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Floor Speech
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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I am honored to serve as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, where the committee members work hard to protect freedom, advance justice, protect equality, and bring balance to our Federal authorities.
Over the past 4 years, we have advanced well-qualified nominees to the Federal bench who reflect the reality of America. We have made significant progress on issues important to our Nation. For many of us, the outcome of last week's election was not what we wanted, what we fought for, or what we voted for. But my priorities for the committee have not changed because of the election. I will continue to work on issues that are important to all Americans: judicial confirmations, reproductive rights for women, fixing our broken immigration system, and gun violence protection.
I am especially proud of the committee's contributions to one of the most important accomplishments of the Biden-Harris administration: confirming highly qualified, independent, evenhanded judges to the Federal bench. During the Biden administration, the Senate has confirmed 213 well-qualified judges to lifetime appointments on the Federal bench. One-fourth of all the Federal judgeships have been filled in the last 4 years, and counting.
Aside from their exceptional qualifications and respect for the rule of law, these judges represent historic demographic and professional diversity. Under President Biden's leadership, the Senate has confirmed more Black women to the Federal circuit courts than all Presidents combined, including--and I am proud to say this--the first ever Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. She is exceptional.
We have confirmed a historic number of Asian-American, Latino, and LGBTQ+ judges. We have also confirmed more circuit judges with experience as public defenders than all other Presidents combined.
The American people deserve a Federal judiciary which looks like America and reflects our reality. Until the end of my tenure as chair, I will continue to urge my colleagues to support the confirmation of these well-qualified and diverse judicial nominees.
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