Judge kennedy in an of itself is a superb candidate for united stes Supreme Court. In comparison to do not this gentleman justice. He has a deep compassion for the law, as many of you know your keys highly intelligent of his academic record. We can discern that come and his experience, 12 years on the Appellate Court in california and in the western area demonstrates a level that very few nominees to the Supreme Court demonstrate. Obviously, judge kennedy is a conservative, and here represented are here as democrats. We support him because of our personal knowledge of judge kennedy. I look back in Sacramento County where he grew up and where i grew up, and i can talk to the 1 Million People in Sacramento County, and that one of them would have anything negative to say about this candidate. One individual when asked by a reporter what they thought of him said, they noticed a lack of an observable ego. Judge kennedy is a man of humility, a man of compassion. Hes an individual that really has no ego, and is an individual who understand the plight of the common man when matters come before this court. I would also have to say that even though he is a conservative and we are moderates to liberals, we have great deal of confidence in judge kennedy in termof what he will do on the u. S. Supreme cou. If one looks at his opinions one will notice that he does demonstrate judicial restraint. But in 1987 that might make a lot of sense because that means that he probably will not be overturning many of the decisions of the 60s, 50s and 70s and 80s. As a result of that you have stability on the court which i think all of us in the United States desire today. And let me make one further observation. You will hear testimony of a gentleman i have regular admiration for in the next few days. The gentleman is in sacramento. His name is nathaniel coley, a black lawyer. He was former general counsel of the naacp. He was born in alabama, came to sacramento, opened up his law practice and became truly one of the prominent lawyers in the United States, one of the great trial lawyers in the state of california. I would like you to read or listen to his testimony when he gives it, because that testimony will demonstrate the regard that lawyers, law students, ordinary individuals have for judge kennedy. I heartily enjoy some endorses nomination for Supreme Court. You could make a better selection. Thank you spirit i most appreciate the gracious welcome from the members of the committee this morning, and from senator wilson and the distinguished congressmen from my district in sacramento, all three of whom ive known for a number of years. This is an appropriate time for me to think the president for entrusting me with the honor of appearing before you as his nominee, for associate justice of the United States. My family share and extending hand of great appreciation for showing this confidence in me. I wish also to thank the members of the committee, mr. Chairman, for the most interesting and impressive set of meetings that ive had with you and members of ththe senate as a whole over the last four weeks. These are courtesy calls, as i understand it. It seems to me that that is perhaps a somewhat casual term for what is a very important and significant part of the advice and consent process. In a number of these advise and consent discussions, mr. Chairman, you are, your colleagues, indicated that you wanted to explain to me your own views, your own convictions, your own ideas, your own concerns about the constitution of the United States. Youve indicated that no report our response was expected from me. And in every case, mr. Chairman, i was profoundly impressed by thdeep commitment to constitutional rule and a deep commitment to Judicial Independence that each member of the United States senate has. I wish a workload was such that you could have the experience that i have had to every nominee appointment for the courts in the article iii system. And now, mr. Chairman, i understand its appropriate and at your invitation i will introduce my family who are here with me. My oldest son, justin is a recent graduate of stanford and is now an assistant project manager for a Major Corporate relocation in sacramento, and were delighted to have him home with us in sacramento. His brother gregory, ou are othr son, is a senior at stanford and im authorized to assure the committee that has taken the test and use on his way to law school somewhere. Our youngest child is kristin, who is now a sophomore at stanford majoring in liberal arts, particularly english and history. And finally my wife mary who has the loving admiration of her, and also of her 30 students in Golden Empire school in sacramento, and we most appreciate your invitation to be here with us today, mr. Chairman. Thank you very much. I surely do not in the your tuition bill. [laughing] spittle at like that part of the record, mr. Chairman. Its a sacrifice your making come and meet at sincerely. Please move forward, judge come if youd like spirit that concludes my opening remarks, mr. Chairman, and im certainly ready to receive the questions from you and your Committee Members. Cspans in depth on sitting Supreme Court justices continues with Clarence Thomas nominated in 1991 by president george h. W. Bush, Justice Thomas one confirmation by a narrow margin following hearings that included allegations of Sexual Harassment by a former colleague, anita hill. Justice thomas replace Thurgood Marshall on the court. He previously served for less than two years on the d. C. Circuit court of appeals, and before that as head of the equal Employment Opportunity commission. At his confirmation