Anthony Weiner: “as a nonlawyer and observing that there are many young people in the gallery today, this is actually an instructive…”

“as a nonlawyer and observing that there are many young people in the gallery today, this is actually an instructive debate that we are having for the second time in 2 weeks. Last week, with the sponsorship of Republicans and Democrats alike, we paid tribute to John Marshall. John Marshall was perhaps the most important jurist in the history of the United States, because despite what many people think, in the Constitution of the United States nowhere does it say who will settle disputes between the legislature, the executive, and the courts. What if each of the three branches come to a different conclusion? Well, John Marshall, in 1803, 201 years ago, said the courts are going to decide. The courts are going to be the final arbiter of what is constitutional and what is not. For 200 years, that has served as the way that we have operated, virtually unquestioned. It was even unquestioned in the year 2000 when, in the Constitution of the United States, it clearly says that Congress has the right to choose electors, and the Supreme Court took that upon itself. We Democrats, although we were very concerned about it, jurists, scholars of jurisprudence said it was a terrible decision, but no one says it should not be the courts to make that decision. I would say to the gentlewoman or anyone who supports this bill, if not the courts then who? Who is going to make the decision about the constitutionality of this law? We are left with essentially three choices.…”