be endorsed for reelection by his own opponent. dairy farmer fred tucker. [applause] >> this was in 1998. and it speaks volumes about how proud the people of vermont are, to have him represent them. please join me in a warm welcome for sen. patrick leahy [applause] >> thank you, thank you very much.

it is great to be here. it reminds me so much about your late father. and wade henderson, the president of the leadership conference and civil rights. the junior professor of public interest. we have worked on so many things. i am ready to tear out what hair i have left, this will give mate -- they will give me a a thumbs up, eventually, we do this.

you are going here at such an exciting time. your focus on restoring the world with human rights and economic recovery. they said, was there really change in america. he said my name is barack obama, how much change do you expect. people come up and they want to shake my hand. they want to say, are you an american. we were changing airplanes at the airport. they would say, [unintelligible] are you an american? i am so happy for america.

when i was in law school, i was inspired by john kennedy. i have had the privilege of working with his youngest brother, ted kennedy. he will hold hearings on the nomination of obama of sonia sotomayor to be the associate justice of the supreme court of the united states. i have my chief counsel here, we're going to get her informed -- confirmed. you better believe we will get

her confirmed. take that to the bank. think of the number of firsts in her nomination. the first nominee in over a century to be nominated by three different presidents. goerge h.w. -- george h.w. bush, clinton, and now obama to the supreme court. and the first hispanic. being the first is not very easy. but you may be the first person to go to law school or college. i became the first one to receive a college degree.

she graduated summa cum laude. she began her career as a prosecutor in new york city, the district attorney of manhattan was a wonderful [unintelligible] i remember when bill clinton nominated her, the republicans controlled the senate, and they put a hold on the nomination. they place an anonymous call on her -- hold on her, but would not come forward.

in june 1998, they were trying to hold her up, because they thought they would nominate her for the supreme court. the republican controlled senate finally released her nomination. she was confirmed overwhelmingly. they thought it was so important to hold her up in a disgraceful amount of time. when the rugged marshall was nominated, he was facing stiff opposition and it did not make any difference that he was first in his class, where he was part of the legal defense fund. he had all kinds of hostile questions, he was appointed

solicitor general. he was the winner of 29 out of 32 cases before the supreme court. other lawyers thought that they may have one case, he had 29 out of 32. and when he was nominated as the first supreme court justice who was african-american, he said this was the right thing to do and the right time to do this. president obama is following us. he has nominated her to the highest court. she has served on the federal court longer than anyone else in

the supreme court. i believe that the city -- i believe that the country is prepared to see this woman do this. the visions that we see, this is the time to come together. this would be wonderful to see this nomination in america. thank you. someone compared her to the head of the klu klux klan. this is shameful.

i remember when thurgood marshall was nominated, they asked him if he was prejudiced against white people. let's not go back to that. i hope that the republicans remember abraham lincoln and the civil rights [unintelligible] justice marshall was not the first to face adversity. when another was nominated, he had to overcome severe anti- semitism, there were questions about the jewish mind.

this sounded like an attack on empathy. i mentioned that the opposite of empathy is an difference, do we really want that, and i think the first catholic nominee -- he would be nominated by the pope. this has nothing to do with the speech, this is what john f. kennedy was facing, they said the pope would run things. they only had enough money for the pope, "unpack." but i was asking sonia sotomayor

about her experiences, she went on to say ultimately and completely, as a judge you have to follow along. ultimately and completely, the judge will have to follow the law. this is the kind of impartial judge that we want. this is respect for the rule of law, this is the kind of judge that she has been. she will live up to the description -- and she has said that we must continue to

realize as individuals, and not statistics. these are important words because, we can have a fundamental impact on people's lives. your students will study this. five justices struck a severe blow to the people -- they were trying to outlaw discrimination in the workplace. so that men and women could receive equal payment for equal work. what the supreme court did, the activist court, was for judicial restraint during the confirmation hearings. they basically shut down equal payment. i was very happy to be there,

when louis ledbetter anstood beside obama as he sighened the louis ledbetter act. we should ask if judge sotomayor will work in the mold of the conservative activists. the law is meant to guarantee health care and education, to protect the privacy of all americans and with this in place, the conservatives on the court -- are they not being the same kind of activist that they have told us to avoid? the supreme court understood

that they would take the doctrine of separate but equal, this was a straight jacket -- in defense of the constitution. all of the americans have come to respect what the supreme court had done, in brown vs. the board of education. two years ago, the seattle school district desegregation court, overcame the landmark decision. they failed to recognize the struggle for equality, and this was long after brown vs. board of education. it may have ended -- but this

did not end defacto. justice stevens wrote, please read this, in the case that the chief justice opinion twisted brown vs. board of education in a very cruel way. the chief justice -- they approached the case, they said that the law is not an exercise in mathematical logic. what we do with judges we could do with computers, i never want to see that day. a chief justice with real-life experience, he made certain that this would be a unanimous decision.

