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Floor Speech
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Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I rise today in support of Ms. Jasmine Yoon, whom President Biden has nominated to serve as a U.S. district court judge for the Western District of Virginia.
For the last decade and a half, Jasmine has served as an invaluable asset to Virginia's legal community, offering both a unique zeal for public service and an incredible life story.
Jasmine came to this Nation at age 14 from South Korea, speaking virtually no English. All through eighth grade--and I am trying to think of myself in the eighth grade, and I cannot imagine going through this--but all through eighth grade, literally, at home she read Merriam Webster's dictionary and watched American TV. And by the time she entered high school, she spoke English fluently.
Thanks to this hard work, she developed a stellar academic record, such that she became a two-time graduate at the University of Virginia where she was awarded the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation scholarship, a full 3-year scholarship to the UVA School of Law given for academic and extracurricular achievement.
Shortly before law school, Jasmine became a U.S. citizen. She has spoken movingly to me and to Senator Kaine about her memories of that ceremony and what citizenship means to her.
Following law school, Jasmine began her public service career clerking for The Honorable James C. Cacheris in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, a distinguished jurist and lifelong mentor for Jasmine.
After completing her clerkship, Jasmine went to work as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District. During her time in that office, she prosecuted countless complex cases. Her work was so notable that she won the FBI Director's Award, given for outstanding prosecutorial skills and service to the FBI.
Upon the conclusion of her time as a prosecutor, she went back to UVA, this time as a lawyer in the university's counsel's office. In taking this job, she and her husband chose to move their entire family to the Western District of Virginia, where they put down deep roots. As counsel to the university, Jasmine impressed everyone she met with her calm and measured approach to nuanced and subtle issues.
Jasmine's community-oriented mindset, her career qualifications, and numerous accolades and awards make her an exceptional nominee for the Western District of Virginia.
Her nomination has received countless letters of support, including from university leadership, local leaders, and the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Virginia. Jasmine was also voted out of the Senate Judiciary Committee with a strong bipartisan vote.
Once sworn in, Jasmine will be the first Asian-American Federal judge in Virginia. I know she will serve with distinction and make our country and our Commonwealth proud.
I urge my colleagues to support her nomination.
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