Topic: Senator Leahy, Opening Remarks
Senator: Leahy
Date: SEPTEMBER 12, 2005
Contents
SPECTER: I now yield to my distinguished colleague, Senator Leahy.
LEAHY: Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman. Again, thank you for the way you conducted this whole run-up to this hearing.
A few days ago, William Rehnquist passed away. He'd had 33 years of service on the Supreme Court. And last week many of us paid our respects for his service at the monumental building across the street in which he devoted himself to defending the independence of the federal judiciary.
I know, Judge Roberts, that was a particularly difficult time for you because of your close relationship with him. I thought of the facade of that court, with its marble from Vermont, and I think of how much our state served as a refuge for the chief justice, especially in the summer months.
Today, the devastation, despair facing millions of our fellow Americans in the Gulf region is a tragic reminder of why we have a federal government, why it's critical that our government be responsive.
We need the federal government for our protection and security, to cast a lifeline to those in distress, to mobilize better resources beyond the ability of any state and local government -- all of this for the common good.
The full dimensions of the disaster are not yet known. Bodies of loved ones need to be recovered. Families need to be reunited. The survivors need to be assisted. Long-term health risks and environmental damage have to be assessed.
LEAHY: But if anyone needed a reminder of the need and role of a government, the last two days have provided it. If anyone needed a reminder of the growing poverty and despair among too many Americans, we now have it.
And if anyone needed a reminder of the racial divide that remains in our nation, no one can now doubt we still have miles to go.
I believe that the American people still want and expect and demand the government to help ensure justice and equal opportunity for all and especially for those who, through no fault of their own, were born into poverty.
The American people deserve a government as good as they are, with a heart as big as theirs. We are all Americans and all Americans should have the opportunity to earn a fair share of the bounty and blessings that America has.
And, Judge, we've been given a great Constitution.
As you know as well as anybody here, it begins, "We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
It's a framework for our government, the foundation of all our rights and liberties.
In fact, Vermont joined the union the same year the Bill of Rights was ratified. Those of us from the Green Mountain State, the nation's 14th state, we've historically been very protective of our fundamental rights and liberties.
Many feel we didn't join the union until we were sure the Bill of Rights is going to go through. We understand the importance of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
In these hearings, we're going to be discussing constitutional issues that may seem legalistic, but they're vital issues. They affect every one of us every day.
When we discuss the Constitution's commerce clause or spending power, for example, we're asking about congressional authority to pass laws to ensure clean air and water and children's and seniors' health, and safe good, drugs, safe workplaces, even wetland protection, levees that should protect our communities from natural disasters.
LEAHY: Our constitutional values remain constant. We want to realize the American promise of fairness and equality and justice. Constitution: "We the people."
When the Constitution was written, though, "We the people" did not include Native Americans, or African-American slaves, but only free people.
It took more than fourscore years and a civil war before the Constitution was amended to include all citizens, all persons born and naturalized in the United States. Even then, half of the people didn't have one of democracy's defining rights: Women were not yet guaranteed the right to vote. That didn't happen until 1920.
And decades later, still it took a historic ruling, a unanimous ruling by the United States Supreme Court in the case of Brown v. Board of Education, and then landmark legislation by the federal government, for America to begin to provide a measure of equality to many who were held back for so long because, and only because, of the color of their skin.
I've long been a proponent of First Amendment freedoms and open government, because the public's right to know what our government is doing promotes accountability.
Federal judges aren't elected, they serve for life if they're confirmed. The people never have the opportunity for effective oversight of their work.
The judiciary is the most isolated branch of our government from public accountability, so this is the only opportunity to examine what kind of justice John Roberts will dispense if promoted to the Supreme Court, the direction he'd lead the federal judiciary.
This hearing is the only chance that we, the people, have to hear from and reflect on the suitability of the nominee to be a final arbiter of the meaning of the Constitution.
An open and honest public conversation with a nominee in these hearing rooms is an important part of this process.
LEAHY: This hearing is about the fundamental right of all Americans.
And you're the first nominee of the 21st century: If you're confirmed, you serve not just for the remaining three years of the Bush administration, but you could serve through the administrations of the next seven or eight presidents.
Judge Roberts would be deciding matters that affect not only all Americans today, but also our children and our grandchildren.
At one of these hearings nearly 20 years ago, I noted how critical it is for the Senate to engage in a public exploration of the judicial philosophy of Supreme Court nominees. I said, "There can hardly be an issue closer to the heart of the Senate's role than a full and public exposition of the nominee's approach to the Constitution and to the role of the courts in discerning and enforcing its command."
That's what I mean by judicial philosophy. The truth has not changed.
What's more difficult to see, though, is the arc of the law in the years ahead as justices will vote on which cases to accept and then how to decide them.
Ours is a government of laws. When we are faced with a vacancy on the Supreme Court, we're reminded that it's our fellow citizens, nine out of our 280 million Americans, who interpret and apply those laws.
The balance and the direction of the Supreme Court now at issue with two vacancies, both Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Chief among emerging concerns are whether the Supreme Court will continue its recent effort to restrict the authority of Congress to pass legislation to protect the people's interests in the environment, in safety, in civil rights, and whether the Supreme Court will effectively check the greatly enhanced presidential power that's been amassed in the last few years.
LEAHY: In other words, Judge, whether you will be the protector of the rights of all Americans -- not just Republicans, not just Democrats, not just independents, but all Americans -- and whether you can serve as the check and balance that all Americans expect.
Now, the light of the nominations process is intense. It's intense because it's the only time that light's going to shine. But the afterglow lasts for the rest of a justice's career.
We the people have just this one chance to inquire whether this person should be entrusted with the privilege and the responsibility of interpreting our Constitution and dispensing justice from the nation's highest court.
Two hundred and eighty million Americans -- the president's made his choice. Now there's only 100 Americans standing in the shoes of all other Americans. And on behalf of the American people, it's the job of the 100 of us in the Senate to do all we can to make sure we get it right.
Mr. Chairman, there's time left over, but I've said all I intend to say.
SPECTER: Thank you very much, Senator Leahy, for your statement. Thank you for your leadership, and your leadership on observing the time so meticulously.
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