On Sunday, May 15, George Stephanopoulos interviewed Senator John
McCain on ABC "This Week" and shared with him the following remarks that I had
sent out in a press release: "It is unfortunate that Senator McCain has
joined those senators who are trying to prevent godly men and women nominated by
their president and supported by a majority of senators from serving on our
nation's courts. There is not going to be a church in America that is not going
to know exactly who those senators are."
The Senator responded, in part, "I regret it, that this is the kind
of way we address a very serious issue in America… I believe that, as reasonable
people … we should sit down together and work this out."
Senator McCain is absolutely right that this issue should be worked
out in reasonable ways. Were that the case from the beginning, we would not have
Senators blocking a vote to confirm judicial nominees who are highly qualified
and who already enjoy the support of a majority of the Senators.
Moreover, there is a very reasonable basis for my comments that
Senator McCain seems to regret. Despite the best intentions of the Senator and
others, the practical effect of the current filibusters is that those who
want to be faithful to God's law are excluded. Take a faithful Catholic like
Bill Pryor of Alabama, for example. In his previous confirmation hearings, he
was told by Dianne Feinstein, 'Virtually in every area you have
extraordinarily strong views which continue and come out in a number of
different ways. Your comments about Roe make one believe, could he really,
suddenly, move away from those comments and be a judge?'
Similar comments were made by other Senators. Sen. Ted Kennedy,
for example, said,
'I think the very legitimate issue …is whether you have an
agenda, that many of the positions which you have taken reflect not just an
advocacy but a very deeply held view and a philosophy…"
But one cannot be a faithful believer and not have deeply
held views. Faith captures and changes one's whole life, one's philosophy, one's
private and public actions. To think that therefore one cannot at the
same time be a good judge is a form of bias against believers. This bias ignores
both the role of faith and the strong rational basis for its tenets. I'm not
saying this is a deliberate intent to exclude Catholics. I'm saying that the
type of concerns expressed by those leading the filibusters do, in effect, close
the door to those who live their Faith the way the Church requires. A reasonable
approach to the filibuster problem cannot permit that.
The Senate will soon decide whether it will insist on letting
nominees, who enjoy majority support, actually receive those votes. If you have
not yet called your Senators, do so today at (202) 224-3121. Ask them to support
the "Constitutional Option" which will allow the votes to proceed, as the
Constitution says they should.
