WASHINGTON, D.C.— Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor highlighting the importance of giving the American people a voice in the Supreme Court nomination process.
Transcript of Senator Barrasso’s remarks:
“I come to the floor today to talk about what I’ve been hearing from people in Wyoming about the issue of whether President Obama should nominate the next Supreme Court justice.
“This past weekend I was around the state of Wyoming in Rock Springs, in Rawlins, in Casper the weekend before that, as well as Cheyenne, Big Piney, and I’m hearing the same thing from people all around the state of Wyoming.
“What I’m hearing is that President Obama should not be the one to put another nominee on the Supreme Court, and that it should come down to the people.
“Give the people a voice. That’s what I’m hearing from back home.
“As the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Senator Grassley, he is doing exactly what the people in Wyoming are insisting upon. The right thing — he’s doing the right thing by insisting that the American people decide.
“I think Senator Grassley is doing a great service to this body, and to the American people, and also to whomever the next president nominates for the Supreme Court.
“On Monday, after traveling around the state of Wyoming, Senator Enzi, who had also traveled around the state of Wyoming this past weekend, he and I held jointly a telephone town hall meeting.
“Folks at home are very familiar with these. We do these just about every month; we have a chance to visit with people about what’s on their mind.
“There is a way to do a poll during that meeting. 88 percent of the people of Wyoming agree with Senator Grassley, agree with Senator Enzi and with me about the next Supreme Court justice and giving the people a voice.
“Now, Democrats want to turn this all around into a fight on the Senate floor.
“They want this to be a back-room deal between the president and the special interest groups.
“These are the groups that are pushing the president to appoint someone who will rule the way they want.
“But that’s not what the American people want.
“The American people, and certainly the people in Wyoming, want this to be a fight about what happens and what they decide in the voting booth come November.
“When an election is just months away, the people should be allowed to consider possible Supreme Court nominees as one factor in deciding who they’ll support for president.
“This shouldn’t even really be controversial.
“Democrats in the past have come to the floor and they said that it would be a bad idea to let the president make a lifetime appointment in his last months in office.
“It was said right here on this floor. In 1992, Senator Joe Biden came down to the Senate floor to explain his rule – he called it the Biden Rule – and it had to do with Supreme Court nominations.
“On the Senate floor, Joe Biden, now the vice president, former chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said that once the presidential election is under way – and I can tell you, Madam President, the presidential election is under way – he said, ‘action on a Supreme Court nomination must be put off until after the election campaign is over.’
“Those are Joe Biden’s words.
“Senator Biden said that a temporary vacancy on the court was, he said, ‘quite minor compared to the cost that a nominee, the president, the Senate, and our nation would have to pay for what would assuredly be a bitter fight.’
“So that’s what Senator Biden at the time was worried about.
“He was worried a bitter fight over a nominee would do damage to the nominee – and to the Senate.
“He knew that there would be senators who would come to the floor and try to politicize this process for their own purposes, and we are seeing the Democrats doing that right now.
“He knew it because that’s what Democrats have done for years.
“This is politics as usual for Democrats. It’s the way they tend to live their lives here on the Senate floor, talking this way.
“It’s exactly what Democrats did when Robert Bork was nominated to serve on the Supreme Court. And Vice President Biden, former Senator Biden, understands it completely.
“It’s what they did when Miguel Estrada was nominated to the Circuit Court.
“It’s what Democrats did when Samuel Alito was nominated to the Supreme Court.
“Democrats in the Senate even filibustered Justice Alito when he was the nominee.
“They did everything they could to slander good, qualified people to try to score political points. It’s what they do.
“Well, there is no need for us to have this bitter, political fight that Joe Biden worried about.
“Republicans have said that there should not be a bitter, political fight.
“We have called on the president to spare the country this fight.
“The best way to avoid this fight is to agree to let the people decide – give the people a voice – and let the next president put forth the nomination.
“That’s certainly what the people of Wyoming want us to do.
“It’s what I heard along with Senator Enzi on Monday, and what I heard as I traveled around the state of Wyoming the past several weekends.
“I’ll be back in Wyoming this weekend and expect to hear the same thing as I travel to Buffalo, to the health fair and to communities around the state.
“That’s what the American people are saying, give the people a voice.
“They are saying that a seat on the Supreme Court should not be just another political payoff to score points in an election year.
“They are saying that it should not be a decision for a lame duck president with one foot out the door.
“It is too important for that.
“The Supreme Court is functioning just fine with eight justices right now. And that’s just not me saying it. There are justices of the Supreme Court who are saying the same thing.
“Since Justice Scalia died last month, the court has heard oral arguments in 10 cases.
“They’ve released written opinions in five cases.
“They’ve scheduled more cases for the rest of this term – and they are doing their jobs.
“That’s exactly what Stephen Breyer said that they would do.
“He’s a liberal Supreme Court Justice who was appointed by President Bill Clinton.
“A reporter asked Justice Breyer about the death of Justice Scalia, and he said, ‘We’ll miss him, but we’ll do our work.’
“He said, ‘For the most part, it will not change.’
“So there is no urgency to fill this vacancy on the Supreme Court right now.
“There is no danger in waiting for the next president to act.
“There is a tremendous danger, however, if we rush through a nomination in the last few months of a presidential election.
“There is a risk to the nominee, to the Senate, to the nation – just like Joe Biden said 24 years ago.
“The stakes are very high – too high to let that happen.
“The people are telling us what they want.
“Eighty-eight percent of people in Wyoming involved in our telephone town hall meeting on Monday said exactly that.
“Give the people a voice.
“We must let the people decide.”