practice and briefly for senator biden on this committee. she taught law to the nation s most respected law schools. she counseled president clinton on a wide variety of issues. she served as dean of harvard law school and now as solicitor general of the united states sometimes referred to as the tenth justice. i believe we re a better country for the path of excellence elena kagan has taken in her career. it s a path now open to both men and women. as chief justice marshall wrote, our constitution s intended to endure for ages, and consequently, to be adapted to the various crises of human affairs. he and other great justices have recognized that the broadly-worded guarantees and powers granted in the constitution adapt to changing circumstances. consequently, our constitution has withstood the test of time. the genius of our founders was
over a period of years. what ms. kagan s public record does reveal is a more extentive background in policy politics mixed with law. ms. kagan s college thesis on socialism in new york seems to bemoan socialism s demise there. in her master s thesis she affirmed the activist tendencies of the earl warren court but complained that they could have done a better job of justifying that activism. president obama s nominee has stated her pretty started her political career in earnest as a staffer on the presidential campaign of michael dukakis. she took leave to work for this committee under then-chairman joe biden to help secure the nomination of ruth bader ginsberg, one of the most active justices on the supreme court. and i know you would join with me, mr. chairman, in expressing our sympathy to justice ginsburg
expect her to be grilled with what her view of the role is of the federal government vis-a-vis the state, whether the federal government has the right or the administration has a right, congress has a right to insist that american citizens get health insurance. that will be framed in terms of federalism, they probably won t ask her specifically about health care reform. the business about her role as dean of harvard law school and banning military recruiters from the campus is also a very important issue to some conservative senators. i don t think that s going to get legs here on the judiciary committee. she will answer that she was defending the policy against discrimination based on sexual orientation and law schools around the country were doing the same. what is really important is whether she can show, whether she can converse with the justices up here, whether she is sufficiently shaped in constitutional law. she doesn t have to stake out positions on anything. she shouldn t sta
as i have pledged, republicans are committed to conducting this hearing in a thoughtful and respectful manner. it s not a coronation, as i ve said, but a confirmation process. serious and substantive questions will be asked. ms. kagan will be given ample opportunity to respond. ms. kagan certainly has numerous talents and many good qualities, but there are serious concerns about this nomination. ms. kagan has less real legal experience of any nominee in the at least 50 years, and it s not just that the nominee has not been a judge. she has barely practiced law and not with the intensity and duration from which i think real legal understanding occur. ms. kagan has never tried a case before a jury. she argued her first appellate case just nine months ago. while academia certainly has value, there is no substitute, i think, for being in the harness of the law, handling real cases
federal government to ban a pamphlet which could have banned common sense to help kick off the american revolution. megyn: need a quick answer but would you go so far so say she is outside the mainstream and are you keeping a filibuster on the table? our question is will she be faithful to the law, will she be within the range of good faith disagreements that could occur, and i m concerned that she s not. the question on the filibuster will be decided by each and every senator here, but their analysis probably will be based on whether or not there s some extraordinary circumstances that would cause them to want to block a vote. megyn: we ll be watching, sen to, thank you so much. as you heard senator sessions there, the supreme court made news of its own today by issuing a landmark ruling on gun rights. shannon bream is live at the highest court with details.