Grassley: Committee will be thorough, modern, and efficient in SCOTUS nomination process

 

Good morning. Today, we hope to vote on all the nominees on the agenda today, including four circuit nominees. I spoke about some of them last week, so I won’t spend a lot of time discussing these nominations today, but I’m pleased to support all of their nominations.

 

Britt Grant to the 11^th Circuit is a well-respected judge in Georgia who has a clear record of being fair and impartial to all the parties who come before her.

 

David Porter to the 3^rd Circuit is a well-respected attorney in Pennsylvania who has decades of experience handling complex commercial, regulatory, and constitutional matters in state and federal court, including the 3^rd Circuit.

 

Judge Quattlebaum to the 4^th Circuit has excellent credentials, as well. He secured nominations from both President Obama and President Trump. Throughout his legal career, he has received several awards for his leadership and legal work.

 

Finally, Mr. Richardson also to the 4^th Circuit will make an excellent appellate judge. He has a broad range of legal experience—he’s handled complex civil litigation and he currently serves as the Deputy Criminal Chief of the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina. He led the prosecution of Dylann Roof, who killed 9 people who had welcomed him into their Bible study.

 

Before we turn to today’s agenda, I’d like to speak briefly on the Supreme Court nomination. Judge Kavanaugh is one of the most respected jurists in the country. He’s among the most qualified candidates to ever come before the Senate. I look forward to carefully reviewing his record.

 

Our process in the Senate Judiciary Committee will be thorough, modern, and efficient. We’ll use newer tools to review more material than we ever have before. All members of this committee will have far greater visibility into his record and judicial thinking than they have had with any previous nominee. And with this extra visibility, I can foresee no reason to stray from the timelines of previous high court nominations. We completed our work on the nomination of Justices Kagan and Gorsuch within 70 days. So, I expect to do the same in this case.

 

I’ll now turn to Senator Feinstein for her remarks.

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