economic agenda that they can't get by the voters. and that goes on in america every day. we've reached the point where one single, solitary federal judge, in a limited venue, can enjoin a federal statute or an executive order of the president of united states for the entire country. and our founders never intended that. i want to close with two very short quotations, the first stated much more eloquently than i can, is justice curtis in 1857. you've probably read it. he was dissenting in the dred scott case. this is what judge curtis said. "when a strict interpretation of the constitution, according to the fixed rules which govern the interpretation of laws, is abandoned, and the theoretical opinions of individuals are

allowed to control its meaning, we have, no longer, a constitution. we're under the government of individual men, who, for the time being, have power to declare what their constitution is, according to their own views of what it ought to mean." and finally, a more contemporary statement from a gentleman that you're very familiar with, justice scalia. he said it in real-world terms. this is what he said -- "the american people love democracy, and the american people are not fools. the american people know their value judgments are quite as good as those taught in any law school, maybe better. value judgements, after all should be voted on, not dictated." thank you, mr. chairman. chairman graham: thank you,

-- raise your right hand. that this testimony you are about to give is nothing but the truth, the whole truth? family.to your the floor is yours, judge. graham,rrett: chairman

ranking member feinstein, and members of the committee, i am honored and humbled to appear before you as a nominee for associate justice of the supreme court. i thank the president for entrusting me with this profound responsibility as well as for the graciousness that he on the first lady have shown my family throughout this process. i thank senator young for introducing me, as he did at my hearing to serve on the seventh circuit. i think senator braun for his generous support. and i am especially grateful to o'hara ofr dean patty notre dame law school.

she hired me as a professor nearly 20 years ago and has been mentor, colleague, and friend ever since. i thank the members of this committee -- and your other colleagues in the senate -- who have taken the time to meet with me since my nomination. it has been a privilege to meet you. as i said when i was nominated to serve as a justice, i am used to being in a group of nine -- my family. nothing is more important to me, and i am so proud to have them behind me. my husband jesse and i have been married for 21 years. he has been a selfless and wonderful partner at every step along the way. i once asked my sister, "why do people say marriage is hard? i think it's easy." she said, "maybe you should ask jesse if he agrees." i decided not to take her advice. i know that i am far luckier in love than i deserve. jesse and i are parents to seven wonderful children. emma is a sophomore in college who just might follow her parents into a career in the law. law. vivian came to us from haiti. when she arrived, she was so weak that we were told she might never walk or talk normally. she now deadlifts as much as the male athletes at our gym, and i

assure you that she has no trouble talking. tess is 16, and while she shares her parents' love for the liberal arts, she also has a math gene that seems to have skipped her parents' generation. john peter joined us shortly after the devastating earthquake in haiti, and jesse, who brought him home, still describes the shock on j.p.'s face when he got off the plane in wintertime chicago. once that shock wore off, j.p. assumed the happy-go-lucky attitude that is still his signature trait. liam is smart, strong, and kind, and, to our delight, he still loves watching movies with mom and dad. 10-year-old juliet is already pursuing her goal of becoming an author by writing multiple essays and short stories, including one she recently submitted for publication. and our youngest, regimen, is at home with friends. benjamin has down syndrome, and he is the unanimous favorite of the family. he is watching the hearing this morning, and he was calling out the name of the kids in the back, i was told. my own siblings are here, some in the hearing room and some

nearby. carrie, megan, eileen, amanda, vivian, and michael are my oldest and dearest friends. we've seen each other through both the happy and hard parts of life, and i am so grateful that they are with me now. my parents, mike and linda coney, are watching from their new orleans home. my father was a lawyer, and my mother was a teacher, which explains why i became a law professor. more important, my parents modeled, for me and my six siblings, a life of service, principle, faith, and love. i remember preparing for a grade-school spelling bee against a boy in my class. and to boost my confidence, my dad sang, "anything boys can do, girls can do better." and, at least as i remember it, i spelled my way to victory. i received similar encouragement from the devoted teachers at st. mary's dominican, my all-girls high school in new orleans. when i went to college, it never occurred to me that anyone would

