Cornyn Backtracks

As well he should:

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.
Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, thank you. I appreciate the opportunity for Senator Durbin and me to speak for a few minutes.

The purpose for my rising is to follow up on some remarks I made yesterday, Monday, on the floor of the Senate. The full transcript of those remarks, which has to do with judges and recent decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court is available, of course, in the Congressional Record, but it is also available on my official Web site for anybody who would care to read it.

As a former judge myself for 13 years, who has a number of close personal friends who still serve on the bench today, I am outraged by recent acts of courthouse violence. I certainly hope no one will construe my remarks on Monday otherwise. Considered in context, I don't think a reasonable listener or reader could.

As I said on Monday, there is no possible justification for courthouse violence. Indeed, I met with a Federal judge, a friend of mine in Texas, this past week, to make sure we are doing everything we can to help protect our judges and courthouse personnel from further acts of violence. And like my colleague from Illinois, I personally know judges and their families who have been victims of violence, and have grieved with those families. But I want to make one thing clear. I am not aware of any evidence whatsoever linking recent acts of courthouse violence to the various controversial rulings that have captured the Nation's attention in recent years.

My point was, and is, simply this: We should all be concerned that the judiciary is losing respect that it needs to serve the interests of the American people well. We should all want judges who interpret the law fairly -- not impose their own personal views on the Nation. We should all want to fix our broken judicial confirmation process. And we should all be disturbed by overheated rhetoric about the judiciary from both sides of the aisle. I regret that my remarks have been taken out of context to create a wrong impression about my position, and possibly be construed to contribute to the problem rather than to a solution. Our judiciary must not be politicized. Rhetoric about the judiciary and about judicial nominees must be toned down. Our broken judicial confirmation process must be fixed once and for all.

Thank you, Mr. President.

I yield the floor.

Senator Cornyn is correct-- it is time to stop the overheated rhetoric about the judiciary. He is right that his remarks were part of the problem, not the solution. He is also right that there is something wrong with the confirmation process. The problem, however, lies not in the process itself but in the poisonous atmosphere of our politics today.