McConnell on Judge Amy Coney Barrett: “This Nominee Could Not be More Fully Qualified to Serve on the Supreme Court”
‘I had the opportunity to meet with Judge Barrett earlier today. I left our discussion even more convinced that President Trump has nominated exactly the kind of outstanding person whom the American people deserve to have on their highest Court.’
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to be Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court:
“On Saturday evening, President Trump announced his nominee for the Supreme Court: Judge Amy Coney Barrett of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
“I had the opportunity to meet with Judge Barrett earlier today. I left our discussion even more convinced that President Trump has nominated exactly the kind of outstanding person whom the American people deserve to have on their highest Court.
“Americans deserve brilliant judges with first-rate legal minds. Judge Barrett is that and then some. She attended Notre Dame Law School on full scholarship, graduated number one in her class, and was executive editor of the Law Review.
“She secured top-flight clerkships on the D.C. Circuit and the Supreme Court. And after a few years in private practice, she returned to academia and built a national reputation as an award-winning professor and legal scholar.
“Judge Barrett is brilliant.
“Americans also deserve judges who are committed to fairness and impartiality, to following the facts in every case. They deserve judges who understand that their job is to interpret the text of our laws and Constitution as they are written, not as the judge might personally wish they’d been written differently.
“Again, Judge Barrett passes with flying colors. Her three years of rulings on the Seventh Circuit are the record of a judge who sets out to do impartial justice under law — nothing more and nothing less.
“This nominee could not be more fully qualified to serve on the Supreme Court.
“Harvard Law Professor Noah Feldman is a fierce critic of President Trump. He was one of House Democrats’ star witnesses in their impeachment. He has known Judge Barrett professionally for more than 20 years. Despite some philosophical differences, he went out of his way this past weekend to write that she is, quote, ‘highly qualified to serve on the Supreme Court.’
“Here’s what Professor Feldman wrote: ‘I know her to be a brilliant and conscientious lawyer who will analyze and decide cases in good faith, applying the jurisprudential principles to which she is committed. Those are the basic criteria for being a good justice. Barrett meets and exceeds them.’
“And if you ‘believe in an ideal judicial temperament,’ Professor Feldman went on, then ‘rest assured that Barrett has it.’
“It is the same story from everyone who knows Judge Barrett well.
“The dean of the Notre Dame Law School says she is, quote, ‘an absolutely brilliant legal scholar and jurist [and] one of the most popular teachers we have ever had here.’
“One of her faculty colleagues says, quote, ‘she is a principled, careful judge, admired legal scholar, and amazing teacher.’
“Six young women who all studied under now-Judge Barrett say she drilled into them ‘the necessity of setting personal beliefs aside when evaluating the answer to a legal question.’
“These objective qualifications and credentials are what matter most. Judge Barrett deserves to be judged by her record.
“But a few more things bear notice.
“As our nation continues to honor the trail-blazing life of the late Justice Ginsburg, it seems fitting that President Trump has nominated another brilliant woman who has climbed to the very top of the legal field. Young women who know Judge Barrett well describe her as not just an excellent teacher but a gracious mentor and an inspiring example of female leadership.
“And, as the only congressional leader not from New York or California, I applaud the President’s decision to look to the heartland.
“If confirmed, Judge Barrett would be the only current Supreme Court Justice with a law degree from anywhere besides Harvard or Yale.
“I’d say this nominee would bring welcome diversity on multiple fronts.”
Related Issues: Supreme Court
Next Previous
