SPEAKER: PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA
JUDGE SONIA SOTOMAYOR, SUPREME COURT NOMINEE
[*] OBAMA: Thank you. Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
Thank you. Thank you.
Please, everybody, have a seat.
Thank you. Thank you.
Well, I’m excited too.
(LAUGHTER)
Of
the many responsibilities granted to a president by our Constitution,
few are more serious or more consequential than selecting a Supreme
Court justice. The members of our highest court are granted life
tenure, often serving long after the presidents who appointed them. And
they are charged with the vital task of applying principles put to
paper more than 20 centuries ago to some of the most difficult
questions of our time.
So I don’t take this decision lightly. I’ve made it only after deep reflection and careful deliberation.
And
while there are many qualities that I admire in judges across the
spectrum of judicial philosophy, and that I seek in my own nominee,
there are a few that stand out that I just want to mention.
First
and foremost is a rigorous intellect, a mastery of the law, an ability
to hone in on the key issues and provide clear answers to complex legal
questions.
Second is a recognition of the limits of the
judicial role, an understanding that a judge’s job is to interpret, not
make law, to approach decisions without any particular ideology or
agenda, but rather a commitment to impartial justice, a respect for
precedent, and a determination to faithfully apply the law to the facts
at hand.
These
two qualities are essential, I believe, for anyone who would sit on our
nation’s highest court. And yet these qualities alone are insufficient.
We need something more.
For as Supreme Court Justice
Oliver Wendell Holmes once said, the life of the law has not been
logic, it has been experience; experience being tested by obstacles and
barriers, by hardship and misfortune; experience insisting, persisting,
and ultimately overcoming those barriers. It is experience that can
give a person a common touch and a sense of compassion, an
understanding of how the world works and how ordinary people live.
OBAMA: And that is why it is a necessary ingredient in the kind of justice we need on the Supreme Court.
Now,
the process of reviewing and selecting a successor to Justice Souter
has been rigorous and comprehensive, not least because of the standard
that Justice Souter himself has set with his informidable (ph)
intellect and fairmindedness and decency.
I’ve sought the
advice of members of Congress on both sides of the aisle, including
every member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. My team has reached out
to constitutional scholars, advocacy organizations and bar associations
representing an array of interests and opinions.
And I
want to thank members of my staff and the administration who have
worked so hard and given so much of their time as part of this effort.
After
completing this exhaustive process, I’ve decided to nominate an
inspiring woman who I believe will make a great justice, Judge Sonia
Sotomayor of the great state of New York.
(APPLAUSE)
Over
a distinguished career that spans three decades, Judge Sotomayor has
worked at almost every level of our judicial system, providing her with
a depth of experience and a breadth of perspective that will be
invaluable as a Supreme Court justice.
It’s a measure of
her qualities and her qualifications that Judge Sotomayor was nominated
to the U.S. District Court by a Republican president, George H.W. Bush,
and promoted to the Federal Court of Appeals by a Democrat, Bill
Clinton.
OBAMA: Walking in the door, she would bring
more experience on the bench and more varied experience on the bench
than anyone currently serving on the United States Supreme Court had
when they were appointed.
Judge Sotomayor is a
distinguished graduate of two of America’s leading universities. She’s
been a big-city prosecutor and a corporate litigator. She spend six
years as a trial judge on the U.S. District Court, and would replace
Justice Souter as the only justice with experience as a trial judge --
a perspective that would enrich the judgments of the court.
For
the past 11 years, she has been a judge on the Court of Appeals for the
Second Circuit of New York, one of the most demanding circuits in the
country. There, she has handed down decisions on a range of
constitutional and legal questions that are notable for their careful
reasoning, earning the respect of colleagues on the bench, the
admiration of many lawyers who argue cases in her court, and the
adoration of her clerks, who look to her as a mentor.
During
her tenure on the district court, she presided over roughly 450 cases.
One case in particular involved a matter of enormous concern to many
Americans, including me: the baseball strike of 1994 and ‘95.
(LAUGHTER)
In
a decision that reportedly took her just 15 minutes to announce -- a
swiftness much appreciated by baseball fans everywhere...
(LAUGHTER)
... she issued an injunction that helped end the strike. Some say that Judge Sotomayor saved baseball.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA:
Justice Sotomayor came to the district court from a law firm where she
was a partner focused on complex commercial litigation, gaining insight
in the workings of a global economy.
Before that, she was
a prosecutor in the Manhattan D.A.’s office, serving under the
legendary Robert Morgenthau, an early mentor of Sonia’s who still sings
her praises today. There, Sonia learned what crime can do to a family
and a community, and what it takes to fight it.
It’s a
career that has given her not only a sweeping overview of the American
judicial system, but a practical understanding of how the law works in
the everyday lives of the American people.
But as
impressive and meaningful as Judge Sotomayor’s sterling credentials in
the law is her own extraordinary journey. Born in the South Bronx, she
was raised in a housing project not far from Yankee Stadium, making her
a lifelong Yankee’s fan. I hope this will not disqualify her...
(LAUGHTER)
... in the eyes of the New Englanders in the Senate.
(LAUGHTER)
Sonia’s
parents came to New York from Puerto Rico during Second World War. Her
mother is part of the Women’s Army Corps. And, in fact, her mother’s
here today, and I’d like us all to acknowledge Sonia’s mom.
(APPLAUSE)
Sonia’s mom has been a little choked up.
(LAUGHTER)
But she -- Sonia’s mother began a family tradition of giving back to this country.
