Jim Sensenbrenner: “I will be the first to concede that the Supreme Court does not have to accept congressional findings, nor does the…”

“I will be the first to concede that the Supreme Court does not have to accept congressional findings, nor does the Supreme Court have to accept findings that have been made by lower courts either that reach their own conclusions; but there is a string of cases in the last 20 years or so that have indicated that the Supreme Court will defer to congressional fact finding, and they have been highly and historically deferential to Congress's factual determination, regardless of the legal authority upon which Congress has sought to legislate, as the following case quotes demonstrate. First, ``The fact that the Court is not exercising a primary judgment but sitting in judgment upon those who also have taken the oath to observe the Constitution and who have the responsibility for carrying on government compels the court to be particularly careful not to substitute our judgment of what is desirable for that of Congress, or our own evaluation of evidence for a reasonable evaluation by the legislative branch.'' That is Rostker v. Goldberg, 1981. Second, ``It is for Congress, as the branch that made this judgment, to assess and weigh the various conflicting considerations.…”