Would you support Obama nominating Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court tomorrow?

But while Elena had a brilliant career in academia, her passion for the law is anything but academic. She has often referred to Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, for whom she clerked, as her hero. That understanding of law, not as an intellectual exercise or words on a page, but as it affects the lives of ordinary people, has animated every step of Elena’s career -- including her service as Solicitor General today.

During her time in this office, she’s repeatedly defended the rights of shareholders and ordinary citizens against unscrupulous corporations. Last year, in the Citizens United case, she defended bipartisan campaign finance reform against special interests seeking to spend unlimited money to influence our elections. Despite long odds of success, with most legal analysts believing the government was unlikely to prevail in this case, Elena still chose it as her very first case to argue before the Court.

I think that says a great deal not just about Elena’s tenacity, but about her commitment to serving the American people. I think it says a great deal about her commitment to protect our fundamental rights, because in a democracy, powerful interests must not be allowed to drown out the voices of ordinary citizens. And I think it says a great deal about the path that Elena has chosen.

Someone as gifted as Elena could easily have settled into a comfortable life in a corporate law practice. Instead, she chose a life of service -- service to her students, service to her country, service to the law and to all those whose lives it shapes. And given Elena’s upbringing, it’s a choice that probably came naturally.

Elena is the granddaughter of immigrants whose mother was, for 20 years, a beloved public schoolteacher -- as are her two brothers, who are here today. Her father was a housing lawyer, devoted to the rights of tenants. Both were the first in their families to attend college.

And from an early age, they instilled in Elena not just the value of a good education, but the importance of using it to serve others. As she recalled during her Solicitor General confirmation hearings, “Both my parents wanted me to succeed in my chosen profession. But more than that, both drilled into me the importance of service, character, and integrity.”

Elena has also spoken movingly about how her mother had grown up at a time when women had few opportunities to pursue their ambitions and took great joy in watching her daughter do so. Neither she, nor Elena’s father, lived to see this day. But I think her mother would relish this moment.

I think she would relish -- as I do -- the prospect of three women taking their seat on the nation’s highest Court for the first time in history. (Applause.) A Court that would be more inclusive, more representative, more reflective of us as a people than ever before. And I think they would both be tremendously proud of their daughter -- a great lawyer, a great teacher, and a devoted public servant who I am confident will make an outstanding Supreme Court justice.

So I hope that the Senate will act in a bipartisan fashion, as they did in confirming Elena to be our Solicitor General last year, and that they will do so as swiftly as possible, so she can get busy and take her seat in time to fully participate in the work of the Court this fall. With that, I would like to invite the person who I believe will be the next Supreme Court justice of the United States, Elena Kagan, to say a few words. SOLICITOR GENERAL KAGAN: Thank you, Mr. President.

I am honored and I am humbled by this nomination and by the confidence you have shown in me. During the last year as I have served as Solicitor General, my longstanding appreciation for the Supreme Court’s role in our constitutional democracy has become ever deeper and richer. The Court is an extraordinary institution in the work it does and in the work it can do for the American people by advancing the tenets of our Constitution, by upholding the rule of law, and by enabling all Americans, regardless of their background or their beliefs, to get a fair hearing and an equal chance at justice.

And within that extraordinary institution, Justice Stevens has played a particularly distinguished and exemplary role. It is, therefore, a special honor to be nominated to fill his seat. I have felt blessed to represent the United States before the Supreme Court, to walk into the highest Court in this country when it is deciding its most important cases, cases that have an impact on so many people’s lives.

And to represent the United States there is the most thrilling and the most humbling task a lawyer can perform. I’ve been fortunate to have been supported in all the work I’ve done as Solicitor General by a remarkable group of lawyers and staff, many of whom are here today. They exemplify professionalism, public service and integrity.

And I am grateful for all that they have taught me.