国际英语新闻：Elena Kagan confirmed as U.S. Supreme Court justice

WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Senate on Thursday confirmed Elena Kagan as Supreme Court justice, making her the fourth woman to sit in the high court.

President Barack Obama, who nominated Kagan, said he was "pleased" with the confirmation, and was confident Kagan would do well in her new job.

Kagan, Obama's second Supreme Court nominee, was approved on a 63-37 vote. She currently serves as Solicitor General for the administration and will replace retiring justice John Paul Stevens in the high court's fall session.

File photo taken on June 29, 2010 shows Elena Kagan testifying on the second day of her confirmation hearings to be Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., capital of the United States. U.S. Senate on Aug. 5, 2010 voted 63 to 37 to approve Elena Kagan as Supreme Court Justice, making her the fourth woman to enter the high court.

Kagan will have to take oath of office before becoming a Supreme Court justice. Her confirmation was seen as a done deal from the beginning, as the confirmation needs only a simple majority in the Democratic-led Senate.

The voting went down largely along party line. All but one Democratic Senators, two independents and five Republicans voted for her, while all other Republicans voted "no."

As Solicitor General, Kagan argued for the U.S. government before the high court. She also worked as dean of the prestigious Harvard Law School.

Republicans assailed her for lack of experience as a judge, and questioned her impartiality.

Kagan defended her impartiality as well as her modesty, saying "I will do my best to consider every case impartially, modestly, with commitment to principle, and in accordance with law."

Prior to Kagan, Obama nominated appeals court judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, and she was confirmed last year on a 68-31 vote, becoming the first Hispanic sits on the high court's bench.

With Kagan nomination approved, the Supreme Court will have three female justices when it returns to business in October. The other two are Sotomayor and Ruth Ginsburg.

Obama, who was in Chicago on Thursday, issued a statement shortly after the vote, saying the Senate Judiciary Committee has thoroughly scrutinized Elena's record, and "after 17 hours of testimony during which she answered more than 540 questions, I'd say they got a pretty good look at Elena Kagan."

"I am confident that Elena Kagan will make an outstanding Supreme Court Justice," Obama said, noting the vote was a bipartisan one.