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September 12, 2018

Barrasso: America Needs Judge Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court

“We’re off to a good start with the confirmation hearings for Judge Kavanaugh that were held last week in the Judiciary Committee. What people learned is that Judge Kavanagh is a well-respected, mainstream, highly qualified person for this important job."

Click here to watch Sen. Barrasso’s remarks.

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) spoke on the Senate floor about why he believes the Senate should move quickly to confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh to serve as associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Excerpts of Senator Barrasso’s remarks:

“The Senate recently completed what was easily the most productive August in memory.

“We passed six appropriations bills with a full debate on the Senate floor.

“We passed the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act.

“We confirmed 25 appointees to important jobs in the administration.

“We confirmed 17 federal judges to the bench – and we set up votes for another eight earlier this month.

“When I was home in Wyoming, I talked with a number of people all around the state and they were very pleased to see how much we’ve actually been getting done.

“I can tell you that they absolutely think that we should keep up this pace.

“Maybe the most important thing that people expect us to deal with quickly is confirming Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.

“We’re off to a good start with the confirmation hearings for Judge Kavanaugh that were held last week in the Judiciary Committee.

“What people learned is that Judge Kavanagh is a well-respected, mainstream, highly qualified person for this important job.

“What people also saw is that some Democrats in the Senate were totally unwilling to give him fair consideration.

“Senators have been given access to more than 500,000 pages of records from his time as a judge and throughout his career in public service.

“That’s three times the amount of information that any other Supreme Court nominee has ever produced.

“For some nominees to the Supreme Court, these kinds of documents are very important.

“They can tell us a lot about how a nominee thinks, about how he or she might approach the job of being a justice.

“It’s especially important when the person under consideration has never served as a judge before – sometimes that’s all we have to look at.

“Well, that’s not the case here.

“Judge Kavanaugh has served on the Circuit Court for 12 years and he has written opinions in 300 cases.

“If anyone wants to know what he’ll act like as a judge, they can just look at how he’s already acted as a judge for the past dozen years.

“These are documents that matter.

“They are the ones that tell us how he approaches being a judge.

“Senators have had access to these court opinions since the day Judge Kavanaugh was nominated eight weeks ago.

“If Democrats would just take the time to read through these opinions, they would see that Judge Kavanaugh is extremely thoughtful and he’s independent.

“He is absolutely devoted to preserving the rule of law, to protecting the separation of powers that is the basis of our Constitution.

“If Democrats don’t want to read through all of these documents and these decisions, they could focus on the 13 cases where the Supreme Court adopted Judge Kavanaugh’s reasoning.

“That’s how much respect other judges and justices have for his careful and compelling decisions for which he has written.

“There was one case that dealt with a regulation that the Environmental Protection Agency wrote.

“Judge Kavanaugh found that the agency exceeded its authority under the law when it wrote their regulation.

“He wrote: ‘It is not our job to make the policy choices and set the statutory boundaries, but it is emphatically our job to carefully but firmly enforce the statutory boundaries.’

“The Supreme Court agreed with Judge Kavanaugh’s reasoning.

“One constitutional scholar pointed out that ‘Judge Kavanaugh commands wide and deep respect among scholars, lawyers, judges, and justices.’

“Another legal scholar said Judge Kavanaugh is ‘one of the most learned judges in America on a variety of issues, ranging from theories of statutory interpretation to separation of powers.’

“A third law professor agreed.

“He called Judge Kavanaugh ‘a true intellectual – a leading thinker and writer on the subjects of statutory interpretation and federal courts.’

“Finally, if it’s even too much for some Democratic senators to read through all of the glowing reviews of Judge Kavanaugh’s career, they could just look at what he’s actually said.

“Look at his own simple, straightforward summary of his judging philosophy.

“In a speech last year he made it very clear.

“He said, ‘The judge’s job is to interpret the law, not to make the law or make policy.’

“This view – and every example I have seen from Judge Kavanaugh’s record – is squarely in the mainstream of American legal thinking today.

“Despite all of this information being available, some Democrats are trying to say that they still want even more documents.

“They are hoping against hope that if they request another 500,000 pages they can delay things a little longer.

“Let me assure you, it’s not going to happen.

“I think that most Democrats who have been making the most noise really don’t want more documents.

“That’s because so many of the Democrats complaining the loudest are the ones who’ve already made up their mind and made announcements that they are planning to vote against the nominee.

“Some were saying it before the nomination was even announced.

“From the very beginning, liberal activists called on Senator Schumer ‘to do everything in his power to keep this seat empty for as long as necessary.’

“There are several senators on the other side of the aisle who have gladly taken up this challenge from the far-left corners of their base.

“I hope that more-reasonable Democrats will reject the calls for needless delays and dangerous obstruction.

“I hope that there are Democrats in the Senate who are willing to listen to what Judge Kavanaugh actually said during his hearing.

“I hope that there are Democrats who are willing to read some of the hundreds of thousands of pages of documents.

“I hope that there are Democrats who are willing to listen to the experts who are describing Judge Kavanaugh as one of the most learned judges in our country.

“It is clear that Judge Kavanaugh has the right approach to being a judge.

“It is clear that he is a person of solid character – and that he has a strong intellect.

“It is clear that America needs Judge Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court – and that it’s time for Democrats to give up this pointless obstruction.”

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