Frank Lautenberg: “I have been in the Senate a long time. This is my 25th year of service. This is one of the most exciting moments I have…”

“I have been in the Senate a long time. This is my 25th year of service. This is one of the most exciting moments I have seen here. Today we have an opportunity to fulfill a great responsibility and an honor, to be able to stand in this Chamber to declare our support for the President's selection of an outstanding nominee: Solicitor General Elena Kagan to be a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Everyone is aware that she brings an intellect, experience, and knowledge of the law that places her among the few in this country so perfectly qualified to serve on this most important body of jurisprudence in the entire world. Upon the entrance to the Federal courthouse in Newark, NJ, there is an inscription that reads: 'The true measure of a democracy is its dispensation of justice.' I was the author of that statement and I labored over it, short as it is, to reflect my view that reflects a fundamental principle of our democracy and the values on which the U.S. Constitution was founded. These values pervade throughout our government and legal system, and especially in the decisions of our Nation's highest Court. I met with Solicitor General Kagan to hear her views and her personal history, and I watched the testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. I have no doubt that, if approved, Solicitor General Kagan will be an outstanding defender of our Constitution in the dispensation of justice entrusted to a Supreme Court member.”