Cantwell Statement Urging Senate Confirmation of Elena Kagan to be Supreme Court Justice
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) issued the following statement just before a vote in the Senate to confirm Solicitor General Elena Kagan as the next Associate Justice on the United States Supreme Court.
“I rise today to urge my Senate colleagues to vote to confirm Solicitor General Elena Kagan to be the next Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.
“I am confident that she will make a fine justice who will not only uphold the Constitution and legal precedent of the country, but continue to preserve one of the most treasured tenets of our legal system: equal access to justice for all Americans.
“In my meeting with Solicitor Kagan, I found her to be personable, open-minded and intelligent. Her credentials are impressive and her experience with different branches of government equips her with a unique perspective on the law and the challenges the Court will face in the coming years. In a testament to her ability to build bridges across partisan lines and fidelity to law above politics, her nomination as Solicitor General garnered the bipartisan support of every Solicitor General who served since 1985.
“I am proud to note that Solicitor Kagan will be only the fourth woman in history to serve on the Supreme Court, and she will be the third woman to sit on the current Court, the highest number of female justices to serve at one time.
“As a former member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I respect the confirmation process and believe that the confirmation hearings for Solicitor General Kagan --who testified for more than 17 hours and answered over 540 questions -- were thorough, fair and open. I am in full support of President Obama’s nomination of Solicitor General Kagan to be the next Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, and I urge my Senate colleagues to join me in confirming this highly qualified nominee.”
###
Next Article Previous Article
