WASHINGTON D.C., DC — Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner is in Washington D.C. to celebrate the historical confirmation of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court.
He was invited by President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden to attend Jackson's commemoration ceremony Friday at the White House.
The vote was confirmed Thursday, securing Jackson's place as the first Black female justice.
Turner said he's been excited for Jackson ever since her nomination from President Joe Biden, and this historical vote will open the doors for many people wishing to follow in her footsteps.
"I can't tell you how proud I am. I mean she endured a very tough confirmation," Turner said. "Her presence there will signal to a lot of boys and girls that the opportunity is there. And this Supreme Court...will look a bit more like America."
Friday's ceremony gave the White House a chance to publicly celebrate Jackson before she takes her seat on the bench in the fall. She will be replacing Justice Stephen Breyer, who is expected to finish out the remainder of the Supreme Court term this summer before he retires.
During the celebration, President Biden said, "This is not only a sunny day, I mean this from the bottom of my heart. This is going to let so much sun shine on so many young women, so many young black women, so many minorities that it's real. It's real. We're gonna look back, and nothing to do with me - we're gonna look back and see this as a moment of real change in American history."
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Jackson spoke about her historic confirmation as the first Black woman on the Supreme Court and said, "In my family, it took just one generation to go from segregation to the Supreme Court of the United States."
Jackson went on to say that she is honored to join the court and promote the rule of law at the highest level. She said her goal is to do her part to carry out democracy and equal justice "under law forward into the future."
