Orrin Hatch: “I rise today to speak on a subject which I have frequently addressed in the past, one that is extremely important to me…”

“I rise today to speak on a subject which I have frequently addressed in the past, one that is extremely important to me and I think to every Member of this body--in fact, to everybody in this country: judicial activism. We are witnessing today a rising tide of concern, shared not just by my Republican colleagues and myself, but indeed by an ever-growing segment of the public at large, about judicial activism and the prospect of filling the courts with more activists over the next 4 years. Today, when we talk about activists, we are talking about people who are substituting their own personal preferences for what the law really is--those who choose as unelected judges appointed for life to make laws from the bench and to usurp the powers of the legislative and executive branches of this Government. They are not elected to make the laws, but are appointed to interpret the laws.”