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Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, today, the Senate will vote on the nomination of Justice Adrienne Nelson, who has been nominated to the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon.

If confirmed, she will be the first Black woman to serve on the District of Oregon. This will be just one in a history of firsts Justice Nelson has accomplished.

Born in Kansas City, MO, Justice Nelson was the first Black valedictorian at her Arkansas high school post-integration in 1985. She went on to earn her B.A. summa cum laude from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville in 1989 and her J.D. from the University of Texas at Austin in 1993.

Justice Nelson began her legal career at Multnomah Defenders, Inc., a public interest law firm in Portland, OR, representing indigent defendants charged with State crimes for 3 years. She then joined a Portland-area law firm as an associate, where she represented a wide- range of clients, from individuals to private businesses and labor unions, for 5 years. In 2004, she became the coordinator and senior attorney for the student legal and mediation services at Portland State University. During her time in practice, she tried more than 40 cases, including 25 jury trials.

In 2006, Justice Nelson was appointed to serve as a circuit court judge for the Multnomah County Circuit Court. She presided over approximately 315 cases over 12 years of service on that court.

In 2018, Justice Nelson became the first Black justice to serve on Oregon's highest court. Since then, she has authored 33 majority opinions.

Senators Wyden and Merkley strongly support Justice Nelson's nomination, and the American Bar Association has unanimously rated her ``well qualified'' to serve on the District of Oregon.

I urge all of my colleagues to join me in supporting this highly- qualified nominee.

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