Statement on the Senate
Confirmation of Supreme Court Nominee Anthony M. Kennedy
I
am extremely pleased that today the Senate has voted, 97 to 0, to confirm my
nomination of Judge Anthony M. Kennedy as Associate Justice of the Supreme
Court. Judge Kennedy has served with great distinction as a Federal appellate
judge in this nation's largest circuit for 12 years. He will make an
outstanding addition to the Supreme Court.
By
confirming Judge Kennedy as an Associate Justice, the Senate has not only
restored to the Nation a full nine-member Supreme Court, it has reaffirmed this
country's commitment to the philosophy of judicial restraint. Judge Kennedy
believes, as I do, that the role of the judge in our democratic society is
faithfully to interpret the law, not to make it; and that it is just as
important to protect the victims of crime as it is to protect criminal
offenders.
Judge
Kennedy represents the best traditions of