Franken hints at how he will fight
Posted: Monday, July 13, 2009 5:41 PM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under:
Congress, Courts, Democrats
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
Al Franken, the most junior member of the United States Senate and, in turn, the Senate Judiciary Committee, eventually got to speak today during the hearing for Supreme Court Justice nominee Sonia Sotomayor. (By the way, don't miss that he spoke right after Arlen Specter, who would have been sitting next to Chairman Pat Leahy had he remained a Republican.)
As expected, Franken was, again, boring -- and humble. But he did give a hint at how he might fight for a liberal agenda. He quoted Justice Souter in a way that seems to make the case for an empathetic justice. And he said that he, too, is "wary of judicial activism" -- from the other side of the aisle.
He cited the Supreme Court's move on voting rights and Justice Thomas, in particular, of where it has veered toward conservative activism.
He got a couple of chuckles from the masses when he mentioned that he'd only been on the job five days. But, he said, because of that, the oath is fresh in his mind, and he takes it very seriously.
"I know I have a lot to learn from each of you," said Franken, who spoke of living rooms in Winona and Duluth and also said he plans to follow in the footsteps of Paul Wellstone. He talked about how he has seen every confirmation hearing since they've been televised and noted that this was the first confirmation hearing that Sen. Ted Kennedy hadn't been at since 1965.
"I swore to support and defend the Constitution of the United States," Franken said. "I take this oath very seriously. ... I may not be a lawyer, but neither are the majority of Americans."
He continued to say that despite that everyone has "a huge stake" in what happens on the Supreme Court.
He called Sotomayor an "outstanding jurist" and "exceptional nominee."
