[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 45 (Wednesday, March 15, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1809-S1810]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              NOMINATIONS

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, a few short months ago, our colleague 
Dan Coats retired from his post here in the Senate. At that time, I had 
a chance to reflect on our friend's impressive career, and I noted that 
we could expect him to rise to the occasion if called to serve his 
country once again. Well, that is exactly what Dan Coats is doing now. 
This time he will be taking on the role of Director of National 
Intelligence. It goes without saying that the President made an 
excellent choice in selecting Dan for this job.
  Our former colleague from Indiana has served his Nation in the Army, 
in the House of Representatives, as the Ambassador to Germany, and, of 
course, he has also served his State here in the Senate where he was a 
leader on issues regarding our national security and intelligence 
community. I look forward to the Senate confirming him today.
  We are also working toward an opportunity to support another of the 
President's exceptional selections, LTG H.R. McMaster, his choice for 
National Security Advisor. The Chairman of the Armed Services Committee 
recently called him ``an outstanding choice'' and ``a man of genuine 
intellect, character, and ability.''
  He will now be tasked with adapting his vast experience to the 
responsibility of coordinating our national security policy at a time 
when our Nation faces myriad threats and challenges. I know each of us 
appreciates the willingness of both former Senator Coats and General 
McMaster to take on these challenging positions and their continued 
efforts to keep our country safe.
  Now onto another well-qualified nominee we will advance soon. Next 
week Judge Neil Gorsuch will come before the Senate Judiciary Committee 
for the hearing on his nomination to the Supreme Court. Senators from 
both sides of the aisle will have an opportunity to hear from him 
directly, ask questions, and listen to the testimony of others who are 
familiar with his professional background, abilities, and character.
  I know we are all looking forward to his hearing and to learning even 
more about this exceptional nominee, but here is what we already know 
about Judge Gorsuch. The American Bar Association is an organization 
that the Democratic leader and former Democratic chairman of the 
Judiciary Committee have deemed the gold standard for evaluating 
judicial nominations. What have they done? They awarded him their 
highest rating: unanimously ``well qualified.''
  Leading liberal lawyers like former President Obama's Acting 
Solicitor General, Neal Katyal, and former President Obama's legal 
mentor, Professor Laurence Tribe, sing his praises. Mr. Katyal says 
Judge Gorsuch is ``an extraordinary judge and man'' whose ``years on 
the bench reveal a commitment to judicial independence.'' Professor 
Tribe says that Judge Gorsuch ``is a brilliant, terrific guy who would 
do the Court's work with distinction.''
  To that list, you can now add former law partner and longtime 
Democrat, David Frederick, who is a board member of the liberal 
American Constitution Society. Other board members of the ACS include 
people like former Obama Solicitor General Donald Verrilli, and left-
leaning law professor Erwin Chemerinsky, among others.
  The ACS is anything but a conservative group. Yet now, even one of 
its own board members has backed Judge Gorsuch's nomination. In an op-
ed recently published by the Washington Post, Mr. Frederick called 
Judge Gorsuch ``brilliant, diligent, open-minded and thoughtful.'' He 
went on to say:

       Gorsuch's approach to resolving legal problems as a lawyer 
     and judge embodies a reverence for our country's values and 
     legal system. The facts developed in a case matter to him; 
     the legal rules established by legislatures and through 
     precedent deserve deep respect; and the importance of 
     treating litigants, counsel and colleagues with civility is 
     deeply ingrained in him.


[[Page S1810]]


  Mr. Frederick, who practiced law with Judge Gorsuch, states:

       Over the course of his career, [Neil Gorsuch] has 
     represented both plaintiffs and defendants. He has defended 
     large corporations, but also sued them. He has advocated for 
     the Chamber of Commerce, but also filed (and prevailed with) 
     class actions on behalf of consumers. We should applaud such 
     independence of mind and spirit in Supreme Court nominees.

  And Mr. Frederick observes:

       As a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th 
     Circuit, Gorsuch has not been the reflexive, hard-edged 
     conservative as many depict him to be. He has ruled for 
     plaintiffs and for defendants; for those accused of crimes as 
     well as for law enforcement; for those who entered the 
     country illegally; and for those harmed by environmental 
     damage.

  As this self-proclaimed ``longtime supporter of Democratic candidates 
and progressive causes'' points out, Judge Gorsuch will be the type of 
Justice each of us should want on the High Court. And though he knows 
he may not always agree with Neil Gorsuch's rulings as a jurist on the 
Supreme Court, Frederick says we need judges like Neil Gorsuch ``who 
approach cases with fairness and intellectual rigor, and who care about 
precedent and the limits of their roles as judges.''
  The bottom line is this: ``The Senate should confirm him because 
there is no principled reason to vote no.'' Let me repeat that. ``The 
Senate should confirm [Gorsuch],'' Frederick said, ``because there is 
no principled reason to vote no.'' This is a board member of the left's 
flagship legal group in America, and on this point, he happens to be 
absolutely right.
  So as colleagues on both sides will continue to find at next week's 
hearings, ``there is [simply] no principled reason to vote no'' when 
Judge Gorsuch's nomination comes before the full Senate.

                          ____________________