[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Pages 15814-15815]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       SUPREME COURT CONFIRMATION

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I have some brief remarks about 
confirmation of a new Supreme Court Justice.
  As we all have witnessed, the process is off to a great start. 
Consultation is well underway between the President of the United 
States and the Senate. It is ongoing. The President and his staff are 
reaching out to Senators from both parties to listen to their 
suggestions, both in person and through phone calls. To date, the 
administration, the President and his staff, have contacted directly 
more than 60 Senators, more than two-thirds of the Democratic caucus, 
every member of the Judiciary Committee. The President's approach has 
been bipartisan and open and unprecedented in scope. I commend him for 
that effort.
  As we look ahead, I encourage each Senator to reflect upon the 
nominee we will consider and the confirmation process we will 
undertake. As Senators, confirming a nominee to the Supreme Court is 
one of our highest constitutional duties. The new Justice, whomever the 
President chooses, will influence American law for years and years to 
come. He or she will impact the lives of millions of Americans.
  As Senators, we should ask ourselves, What kind of Justice does 
America expect on the Supreme Court? I am confident President Bush will 
choose a qualified nominee who will make America proud, someone of 
demonstrated character and integrity, someone who is fair, intelligent, 
openminded, and impartial; he or she will listen to the merits of every 
case and make a determination based on the facts, the law, and the 
Constitution, not driven to prejudge cases, predetermine outcomes, or 
advance a personal political agenda; the nominee will treat litigants 
and their attorneys fairly and with dignity and respect; and above all, 
this person will uphold the Constitution and be fully committed to 
equal justice under the law.
  I am confident of all these things because every day I have seen the 
care, seriousness, and the thoughtfulness President Bush brings to this 
task.
  In addition to considering the type of nominee America expects, I 
also encourage my colleagues to ask themselves, What kind of Supreme 
Court nomination process does America expect from the Senate? The 
American people, through their votes, have put their trust in us. They 
have entrusted us to govern as their elected representatives. History 
will reflect on the Senate's deliberations, how Senators conduct 
themselves, how we treat a nominee, and how we reach a decision.
  We owe it to the American people to conduct a fair process that 
treats nominees with dignity and respect. It should include a fair 
hearing, a floor debate in which all views are heard, and then an up-
or-down vote on the confirmation. This process should not

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become a trial. It is a process by which we examine the character and 
credentials of someone willing to volunteer to serve America on its 
highest court.
  In the past, the judicial nominations process has been marked by 
obstruction, many times partisan obstruction, and attacks on the 
character and integrity of nominees. I hope we have put this painful 
and humiliating process behind us. Given the monumental role this 
nominee will play sitting on America's highest court, we need the best 
of the best legal minds. This requires a process that will not deter 
the best of the best from serving. The fair and dignified nomination 
process requires civility, requires common sense and some self-
restraint.
  As we consider the nominee who will soon come before the Senate, I 
encourage my colleagues to focus on questions that are relevant to the 
nominee's qualifications and experience, questions such as: Will the 
nominee be fair, independent, and unbiased? Will the nominee consider 
each case before the Court with an open mind, examining the facts, the 
law, and the Constitution very carefully? Will the nominee place the 
Constitution and the law above personal political ideology? Will the 
nominee approach his or her role as a Justice as an interpreter of the 
law and the Constitution and not as a lawmaker who will legislate from 
the bench? Is the nominee qualified to serve on our highest court? Does 
he or she have the necessary experience to serve as a Supreme Court 
Justice?
  These are the questions nominees should be asked to answer honestly 
and thoroughly. They should not be asked to prejudge cases or to 
speculate on how they would rule or not rule on a hypothetical scenario 
that may or may not come before the Court.
  I look forward to working with our colleagues on both sides of the 
aisle in the coming weeks. We should work together to conduct the kind 
of confirmation process America expects from its elected 
representatives, a fair and thorough confirmation process that treats 
nominees with dignity and respect and confirms a new Justice before the 
Supreme Court starts its new term on October 3. I am confident the 
President will nominate someone who will make America proud, someone 
who will be worthy of this seat he or she will fill. This is what the 
American people expect, what our justice system needs, and what our 
Nation and the nominee deserves.
  I yield the floor.

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