Sonia’s father was a factory worker with a third-grade education who didn’t speak English.
OBAMA: But like Sonia’s mother, he had a willingness to work hard, a strong sense of family, and a belief in the American dream.
When
Sonia was 9, her father passed away, and her mother worked six days a
week as a nurse to provide for Sonia and her brother -- who’s also here
today, is a doctor, and a terrific success in his own right -- but
Sonia’s mom bought the only set of encyclopedias in the neighborhood,
sent her children to a Catholic school called Cardinal Spellman, out of
the belief that with a good education here in America all things are
possible.
With the support of family, friends and
teachers, Sonia earned scholarships to Princeton, where she graduated
at the top of her class, and Yale Law School, where she was an editor
of the Yale Law Journal, stepping onto the path that led her here
today.
Along the way, she’s faced down barriers,
overcome the odds, and lived out the American dream that brought her
parents here so long ago. And even as she has accomplished so much in
her life, she has never forgotten where she began, never lost touch
with the community that supported her.
What Sonia will
bring to the court, then, is not only the knowledge and experience
acquired over a course of a brilliant legal career, but the wisdom
accumulated from an inspiring life’s journey.
It’s my understanding that Judge Sotomayor’s interest in the law was sparked as a young girl by reading the Nancy Drew series.
(LAUGHTER)
And
that when she was diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 8, she was
informed that people with diabetes can’t grow up to be police officers
or private investigators like Nancy Drew. In essence she was told she’d
have to scale back her dreams.
Well, Sonia, what you’ve
shown in your life is that it doesn’t matter where you come from, what
you look like or what challenges life throws your way, no dream is
beyond reach in the United States of America.
OBAMA: And
when Sonia Sotomayor ascends those marble steps to assume her seat on
the highest court in the land, America will have taken another
important step toward realizing the ideal that is etched about its
entrance: Equal justice under the law.
I hope the Senate
acts in a bipartisan fashion, as it has in confirming Judge Sotomayor
twice before, and as swiftly as possible, so that she can take her seat
on the court in September and participate in deliberations as the court
chooses which cases it will hear this coming year.
And with that, I’d like all of you to give a warm greeting, as I invite Judge Sotomayor to say a few words.
(APPLAUSE)
(CROSSTALK)
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: I think they like you.
(APPLAUSE)
SOTOMAYOR: I was just counseled not to be nervous.
(LAUGHTER)
That’s almost impossible.
Thank
you, Mr. President, for the most humbling honor of my life. You have
nominated me to serve on the country’s highest court, and I am deeply
moved.
I could not, in the few minutes I have today,
mention the names of the many friends and family who have guided and
supported me throughout my life, and who have been instrumental in
helping me realize my dreams.
I see many of those faces in
this room. Each of you, whom I love deeply, will know that my heart
today is bursting with gratitude for all you have done for me.
SOTOMAYOR:
The president has said to you that I bring my family. In the audience
is my brother Juan Sotomayor -- he’s a physician in Syracuse, New York;
my sister-in-law, Tracy (ph); my niece Kiley -- she looks like me.
(LAUGHTER)
My twin nephews, Conner and Corey.
I
stand on the shoulders of countless people, yet there is one
extraordinary person who is my life aspiration. That person is my
mother, Celina Sotomayor.
(APPLAUSE)
My
mother has devoted her life to my brother and me. And as the president
mentioned, she worked often two jobs to help support us after dad died.
I have often said that I am all I am because of her, and I am only half
the woman she is.
Sitting next to her is Omar Lopez
(ph), my mom’s husband and a man whom I have grown to adore. I thank
you for all that you have given me and continue to give me. I love you.
(APPLAUSE)
I
chose to be a lawyer and ultimately a judge because I find endless
challenge in the complexities of the law. I firmly believe in the rule
of law as the foundation for all of our basic rights.
SOTOMAYOR:
For as long as I can remember, I have been inspired by the achievement
of our founding fathers. They set forth principles that have endured
for than more two centuries. Those principles are as meaningful and
relevant in each generation as the generation before.
It
would be a profound privilege for me to play a role in applying those
principles to the questions and controversies we face today.
Although
I grew up in very modest and challenging circumstances, I consider my
life to be immeasurably rich. I was raised in a Bronx public housing
project, but studied at two of the nation’s finest universities.
I
did work as an assistant district attorney, prosecuting violent crimes
that devastate our communities. But then I joined a private law firm
and worked with international corporations doing business in the United
States.
I have had the privilege of serving as a federal
district court trial judge, and am now serving as a federal appellate
circuit court judge.
This wealth of experiences,
personal and professional, have helped me appreciate the variety of
perspectives that present themselves in every case that I hear. It has
helped me to understand, respect and respond to the concerns and
arguments of all litigants who appear before me, as well as to the
views of my colleagues on the bench.
I strive never to forget the real world consequences of my decisions on individuals, businesses and government.
SOTOMAYOR:
It is a daunting feeling to be here. Eleven years ago, during my
confirmation process for appointment to the Second Circuit, I was given
a private tour of the White House. It was an overwhelming experience
for a kid from the South Bronx.
Yet, never in my wildest
childhood imaginings did I ever envision that moment, let alone did I
ever dream that I would live this moment.
Mr. President, I
greatly appreciate the honor you are giving me, and I look forward to
working with the Senate in the confirmation process. I hope that as the
Senate and American people learn more about me, they will see that I am
an ordinary person who has been blessed with extraordinary
opportunities and experiences. Today is one of those experiences.
Thank you again, sir.
(APPLAUSE)
