Senator Lankford Again Urges Senate to Confirm Neil Gorsuch

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WASHINGTON, DC – Senator James Lankford (R-OK) today again spoke on the Senate floor in favor of the confirmation of Neil Gorsuch to be the next Supreme Court Justice. Lankford delivered this speech on the same day that Senate Democrats conducted a partisan filibuster of a Supreme Court nominee for the first time in the history of the U.S. Senate.

On March 29, Lankford also delivered a speech on the Senate floor about Gorsuch’s widespread support among the legal community and past support from Democrats. In his career, Judge Gorsuch has decided over 2,700 cases, 97 percent of which have been unanimous. Ninety-nine percent of the time, Gorsuch decided with the majority, even though the majority of the judges in his circuit were appointed by Democratic Presidents Carter, Clinton and Obama. Neil Gorsuch’s opinions have attracted the fewest number of dissents from his colleagues of anyone he’s served with on the bench. 

Excerpts:

He’s a solid jurist. I believe he’ll do a good job. And in the time that I sat down in the office and we looked at each other face-to-face, and I went through multitudes of hard questions with him, trying to determine his judicial philosophy, seeking one simple thing: will you interpret the law as the law. Not with personal opinion, but as the law. This body is about opinions. This body is about listening to the voices all across our states, and trying to make good policy. Across the street at the Supreme Court, it’s about one thing: what does the law say, and what did it mean when it was written.

I have to tell that I am profoundly disappointed that the Senate – to get a simple up-or-down vote – had to go through all of this just to be able to do what we’ve always done. Regardless of background, or preferences or policy or politics, this body has always said the President, for his nomination, should get an up-or-down vote when they go through the process.    

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