Senator Thune made these remarks on the Senate floor regarding the confirmation of John Roberts:
Mr. President, I rise today to voice my strong support for the nomination of Judge John G. Roberts to be Chief Justice of the United States. This is a historic moment, Mr. President, as many of my colleagues have already noted. This moment marks only the 17th time in the history of our Republic that the United States Senate has considered a nominee to be Chief Justice.
As one of the Senate’s newest members, it is a great privilege for me to participate in this process. To have had only 16 individuals lead the judicial branch of government in our history illustrates the most important characteristic of the judicial branch, and that characteristic is lifetime tenure.
I believe the guiding question for each of us in determining a nominee’s fitness for this post should be whether the person is dedicated to applying the Constitution to every case considered by the Court, and not adding to or changing the Constitution’s text to suit his or her own personal policy preferences.
I was pleased to have met privately with Judge Roberts just yesterday. I came away from that meeting even more convinced that this man has the ability and temperament necessary to lead the Supreme Court. I believe Judge Roberts is dedicated to the rule of law and the principle of judicial restraint, and most importantly, will not substitute his own policy preferences for those of the elected representatives in the executive and legislative branches of our government.
...
I believe Judge Roberts’ career embodies these principles, Mr. President. As Judge Roberts stated during his hearing, judges are like umpires, and umpires don’t make the rules, they apply them. I do not believe Judge Roberts will engage in the judicial activism that we have witnessed on the Supreme Court and the lower federal courts in the past few decades.
...
We have seen what damage the Supreme Court is able to do when it is composed of individuals who are not committed to judicial restraint. Instead of acting as umpires and applying the law, some on the Supreme Court and the federal bench are pitching and batting.
The most recent example came in the case of Kelo v. City of New London, decided just this past June. As you know, Mr. President, the Constitution says the government cannot take private property for public use without just compensation. However, in the Kelo case, the Supreme Court emptied any meaning from the phrase “for public use” in the Fifth Amendment.
In Kelo, the Supreme Court held that a city government’s decision to take private homes for the purpose of economic development satisfies the “public use” requirement of the Fifth Amendment. This case makes private property vulnerable to being taken and transferred to another private owner, so long as the government’s purpose for the taking is deemed “economic development.”
...
Mr. President, I read in today’s edition of the Washington Post that several of our Democratic colleagues, as well as the Democratic National Committee Chairman, are already threatening to filibuster the next nominee to the Supreme Court. It is shocking to me that they are threatening a filibuster of the next nominee before they even know who the nominee is going to be. They are even threatening to filibuster possible nominees who were just confirmed to the appellate courts and explicitly included in the “Memorandum of Understanding” that seven Democrats and seven Republicans signed onto last May.
That is wrong, Mr. President, and the American people will see it for the blind partisanship that it is. I would remind my colleagues on the other side of the aisle that they have sworn to uphold the Constitution through their representation in this body, not to thwart its intent or reshape its application to suit the nattering liberal elite and their special interest groups. I implore my Democratic colleagues not to blindly abuse the filibuster. These threats are symptomatic of the breakdown of the nomination process, and they must stop.
...
I believe Judge Roberts is eminently fit and qualified to serve as the next Chief Justice. I will proudly cast my vote for him, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.
Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor.
Recent Comments