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Floor Speech

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Mr. WELCH. Mr. President, my colleagues on the Republican side have made the assertion that this legislation would interfere with the independence of the judiciary. That is a serious assertion, and it deserves to be respected and responded to.

The judiciary is an absolutely vital branch of government that is independent. It is independent in the process by which it makes decisions that come before it for its decision. That is where it is independent. As much as I disagree with many of the decisions of the Supreme Court, that Court has the right, without interference from Congress, to make the decisions it makes.

There is absolutely nothing in this legislation that interferes with the judicial power that the Court alone exercises in considering cases and making decisions--there is absolutely nothing--and to have our colleagues suggest that this legislation would do that is flat-out wrong.

What this legislation responds to is the conduct of individual Justices that is, you know, frankly, pretty shocking. You get a call: Hey, there is a yacht that needs you on board. Hey, don't worry about how to get there; we have a private plane. Hey, don't worry--if you didn't come, that seat would be unoccupied.

The Justice actually does it. They get on that plane and go, and they get on that yacht.

Hey, by the way, we are having a fishing trip. It is in Alaska. It is really cool. Let's go. There is an empty seat. Why don't you come. It is worth $100,000, but it doesn't have to be reported.

You know, when we talk about a code of ethics for the Supreme Court-- and these are some of the examples of why it is needed--my constituents from Vermont say: Peter, what are you talking about--a code of ethics? They can get away with that? They can do that? They can take this free trip?

It is really, really shocking.

You know, my colleague from Connecticut said it right: The Chief Justice has not only the authority but the responsibility to deal with the problems of behavior on his own Court, and he is not doing it. He is not doing it.

Another point that my colleagues make that I am in 100 percent agreement with is that we need a Supreme Court that has the credibility and confidence of this country. We face very difficult decisions that are quite contentious and that divide America, and when those are contested and they go to the Court and the Court renders a decision that all of us have to abide by whether we were on the winning side or the losing side, we absolutely must have a Court that has credibility. The credibility has to be, if it is going to be enhanced by the Court, by following codes of conduct and by giving the American people confidence that they are on the level. They are not doing it.

These free trips, these private planes, the private yachts--that is just self-serving and, frankly, gross. Who has the opportunity to take those trips in the jobs they do?

By the way, this is an important job they have, but it is a job. You know, you do your job. You get your paycheck. You show up for work. You treat the people you work with decently. But you don't have some expectation because of the particular job you have of getting free special trips just because you are ``important.'' That is not part of the deal here. That is not constitutionally protected. That is not anything to do with the independence of the judiciary. That is just about venal, self-serving conduct by people who happen to have a lifetime appointment.

The other point here that is really, truly shocking and astonishing is that we have got over 800 judges--circuit court, appellate court, bankruptcy judges--and they have a code of conduct. They can't do this. There are only nine folks who can do it, and they are on the Supreme Court. They should have the highest standards that apply to them, self- imposed. They have no standards.

This is the Supreme Court eroding the confidence the public--all of us, whichever side of the decision we are on--is entitled to have from the people who have that lifetime appointment, and they are squandering it. They are turning a blind eye to the needs of the people they serve.

This ethics legislation is unfortunately necessary because the Supreme Court will not do what it has the responsibility to do. The Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court will not face down colleagues on that Court who are just disregarding normal rules of decency.

So I say to the Presiding Officer and my colleagues and I say to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle: All of us should be doing everything we can to restore confidence in the judiciary. This is step one.

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