WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement on his vote against the confirmation of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court:

“While Senate Republicans have been rushing to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett, they have done nothing to help the millions of Americans struggling through this pandemic. Across the country, too many Americans have lost jobs, closed small businesses, and been infected by COVID-19. But, instead of working together to pass a relief bill to deliver desperately-needed aid, my Republican colleagues chose to jam through a partisan nominee in the most rushed and unprecedented process in American history.

“I fear that Judge Barrett’s confirmation will have real and dire impacts on the American people. After reviewing her record and questioning her about her views, it’s clear that Judge Barrett will come to the Supreme Court with both a legal philosophy that is far outside the mainstream and a judicial activism that will put at risk numerous longstanding rights that the American people hold dear – the right to privacy, the right to control one’s own body, and the right to marry whomever they love. Judge Barrett has also expressed clear disagreement with past opinions upholding the Affordable Care Act, and she may well cast the deciding vote to overturn it, stripping from the majority of Americans critical coverage and protections in the middle of a public health crisis that has already taken the lives of more than 220,000 Americans.

“I fear that Judge Barrett’s confirmation will also do irreparable damage to our democracy. We are just eight days from Election Day. Never before in our nation’s history has the United States Senate confirmed a Supreme Court justice in circumstances such as these. I am further troubled by Judge Barrett’s refusal during her confirmation hearing to commit to recusing herself from any case involving an election dispute. This means that Judge Barrett could be the deciding vote to tip the election in President Trump’s favor – a vote that could undermine the integrity of our elections for generations to come.

“For all of these reasons, I will vote against Judge Barrett’s confirmation to the Supreme Court. As my Republican colleagues rush this nomination forward, I urge each of them to reconsider and to think about the dire impacts this confirmation will have on our constituents and our nation as a whole.”

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