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WHEREAS, the Constitution of the United States provides that the Senate shall provide Advice and Consent for appointments to the Supreme Court of the United States; and,
WHEREAS, the Senate's constitutional duty to advise and consent on judicial nominees is one of its most important and solemn responsibilities; and,
WHEREAS, the Senate has confirmed more than a dozen Supreme Court justices in presidential election years, including five in the last 100 years; and,
WHEREAS, the Senate has confirmed justices in presidential election years in which the executive and legislative branches of government were divided between two political parties, including Justice Anthony Kennedy's confirmation in 1988; and,
WHEREAS, the Senate Judiciary Committee has never denied a Supreme Court nominee a hearing since it began holding public confirmation hearings; and,
WHEREAS, if the Senate refuses to consider a Supreme Court nominee until after the next President is sworn into office, it will result in the longest Supreme Court vacancy caused by Senate inaction since the Civil War; and,
WHEREAS, the Supreme Court serves an essential function resolving critical questions of law that affect our community, its economy, and its citizens; and,
WHEREAS, the President has nominated Merrick Garland, Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, who "has earned a track record of building consensus as a thoughtful, fair-minded judge who follows the law;" and,
WHEREAS, Judge Garland is well-qualified and has more judicial experience than any Supreme Court nominee in history;
WHEREAS, forcing the Supreme Court to function with only eight justices risks creating numerous instances in which the Court is evenly divided on the outcome of a case, preventing the Court from resolving conflicting interpretations of the Constitution among different regions of the Nation and thereby undermining the Supreme Court's role as the final arbiter of the law; ...
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