record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: thank you, mr. president. just a few days america's eyes will turn toward the senate judiciary committee as we begin the process of considering judge ketanji brown jackson for her nomination to the supreme court. it's going to be an historic moment on monday, as judge jackson appears before the committee. gaveling the hearing together as chair of the committee will ranking as one of the highest honors of my career in congress. next week the american people will have chance to meet judge jackson, learn about her, her professional record, and her life experience.

but for now let me briefly share a few things that have impressed me the most. by now i'm sure many have heard about her experience. judge jackson sasse collective bargaininged at every level of the -- judge jackson has clerked at every level of the federal judiciary. most would consider a clerkship apartment any level as an achievement for years. she served at every level of the federal judiciary including the supreme court. she served in many. she was confirmed by the senate unanimously to serve on the u.s. sentencing commission and she would be the first justice since thurgood marshall with considerable defense experience. her qualifications are exceptional. in every role she's held, she has earned a reputation for thoughtfulness, even handedness and collegiality and just as impressive as judge jackson's record is her character and

temperament. humble, personable, she's g.e.d. indicated herself to i can maaing about our legal system more understandable and more accessible for everyone who came in her courtroom. finally, of course, there is the perspective that judge jackson will bring. over the course of its history, 115 justices have served on the supreme court. if she's confirmed, judge jackson will be the 116th. but she would be the first supreme court justice who is the daughter of parents who felt the crushing oppression of segregation and the first justice who has represented the indigent as a public defender. judge jackson also comes from a law enforcement family, has a deep appreciate for the risk of police officers like her brother and uncles, and i believe one served on the baltimore police department. indeed, with judge jackson's confirmation, the supreme court would come closer to fully

reflecting the diversity of america. when justice breyer announced his retirement, i promised that the process for confirming his predecessor would be fair and timely. well, it has been. for instance, the committee sent a bipartisan committee questionnaire to judge jackson. in response, she provided materials that shed considerable light on her record, her accomplishments, her write beings, her legal reasoning. notably, this included more than 12,000 pages of public records from judge jackson's time on the sentencing commission. the committee also sent a bipartisan document request to the obama presidential library. that request sought documents relating to judge jackson's nomination to both the sentencing commission and the united states district court for the district of columbia. in response to that request, the obama library produced more than 70,000 pages of material. additionally, judge jackson has written hundreds of opinions,

almost 600 now, which provide extensive insight into her legal philosophy. in short, the committee has all the information it needs to evaluate judge jackson's qualifications to sit on the supreme court. we have sent a lot of questions for follow-up, too. she always responded in a timely way. so we're going to proceed with her hearing come monday. this process will provide committee members an opportunity to question judge jackson, to learn more about her approach to judicial decision-making, her views on precedent, her record on and off the bench. here is how the hearing is going to work. each member of the committee will be allocated ten minutes to make opening statements. each member will have a total of 50 minutes to question july jackson. there are 22 members on the committee. if you do the math, there's plenty of opportunity for questions to be asked and answered. i think expect it to be a substantive hearing. i expect that members on both sits of the aisle will ask tough

but fair questions and to gift her an appropriate time to respond. and i expect that the committee will diligently perform our role in the senate's vies and consent function. when the hearing is complete, i believe the american public will be keenly aware of just what an outstanding nominee she is. they'll also get to the see what i've seen in meeting with her personally. she's thoughtful, brilliant, kind, has a good sense of humor. she's already inspired young people across the country, young people who are just beginning to discover their passion for law. you see, she gad waited from -- she graduated from miami's palmetto public high school in pine crest, florida. right now the halls of pall met tote high are buzzing with pride in anticipation for next week's hearing. one school administrator told me office that even though the students will be out on spring break next week during beach season in florida, many will be coming together for a virtual

watch party as johnson & johnson sob appears before our committee. the administrator says that many of these students see themselves in judge jackson, especially those on the debate team. judge jackson decided her time on the debate team was one of the most formative experiences in her life. she described it as, quote, the one activity that best prepared me for future success. well, today she is more prepared than perhaps anyone p to all the students at palmetto high who are following in her footprints, working long hours to atone their skills, you are owe on track. there is no reason why judge jackson should be the last. you should all be so proud of judge jackson. and, mr. president, aid like to add another element to thisment, a personal element. when i spoke to judge jackson

about her family, she's naturally proud of her husband, who is a surgeon. but she talked about her two daughters and showed me pictures of them. they're teenagers and obviously good kids. she is he's so proud of them. she told the story that when there was as vacancy announced on the supreme court several years ago, one of her daughters picked up a pen and wrote a personal letter to president obama and say, why don't you pick my mom? it's that kind of support every parent lives for. it means a lot to her. she is a good person, a good mother, a good parent, and she'll be a great member of the supreme court. i also want to say that there are elements that obviously the public has paid attention to. this being the fourth time before the senate judiciary committee, many people in america know judge jackson what they've heard about her or read about her. they believe in a positive way that she will bring diversity to the court, that she has the experience that's necessary to serve effectively, that she'll

uphold our constitutional values -- liberty, equality, and justice -- she'll protect the constitutional rights of everybody, not just the wealthy and powerful, she has ethics and integrity, and she will place justice before politics. i'm looking forward to this hearing. i'm happy that the republicans have said publicly that they want to make it a respectful hearing, and i certainly hope they live up to that. i'll do everything i can to convince the democratic side to aspire to the same goal. this could be an historic moment for america in the selection of this justice. hypocrite that the senate judiciary committee -- i hope that the senate judiciary committee rises to this