Radio Address to the
Nation on the Supreme Court Nomination of Douglas H. Ginsburg and the Federal
Budget
My
fellow Americans:
I'm
speaking to you today by a taped message, because I am away from
The
first has to do with the Supreme Court. This week I nominated Judge Douglas
Ginsburg of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
Circuit to fill the open seat on the Court. Judge Ginsburg is the kind of
Justice I want on the Court. This means that he believes, as I do, as every
judge I have nominated or will ever nominate must, that the proper role of the
judiciary is to interpret the laws, not make them. It means that he believes
that in our democracy it is for the elected representatives of the people to
make the laws and that unelected judges must never attempt to substitute their
private will for the will of the people. You see, Judge Ginsburg remembers, as
I do, the warning of James Madison that ``if the sense in which the
Constitution was accepted and ratified by the Nation is not the guide to
expounding it, there can be no security for the faithful exercise of its
powers.''
My
concern is that in recent years too many judges have forgotten that one of the
goals of our Founding Fathers was to ensure domestic tranquility. Too many
judges have reinterpreted the Constitution, got away from the original intent
of the Founders and, in the process, made law enforcement a game in which
clever lawyers try to find ways to trip up the police.
Our
courts must protect the rights of all Americans, and that includes the rights
of the victims of crime and of society, not just of criminals. I believe that
Judge Ginsburg will do just that. He has had a distinguished legal career that
has included teaching at the
As
the Senate takes up Judge Ginsburg's nomination, I hope that it will join with
me in defending the integrity and independence of the American system of
justice against the kind of campaign of pressure politics we saw during the
consideration of Judge Robert Bork's nomination. The way to show its
determination to prevent such a campaign from happening again is for the Senate
to insist that the Judiciary Committee hold hearings promptly, no delays to
gear up opposition or support for this nomination -- prompt hearings. You have
a right to expect nothing less.
The
other issue I wanted to talk about is the economy. Our economic expansion
continues strong. In November it will enter the history books as the longest
peacetime expansion on record. During the expansion we've created nearly 14
million new jobs. Employment levels this year have been the highest ever
recorded. Industrial production is rising strongly,
much of it because our manufacturers are exporting more. Despite the trade
deficit, since the day I was sworn in for my second term,
This
week leaders of Congress sat down with me and members of my administration to
talk about the budget deficit. These were bipartisan meetings to make sure the
budget deficit comes down again this year by at least $23 billion. If we can do
that, it'll be the first time deficits have dropped 2 years in a row since
1974. But cutting deficit spending can no longer be a sometime thing. Let's
resolve that from now on we will join together each year to bring it down again
until the budget is balanced. When we cut spending, it must stay cut, no coming
back to next year with new programs or replacing old reductions with new
increases. From now on, deficit cuts, like diamonds, must be forever.
The
world is looking to
Until
next week, thanks for listening, and God bless you.
Note: The President's
address was recorded on October 30 in the Roosevelt Room at the White House for
broadcast at