Senator Dan Sullivan spoke on the Senate floor on Wednesday to announce his support for Judge Amy Coney Barrett to serve as the next associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Senator Sullivan met with Judge Barrett on September 30.
Sullivan said that Barrett has her finger on the pulse of issues that are immediately relevant to Alaskan values: “I’ve read hundreds of pages of the decisions that she’s authored. I’ve listened to and read the views of Alaskans, both for and against her nomination, and in my meeting with Judge Barrett, we discussed in great depth her viewpoint on a variety of national and Alaska-focused legal issues. She clearly understands the separation of powers and federalism, holds a healthy skepticism regarding the expansive power of federal agencies, and is a strong protector and proponent of the Second Amendment—all issues that my constituents care deeply about.”
He continued: “Why are these issues so important to Alaska and central to us realizing our potential? Mr. President, let me give you a brief but recent example of an issue that recently made its way through the Ninth Circuit—which often is the bane of our existence in Alaska—to the Supreme Court, not once, but twice, and was unanimously agreed to by the Supreme Court. In a case that some in the media will be familiar with, Sturgeon vs. Frost—a moose hunter, a hover craft, and the wild Interior of Alaska made for some great headlines. But the issue being litigated in that case was one of control, one of freedom—control of our lands, our waters, our fish and game. The federal government, in essence, told John Sturgeon he couldn’t use his hovercraft on federal waters to go hunting. “Yes, I can,” said Sturgeon. He knew the law. Then there was litigation. It is one that comes up time and again in Alaska. The issue of federal overreach, agency creep. In Alaska, we have a front row to this problem. We’ve seen it happen to us consistently by the courts, particularly, as I mentioned, the judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. When they interpret statutes involving my state—and there are many federal statutes that only relate to Alaska—in a way that fits with their ideas and policy notions about the way the federal lands in Alaska should be managed.”
Senator Lisa Murkowski reiterated to reporters on Tuesday that she would meet with Judge Barrett. She vowed in September to meet with President Trump’s Supreme Court pick but made clear she did not support considering a nominee for the high court vacancy so close to the election: “For weeks, I have stated that I would not support taking up a potential Supreme Court vacancy this close to the election. Sadly, what was then a hypothetical is now our reality, but my position has not changed. I did not support taking up a nomination eight months before the 2016 election to fill the vacancy created by the passing of Justice Scalia. We are now even closer to the 2020 election – less than two months out – and I believe the same standard must apply.”
