Bill Lee: “I rise to speak about the nomination of Judge Neil M. Gorsuch to be an Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.…”

“I rise to speak about the nomination of Judge Neil M. Gorsuch to be an Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. Confirmation of anyone appointed to the Federal judiciary is a big deal. Confirmation of someone appointed to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States is an exceptionally weighty matter. I therefore approach this with the seriousness it deserves. I approach this as one who has argued in front of Judge Gorsuch. I found as a lawyer that he is an exceptional judge, an unusual judge--a judge who comes to argument with an unusual degree of preparation, having read all the briefs and apparently all of the cases and all of the statutes cited in the briefs. There are some judges who at oral argument are constantly asking questions, but they are not necessarily questions that need to be asked. Perhaps some judges want to hear the sound of their own voices. That is, of course, something that would never happen here, in the U.S. Senate, but it happens sometimes with other people. There are other judges who might be quiet throughout an argument. Then there is a unique category of judge, a judge who doesn't necessarily speak constantly but a judge who listens attentively and then pounces at the moment when he or she sees the pivotal moment in the case arising. The late Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., used to say there was a point of contact in every case.…”