[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 163 (Monday, September 21, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5719-S5720]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                REMEMBERING JUSTICE RUTH BADER GINSBURG

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, our Nation is mourning the end of an 
exceptional American life. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg meant so much to 
our country.
  First and foremost, she was a brilliant, generational legal mind who 
climbed past one obstacle after another to summit the very pinnacle of 
her profession.
  Justice Ginsburg was a fixture on our Nation's highest Court for more 
than a quarter of a century. She was not just a lawyer--no, not just a 
lawyer--but a leader. From majority opinions to impassioned dissents, 
her life's work will not only continue to shape jurisprudence but also 
enlighten scholars and students for generations.
  By all accounts, Justice Ginsburg loved her work because she loved 
the law. In a more ordinary life story, her courage and continued 
excellence in the face of multiple serious illnesses would itself be 
the heroic climax rather than just one more remarkable chapter among so 
many.
  On the Court, Justice Ginsburg was a universally admired colleague. 
It is no wonder that many Americans have taken particular comfort these 
past days in remembering her famous friendship with her ideological 
opposite, the late Justice Scalia.
  Together, they made sure the halls of justice also rang with laughter 
and comedy. They rarely sat on the same side of a high-profile 
decision, but they still sat together at the opera and most any other 
time they could manage to be together.
  The legal world is mourning a giant, but Justice Ginsburg's fellow 
Justices, a legion of loyal law clerks, and countless many others are 
mourning a close friend or a mentor. The Senate sends condolences to 
them all.
  Yet Justice Ginsburg's impact on American life went deeper still. 
Friday's loss feels personal to millions of Americans who may never 
have made her acquaintance.
  Justice Ginsburg was a spirited, powerful, and historic champion for 
American women to a degree that transcends any legal or philosophical 
disagreement. As she climbed from the middle-class, Brooklyn, Jewish 
roots, of which she was so proud, into the most rarefied air of law and 
government, the future Justice had to surmount one sexist obstacle 
after another.
  Justice Ginsburg did not only climb the mountain; she blazed the 
trail. Through deeds, through words, and simply through her example, 
she helped clear away the cobwebs of prejudice. She opened one 
professional door after another and made certain they stayed open 
behind her.
  Directly or indirectly, she helped entire generations of talented 
women build their lives as they saw fit and enrich our society through 
professional

[[Page S5720]]

work. Law and politics aside, no friend of equality could fail to 
appreciate Justice Ginsburg's determination.
  Finally, while Justice Ginsburg relished forceful writing and 
detailed argument, she was also, in important ways, a uniter. In recent 
years, many who consider themselves her admirers and might wish to 
claim the Justice for their political ``side'' have come to embrace 
reckless proposals to politicize the very structure of the Court 
itself. But Justice Ginsburg remained unswerving in her public 
commitment to preserving the neutral foundation of the institution she 
loved.
  The entire Senate is united in thinking of and praying for Justice 
Ginsburg's family--most especially her daughter Jane, her son James, 
her grandchildren, step-grandchildren, great-granddaughter, and 
everyone who called her their own.

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