hearing Justice Thomas was introduced by Missouri Republican senator john danforth. I have no doubt whatever in giving the committee this assurance, just as Clarence Thomas will resist any effort to impinge on his independence by seeking commitments on how he will decide cases before the court, so he will never become a sure vote for any group of ices on the court. For two months i have noted with wonder the certainty of various Interest Groups as they have predicted how the nominee would vote on an array of issues. They dont know Clarence Thomas. I do. I cannot predict how he would vote on any issue. He is his own person. That is my first point. Second, he laughs. To some this may seem a trivial matter. To me, its important. Because laughter is the antidote to that dread disease, federalitis. The obvious percentage of Interest Groups trying to defeat a Supreme Court nominee is to suggest that there is Something Weird about the individual. I concede that theres Something Weird about Clarence Thomas. Its his laugh. It is the loudest laugh i have ever heard. It comes from deep inside and it shakes his body. And here is something at least as weird in this most uptight and cities, the object of his laughter is most often himself. Third, he is serious. Deeply serious. In his commitment to make a contribution with his life. Ill never forget visiting with clarence after he had been nominated for a second term at the eeoc. I pressed him on why he would accept a second term. Its a thankless job, one that when done well makes everyone mad. Its a career blind alley. He answered simply, i havent yet finished the job. Ive pondered that statement many times over the past five years. Undoubtedly it meant that he had not yet finished the job of transforming the eeoc from the administrative basket case he inherited to the first rate agency it is today. But i think you meant more than that. I think he meant that the discrimination he is now in his own life is still too much with us. There is so much more to do if we are to end it. This is the seriousness of Clarence Thomas. Its not anger, as some have suggested. Its not a bitterness that eats away at him, but its profound. And it forms the person he is in the justice he will become. I hope that sometime in the days judge thomas will be before this committee someone will ask him, not about unenumerated rights or the establishment clause, but about himself. What was it like to grow up under segregation . What was it like to be there when your grandfather was humiliated before your eyes . What was it like to be laughed at by seminarians . Because you are black. Everyone in the senate know something about the legal issues before the Supreme Court. Not a Single Member of the senate knows what Clarence Thomas knows about being poor and black in america. Members of the committee, i am humbled and honored to have been nominated by president bush to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. I would like to thank the committee, especially you, chairman biden, for your extraordinary fairness throughout this process. And i would like to thank each of you and so many of your colleagues here in the senate for taking the time to visit with me. I not enough words to express my deep gratitude and appreciation to senator danforth who gave me my first job out of Yale Law School. I have never forgotten the terms of his offer to me. More work for less pay than anyone in the country could offer. Believe me, he delivered on his promise, especially the less pay. [laughing] i appreciate his wise counsel and his example over the years, and his tireless efforts on my behalf during the confirmation process. And id like to thank senators bond, nine, fowler, warner and rob for taking the time to introduce me today. Much has been written about my family and me over the past ten weeks, for all that is happened throughout our lives and to all adversity we have grown closer, and our love for each other has grown stronger and deeper. I hope these hearings will help to show more clearly who this person, Clarence Thomas is, and what really makes me tick. My earliest memories as alluded to earlier are those of pin point georgia a life far removed in space and time from this room, this day and this moment. As kids we cant minnows in the creeks, fiddler crabs in the marshes, we played with offers and skipped shells across the water. It was a world so vastly different from all this. In 1955 my brothers and brother and i went to live with my mother in savannah. We live in one room, and a tenement here we share a with other tenants and we had a common bathroom in the backyard, which was unworkable and unusable. It was hard, but it was all we had and all there was. Our mother only earned 20 every two weeks as a maid. Not enough to take care of us. So she arranged for us to live with our grandparents late in 1955. 