Political Quotes

“I rise in opposition to the nomination of Kyle Duncan to serve on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Mr. Duncan's record shows that he is far outside the judicial mainstream. He has a history of ideological opposition to important civil and constitutional rights. There are many examples of Mr. Duncan's extreme views. I will discuss several of them. First, Mr. Duncan has a track record of outright hostility toward the Supreme Court's Obergefell decision and the rights of the LGBTQ community. When the Obergefell case was pending before the Supreme Court, Mr. Duncan wrote an article where he described the plaintiffs in the case as, ``profoundly mistaken.'' He went on to write: ``It is often asked by proponents of same sex marriage what harms would flow from judicial recognition of their claims. From the perspective of democratic self- government, those harms would be severe, unavoidable, and irreversible.'' After the Obergefell plaintiffs won and the Supreme Court recognized the right to same-sex marriage, Mr. Duncan wrote another article where he described the Obergefell decision as ``an abject failure'' and said the case ``imperils civic peace.'' When he was before the Judiciary Committee, I asked Mr. Duncan in writing if he agreed that same-sex marriage is now settled law. He ducked the question. This surprised me. Even President Trump conceded in November 2016 that same-sex marriage is ``already settled. It's law.…”