Political Quotes

“Mr. President, it is an honor and a privilege to speak on behalf of the confirmation of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court of the United States today. One of Judge Barrett's familiar themes, one that she has invoked in speeches when speaking about the Constitution and about the role of the Federal judiciary, involves a line from Odysseus. It involves a reference to the ``Odyssey.'' She says: The Constitution is like when Odysseus ties himself to the mast to resist the song of the Sirens. And he tells his crew, `Don't untie me no matter how much I plead.' That's what we've done as the American people with the Constitution. We've said . . . it's the people sober appealing to the people drunk, [that when you are tempted to get untied], that when you are tempted to get carried away by your passions and trample upon the First Amendment rights or minority rights, this document will hold you back. Judge Barrett points out a very critical matter here, an absolutely essential matter, which is, first of all, that the whole point of having a Constitution involves restraining and restricting government. As it relates to the judiciary, it involves acknowledging the necessarily limited, finite, and confined role of the judiciary. Sometimes when people refer to the three branches of the Federal Government, they will get it backward. Sometimes people will refer to the judicial branch as if it were the most powerful. This gets it exactly backward.…”