Jim Bunning: “today I rise to speak on the nomination of Solicitor General Elena Kagan to be a Justice on the United States Supreme…”

“today I rise to speak on the nomination of Solicitor General Elena Kagan to be a Justice on the United States Supreme Court. After much consideration, I cannot support this nomination. I have been following this progress very closely. I have been reading her memos and other documents from her career, and I watched her confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee. I met with her one on one and was able to ask her eight different questions. Unfortunately, I find her unsuitable to serve a lifetime appointment as a member of the U.S. Supreme Court. When I spoke on the nomination of Justice Sotomayor last year, I pointed out the problems of the Supreme Court and other judges trying to replace Congress and State legislatures. Important social issues have been taken out of the political process and decided by unelected judges. I can say for certain that this is not the way the Founding Fathers and the authors of the Constitution intended for it to work. The creation of law is reserved for elected legislatures chosen by the people. The Supreme Court is not a nine-person legislature created to interact with or replace the U.S. Congress. When judges and Justices take the law into their own hands and act as if they are a legislative body, it flies in the face of the Constitution. Because of this, whether it is the Supreme Court or the lower courts, many people have lost respect for our judicial system. This cannot continue to happen.”