Senator from missouri. Mr. Hawley madam president , some months ago, in july of this year, i came to this floor shortly after the conclusion of the Supreme Courts most recent term to lament the ongoing judicial activism, the judicial imperialism that we have seen from this court over this past term and from the Supreme Court for years on end. I quoted the late Justice Scalia who said the imperial judiciary lives, and i said on the floor of this senate it was a shame to say but undeniable that the imperial judiciary continued to live in this country, a judiciary intent, a Supreme Court intent on legislating from the bench, on making up laws that went along with no regard for what the people actually wrote in their statutes or in their laws, and i particularly lamented the position of religious conservatives, people of faith who had seen in this past term for the United StatesSupreme Court decision after decision, tossing aside the concerns of religious conservatives and faithful americans, who had watched the Supreme Court legislate departing from the texas of written laws with barely any concerns about religious liberty. Tossing aside concerns about religious liberty, the effect on religious institutions with one or two lines and opinions. This is what we have been seeing from the United StatesSupreme Court and religious conservatives had come to a place of asking what is it that were fighting for . What is it that we have been working for and voting for all of these years . Is anybody actually listening to us . Do our votes really matter . Those are the questions that religious conservatives were asking in july of this year, and that is why the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court of the United States comes as such historic and welcome news to people of faith in this country, to religious conservatives, and to all who believe in the rule of law in america. The nomination of Amy Coney Barrett is truly historic. This is the most openly prolife judicial nominee to the Supreme Court in my lifetime. This is an individual who has been open in her criticism of that illegitimate decision roe v. Wade. This is a nominee who has been open about her faith and her faith commitments and the way she and her husband lived their lives immersed in their catholic faith and raised their children in their catholic faith and want others to have the freedom to be able to do the same. And her nomination and i anticipate her confirmation tonight in just a few hours on this floor will show that there is nothing wrong with any of that. In fact, people of faith should be welcome on the Supreme Court of the United States, people of judge barretts conviction should be welcome on the Supreme Court of the United States, and in just a few hours in the vote of this body, we will confirm that that is indeed the case. And i have to say judge barretts own positions, her convictions give me great confidence that she understands the difference between judging and legislating, that she will not be a judicial imperialist, as i have talked about on this floor in months past. And i said earlier this year that i would not vote for a Supreme Court nominee who did not understand the difference between judging on the one hand and legislating on the other. I would not vote for a judicial imperialist. And i specifically singled out roe v. Wade and said that i will not vote for a Supreme Court nominee who does not understand that roe was an act of judicial imperialism. And indeed i want to see record evidence that the nominee understands that roe was an act of judicial imperialism and understands this difference between legislating from the bench and actually adhering to the constitution and the laws. Well, im proud to support the nomination and the confirmation of judge Amy Coney Barrett because her record makes abundantly clear that she understands the role of a judge, that she understands the role that the constitution assigns to the judiciary. It is not the role of legislating. It is not the role of imposing policy preferences or personal views. It is the role of following the law. And her record indicates that she understands that, that she is committed to following that role, and committing to revive it. That approach, that constitutional approach to judging that she will fight for it and revive it on the Supreme Court of the United States. And so i am delighted to support her nomination. I am delighted to have someone of her convictions. I am delighted to have someone who has taken the stances that she has taken as a legal practitioner, as an academic, and as a judge. And, yes, that includes her position on life, and, yes, that includes her position on roe. And so, madam president , i would just say that tonight we will set a precedent, that people of faith, people of the convictions that judge barrett has and shares are welcome in this country in every office. They are welcome on the highest court in the land, and we need not ask people of convictions to give up those convictions in order to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States. We need not say oh, you have to scrub your personal views, oh, you have to pretend that you dont have religious faith or you have to pretend that it doesnt matter to you. You have to renounce your past record. We dont have to do any of that. What weve to ask them to do is to understand the difference between judging and lawmaking. We have to ask them to understand their role that the constitution assigns them. We have to ask them to be committed to following the law. And i am convinced, based on her record, that judge barrett will do exactly that. For those reasons, i am delighted to support her confirmation and i look forward to this historic vote in just a an evitiation of the quorum call. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Markey thank you. Thank you, mr. President. I rise to speak in opposition to the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to serve as an associate justice on the United StatesSupreme Court. This is no ordinary nomination, and it comes at no ordinary time in the life of our nation. We are in the midst of