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Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, today, the Senate will vote to confirm Judge Jeffrey Cummings to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Judge Cummings received his bachelor's degree from Michigan State University and his J.D. from the Northwestern University School of Law. Following law school, he clerked for Judge Ann Claire Williams on the Northern District of Illinois.

Judge Cummings then entered private practice in Chicago, where he developed expertise in various civil rights issues, including employment discrimination, voting rights, and housing discrimination.

He has spent nearly his entire practice litigating in Federal courts and has tried eight cases to verdict. Notably, he worked on the largest ever hospice-related recovery for the United States in the history of the False Claims Act.

While in private practice, Judge Cummings also served as an administrative hearing officer for the city of Chicago Commission on Human Relations and as a hearing officer for the city of Chicago Police Board, where he was responsible for conducting contested disciplinary hearings in cases involving allegations of misconduct against Chicago police officers.

In 2019, Judge Cummings was selected by the district judges of the Northern District to serve as a magistrate judge. Since joining the bench, he has handled both civil and criminal matters and has presided over three jury trials.

The American Bar Association unanimously rated Judge Cummings ``well qualified,'' and he has the strong support of Senator Duckworth and myself. Given his vast litigation background and experience on the bench, he will be a tremendous addition to the court. I am honored to vote for his confirmation, and I urge my colleagues join me.

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