1955. Imagine if you will too little boys with all their belongings and to grocery bags. Our grandparents were too great and wonderful people who loved us dearly. I wish they were sitting here today, sitting here so that they could see that all their efforts, their hard work were not in vain. And so that they could see that hard work and strong values can make for a better life. Im grateful that my mother and my sister could be here. Unfortunately, my brother could not be. I attended segregated parochial schools, and later attended a seminary near savannah. The nuns gave us hope and belief in ourselves when society did not. They reinforced the importance of religious beliefs in our personal lives. Sister mary, my eighth grade teacher, and the other nuns, were unyielding in their expectations that we use all of our talents, no matter whathe rest of the world said or did. After high school i let savannah and attended Immaculate Conception seminary, then holy cross college. I attended Yale Law School. Yale had opened its doors, its hard, its conscience to recruit and admit minority students. I benefited from this effort. My career as has been delineated today, as an assistant attorney general in the state of missouri. I was an attorney in the Corporate Law department of monsanto company. I joined senator danforth staff here in the senate as an assistant secretary in the department of education, chairman of the eeoc, and since 1990, a judge on u. S. Court of appeals for the district of columbia circuit. But for the efforts of so many others who have gone before me, i would not be here today. It would be unimaginable. Only by standing on their shoulders could i be here. At each turn in my life, each obstacle confronted, each fork in the road someone came along to help. I remember, for example, in 1974 after i completed law school i had no money, no place to live. Mrs. Margaret bush wilson who would later become chairperson of the naacp allowed me to live at her house. She provided me not only with room and board, but advice, counsel and guidance. As i left her house that summer, i asked her, how much do i owe you . Her response was, just along the way help someone whos in your position. I have tried to live by my promise to her, to do just that, to help others. So many others gave their lives, their blood, their talents. But for them i would not be here. Justice marshall, whose seat ive been nominated to fill, is one of those who had the courage and the intellect. Hes one of the great architects of the legal battles to open doors that seem so helplessly and promote a sealed. And to knock down barriers that seem so insurmountable to those of us in the pin point, georgia, of the world. The civil rights movement, reverend Martin Luther king and the sclc, roy wilkins and the naacp, Whitney Young and the urban league, fannie lou hamer, rosa parks and dorothy height. They changed society and made a help her i benefited greatly from their efforts. But for them there would have been no road to travel. My grandparents always said there would be more opportunities for us. I can still hear my grandfather, yall dont have more of a chance than me. And he was right. He felt that if others sacrificed and greater opportunities for us, we had an obligation to work hard, to be decent citizens, to be fair and good people. And he was right. You see, mr. Chairman, my grandparents grew up and lived their lives in an era of blatant segregation and overt discrimination. Their sense of fairness was molded in a crucible of unfairness. I watched as my grandfather was called boy. I watched as my grandmother suffered the indignity of being denied the use of a bathroom. But through it all they remained fair, decent, good people. Fair, in spite of that terrible contradictions in our country. They were hardworking, productive people who always gave back to others. They gave produce from the farm, fuel oil from the fuel oil truck. They bought groceries for those who were without. And they never lost sight of the promise of a better tomorrow. I follow in your footsteps, and ive always tried to get back. In their footsteps. Over the years i have grown and matured. Ive learned to listen carefully, carefully to other points of views and to others. To think through problems, recognizing that there are no easy answers to difficult problems. To think deeply about those who will be affected by the decisions i make and the decisions made by others. But ive always carried in my heart the world, the life, the people and the values of my youth. The values of my grandparents and my neighbors, the values of people who believe so very deeply in this country, in spite of all the contradictions. It is my hope that when these hearings are completed that this committee will conclude that i am an honest, decent, their person. I believe that the obligations and responsibilities of a judge in essence involved just such basic values. A judge must be fair and impartial. A e must not bng this job, to the court, the baggage preconceived notions of ideology, and certainly not an agenda. And the judge must get the decision right. Because when all is said and done, the little guy, the average person, the people of pin point, the real people of america will be affected not only by what we as a judges do, but by the way we do our jobs. It confirmed, by the senate, i pledge that i will preserve and protect our constitution and carry with me the values of my heritage, fairness, integrity, openmindedness, honesty and hard work. Thank you, mr. Chair. The next justice to be appointed to the Supreme Court was Ruth Bader Ginsburg in 1993. 1993. Nominated to fill the seat of kennedy appointee byron white, Justice Ginsburg was confirmed by vote of 86three. She had previously served on the u. S. Court of appeals for the district of columbia and was the second woman ever nominated. New York Democratic senator danielatrick moynihan introduce judge ginsburg at her confirmation hearing. Spinning judge ginsburg is perhaps best known as the lawyer and litigator to raise the issue of equal rights for women to the level of constitutional principle. She is also distance yourself in a wide range of legal studies, and for the last 13 years has been one of our nations most respected jurists on the United States court of appeals for the district of columbia circuit. I must tell you that senator damato and i come and i will take special pride in her nomination she was born and raised in brookl