THANK YOU. GOOD AFTERNOON, JUDGE. THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE, THANK YOU TO YOUR FAMILY, AND THANK YOU TO PRESIDENT BIDEN FOR HIS VISION AND WISDOM AND COURAGE IN NOMINATING YOU. FIRST, ON A PERSONAL NOTE, FOR ALL OF YOUR EXTRAORDINARY ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND YOUR IMMENSE DISTINCTION, YOU HAVE SHOWN TWO QUALITIES THAT ARE RARE AMONG POWERFUL ACCOMPLISHED PEOPLE. KINDNESS AND HUMOR. AND YOU ARE OBVIOUSLY A GOOD LISTENER, AS YOU ARE DOING A LOT OF LISTENING HERE TODAY. AS YOU HAVE SEEN, WE'RE LIKELY TO HEAR MORE THAN A FEW STRAWMEN TODAY. WORN TALKING POINTS. IMAGINE THE GRIEVANCES. BUT THIS HEARING SHOULD REALLY BE ABOUT YOU, NOT ABOUT US. HISTORIC IS A WORD OFTEN OVERUSED IN THIS PLACE, WHERE A LOT OF HISTORY IS MADE. BUT TODAY SEEMS TRULY TO MERIT IT. CERTAINLY IT IS AN INFLECTION POINT. AN INFLECTION PINNACLE FOR OUR NATION. THE APPOINTMENT OF A BLACK WOMAN TO THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT WOULD BE, VERY BLUNT, SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED YEARS AGO. THIS DAY IS A GIANT LEAP INTO THE PRESENT FOR OUR COUNTRY AND FOR THE COURT. EMPLOYMENT OF A BLACK WOMAN TO THE COURT MEANS THAT YOUR SERVICE WILL MAKE THE COURT LOOK MORE LIKE AMERICA. IT WILL ALSO HOPEFULLY MAKE THE COURT THINK MORE LIKE AMERICA. WE WILL NEVER KNOW IN DETAIL ALL THE CHALLENGES AND OBSTACLES YOU HAVE OVERCOME. BUT WE KNOW FOR SURE THAT YOU WILL BRING AN IMPORTANT PERSPECTIVE. IN FACT, A UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE, TO A COURT THAT DEEPLY NEEDS IT. REPRESENTATION MATTERS FOR THE LEGITIMACY AND CREDIBILITY OF OUR JUDICIAL SYSTEM. JUDGES ARE THE FACE AND VOICE OF JUSTICE. PEOPLE WALKING INTO YOUR COURTROOM OR ANY OTHER IN THIS COUNTRY LOOK TO THE HUMAN BEING NOT JUST TO THE ROPE. TYOO OFTEN OUR COURTS ARE ISOLATED, SEEMINGLY STERILE MARBLE HALLS LACKING EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE. THE FACT THAT YOU CLEARLY AND DRAMATICALLY UNDERSTAND. WHAT KNOCKED ME OVER IN OUR MEETING WAS THE FACT THAT YOU DISCUSSED YOUR JOB AS A JUDGE IN TERMS OF THE PEOPLE WHO ARE AFFECTED BY YOUR RULING. THE PEOPLE WHOSE LIVES ARE TOUCHED BY THE JUSTICE SYSTEM. WHETHER AS VICTIMS, CRIMINAL DEFENDANTS. YOU WILL BE THE FIRST PUBLIC DEFENDER ON THE COURT. YOU UNDERSTAND OUR JUSTICE SYSTEM UNIQUELY THROUGH THE EYES OF PEOPLE WHO COULD NOT AFFORD A LAWYER. THEY COULD NOT AFFORD THEIR OWN LAWYER. AND YOU ADVOCATED FOR THEM. YOU ALSO BROUGHT EXTRAORDINARY INTELLECT AND CHARACTER AS WELL AS DIVERSE PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL. . YOUR PRESENCE WILL ENSURE THE COURT MORE DEEPLY UNDERSTANDS THE LIVES AND EXPERIENCES OF EVERYDAY AMERICANS. YOU GREW UP AS THE DAUGHTER OF TWO PUPPETS SERVANTS, PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS -- PUBLIC SERVANTS, PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS. YOU HAVE UNCLES WITH IMPRESSIVE LAW ENFORCEMENT CAREERS, INCLUDING ONE AS MIAMI'S CHIEF OF POLICE. YOU ALSO HAVE FAMILY MEMBERS WHO HAVE STRUGGLED, AS DO