Senator John Kerry Statement on Nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor For US Supreme Court

May 26, 2009 -- Washington, DC - Senator John Kerry today released the following statement on President Obama’s nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States.

“President Obama has made a history-making selection that meets his own criteria of an excellent mind coupled with real world empathy but also passes Justice Potter Stewart’s famous test of someone who is neither liberal nor conservative but simply a great judge.

"Judge Sonia Sotomayor is credentialed both by Republican Presidents like President George Herbert Walker Bush who first appointed her and Democratic Presidents like President Clinton who promoted her, and her judicial outlook is also strengthened by a quintessential American story: growing up in a Bronx housing project, losing her father at a young age, raised by an incredible mother, she graduated Summa Cum Laude from Princeton and edited the Yale Law Review before serving as one of America’s top jurists.

"Already twice confirmed by the Senate, Justice Sotomayor will be uniquely qualified to understand the challenges faced by so many Americans. I look forward to a swift and fair confirmation process in the coming months.”

Source: Senator John Kerry