kevin baker of harper's magazine will be here, the author of july's cover stories. barack hoover obama, the best and brightest. that is on "washington journal." we begin at 7:00 a.m. eastern. thanks for joining us. we will see you tomorrow. .. .. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national

>> then remarks from senator jeff sessions, a ranking member of the senate judiciary committee and democratic senator , dick durbin. later, charles evans, the president of the chicago federal reserve on the economy. >> today on american and the courts, a few commencement addresses at this year's graduation ceremonies given by supreme court justice, anthony kennedy. and georgia supreme court justice -- that is on 7:00 p.m. eastern on c-span.

>> people do not want to think as the conservation as a policy as much as a passion. he put aside 240 million acres of wild america. now as people are talking about environmentalism and green movements, roosevelt is becoming the key figure to understand because he was the only politician of his day to absorb dar went and who understood biology and birds migratory patterns. -- to understand darwin and biology. and he actually did something. >> the first of two hours with douglas brinkley on wilbert s. warriors. sunday night at 8:00 p.m. on c- span, for download the c-span podcast. >> senate judiciary committee chairman, patrick leahy on supreme court nominee, judge sonia sotomayor. her confirmation hearing will begin july 13.

this is about 35 minutes. let's hear at the university of the district of columbia. i am also a privilege to serve as the president of the leadership conference on civil rights. for those of you who don't know, the leadership conference is the nation's premier civil and human rights coalition with over 200 national organizations working to build an america as good as its ideals. today the introduction of this year is a lecturer is a very special honor for me. there are few individuals, and i can honestly say without fear of contradiction, and even fewer in congress who exemplify the integrity, the passion and

commitment to building and america that we all want to live in. ted kennedy is one, john lewis is another, and so is the man i am privileged to introduce this morning, senator patrick leahy of vermont. [applause] >> as the son of irish and italian parents in vermont, a state where his father once used to see signs like no irish need apply or no catholics need apply, during a less progressive era, i suspect patrick leahy understands firsthand what it means to sometimes feel like an outsider in the land of your birth. i believe it is a major reason why senator leahy speaks out so

loudly against injustice, whether it takes place inside or outside of our country. it is probably the trade i most admire of him -- it is the t rait i most admire about him. you can see it in his eyes when he speaks of the dangers of traveling on checks and balances or civil liberties in the names of national security. with the kind of criticism he has earned over the years from people like dick cheney, including some language that i will not repeat here. [laughter] it is obvious he has been remarkably effective. even when senator leahy himself wound up being a target of terrorism during a wave of the anthrax attacks in 2001, leading to his being under 24 hour a day police guard, he never set aside

his principles and he continued to speak out for balancing safety with freedom and against irrational hatred that followed 9/11. he was with us when the leadership conference held a vigil at the national japanese american memorial to patriotism to join us in speaking out on behalf of arab-americans and sihk americans who were being scapegoating in many of the same ways that japanese americans heading toward 60 years earlier. in that same environment he put politics aside and fought to make a patriot act more protective of civil liberties and was one of only a handful of senators to vote against its renewal because it clearly was not striking the right balance. speaking of hate crimes, i should point out with the killing last week of of asserts stephen tyrone jones at the

holocaust museum -- the killing last week of stephen jones. i know that senator leahy, who has long been one of our strongest allies, would agree on the need for more aggressive congressional action. s chairman of the senate judiciary committee senator leahy will be presiding over the confirmation proceedings for judge sonia sotomayor, who i am thrilled to know is currently in line to be the first latino american member of the united states supreme court. perhaps we will hear and i suspect we will more about the confirmation process when senator leahy takes the podium. i should make one final point. senator leahy recently reestablished the judiciary subcommittee on human rights in the law, a move that i strongly

support and help will eliminate what is essentially an artificial distinction between what we usually referred to as domestic civil rights and what we call global human-rights. the first that we should take is to restructure the u.s. civil rights commission, but i will say that for another day. before coming to washington patrick leahy was a state's attorney in vermont for eight years. he was first elected to the senate in 1974 and has the distinction of being the first and only democrat in vermont's history to ever hold that office. he also has an even more interesting distinction of being the first and only u.s. senator to ever be endorsed for reelection by his own opponent. [laughter] let's hear it for fred. [applause]

>> this happened in 1998. it obviously speaks volumes about how proud the people of vermont are to have senator leahy represent them. ladies and gentlemen, please join me in a very warm welcome for senator patrick leahy of vermont. [applause] >> thank you. thank you all very much. thank you. it is great to be here. michael, i told you earlier you remind me so much of your late father. and of course dr. sessions, but especially my dear friend, wade henderson, the longtime

president of the leadership conference of civil rights and now the jr. professor of public interest law here. i have to tell you, wade and i have worked on some many things. it is funny in the judiciary committee because you can see when these debates are going on and i am ready to turn out -- i am ready to tear out the little hair i have. wade will be there in the back and give me a smile. i say let's keep this thing going. we will win eventually. and we usually do. it is great to see the students here. going to law school at such an exciting time. you have a president who is committed to restoring the role of the united states around the world on such important issues as human rights and economic recovery.

