Executive Session

Floor Speech

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Ms. BLACKBURN. Madam President, over the past few months, pro- democracy protestors in Hong Kong have captivated the American consciousness with one of the most stunning mass protests in recent memory. Hong Kong people are no strangers to suppression. They are used to the censorship, digital stalking, and persecution embraced by their overlords in Beijing, and they have seen firsthand the dangers of tyranny.

Watching these protests play out got me thinking about the core values that we as the American people share with the Hong Kong people and with so many others around the globe. There is really an interesting dichotomy at play: You can turn on the TV right now and see an entire population fighting desperately on behalf of free speech, self-expression, and the right to question their leaders' decisions.

Meanwhile, just a few countries away, the loudest voices in the newsroom are begging for just the opposite. Here in the U.S., Americans are constantly being asked if freedom is really worth the fight. Is it worth the never-ending battle to maintain it? The answer is absolutely.

When Americans look at the protests in Hong Kong, they do not see a foreign policy gray area; they see scores of revolutionaries fighting an evil regime. They identify with the disrupters, and they cheer for the underdogs who do not pull their punches, which is why, in 2016, they sent a disrupter to the White House.

They watch the hysteria that is cable news commentary and get the sense that the people on the screen have completely missed the point. The fight is not and never will be about one person or one movement. It is about the decision to protect liberty or to let liberty die; to protect justice or to let it die. To dismiss this point is to disparage the most important feature of the collaborative American psyche. When asked if freedom is worth fighting for, the answer will always be yes.

The calculus flows into discussions on almost every aspect of American life. Most recently, at home and in this Chamber, debate has centered on the ideological makeup of the Federal judiciary. We have repeatedly asked ourselves: Will the judges we are confirming respect and protect the core values of the American people? The answer is yes, they absolutely will.

This is not the first time the American public has swung back around to consider our ``first principles.'' We talked about them in the early 90s and again--perhaps more passionately--in the early 2000s. Last week, I was fortunate enough to attend an event at the White House celebrating our success in confirming well-qualified, constitutionalist judges to the Federal bench. We have filled 158 vacancies since 2017, and we are far from done.

I am sure, however, that my friends in the minority wish we would give it a rest, but we won't. After all, they have had to work overtime trying to convince the American people that our job is to impose by judicial decree policies that were rejected at the ballot box. They want to do this without the benefit of legislative debate or public comment, which means that confirming constitutionalist judges is far from being in their best interest.

So here they come, insisting that ``constitutionalist'' is a dog whistle for racism, sexism, homophobia, and holding regressive and extreme ideas.

What a ridiculous strategy. The bipartisan nominees this body has confirmed proved they are capable of resisting the urge to get creative with the law when it suits the loudest voices in the room. Instead, they apply the same foresight employed by the Founding Fathers. These judges know that permitting the government more powers to mold and manipulate society will give rise to a government that will never resist the temptation to overstep its bounds.

Our courts are not courts of public opinion, and my friends in the minority would do well to remember the cost of treating them as such. Constitutionalism is our legacy and our inheritance. I urge my colleagues to remember this because we are going to vote to confirm judges who have proven themselves committed to defending our core values and the rule of law in the United States of America.

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