JUDGE, WELCOME BACK. I WOULD LIKE TO ASSOCIATE MYSELF WITH PARTS OF WHAT CHRIS SAID IN HIS CLOSING. I WOULD DIFFER WITH HIM ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT GETTING INTO A POSITION ON -- MATTERS. I WOULD LIKE TO AFFIRM CHRIS'S POINT ABOUT THE BEAUTY OF AMERICA YOU TOLD THROUGH THE EYES OF YOUR PARENTS AND THE CHANGES, THE GROWTH IN THE COUNTRY OVER THE COURSE OF THE LAST FEW GENERATIONS. THE WALL STREET JOURNAL HAD AN EDITORIAL THIS MORNING THAT SAID THE SAME THING CHRIS JUST SAID. THE HIM TO AMERICA YOU GAVE IN YOUR OPENING MONDAY AFTERNOON AND SOME OF YOUR COMMENTS YESTERDAY WERE INSPIRING AND BEAUTIFUL. I ASSOCIATE MYSELF WITH SENATOR KUNZ ON THAT. I WOULD TO TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR TIME AS A JUDGE AND THE GROWTH AND CHANGE OVER THAT TIME. TAKE US BACK NINE YEARS AND MAYBE FIVE YEARS AGO AND TODAY. HOW HAS YOUR APPROACH OF BEING A JUDGE CHANGED FROM YEAR ONE TO TODAY? JUDGE JACKSON: THANK YOU, SENATOR. THERE WAS A LITTLE BIT OF GROWTH. I HOPE THERE WAS A LITTLE BIT OF GROWTH. IN YEAR ONE AND YEAR FIVE, I WAS STILL A DISTRICT JUDGE. IN BOTH THOSE YEARS, IT DIFFERED DRAMATICALLY FROM MY WORK AS AN APPELLATE JUDGE WHICH IS WHERE I WAS CURRENTLY STATIONED. IN EVERY JOB, YEAR ONE, YOU ARE NEW, TRYING TO FIGURE THINGS OUT. I DON'T KNOW THAT I HAD QUITE PINNED DOWN AT THE VERY BEGINNING EXACTLY HOW I WOULD APPROACH CASES. BY THE TIME I GOT TO YEAR FIVE, I HAD A REALLY GOOD SENSE OF THIS JUDGING THING. AND WAS ABLE TO DEMONSTRATE IN MY OPINIONS THE MANY OPINIONS I HAVE WRITTEN. THE WAY IN WHICH I GO ABOUT MAKING MY DECISIONS. I WAS ABLE TO DEMONSTRATE, THE PARTIES IN THE CASE, THE ISSUES IN THE CASE, WHAT IT IS ABOUT, FROM A STANDPOINT THAT PERSONAL PREFERENCE IS NOT AN ISSUE. I AM SETTING THOSE THINGS ASIDE. I AM RULING FROM A POSITION OF NEUTRALITY AND TRYING TO DETERMINE IN EVERY CASE WHAT THE LAW REQUIRES. I AM LOOKING AT ONLY THE FACTS IN THE CASE. I AM EVALUATING THE PARTIES IN THE CASES. IF IT IS INTERPRETATION, I AM TRYING TO INTERPRET WHAT CONGRESS HAS INTENDED. I HAVE BEEN COMMITTED TO THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THAT IS THE ROLE AND THE ONLY APPROPRIATE ROLE FOR A JUDGE. ...