[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 114 (Monday, July 9, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S4831]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                   Tribute to Justice Anthony Kennedy

  Before we begin this confirmation process, let me acknowledge the 
work and the legacy of departing Justice Kennedy. I thank Justice 
Kennedy for his 40-plus years serving this country on the Federal 
bench. He has presided over and authored the majority opinion in many 
high-stakes cases of national importance. He may be somewhat hard to 
pigeonhole at times, but I think it is safe to say he has remained 
committed to upholding the integrity of the judiciary throughout the 
course of his career. As a former State supreme court justice myself, I 
can attest that the work of a judge is painstaking, time-consuming, but 
obviously extraordinarily important. So we are grateful to Justice 
Kennedy for his willingness, his ability, and his determination to 
carry out his important work as a Federal judge.

  After being appointed by President Reagan and having served on the 
Supreme Court for the last three decades, he has furthered the pursuit 
of American justice one case at a time through calm times and turbulent 
times. He was an important member of the Court who recognized one's 
individual right to keep and bear arms under the Second Amendment, and 
he recently upheld the President's ability to protect national security 
and limit immigration from countries that have no ability to vet and to 
identify potential sources of terrorism in their own countries.
  As Justice Kennedy concludes his tenure on the Court at the end of 
the month, we wish him and his wife, Mary, and his children many more 
happy years together.