[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 79 (Wednesday, May 11, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S2430]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           U.S. Supreme Court

  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I have never seen so much furor over a 
case that has not been decided, based on a leaked draft dated February 
of this year which does not reflect a final decision by the U.S. 
Supreme Court.
  Unfortunately, this egregious leak of this draft opinion has created 
serious security threats for members of the Supreme Court and their 
families. Over the last few days, angry protesters have shown up at 
three of the Justices' private family homes. Sadly, the majority leader 
of the Senate said he is OK with peaceful protest outside the Justices' 
homes.
  I disagree, and so does his second in command. This morning, Senator 
Durbin called this practice ``reprehensible.''
  The threats to Justices remain high because emotions are high, and 
the Chief Justice has asked Congress take action to protect the 
Justices and their families by simply providing the same sort of 
authorities that the Capitol Police have to provide protection to 
Members of Congress and our families.
  Last week, I introduced legislation that would do that. I asked my 
friend and frequent collaborator, Senator Coons, if he would be 
interested in cosponsoring the bill to make it bipartisan.
  Initially, he raised concerns with one of the provisions, but we 
worked in good faith to address his concerns and introduced a new 
version of the bill that could gain broad bipartisan support.
  And, clearly, we were successful because our bill passed the Senate 
unanimously on Monday, and now it is time for our colleagues in the 
House to follow suit.
  Yesterday, Congressman Issa and Congressman Correa introduced this 
bipartisan bill in the House, and Speaker Pelosi should act quickly to 
bring this bill up for a vote as soon as possible.
  Unfortunately, some in the House disagree. They have chosen to ignore 
the bipartisan bill that received unanimous support in the Senate and 
have introduced a partisan version, which is guaranteed to slow down 
the protections needed by the Supreme Court Justices and their 
families.
  This partisan bill in the House ignores the good-faith work that was 
being done here in the Senate to build consensus and expands this 
legislation to include divisive provisions, like potentially extending 
police protection to the very person who leaked the draft opinion.
  Well, this stands no chance of becoming law.
  At the end of the day, here is where we are: The Supreme Court 
Justices and their families are facing serious security threats, and 
the Senate unanimously passed a bill to provide them with the 
protection that they need and they deserve. I can't think of any good 
reason why House Democrats would delay a vote on this bipartisan bill, 
or, worse, allow the safety of the Justices' families to become a 
political football.