when he was asked find some students -- when he was asked by students in europe they said was there really change in america? he said i have a black man named rock obama, how much more change do you expect? -- a black man named barack obama. people come up to me and want to shake my hand. the weekend after in france when i changed airports, before the french had been hostile and they said [speaking french] are you an american? yes, i am american. i am so happy for america. i am like ok. i think about when i was in law school i was inspired by another young president, john kennedy. he was present while i was in law school. in the senate i have had the

privilege of working with his youngest brother for the past 35 years on some of the most pressing issues in this country. next month the senate judiciary committee will hold hearings on president obama's historic nomination of judge sonia sotomayor to be an associate justice of the supreme court of the united states. we were meeting about this and i see my chief counsel here. a question was asked are we going to get her confirm? you better believe we will get her confirmed. [applause] >> take that one to the bank. just think of the number of firsts in her nomination. she is president obama's first nominee to the supreme court. she is the first nominee in well over a century to have been nominated to three different

federal judicial offices by three different presidents. george h. w. bush, president clinton to the second court of appeals and now president obama to the supreme court. and she is the first hispanic nominated to the supreme court. being first is not always easy. some of you may be the first in your family to attend law school or even attend college. i know that my family came around 1852 vermont and yet i became the first one to receive a college degree. my sister was the second one. judge sotomayor was only the third in the third class of women at princeton. she graduated summa cum laude. she went on and became -- she began her legal career as a prosecutor in new york city and

the da of manhattan wrote a wonderful op-ed piece saying what a great prosecutor she was. i remember one president clinton had nominated her to the second circuit. the republican-controlled senate put a hold on her nomination. they tried to block her. i made more than a dozen speeches on the senate urging those who placed an anonymous hold to at least have the courage to come forward and say who you work. they did not. in june 1998 there was a column which said we all knew they were trying to hold her up because they were afraid president clinton might nominate her to the supreme court if there was a vacancy. when the supreme court term ended without a vacancy the senate finally released her

nomination. she was confirmed overwhelmingly and not one word was spoken on the senate floor against her by those who felt it was so important to hold her up for a disgraceful. of time. this brings me -- for a disgraceful period of time. when thurgood marshall was nominated he faced stiff opposition. it did not make any difference he graduated first in his class from howard university law school where he had been lead counsel for the naacp legal defense fund. he had all kinds of hostile questions to his confirmation hearing. his nomination was stalled for some time. he was the solicitor general of the united states. carafe his career as a supreme advocate he successfully argued and won a remarkable 29 out of 30 -- 29 out of 32 cases before

the supreme court. most lawyers dreamed they might actually have one case there. he won 29 out of 32. when president johnson nominated him to be the first african- american supreme court justice, the president knew it was the right thing to do and the right time to do it. president obama has all of that tradition. it is long overdue to have such a jurist to our highest court, not only her experience as a prosecutor but her experience in private practice. she has served on a federal court longer than any nominee to the supreme court and 100 years. i think as the first lady said, not only do i believe judge sotomayor is prepared to serve all americans as a supreme court justice, i believe the country is more than ready to see this respected woman to do just that.

this should be a time -- instead of the divisions we are saying, this is a time we should come together and say what wonderful example of diversity in america to see this nomination. [applause] thank you. and it makes my skin crawl when i hear one of the leaders of the other party on his radio show compare her to the head of the ku klux klan. this is shameless. this is wrong. this goes beyond rhetoric. i think about looking back over the history of justice marshall's confirmation hearing. again, he won 29 out of 32 cases. and the kinds of questions like are you prejudiced against the white people of the south? give me a break. let's not go back to those kind

of days. i would hope that the senate republicans would remember the proud history of the party of lincoln and the civil rights act of 1960, and as a party that eventually voted unanimously for thurgood marshall to the united states supreme court. justice marshall was not only the first to face adversity, when justice brandeis, he had to overcome severe anti-semitism and significant opposition. the commentary at the time was questions about the jewish mind and how it is accomplished by altruism. does that sound a little bit like an attack on empathy? [laughter] i mentioned that the opposite of empathy is indifference. do we really want that in a

justice? the first catholic nominee had to overcome the argument that he would be dominated by the pope, which reminds me it has absolutely nothing to do with his speech. it was an argument john kennedy faced when he was running and the joke he told afterward that had he lost, they kept saying the pope was going to move into the white house. he said had we lost we only have enough money to send a one-word telegram to the pope, unpack. [laughter] i asked sonia sotomayor about comments she has made. she said of course one's life experience has shaped who they are. i would hope your life experience shapes everyone in this room. she said a ultimately and completely as a judge, you follow the law law. there is not one law monfort one

race or another. there is not one law for rich or poor. -- there is not one law for one race or another. that is the kind of impartial judge we want. that is respect for the rule of law. it is also the kind of judge sonia sotomayor has been. i think that when she is elevated to the nation's highest court she will live up to justice thurgood marshall's description of the work of a judge. he said in our day-to-day work we must continue to realize we are dealing with individuals, not statistics. i think those are important words because we could have a fundamental impact on people's lives. let me tell you about one case.

