(July 1, 1991)
PRESIDENT BUSH: Well, I am very pleased to announce that I will nominate Judge Clarence Thomas to serve as associate justice of the United States Supreme Court.
Clarence Thomas was my first appointee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, where he served for over a year. And I believe he'll be a great justice. He is the best perons for this position.
Judge Thomas compiled an excellent record at Holy Cross. He graduate from Yale Law School and served with distinction in the Missouri Attorney General's office in the Reagan-Bush administration and in our administration, my administration.
He's a native of Pinpoint, near Savanah, Ga., where he was raised by his grandparents. His background includes a strong emphasis on education as the key to a bette life. And he attended rigorous Catholic schools where he excelled.
After spending a year at the Immaculate Conception Seminary in Conception Junction, Mo., Clarence transferred to Holy Cross College in Worcester, Mass., wher ehe supported himself through loans and scholarships and jobs, and graduated with honors in 1971.
After graduation from Yale Law School,he worked for then Missouri Attorney General John [C.] Danforth, and spent two and half years litigating cases of all descriptions.
In 1977 Judge Thomas practiced law in the private sector, and in 1979, he rejoined Sen. Danforth as a legislative assistant in th eU.S. Senate.
In 1981, President [Ronald] Reagan appointed him assistant secretary for civil rights in the Department of Education. From 1982 to 1990, he served as President Reagan's chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
And I appointed hm to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in 1990.
I have followed this man's career for some time and he has excelled in everything that he has attempted. He is a delightful, and warm, intelligent person, who has great empathy and a wonderful sense of humor. He's also a fiercely independent thinker with an excellent legal mind who believes passionately in equal opportunity for all Americans. He will approach the cases that come before the court with a commitment to decideing them fairly, as the facts and the law require.
Judge Thomas is a model for all Americans, and he's earned the right to sit on the nations's highest court, and I am very proud indeed to nominate him for this positioni, and Itrust that the Senate will confirm this able man promptly.
And now, Judge Thomas, if you'd like to say a few words, and then what we'll do is [take] questions for either of us, and then if you finish those, then I'll be glad to stay and take questions on a wide variety of subjects.
JUDGE THOMAS: Thank you, Mr. President.
PRESIDENT BUSH: You're welcome, and we're just so pleased you came up.
JUDGE THOMAS: Thank you, Mr. President. I am honored and humbled by your nomination of me to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
As a child I could not dare dream that I would ever see the Supreme Court, not to mention be nominated to it. Indeed, my most vivid childhoot memory of the Supreme Court, were the --or was the "Impeach [Chief Justice] Earl Warren" signs which lined Highway 17 near Savanah.
I didn't quite understand who this Earl Warrne fellow was, but I knew he was in big trouble.
I thank all of those who have helped me along the way, and who have helped me to this point and this moment in my life, especially my grandparents who are--especially my grandparents, my mother, and the nuns, all of whom were adamant that I grow up tomake something of myself.
I also thank my wonderful wife and my wonderful son.
In my view, only in America could this have been possible. I look forward to the confirmation process, and an opportunity to be of service once again to my country, and to be an example to those who were where I was, and to show them that indeed there is hope.
Thank you again, Mr. President.
PRESIDENT BUSH: Now, either of us will take questions. As you can understant Judge Thomas, the next important step for him is going up for confirmation. And as with every predecessor for the Supreme Court, I'm sure you'll understant if he won't take questions on specific issues or philosophy or things of that nature. But if you have any for him or for me about this appointment or matters relating to the court. I'd be glad to respond. Inow he would. And then as I say, it's been a while, and we want to go ahead and just have a general press conference on any other subjects that come to mind.