Mr. President, this Capitol Building has served as the backdrop for some of the most notable moments in America's history. In this building, wars have been declared, peace treaties have been signed, and the march toward progress has either moved forward or has been stopped in its tracks. Today, the Members of this Senate have the opportunity to take a monumental step forward. We will vote to confirm a once-in-a-generation legal talent, a jurist with outstanding credentials and a lifetime of experience, and the first-ever African-American woman to serve as Justice of the Supreme Court--Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. Judge Jackson's confirmation will be a glass-shattering achievement for America. Consider this moment in history. When the Supreme Court first met in this building in 1801, there were 1 million slaves in this Nation--a Nation of 5 million people. This very building was built with the labor of enslaved people. And at the time the Court met, neither Black Americans nor White women had a constitutionally guaranteed right to vote. Women had no place in that first Supreme Court chamber, and Black women would only enter to clean it in the dark of the night. We know what followed. America's battle to end slavery saw a bloody civil war and decades of efforts to break down racial barriers, and the efforts continue to this day. Our struggle to enfranchise and empower women did not end with the 19th Amendment, 102 years ago.…
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