Patrick Leahy: “I have spoken before, of course, on this nomination. I want to emphasize some of the points I have made. The…”

“I have spoken before, of course, on this nomination. I want to emphasize some of the points I have made. The Constitution, as we know, gives the Senate a central role in the confirmation of a Supreme Court Justice. Nothing in our makeup, nothing in the history of this country assumes that the Senate would be a rubber stamp for the President's nominees. After all, it was the Senate that turned down some nominees of George Washington--the most popular President and the greatest President in this country's history--because it would not be a rubber stamp. It was an overwhelmingly Democratically controlled Senate at the time of Franklin Roosevelt, and it was that Senate that said to Franklin Roosevelt: You cannot pack the Supreme Court. I have said, also, many times that the Senate should be the conscience of the Nation. After all, we are the only 100 people in this country of 295 million Americans who get a chance to vote on lifetime positions to the Supreme Court--people who will affect our personal rights for decades to come. Now, I have voted on every one of the current nine members of the U.S. Supreme Court. I actually voted on some who are no longer there. I approach each one the same way. Is this going to be a Supreme Court Justice for all Americans? That is what I asked about Judge Alito. He came before our Senate Judiciary Committee with a record he has created over the last 30 years.…”