[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 171 (Thursday, October 1, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6019-S6020]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                    Nomination of Amy Coney Barrett

  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting--
or should I say re-meeting--Judge Amy Coney Barrett, who has been 
nominated, as we all know, to the U.S. Supreme Court, to the vacancy 
left by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
  Over the last few days, Judge Barrett's nomination has been applauded 
by people across the political spectrum--and for good reason. Her 
background in practicing law and academia and on the Federal bench has 
provided her with an unquestionable knowledge of the law. Much of the 
praise has come from her colleagues who worked closely with her over 
the years.
  Marcus Cole, who is dean of the University of Notre Dame Law School, 
where she teaches, said:

       Judge Amy Coney Barrett is an absolutely brilliant legal 
     scholar and jurist. She is also one of the most popular 
     teachers we have ever had here at Notre Dame Law School.

  A group of her former students have published a piece recently that 
said:

       While we hold a variety of views regarding how best to 
     interpret statutes in the Constitution, we all agree on this: 
     The nation could not ask for a more qualified candidate than 
     the professor we have come to know and revere.

  We have also seen support for Judge Barrett from unlikely sources. 
Harvard University Law Professor Noah Feldman clerked with Judge 
Barrett at the Supreme Court more than 20 years ago. He was also a 
prominent witness for Democrats during the impeachment process earlier 
this year. But he has written an opinion piece titled ``Amy Coney 
Barrett Deserves to Be on the Supreme Court.'' He wrote that he knows 
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 them and exceeds them.''
  There is really no question that Judge Barrett has a brilliant legal 
mind and deep respect for the Constitution and an unwavering commitment 
to the law, but these qualities alone are not what set this exceptional 
judge apart. Both Republicans and Democrats who have worked with Judge 
Barrett throughout her career have spoken about her personal qualities, 
like humility and integrity. These make her an ideal candidate for this 
influential position.
  A group of her former students wrote about the kindness that she has 
shown to them, both in the classroom and during meals they shared at 
her home. They said:

       Her genuine interest in the personal lives of her students 
     outside the classroom, and the seamless way that she modeled 
     for all of us the integration of her professional and family 
     life, reinforces that there is more to life than the pursuit 
     of professional accolades.

  She has certainly proven that to be the case. In addition to rising 
to the very top of her field, Judge Barrett is a mother of seven 
children ranging from the age of 8 to 19. Following her nomination on 
Saturday, Judge Barrett credited her family's ability to balance her 
and her husband's successful careers with the needs of their children 
to the unwavering support of her husband Jesse, who is also an 
accomplished attorney.
  In every respect, Judge Barrett is an inspiring role model for young 
people and I could say as the father of two daughters, of young women 
in particular, who are pursuing their professional and personal 
ambitions with equal vigor.
  If confirmed, Judge Barrett--soon-to-be Justice Barrett--would become 
the first mother of school-age children to serve as a Justice and only 
the fifth woman throughout American history to serve on the U.S. 
Supreme Court. Considering the woman whose seat she will fill if 
confirmed, the significance of that fact cannot be overstated.
  She would be the only current Justice with a degree from a law school 
other than Harvard or Yale and bring much needed educational diversity 
to the Bench.

  I have always thought it bizarre that, among all the highly qualified 
lawyers and judges in America, for some reason, it is overly populated 
with people educated in the Northeast, on the coast.
  On top of that, she would join Justice Thomas as the only Justice 
born in the South and bring another perspective to the Court, whose 
members largely hail from the coast.
  If confirmed, Judge Barrett would bring an underrepresented view to 
the Supreme Court. I know we would all be proud to have somebody like 
her--a woman of such strong character--serving our Nation in this very 
important capacity.
  I want to commend President Trump for selecting this outstanding 
nominee. I was glad to spend some time with her yesterday. She has an 
unquestionable character, a brilliant mind, and the kind of temperament 
needed to serve on the Court. I am eager for the American people to see 
that for themselves as we begin the public confirmation process.
  As we know, this is the second time Judge Barrett has appeared before 
the Judiciary Committee in the last few years. It was 3 years ago when 
the committee and the Senate confirmed her to her current position on 
the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. However, there were some warning 
flags.

  During her confirmation hearing back then, 3 years ago, the Democrats 
on the committee raised questions over Judge Barrett's strong Catholic 
faith and questioned whether it would somehow disqualify her or impair 
her ability to discharge her responsibilities.
  One Senator went so far as to say: ``The dogma lives loudly within 
you, and that's of concern.'' Another asked her whether she was an 
``orthodox Catholic.'' Well, this statement and that insinuation were 
discriminatory at best and unconstitutional at worst.
  The Constitution itself includes that there is no religious test. 
Article VI reads: ``No religious Test shall ever be required as a 
Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.''
  This is not the first time somebody has been targeted for one's 
Catholic faith. I was reminded of the speech that John Fitzgerald 
Kennedy gave in 1960 in Houston, TX, to the Greater Houston Ministerial 
Association. In addressing some of the explicit and implicit arguments 
that somehow he would be beholden to the Vatican rather than be able to 
discharge his responsibilities as President of the United States, he 
pointed out, as a Catholic, it was not the only concern because, if 
people would do that to a Catholic, why not do it to a Baptist or a 
Muslim or a Jew?

[[Page S6020]]

  He said:

       For while this year it may be a Catholic against whom the 
     finger of suspicion is pointed, in other years it has been, 
     and may someday be again, a Jew--or a Quaker or a Unitarian 
     or a Baptist. It was Virginia's harassment of Baptist 
     preachers, for example, that helped lead to Jefferson's 
     statute of religious freedom. Today I may be the victim, but 
     tomorrow it may be you--until the whole fabric of our 
     harmonious society is ripped at a time of great national 
     peril.

  He made the important point that seems so obvious that he shouldn't 
have had to make.
  He said:

       I am not the Catholic candidate for president. I am the 
     Democratic Party's candidate for president, who happens also 
     to be a Catholic.

  Finally, he said:

       But if this election is decided on the basis that 40 
     million Americans lost their chance of being president on the 
     day they were baptized, then it is the whole nation that will 
     be the loser--in the eyes of Catholics and non-Catholics 
     around the world, in the eyes of history, and in the eyes of 
     our own people.

  Throughout her career, Judge Barrett has impressed the brightest 
legal minds with her deep understanding of the law and commitment to 
judicial independence. She made it clear at her hearing 3 years ago 
that she would be loyal to her oath, and that is to uphold and defend 
the Constitution and laws of the United States.
  It is clear, under the appropriate canons of judicial ethics, that if 
for some reason a judge can't apply the law because of some personal 
opinion or conviction, then one needs to disqualify oneself. President 
Kennedy said that, if it violates your conscience and your faith and 
you can't reconcile the two, you should resign.
  Well, there is just no legitimate reason to question whether Judge 
Barrett's religious beliefs would make her unfit to serve on the 
Supreme Court, and I hope our colleagues on the other side will refrain 
from, once again, imposing a religious test on Judge Barrett as we 
consider her nomination.