Senator Jeff Sessions Weekly Republican Address 06/06/09 FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT
Hello, I’m Jeff Sessions, Senator from the state of Alabama and Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Before I talk about the federal courts, I want to make note that in the early hours of the morning, sixty-five years ago today, a generation’s worth of brave Americans sailed across the troubled waters of the English Channel to an unknown fate on the beaches of Normandy.
They came from all walks of American life—from big northern cities to small southern towns—united behind a devotion to their country and a belief that democracy and freedom should not perish from the earth.
With a keen awareness of the dangers that lay ahead, they stormed the coast of Normandy with a force and fury that would forever change the human course of history. Too few of those heroes that set out across those stormy waters on June 6, 1944 are with us today.
But we take a moment now to honor their great sacrifice, to thank all those who’ve served our country, and to keep alive the memories of lost loved ones.
The Greatest Generation bestowed on us the gifts of a continued liberty and democratic government, each based on the exceptional American commitment to the rule of law.
This week I met with Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama’s nominee to the United States Supreme Court.
Judge Sotomayor has a rich and engaging personality, a marvelous personal story. She also has a strong resume—the sort of education and legal background we should look for in a nominee.
She spent time in private practice, served as a federal prosecutor and now sits as an appellate judge on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
As I told Judge Sotomayor during our meeting, I and my Republican colleagues in the Senate are firmly committed to conducting a fair and respectful process.
Too often in the past, confirmation hearings have devolved into political theater, short on substance and long on distortions of character and record.
I am convinced that the Senate can do better. When the American people look back on these hearings, I’m hopeful they will remember them as the most substantive, the most thorough and the most thoughtful in memory—and focused on the issues that really matter.
The fact is, the Senate confirmation hearings are too important to squander. This is because only five justices are needed to declare the meaning of our Constitution and laws. Indeed, by redefining the meaning of our Constitution, judges have the power to impose their will on the people.
And, unlike Congress or the President, who are accountable to the voters at the ballot box, judges are granted lifetime tenure to exercise their power. With that in mind, we in the Senate have an obligation to act on behalf of the American people to carefully scrutinize the nominee’s records before confirmation.
We will examine the nominee’s previous judicial records. We will study her academic writings and speeches. We will ask tough, probing questions. And, in every instance, we will give the nominee a fair opportunity to provide full and complete answers.
One issue that merits close examination during this process is the direction of the American legal system. Although we sometimes take our heritage of neutral and independent judiciary for granted, the truth is, this great tradition is under attack. And the American people are rightly concerned.
For example, I am troubled by President Obama’s use of the ‘empathy standard’ when selecting federal judges. With this view—that a judge should use his or her personal feelings about a particular group or issues to decide a case—it stands in stark contrast to the impartiality that we expect in the American courtroom.
If a judge is allowed to let his or her feelings for one party in the case sway his decision, hasn’t that judge then demonstrated a bias against the other party?
And, if a judge is allowed to inject his or her personal views into the interpretation of the law, does he not then have a license to rewrite the laws to fit his own preferences?
I fear that this ‘empathy standard’ is another step down the path to a cynical, relativistic results-oriented world:
Where words and laws have no fixed meaning; Where unelected judges set policy; And where Constitutional limits on government power are ignored when they are inconvenient to the powerful.
This standard is deeply troubling because it is so contradictory to our country’s long heritage of a faithful and impartial adherence to the rule of law.
Impartiality is a cornerstone of the American legal system. The rule of law is a hallmark of an orderly society. Together, they form the basis for the moral authority of law. That moral authority is the reason that Americans everyday respect and accept the rulings of courts, even when they strongly disagree.
As a member of the Armed Services Committee, I have traveled to Iraq, and Pakistan and Afghanistan numerous times.
What the people of those countries want so desperately and need more than anything is the rule of law: a guarantee that contracts will be fairly enforced, that rights will not be infringed and that grievances will be peacefully addressed. Our legal system is the bedrock of our liberty and prosperity. It is unique in all the world.
We must do all we can to protect it.
I hope that the American people will engage in this nomination process and follow it closely. They should learn about the issues, and listen to both sides of the argument. And, at the end of the day, ask: If I must one day go to court, what kind of judge do I want to hear my case?
‘Do I want a judge that allows his or her social, political, or religious views to impact the outcome?
‘Or, do I want a judge that objectively applies the law to the facts, and fairly rules on the merits?’
That is the central question around which this entire nomination process will revolve. Thank you. And God Bless America. ###