EVERY AMERICAN. AND YOU HAVE ADVOCATED FOR DEFENDANTS WHO HAVE BEEN CONVICTED OF SUCH FIRMS. YOU'RE AN IMMENSELY DEVOTED PARENT WHO HAS ACHIEVED EYE-POPPING PROFESSIONAL DISTINCTION. YOU HAVE A LONG CAREER AS A JUDGE. YOU WILL BRING MORE EXPERIENCE AS A TRIAL JUDGE THAN ANY OTHER JUSTICE CURRENTLY ON THE COURT. IF I ADDRESSED THE IMPORTANCE OF YOUR WORK, I WAS A PROSECUTOR AND LAW ENFORCEMENT FOR A WHILE. AS A PROSECUTOR, I KNOW THE SYSTEM WORKS BEST WHEN THERE ARE GOOD LAWYERS ON BOTH SIDES. MY WORST NIGHTMARE IS A PROSECUTOR WAS A DEFENDANT REPRESENTING ITSELF. MY SECOND WORST NIGHTMARE WAS AN INCOMPETENT COUNSEL. I KNOW EFFECTIVE REPRESENTATION ON THE OTHERS ADMINS MORE LIKELY ERROR-FREE. ABOUT THOSE ALLEGATIONS. THEY ARE MERITLESS TO THE POINT OF DEMAGOGUERY. IMPORTANTLY, YOUR RECORD AS A JURIST ALSO REVEALS IMPARTIALITY. YOU ARE A PROVEN UNIFIER AND CONSENSUS BUILDER, SOMEONE WHO CAN BUILD BRIDGES AMONG COLLEAGUES, EVEN ADVERSARIES. NOT SURPRISINGLY, YOU HAVE BEEN CONFIRMED ON A BIPARTISAN BASIS THREE TIMES BY THE SENATE. YOU HAVE RECEIVED GLOWING ENDORSEMENTS FROM FORMER JUDGES, WHO ARE STALWARTS OF A CONSERVATIVE MOVEMENT. THE COURT NEEDS A BRIDGE BUILDER. IT HAS BECOME MORE POLARIZED, MORE DIVIDED THAN AT ANY POINT IN OUR HISTORY, AND IT FACES A CRISIS OF LEGITIMACY AS A RESULT. DARK MONEY, SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS HAVE SOUGHT TO RADICALLY RESHAPE THE COURT. THE RECENT SELECTIONS OF JUSTICES WAS COMING TO A REMARKABLE DEGREE, OUTSOURCED TO IDEOLOGICAL GROUPS WITH AN EXPRESS AIM OF REMAKING THE COURT TO THE FAR RIGHT, CONSERVATIVE MOVEMENT. THIS COURT WILL CONTINUE TO OVERTHROW WELL-ESTABLISHED PRECEDENTS, WHILE PROMISING US, MEMBERS OF THIS COMMITTEE, THAT IT WOULD RESPECT THOSE PRECEDENTS, AND INSTEAD, IT THREATENS TO ADOPT PREFERRED POLICY VIEWS. I CLERKED FOR A JUSTICE MYSELF, HARRY BLACKMUN. I HAVE ARGUED FOR TIMES BEFORE THE COURT. I AM DEEPLY CONCERNED THAT THIS COURT IS CAREENING TOWARD A PRECIPICE THAT WILL GRAVELY THREATEN ITS ROLE IN OUR HISTORY, THAT IT IS OUT OF STEP WITH AMERICA, AND THAT IT IS LOSING THE TRUST AND RESPECT OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE THAT ARE ESSENTIAL TO ITS AUTHORITY. TRUST IN THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT IS AT A NEW LOW. THE SUPREME COURT HAS NO ARMY, NO POLICE FORCE TO ENFORCE ITS DECISIONS. ITS AUTHORITY DEPENDS ON ITS CREDIBILITY AND THE TRUST OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. MY HOPE IS THAT YOU WILL HELP TO RESTORE THAT TRUST, THAT YOU WILL RE-INSPIRE THE CONFIDENCE OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE IN THE COURT. I TRAVELED, AS DID MY COLLEAGUE, SENATOR KLOBUCHAR, TO POLAND JUST A WEEK AGO, AND I SAW PEOPLE FLEEING BOMBS AND DESTRUCTION, PEOPLE, MOSTLY WOMEN AND CHILDREN, WHO WANTED NOTHING MORE THAN THE KINDS OF FREEDOMS THAT WE HAVE IN THIS COUNTRY. WE HAVE AN OBLIGATION TO PRESERVE THEM, AND MY HOPE IS THAT YOUR NOMINATION WILL HELP US DO SO. THANK YOU. I LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR TESTIMONY. 