I LOOK FORWARD TO OUR ONGOING CONVERSATION ON THAT AREA OF THE LAW AS WELL AS I WANT TO NOW REVISIT SOMETHING THAT HAS BEEN A THEME THROUGHOUT YESTERDAY'S OPENING STATEMENTS AND A LOT OF TODAY'S QUESTIONS FOR OUR MEMBERS AND THAT IS THE GENERAL APPRECIATION FOR DIVERSITY, CELEBRATING HISTORY, WITH THE POTENTIAL IMPACT IT WOULD BE FOR SOMETHING LIKE YOU TO JOIN THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT. -- SOMEONE LIKE YOU TO JOIN THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT. I'M GOING TO TAKE IT TO ANOTHER LEVEL. WHILE JUDGES ARE CERTAINLY THE FACE OF THE JUDICIAL BRANCH, THEIR WORKS, AS YOU CAN APPRECIATE, IS SIGNIFICANTLY SUPPORTED BY THE WORK OF -- TYPICALLY, THESE CLERKS ARE TALENTED YOUNG LAWYERS WHO SPEND A YEAR OR TWO WORKING CLOSELY WITH A JUDGE WHO HIRES THEM, WHO HELPS THEM CONDUCT RESEARCH, RESEARCH THE LAW AND TO WRITE THE GO OPINIONS. THE COURT OF APPEALS AND EVEN THE SUPREME COURT ARE OFTEN THE LAUNCHING PAD FOR A SUCCESSFUL LEGAL CAREER. MANY FORMER CLERKS ARE LEADERS IN THE PROFESSION, THEY SERVE AS PARTNERS, PUBLIC INTEREST LAWYERS, PUBLIC-SECTOR ATTORNEYS , AND YES, FEDERAL JUDGES. SEVEN OF THE NINE CURRENT SUPREME COURT JUSTICES WERE FEDERAL CLERKS ONCE UPON A TIME. SIX OF THE NINE JUSTICES CLERK AT THE SUPREME COURT ITSELF SO IT IS NO WONDER THAT MANY LAW STUDENTS AND RECENT GRADUATES COMPETE PRETTY INTENSELY FOR THESE COVETED POSITIONS. LIKE THE JUDICIARY ITSELF, THE RANKS OF FEDERAL CLERKS ARE NOT PARTICULARLY DIVERSE. ACCORDING TO A BULLETIN BY THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LAW PLACEMENT, ONLY 21% OF FEDERAL CLERKS FROM THE CLASS OF 2019 WERE PEOPLE OF COLOR. AT THE SUPREME COURT, THE NATIONAL LAW JOURNAL REPORTED IN 2017 AND INDICATED THAT SINCE 2005, ONLY 15% OF CLERKS WERE PEOPLE OF COLOR AND ONLY ONE THIRD WERE WOMEN. THESE ARE UNACCEPTABLY LOW FIGURES FOR WHAT HAS BECOME A DE FACTO PIPELINE FOR FEDERAL JUDGES. WITH SUCH THOUGH SELECTION RATES , MINORITIES AND WOMEN LAWYERS ARE DENIED EARLY CREDENTIALS THAT CAN BE OF SIGNIFICANT HELP LATER IN THEIR LEGAL CAREER, CREATING MORE AVENUES TO PARTICIPATE IS CRITICAL TO DIVERSIFYING THE LEGAL PROFESSION IN THE LONG RUN. WOULD YOU LIKE TO SHARE WITH THE COMMITTEE YOUR CLERKSHIP EXPERIENCE AND HOW EFFECTIVE THE TRAJECTORY OF YOUR CAREER AND IF YOU BELIEVE THE JUDICIARY WILL BE BETTER SERVED BY A MORE DIVERSE POOL OF LAW CLERKS? JUDGE JACKSON: 