CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey led a 20-state coalition in urging Senate leaders to confirm the nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The coalition expressed its support in a Wednesday afternoon letter sent to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley and Senate Judiciary Ranking Member Patrick Leahy.
The letter urges the Senate, including Sens. Shelley Moore Capito and Joe Manchin, to confirm Judge Gorsuch without delay.
“Judge Gorsuch is an outstanding jurist with a proven commitment to upholding the U.S. Constitution and the rule of law,” Attorney General Morrisey wrote on behalf of coalition. “We have no doubt that he possesses the qualifications, temperament and judicial philosophy to be an excellent Associate Justice.”
President Trump, in nominating Judge Gorsuch, fulfilled a promise to nominate a jurist who shared the late Justice Antonin Scalia’s commitment to interpreting the Constitution as it was originally written.
The coalition believes Judge Gorsuch is particularly well-suited to enforce the Constitution’s limits on federal overreach and protect the role of individual states. Federal agencies have consistently overstepped the bounds of their authority under the Constitution, to the detriment of the states, during the past eight years.
Judge Gorsuch offers a positive change. He respects the role of state governments and has consistently defended the constitutional rights to freedom of speech, religion and the right to bear arms.
The Senate previously confirmed Judge Gorsuch with broad, bipartisan support to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The coalition’s letter finds no reason why a jurist of such immense qualifications should not receive prompt confirmation once again.
West Virginia signed the letter with Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Read a full copy of the letter at http://bit.ly/2jDSp8j.