consider girls to be less capable than boys. my freshman year, i took a literature class filled with upperclassmen english majors. when i did my first presentation on "breakfast at tiffany's," i feared i had failed. but my professor filled me with confidence and became he a mentor. and when i graduated with a degree in english, she gave me truman capote's collected works. although i considered graduate studies in english, i decided my passion for words was better suited to deciphering statutes than novels. i was fortunate to have wonderful legal mentors, in particular, the judges for whom i clerked. the legendary judge laurence silberman of the d.c. circuit gave me my first job in the law , and he continues to teach me today. he was by my side during my seventh circuit hearing.

he stormy and at my investiture. and he is cheering me on from his living room right now. i also clerked for justice scalia. and, like many law students, i felt like i knew the justice before i ever met him, because i had read so many of his colorful, accessible opinions. more than the style of his writing, though, it was the content of justice scalia's reasoning that shaped me. his judicial philosophy was straightforward -- a judge must apply the law as written, not as she wishes it were. sometimes, that approach meant reaching results that he did not like. but, as he put it in one of his best known opinions, that is what it means to say that we have a government of laws and not of men. justice scalia taught me more than just law. he was devoted to his family, resolute in his beliefs, and fearless of criticism.

and, as i embarked on my own legal career, i resolved to maintain that same perspective. there is a tendency in our profession to treat the practice of law as all-consuming, while losing sight of everything else. but that makes for a shallow and unfulfilling life. i worked hard as a lawyer and as a professor. i owed that to my clients, to my students, and to myself. but i never let the law define my identity or crowd out the rest of my life. a similar principle applies to the role of courts. courts have a vital responsibility to the rule of law, which is critical to a free society. but courts are not designed to solve every problem or right every wrong in our public life. the policy decisions and value judgments of government must be made by the political branches

elected by and accountable to the people. the public should not expect courts to do so, and courts should not try. that is the approach that i have strived to follow as a judge on the seventh circuit. in every case, i have carefully considered the arguments presented by the parties, discussed the issues with my colleagues on the court, and done my utmost to reach the result required by the law, whatever my own preferences might be. i try to remain mindful that, while my court decides thousands of cases a year, each case is the most important one to the parties involved. -- to the litigants involved. after all, cases are not like statutes, which are often named for their authors. cases are named for the parties who stand to gain or lose in the

real world, often through their liberty or livelihood. when i write an opinion resolving a case, i read every word from the perspective of the losing party. i ask myself how would i view the decision if one of my children was the party i was ruling against. even though i would not like the result, would i understand that the decision was fairly reasoned and grounded in the law? that is the standard that i set for myself in every case, and it is the standard that i will follow as long as i am a judge on any court. when the president offered this nomination, i was deeply honored. but it was not a position i had sought out, and i thought carefully before accepting. the confirmation process -- and the work of serving on the court, if confirmed -- requires sacrifices, particularly from my

family. i chose to accept the nomination, because i believe deeply in the rule of law and the place of the supreme court in our nation. i believe americans of all backgrounds deserve an independent supreme court that interprets our constitution and laws as they are written. and i believe i can serve my country by playing that role. i come before this committee with humility about the responsibility that i have been asked to undertake and with appreciation for those who came before me. i was 9-years-old when sandra day o'connor became the first woman to sit in this seat. she was a model of grace and dignity throughout her distinguished tenure on the court. when i was 21-years-old and just beginning my career, ruth bader ginsburg sat in this seat. she told the committee, "what has become of me could only happen in america."

i have been nominated to fill justice ginsburg's seat, but no one will ever take her place. i will be forever grateful for the path she marked and the life she led. if confirmed, it would be the honor of a lifetime to serve alongside the chief justice and seven associate justices. i admire them all and would consider each a valued colleague. and i might bring a few new perspectives to the bench. as the president noted when he announced my nomination, i would be the first mother of school-age children to serve on the court. and i know it would make senators young and braun happy to know that i would be the first justice to join the court from the seventh circuit in 45 years. i would be the only sitting justice who didn't attend school at harvard or yale.