Comments Of Senator Patrick Leahy Following Today’s Supreme Court Arguments On The Affordable Care Act
(Democrat - Vermont) 03/27/12
“This historic law will protect some of our most vulnerable citizens by eliminating discriminatory practices by health insurers, ensuring that patient’s gender is no longer a pre-existing condition, reducing the cost of prescription drugs for seniors, and ensuring access to health insurance for young adults. I hope that the Supreme Court will not undo the progress we have made. Doing so would call into question the social safety net we built over the last century with Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. “The Court should uphold the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. Congress considered this question when debating the law, and rejected that challenge. I would not have supported passage if I did not believe it was constitutional, nor would a majority of the Senate. I hope the Supreme Court will uphold the law and not seek to substitute its policy preferences for the legislative judgments of the people’s elected representatives.”

Sen. Sessions: Opposing view on the Supreme Court: A big-government vision
(Republican - Alabama) 07/20/10
"After carefully reviewing Elena Kagan's record and testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, I must oppose her nomination."

Sen. Leahy Opening Statement: Confirmation Hearing of Elena Kagan
(Democrat - Vermont) 06/28/10
"When we discuss the Constitution's commerce clause or spending power, we are talking about congressional authority to pass laws to ensure protection of our communities from natural and man-made disasters, to encourage clean air and water, to provide health care for all Americans, to ensure safe food and drugs, to protect equal rights, to enforce safe workplaces and to provide a safety net for seniors. This hearing is, accordingly, about the fundamental freedoms of all Americans."

Sen. Specter Floor Statement on Separation of Powers and Elena Kagan Nomination
(Democrat - Pennsylvania) 06/21/10

Sen. Sessions Comments on the Nomination of Elena Kagan To Be Associate Justice of the Supreme Court
(Republican - Alabama) 05/10/10

Sen. Kaufman's Floor Statement on CITIZENS UNITED V. FEC
(Democrat - Delaware) 01/21/10
"he majority opinion in Citizens United should put the nail in the coffin of claims that ``judicial activism'' is a sin committed by judges of only one political stripe. ... The kind of judicial activism manifested in such cases represents such a radical departure from the proper role of this Court that it should be opposed whenever the opportunity arises. With the addition of Chief Justice John Roberts, Jr., and Justice Samuel Alito, Jr., the conservative majority of the current Court has continued to be highly activist."

Sen. Baucus Floor Statement Quoting Constitutional Scholars on Health Care Reform and the Commerce Clause
(Democrat - Montana) 12/22/09

Sen. Leahy In-Depth Floor Statement on the Commerce Clause and Health Care Reform
(Democrat - Vermont) 12/22/09

Sen. Durbin Floor Statement on Health Care Reform and the Commerce Clause
(Democrat - Illinois) 10/26/09

Sen. Leahy Floor Statement Supporting Nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor
(Democrat - Vermont) 08/04/09
"I believe that experience, perspective, an understanding of how the world works and how people live—how real people live and the effect decisions will have on the lives of people—these have to be very important qualifications. One need look no further than the Lilly Ledbetter and the Diana Levine cases to understand the impact each Supreme Court appointment has on the lives and freedoms of countless Americans.

Sen. Durbin Floor Statement opposing Ninth Circuit nomination of Jay Bybee
(Democrat - Illinois) 03/13/09

Senator Leahy comments on the Southwick Nomination
(Democrat - Vermont) 08/01/07
Senator Leahy's 08/01/07 Floor Statement on the nomination of Leslie Southwick to the 5th Circuit.

Senator Reid's 07/20/2007 Floor Statement on Leslie Southwick
(Democrat - Nevada) 07/20/07

Senator Kennedy heartened by withdrawal of Myers, Haynes, & Wallace
(Democrat - Massachusetts) 01/09/07

Senator Leahy's 9/5/06 Statement on the renominations of Haynes, Boyle, Myers, and Wallace
(Democrat - Vermont) 09/05/06