[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 64 (Tuesday, April 18, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1152-S1153]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           U.S. Supreme Court

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, the highest Court in America should not 
have the lowest standards when it comes to ethics, but for too long 
that has been the case for the U.S. Supreme Court. It definitely needs 
to change.
  While the Senate was out of session for the Easter recess, the 
independent nonprofit news organization ProPublica published a series 
of stunning reports.
  They found that a billionaire real estate developer and prominent 
Republican donor, Harlan Crow, has given Supreme Court Justice Clarence 
Thomas nearly 20 years of undisclosed luxury gifts and getaways: a 
lavish yacht vacation in Indonesia, private plane trips, visits to a 
deluxe mountainside resort, and more.
  Then, just days ago, ProPublica found that in 2014, Crow's company 
bought properties owned by Thomas and his family, including the house 
where the Justice's mother still lives. These transactions were also 
hidden, undisclosed, even though Federal law clearly requires that they 
be reported publicly.
  Let's be clear. Serving as a Federal judge, and especially a Supreme 
Court Justice, is one of the highest honors in the Nation that we can 
confer on an individual. But above all, it is a public service. Judges 
and Justices are entrusted by the American people to serve the public 
interest and administer equal justice under the law. That is why 
taxpayers and not billionaire donors fund judicial salaries, 
courthouses, and operations. Judges have a responsibility to put 
service to others ahead of their own personal self-interest.
  But the conduct revealed in ProPublica's reporting tells a much 
different story. They show a Justice accepting secret, lavish luxury 
trips and real estate purchases from a wealthy donor with interests 
affected by the Court.
  This is conduct we cannot tolerate, whether it is from a mayor, a 
city council member, or other elected official, and we certainly 
shouldn't tolerate it in the highest Court of the land. The Supreme 
Court needs to clean up its act and fast.
  Throughout our history, ethics scandals at every level of government 
have inspired reform. Congress has repeatedly amended ethics laws 
governing the House and Senate to ensure that there is transparency and 
disclosure for the trips we take and the donations we receive. We have 
a Code of Official Conduct that we must follow and Ethics Committees 
that provide guidance and oversight for our activities. These 
committees can launch investigations and penalize misconduct when it 
occurs.
  Congress has also passed numerous laws that affect the operation of 
the Federal judiciary, including the Supreme Court. We pass 
appropriations bills each and every year to cover judges' paychecks and 
the operations of our courthouses. We have enacted financial disclosure 
laws like the Ethics and Government Act and recusal laws like 28 U.S.C. 
455 that apply to all Federal judges, including Supreme Court Justices.
  We have long known there are shortcomings in the current ethics 
standards for the highest Court in the land, the Supreme Court. For 
example, the Justices do not consider themselves bound by the Code of 
Conduct that every other Federal judge follows. Additionally, they do 
not have clear and uniform processes for making and explaining their 
decisions on whether to recuse themselves from a case where there is a 
conflict of interest or an appearance of one. And as the recent 
ProPublica series has revealed, some Justices simply aren't telling the 
American people about the gifts and travel that they are accepting.
  Frankly, the excuses we have heard thus far from Justice Thomas are 
laughable. Claiming that a private luxury yacht in Indonesia from a 
major political donor was ``personal hospitality'' that didn't need to 
be disclosed is an absurd conclusion, and it is insulting to the 
American people who expect Justices to be held to the same standards as 
anyone else in government.
  That is why reform is essential. It is critical to our justice system 
and to our democracy that the American people have confidence that the 
judges and especially the Supreme Court Justices can't be bought and 
that they are serving the public interest and not their own personal 
interests.
  In the past, Congress has stepped up to strengthen court ethics. Just 
last June, we passed the bipartisan Courthouse Ethics and Transparency 
Act which applies the STOCK Act's reporting and disclosure requirements 
to Federal judges and Justices. But the Supreme Court doesn't need to 
wait on Congress to clean up its act. The Justices could take action 
today if they wanted to, and if the Court fails to act, Congress must.

  In the coming days, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a 
hearing on the need to restore public confidence in the highest Court 
of our land, the Supreme Court. This won't be our first hearing on the 
topic. We have held a

[[Page S1153]]

number of important hearings over the years on the need for judicial 
ethics reform, including an important hearing in the last Congress on 
the Court Subcommittee, chaired by Senator Whitehouse of Rhode Island. 
Some on the Republican side may claim that this focus on ethics is just 
a reaction to decisions being handed down by the rightwing activist 
majority of the Supreme Court. To them I say, check the record.
  I have been at this pursuit for more than 10 years. I wrote a letter, 
joined by Democratic colleagues, to the Chief Justice 11 years ago 
urging him to adopt a Code of Conduct. The Senate Judiciary Committee 
held a hearing in 2011 with Justices Scalia and Breyer. During that 
hearing, I asked them about Supreme Court ethics, which was in the news 
because of troubling reports even then of gifts being made by Mr. 
Harlan Crow. Unfortunately, Chief Justice Roberts rejected our call to 
act 10 years ago; and it appears that Harlan Crow took that as a sign 
that he should ante up and increase his largesse. Is it any wonder that 
we face a crisis of public confidence in the Supreme Court?
  Our Constitution established a system of checks and balances between 
the branches of government, and it established a system in which no 
person is above the law.
  There are few positions in our Federal Government more elevated than 
Supreme Court Justices, but Justices are public servants, and they must 
conduct themselves in that manner. Our job in the Senate Judiciary 
Committee, and in the Senate, is to make certain that they do--nothing 
less.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from Idaho.