if they could accept this -- in contrast to the roberts scored, and desegregation decision, they said they would depart from the precedents of the court. the supreme court will issue one of its most important decisions in years, the constitutionality of the voting rights act. the voting rights act is a time- honored way to prevent discrimination. the court has always of held the constitution, i have to tell you, i listened to that argument, i am worried about -- students are taught that there is no more exclusive power than

the 15th amendment, that gives us the right to vote. the passage of the voting rights act was the result of a struggle for civil rights. when this reached a crucial turning point on march 2, 1965, i was 15 years old. i was 25 years old. i wish i was 15 years old. on the bridge in selma, alabama, john lewis was attacked by state troopers with his fellow civil rights members. this is known as bloody sunday. this was a catalyst and america woke up to the face of segregation, and congress passed the voting rights act, within a

few months. this provides equal access regardless of race, and will not be undermined by discriminatory practices. there is a battle to get this through. for three years, republicans and democrats in the senate and the house of representatives came together to authorize this. we had 20 hearings and an overwhelming vote, president george w. bush had a major signing ceremony, and now we have to worry about whether the supreme court will undermine this. i said to john lewis after we were walking out, i said, it is wonderful that we have this. he said it is wonderful not just for african-americans, but

hispanics and poor whites and all of the people that the power structure may want to keep from voting. when they consider the nomination this summer, think about the impact that justices have over freedom and value. from the south side of chicago or south burlington, the american dream inspires everyone. her life story is the american dream. we should unite all 100 centers. only 100 people can voice the appointment and the seating of a supreme court justice, first is the president who makes the nomination and the senators, we should come together. remember what the vermont marble

over the supreme court says, equal justice under law. we should confirm her, and we should guarantee equal justice under the law. thank you very much. [applause] i will do some questions. are there any questions? you are the professor, you tell me. >> thank you for that wonderful speech, and thank you for honoring us by coming here. the dean is wanting to present something to you, i know that your schedule is tight. if there are students in the audience that would like to ask

him a question, please identify yourself and ask this question quickly. >> i am a proud member of the class of 2012. going back to voting rights, why should this just apply to certain states and counties in virginia so they all have to submit redistricting. >> all of the districts must submit their applications. most of them do not show a history of segregation. my state of vermont is one of the most fair in the country. we do not have a racial imbalance in vermont, we're probably the most homogeneous state in the country.

but what we do is we know the areas where there have been problems, and new areas have problems. this is done in a careful way and this has been working very well. one of those areas where this was -- submitted, they have to submit the program and they do not mind. they say this is a way to keep them honest. i go back to the day of brown vs. board of education, when that segregation was made illegal, i was 18 years old, getting ready for my junior year in college, and i saw for the first time science that still said, colored and whites only.

and they remember this even though this was against the law in richmond. this is not only getting rid of the legal segregation, this is the active segregation. >> please identify yourself. [inaudible] >> i am wondering if, in the context of this committee, if there will be a willingness to address the issues that have happened in the last administration, as far as human rights abuses across the world. the united states has tried to put their own citizens in the context, for accountability on the human rights issues and at

the same time we have tried to hold other countries accountable. i wonder what the judiciary will do with the human rights abuse, for the people in this government. >> the subcommittee hearing will be doing a lot of this, but much of this is by example, closing guantanamo bay -- [applause] the president is not afraid to talk about the greatness of america, but also he will be willing to talk -- he will be willing to talk about where he made mistakes, with the countries that never admit to their mistakes, in the past we could never lead by example. but we have to restore our own

principles. at the department of justice -- during the last administration, as the chairman of the senate judiciary committee, i remember being frustrated, which is a new england understatement, with the attorney general, about what was going on, the manipulation of prosecution. when i was in law school, i was interviewed by the attorney general, there were trying to get some students to come to the department of justice. and i said to the attorney- general, i said, would you allow interference from the white house? in a prosecution. and they said, under no

circumstances. i would tell the president that neither he nor anyone from the white house can be involved in prosecutions. they had over 400 people involved last time. and i said, thank you, robert kennedy. he ended up prosecuting a man who was vital to the election as president. but the man committed a crime. they ask of this would be a problem, he said he would not go too many family reunions. let me just close with one word to the students. i was fortunate to be a student here during the time of john kennedy, i remember the sadness -- she was working as a nurse, to put me through law school.

and we were there at the funeral of john kennedy. and i remember the outpouring, of people realizing too late what they have lost. and i remember the opportunity of being here, to see the enthusiasm of young people who are doing things from the government -- for the government. i gave up a position in a law firm to become a prosecutor. think about what an exciting administration that this is. learn the law but do not forget, as long as you have a privileged position in society, remember, the more the privilege, the more the obligation, the more that you have to do for others. do pro bono work, do things that make you a greater part of the

community. help your community to be a better place. thank you very much. >> ladies and gentlemen, join me in helping -- joining -- join me in thanking patrick leahy. [applause] >> about six or seven years ago, ruth ginsberg was a lecturer and she spoke about how lonely that it was to be the only woman on the supreme court bench, so i know that you will do the right thing. and the students provided 85,000 hours, of legal services to the most vulnerable residents of washington, you are talking to the right group. they are here to make a change.

thank you so much. you are wonderful. >> for more information on a judge sonia sotomayor, go to the web site to see video of all, announcing her nomination, and statements from the 1998 board of appeals nomination. >> there is still time to get your