Majority Leader Schumer Floor Remarks Embracing President Biden’s Commitment To Nominating And Confirming The First Black Woman To The Supreme Court
Washington, D.C. – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor regarding the importance of embracing President Biden’s commitment to nominating and confirming the first Black woman in U.S. history to the Supreme Court. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:
Since the time John Jay was inaugurated as the first Chief Justice, 115 individuals have been chosen to sit on the US Supreme Court.
Out of these 115 Justices, only five—only five—have been women. Only two have been African Americans. Only one has been Hispanic. And to date, never—never—has an African American woman sat on the Highest Court in the Land.
Soon, President Biden will have an opportunity to make the Supreme Court look more like America by nominating the first Black woman in US history to serve as a Justice.
Every single member of this chamber, regardless of party, should embrace the President’s commitment to make sure our courts — and especially the Supreme Court — better reflect our country’s diversity, and nominating a Black woman as a Justice is a long-overdue step towards achieving that goal.
Past Presidents from Eisenhower to Johnson to Reagan were clear about their intentions of nominating historic and barrier-breaking individuals to the Supreme Court.
President Biden’s commitment to nominate a Black woman is a continuation of that important effort.
And once President Biden announces his nominee, I intend to have the Senate move quickly so we can fulfill our constitutional duty to advise and consent—and ultimately confirm—the President’s pick.
We will have a fair process, but also a quick process so that the work of the Supreme Court continues uninterrupted.
If our democracy is to prosper in the 21st century, the American people must have confidence that our federal courts will faithfully adhere to the solemn principles of “equal justice under law.” The more our judges reflect our nation’s vibrancy and rich diversity, the more effectively they will be able to administer equal justice.
And make no mistake: a more balanced, more diverse judiciary has been one of Senate Democrats’ top priorities in our work with the Biden Administration. Over the past year we have worked at a record pace to confirm the most judicial nominees in the President’s first year since the time of Ronald Reagan. And we’ve done it with nominees who bring diversity in their backgrounds, their life experiences, and professional expertise, something that didn’t happen, really, in a large way until last year.
One day, I hope the barrier-breakers of today will be closer to the norm of tomorrow: we want more women to sit on our courts, especially the Supreme Court. We need more people of color, more public defenders, more civil rights lawyers, more children of immigrants to sit on our court, to reflect the broad diversity that America is and will continue to be. In fact, it will continue to grow.
The more Americans look at our courts and see people who look like them and come from the same backgrounds and share similar experiences, the better off our justice system and our democracy shall be.
And nowhere else is this more important than the Supreme Court, so I applaud the President’s commitment to choosing a qualified and historic nominee, and the Senate stands ready to work quickly to confirm President Biden’s pick when we get it.
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