[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]



               Filling the Upcoming Supreme Court Vacancy

  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, this evening, the President of the United 
States will perform his duty and nominate a person to serve as the next 
Supreme Court Justice to fill the vacancy left by Associate Justice 
Anthony Kennedy, who announced his retirement at the end of July. I 
look forward to joining the President this evening, along with a number 
of my colleagues, for that historic announcement. It is an important 
day because the person selected will help decide many cases that will 
have a deep and lasting impact on American history. Certainly, Justice 
Kennedy played that role many times in many close cases.
  There are a great many talented men and women who are qualified for 
Justice Kennedy's seat, I believe, and that is why the President's 
choice is so difficult. All of these candidates who have been 
identified as a potential pool of candidates have the intellectual 
capacity that has developed over many years, along with a rigorous 
understanding of the law. They have demonstrated their analytical 
skills in a variety of ways--by studying at top-tier law schools, 
clerking for well-respected judges on the courts of appeals and the 
Supreme Court, in their public speeches, in the courses they have 
taught, in the articles they have published, working at the highest 
levels inside government and prominent law firms, and, of course, in 
the case of the final four, serving on an appellate bench, which is the 
midlevel, intermediate Federal court which, for all practical purposes 
in most cases, is the court of last resort since the Supreme Court only 
hears roughly 80 or so cases a year.
  I know the President has considered a handful of these jurists. He 
revealed a list of potential appointees to the Court when he ran for 
President, and I think that probably was one reason why he was elected 
because when people saw the quality, the experience, and the 
qualifications of the individuals he said he would consider for the 
Supreme Court, I think it gave them greater confidence he would choose 
wisely, given the opportunity as President, to appoint somebody to the 
Court.
  These individuals who are in the pool of prospective nominees have 
come from different academic and professional backgrounds, but I have 
no doubt the selection will be a good one primarily because of the one 
appointment the President has already made to the Supreme Court, which 
is Justice Neil Gorsuch.
  Justice Gorsuch did not disappoint those of us who supported his 
nomination during his first year on the Court. He has demonstrated not 
only the power of his pen but the clarity of his thought and the force 
of his legal reasoning. I am sure his predecessor, Justice Scalia, 
would be proud of the fact Justice Gorsuch succeeded him on the Court 
and has left a record of accomplishments in such a short time.
  President Trump and Justice Gorsuch taught us all a valuable lesson 
last year. At the end of the day, the decisions of the Supreme Court 
should not be much affected by the personalities or the life stories of 
the Justices themselves. That is because the interpretation of the law 
should always be separate and apart from the people who apply it, and 
the Justices and their work must be insulated from the day-to-day 
politics that happen inside this Capitol Building and the statehouses 
around the country.
  The Court is not a partisan or political institution. After all, that 
is the way our Founders--the people who created this great country--and 
our Founding documents wanted it to be. Wisely, they figured there 
needed to be someone who would make a final decision in the event of a 
controversy or a lawsuit, but the Court itself should not put a finger 
on the scale or be a player in the partisan battles that occur here in 
Washington, DC. Indeed, the Court should be and is a separate and equal 
branch of government and must stand on its own, apart from the 
political biases and persuasions that pervade the District of Columbia. 
So I, along with many other people, am excited to hear the President's 
choice.