Orrin Hatch: “each of us has taken an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. President George Washington…”

“each of us has taken an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. President George Washington called the Constitution the guide that he would never abandon. The Constitution declares itself to be the supreme law of the land, and more than 90 percent of Americans say it is very important to them. Unfortunately, basic knowledge about the Constitution is dangerously inadequate. I say this is dangerous because, as James Madison put it, only a well-instructed people can be permanently a free people. The current debate over when to fill the Supreme Court vacancy left by Justice Antonin Scalia's death only magnifies my concern. Ignorance of not only how the Constitution applies to this question but even what the Constitution says apparently extends far and wide. Here is the text of the Constitution regarding the appointment of judges and other public officials: The President ``shall have Power . . . [to] nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint . . . Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law.'' I could hardly read that on the chart from this side here. I should have done it by memory. The President ``shall have Power . . . [to] nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint . . .…”