Majority Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On President Biden’s Nomination Of Myrna Pérez To The Second Circuit And Applauding President Biden’s Commitment Bringing Balance And Professional And Personal Diversity Back To The Judiciary

Washington, D.C. –  Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor regarding President Biden’s intention to formally nominate Myrna Pérez to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals and Democrats’ desire to bring balance, experience, and professional and personal diversity back to the judiciary. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

Sometimes good news comes to those who wait and other times it comes rather quickly.

Earlier this year, I recommended to President Biden a prominent voting rights attorney for a key position on the federal bench in New York. Yesterday, President Biden agreed with my recommendation and announced his intention to formally nominate Myrna Pérez for the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. I’m very pleased that the president has chosen her, and I’m so proud to have championed her candidacy.

Ms. Pérez is not only an accomplished attorney who has dedicated her career to equal justice under the law, she is one of the nation’s foremost experts on voting rights and elections. With a national focus on voting rights now, it is a significant step to elevate Ms. Pérez to the federal bench.

Beyond that important expertise, she would also be the first Latina to serve on the Second circuit since now-Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who, incidentally, I suggested to President Obama that he put her on the Supreme Court. Ms. Pérez is a perfect example of Democrats’ desire to bring balance, experience, and professional and personal diversity back to the judiciary.

So far this year, I have made two recommendations to the Second Circuit in New York: Ms. Eunice Lee, a former Federal Defender, and now, Ms. Pérez, a voting rights attorney.

The cupboards of the federal judiciary have long been stocked with former prosecutors and corporate lawyers. It’s about time that civil rights attorneys, voting rights attorneys, and federal defenders like these two outstanding nominees join the ranks.

So again I applaud President Biden’s decision. It’s a very bright day for the future of the federal bench in New York. 

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