THE CASE THAT ALLOWED JAMES MEREDITH -- SHE BECAME THE FIRST BLACK WOMAN APPOINTED AS A FEDERAL JUDGE. IN A WORLD FREE OF DISCRIMINATION, SHE MAY BE THE FIRST BLACK WOMAN TO -- AND THAT YOU STAND ON JUDGE MOTLEY'S SHOULDERS. I HAVE NO DOUBT THERE WILL BE A GENERATION OF YOUNG GIRLS THAT WILL STAND ON YOURS. I HAVE NO DOUBT THAT YOU WILL RESPOND TO SOME OF THE ALLEGATIONS THAT HAVE BEEN LODGED AGAINST YOU. I CONGRATULATE YOU. AND YOUR FAMILY. I LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING FROM YOU THIS WEEK. MOMALA AND ALOHA. 