Majority Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On Senate Democrats Continuing To Advance And Confirm President Biden’s Qualified and Diverse Judicial Nominees

Washington, D.C.– Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor on continued Senate Democrat efforts to fill vacancies in our judiciary with qualified and diverse candidates. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

Today will be a very busy day here on the Senate floor.

This morning, we will vote to advance and then confirm the nomination of Jeremy Daniel to serve as District Judge for the Northern District of Illinois.

We will also vote to advance the nomination of Darrell Papillion to serve as a District Judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

Mr. Daniel and Mr. Papillion are highly regarded and skilled litigators with impressive credentials, and both received a bipartisan vote out of the Judiciary Committee. So, I expect both nominees to move through this chamber with bipartisan support, and I thank my Republican colleagues for working with us.

We will vote to proceed with Nancy Abudu to serve as Circuit Judge for the Eleventh Circuit.

If confirmed, Ms. Abudu would be the first Black woman ever to serve on the Eleventh Circuit – another critical step in breaking down the barriers in the halls of justice. The eleventh circuit covers Alabama, Florida, and Georgia, home to nearly 8 million Black Americans, and she will be only the third black jurist ever – and the first Black woman jurist ever – to preside on that court.

The daughter of Ghanaian immigrants who worked her way up to become one of the nation’s leading civil rights attorneys, Ms. Abudu is an embodiment of the American Dream. And she has dedicated her career to ensuring that dream is alive and well for everyone in this country.

Throughout her career, Ms. Abudu has ensured our laws and our institutions work for all of us equally. She’s dedicated herself particularly to the cause of democracy, of protecting the right to vote, and has fought back against attempts to shut Americans out of the democratic process. I am certain Ms. Abudu will continue to apply the law equally and impartially from the federal bench and I look forward to advancing her nomination today.

I am proud of the historic progress this Senate Majority has made in advancing and confirming highly qualified, diverse judicial nominees to lifetime appointments to the bench. And you can be sure we are going to keep going.

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