Robert Menendez

MENENDEZ ON CONFIRMATION OF JUSTICE SONIA SOTOMAYOR: “THE PROMISE OF AMERICA FULFILLED”

Video of Menendez’s closing remarks in Senate: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbEguRhFQe8

August 6, 2009

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), one of two Hispanic Senators, today voted to confirm Sonia Sotomayor as a Justice of the Supreme Court. Following the vote, he released this statement:

"Sonia Sotomayor and I were born in the same year and grew up in similar circumstances on different sides of the Hudson River. Today, a man raised in a Union City tenement was able to stand as one of 100 United States Senators and cast a vote to confirm to the nation's highest court an eminently-qualified woman, raised in a Bronx housing project. That is more than a coincidence - in the United States of America, it is anything but. It is the American Dream. It is the promise of America fulfilled."

 

"This is a moment at which a young Latina, sitting in an elementary school classroom, will fully understand that anything is possible in this amazing country. This is a moment at which the Latino community feels pride, hope and affirmation. This is a moment at which you can see America coming of age."

Shortly before the vote, Menendez delivered remarks in favor of Justice Sotomayor's confirmation. The video of those remarks are available here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbEguRhFQe8

Full text of speech, as prepared for delivery:

Mr. President, the Senate will vote to confirm Judge Sonia Sotomayor.

In doing so, we will not only make history, but we will stand witness to a coming of age of America.

Our founders devised a unique experiment in a new form of government built on tolerance, equal rights, justice, and a constitution that protected us from the mighty sword of tyranny.

It was a revolutionary notion that in this new nation, no one - no one -- would be bound by an accident of birth...

No one would be limited by their economic or social circumstances.

In America we have come to believe that all is possible.

Mr. President, today - on the anniversary of the signing of the Voting Rights Act -- at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue an African-American sits in the Oval Office.

This is America.

Across the street, in that magnificent symbol of Equal Justice Under Law, a woman -- a Latina -- will take a seat on the United States Supreme Court.

This is America.

In this chamber, this Senator respectfully stands before you, born in the same year as Judge Sotomayor, and in similar circumstances -- raised in a tenement in an old neighborhood in New Jersey, the son of immigrants, first in my family to go to college.

I never dreamed I would stand on this floor - on this day -- to rise in support of an eminently qualified Hispanic woman who grew up in a housing project in the Bronx, as I was growing up in that old tenement in Union City.

Yes, this is America; it is the America our founders intended it to be.

Mr. President, I said on this floor earlier in this debate that when Judge Sotomayor takes her seat on the United States Supreme Court, we will need only to look at the portrait of the Justices of the new Supreme Court to see how far we have come as a nation - to understand who we really are as a people.

It is true that we are often divided by deeply-held individual beliefs that too often prevent us from reaching compromise on the complex issues and challenges facing this nation.

But in America we are entitled to our individual beliefs.

We are entitled to hold them firmly, passionately, with resolve, reason, and fairness.

We are free to fight for them with every fiber of our being -- to express them - shout them from the rooftops if we like...

Put simply, all of us see the world differently. All we can ask of ourselves - all any of us can ask -- is that wisdom, intelligence, reason, and logic will always prevail in every decision we make.

I have said before on this floor and I will say again: Who we are is not a measure of how we judge; it is merely one part of the many faceted prism through which we see and analyze the facts.

The real test is how we think and what we do, and I know -- in my heart and in my head -- Judge Sotomayor will do what is right for America.

Mr. President, the worst her opponents have accused her of is an accident of geography that gave her the unique ability to see the world from the street view, from the cheap seats.

I know that view well. I know it very well. It gives us a unique perspective on life.

It allows us to focus a clear lens on the lives of those whose struggles are more profound than ours, and whose problems run far deeper than our own.

That view of the world from a tenement in Union City remains with me today, and it will remain with me all of my life... just as the view from a housing project in the Bronx will remain with Judge Sotomayor.

It is part of who she is. But, let us be clear, it is not what she will do or how she will judge.

It is the long view of America - a wide, inclusive view - often profoundly moving, sometimes heart-breaking -- and it gives her an edge, for she may see what others cannot, and I truly believe that is a gift that will benefit this nation as a whole.

So I call on my colleagues to step back -- take the long view - think of what our founders hoped for this nation - and then let us vote. History awaits.

I have made my decision, and will proudly stand in the well of this Chamber to cast my vote to confirm Judge Sotomayor as the next Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

When she places her hand on the Bible and takes the oath of office -- the new portrait of the Justices of the Supreme Court will more clearly reflect who we are as a nation and what we stand for as a fair, just, and hopeful people.

Let that be the legacy of our generation, for this is America - the America our founders intended it to be.

Thank you, Mr. President, and with that I yield the floor.

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