Congressional Black Caucus chair says Jackson's confirmation will send the right message

In a passionate opening statement, Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, lauded Judge Jackson's record before the Senate Judiciary Committee and slammed what she called "unfair attacks" by Republicans -- though several GOP members on the committee weren't present to hear it.

"These bad-faith efforts exist despite a resume that arguably surpasses those of previous nominees," said Beatty, who was called as a witness by the committee's Democratic majority.

Beatty praised the history-making moment that would be Jackson's confirmation and said Jackson "will be a judge that will serve all of America and all of America can be proud of."

"Judge Jackson's confirmation will send a message to Black women and little girls like my granddaughter Leah, whose mother is the first black woman to serve on the Tenth [Circuit] Court of Appeals, and Leah's first known president was the Black man and now she sees a Black female vice president," she said. "So if the guidance counselor tells her, ‘Your Goals are too high,' she will remember how Judge Jackson soared against adversity as one of our nation's brightest legal minds."

Beatty also noted that Jackson was confirmed to a lifetime judicial appointment by the Senate on a bipartisan basis last year and that she clerked for Justice Stephen Breyer, who she'd be replacing, which she said wouldn't change the court's ideological makeup.

This article was originally published by ABC News on March 24, 2022.