07.14.21

Durbin Questions Latest Circuit & District Court Nominees To Come Before Judiciary Committee

WASHINGTON – During today’s Judiciary Committee hearing, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, questioned Myrna Pérez, nominee to be United States Circuit Judge for the Second Circuit.  Durbin asked Ms. Pérez about her thoughts on the right to vote, which has been under assault in recent years.

“Speak to me, if you will though, about the right to vote.  That is the central issue we are discussing in so many aspects.  A group of Texas legislators decided to come to Washington so that they wouldn’t make a quorum in Texas over a controversy involving the voting rights law.  People feel very intensely about it,” Durbin said.

Ms. Pérez said that the right to vote keeps us free, protects us from tyranny, and is preservative of all other rights.

Video of Durbin’s questions to Ms. Pérez in Committee is available here.

Audio of Durbin’s questions to Ms. Pérez in Committee is available here.

Footage of Durbin’s questions to Ms. Pérez in Committee is available here for TV Stations. 

Durbin also questioned Jia M. Cobb, nominee to be United States District Judge for the District of Columbia; Sarah A.L. Merriam, nominee to be United States District Judge for the District of Connecticut; Florence Y. Pan, nominee to be United States District Judge for the District of Columbia; and Karen McGlashan Williams, nominee to be United States District Judge for the District of New Jersey, about the lessons Congress must learn from the ‘war on drugs’ and the negative effects of mandatory minimum sentences, especially on communities of color.

Video of Durbin’s questions to Ms. Cobb, Ms. Merriam, and Ms. Pan, and Ms. Williams in Committee is available here.

Audio of Durbin’s questions to Ms. Cobb, Ms. Merriam, and Ms. Pan, and Ms. Williams in Committee is available here.

Footage of Durbin’s questions to Ms. Cobb, Ms. Merriam, and Ms. Pan, and Ms. Williams in Committee is available here for TV Stations. 

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