Grassley Statement At An Executive Business Meeting

 

Before we vote, I also wanted to take a minute to talk about comments that have been made about the Supreme Court and the Dobbs case it heard yesterday. A number of Democrats and activists on the left have been attacking the Court. It is worrying to see Senators saying that “if you want to see a revolution, go ahead, outlaw Roe v. Wade and see what the response is.”

 

Or a member of Congress claiming that “2 of the 6 far-right justices preparing to overturn Roe v. Wade are sitting in stolen seats” while calling to “expand the Court.” This tone and rhetoric is not helpful.

 

These statements undermine faith in our judiciary. It is irresponsible to undermine the public’s faith in our institutions this way. But referring to “stolen seats” and “illegitimate” decisions does not help our country. We should be supporting the independence of our judiciary, not undermining it with partisan attacks.

 

We also have one bill up for consideration today that involves the judiciary—S. 2340, the Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act of 2021. Its goal is to improve judicial security and privacy.

 

We’ve seen a troubling number of threats and incidents of violence involving the judiciary in the last few years.

 

Judges and their family members have been hurt and killed. We’ve also seen courthouses under siege by leftwing groups in places like Portland, Oregon.

 

It’s important that we have the tools necessary to protect judges and their families. I think this bill makes improvements on that by increasing judicial privacy protections.  

 

I also think several amendments would also help provide greater security. The judicial carry provision would allow judges and prosecutors to concealed carry under the same conditions as retired law enforcement officers. That includes being certified by a state law enforcement agency.

 

So, I look forward to considering the bill.