the lilly ledbetter case, five cusk -- five justices struck a blow to the rights of working families across the country is. 40 years ago congress put in place a law to outlaw discrimination in the workplace. men and women will receive equal pay for equal work. what they did, an activist court, a court made up of people who talked about judicial modesty and judicial restraint during the confirmation hearings, it is a court that struck down equal pay for women. i was very proud to be standing with lee ledbetter sitting right behind president obama when he signed the billy ledbetter law as his first act. -- we lilly ledbetter law as his

first act. judge sotomayor will act on the mold of the conservative activists on the court now who have legislation designed to protect americans from discrimination, their jobs and voting. laws meant to guarantee the access of americans to health care. laws meant to protect the privacy of all americans from overreaching government. when those lost are in place -- windows laws are in place in the conservative strike them down, are they not the same activists they tell us to avoid? it took a supreme court to understand the real world to take these seemingly doctrine of separate but equal, what could sound more fair? but in reality it is a straitjacket, it was offensive to the constitution and allow the segregation, and all

americans have come to respect what the supreme court did in brown versus board of education to end this racial discrimination. but just two years ago in the seattle school desegregation case, and nearly divided supreme court under cut landmark decision, something i thought i would never seen. chief justice roberts opinion failed to recognize the struggle for equality that persisted long after brown versus board of education. segregation did not end with a case of brown versus board of education. it may had adjourned, of but it did not end. -- but it did not end. justice stevens wrote in a dissent in a case that the chief justice's opinion trysta brown versus board of education in a

crudely ironic way. justice prius descent criticized chief justice's opinion as -- justice breyers descent criticize the chief justice's opinion. he says law lot is not an exercise and mathematical logic. if it was, we would not need judges. we could do it with computers. i don't ever want to see that day. [applause] chief justice warren, a man who had real life experience. but he made sure it was going to be a unanimous decision, so a deeply divided united states of america could except this. in contrast, two years ago they ignored the real world experience of millions of americans so it would depart from the precedents of the

court. a few days the supreme court will issue one of its most important decisions in years. the constitutionality and the reauthorize voting act. voting rights act provision is a time-honored way to prevent discrimination. the court has always upheld the constitutionality of section 5. but i have to tell you i listen to that argument in the supreme court and i am very worried about it. there are students that are taught that there are no more explicit granted power to congress than that in the 15th amendment to allow us to protect the right to vote. passage of the voting rights act was a result of an historic struggle for civil rights. your dad remembers that. he remembers what a crucial turning point on march 7, 1965.

i was 15-years old. -- i was 25-years old. i am sorry. i wish i was 15. but on the bridge in alabama, state troopers brutally attacked john lewis and his civil rights marchers. if you have a chance to meet john lewis you are meeting a hero. he went to that day now known as bloody sunday where captured newspaper photos prove to be a catalyst. america woke up to the ugly face of segregation in the congress passed the voting rights act within months, said the constitution guarantees of equal access to a political process regardless of race would not be undermined by discriminatory practices. there was a big battle to get that through, but three years ago republicans and democrats in

the senate and the house came together. we reauthorize this. we did this after 20 hearings in the house. we had an overwhelming vote, president george w. bush had a major signing ceremony on it. now we have to worry whether the supreme court is going to undermine that. i said to john lewis when we were walking out after that signing, i said isn't this wonderful we have kept this? he says it is wonderful not just for african americans, it is wonderful for poor white people, it is wonderful for hispanics, for all those people that the power structure might want to keep from voting. when we considered judge sotomayor's nomination this summer, think what the enormous

impact justices have on our freedoms and values. and whether you are from the south bronx or the south side of chicago, for a south burlington, the american dream inspires all of us. her american check -- her life story is the american dream. instead of having this division we should unite all 100 centers, because only 100 people get a voice. -- we should unite all 100 senators. first and foremost, a president who makes the nomination, and 100 senators who have to sit in place of 300 million americans. remember what the vermont marble over the entrance to the supreme court says, equal justice under law law. we should get this nomination and confirm her and guarantee equal justice under law. thank you very much. [applause]

>> thank you. [applause] >> any questions? well, i will let you. you go ahead. >> first of all, thank you for that wonderful speech. thank you for honoring us by coming to the law school. the team has a cup which i know she wants to present to you. t he dean has a cup. have agreed to take a couple of questions of students, so if there is anyone who would like to ask a question, let me ask you to ask a quick question. yes, ma'am. identify yourself. >> proud member of the class of 2012. going back to the voting