Recognition of the Service and Legacy of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Floor Speech

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Mr. CARSON of Indiana. Madam Speaker, I rise today to join my colleagues in recognizing the lifetime of service and the legacy of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

``Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.'' This insight came from the late Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg and has never been more applicable than today. The Notorious RBG was a fighter for all and a defender of rights until the very end, showing us all the true definition of what it means to be a great leader. Throughout her career she fought to extend fairness and protections for countless marginalized groups in this country.

As a father to young girl and a passionate defender of women's rights, I stand before you to reflect on the legacy that Justice Ginsburg has left on all generations today, and in the years to come. In 1993, Justice Ginsburg was appointed to the Supreme Court with unanimous support from the Senate and became only the second woman ever to serve on the highest court in our land. She brought both passion and brilliance to her decisions, always with the best interests of Americans on her mind while upholding our Constitution.

We have a duty to honor Justice Ginsburg by continuing her fight to advance the progress she tirelessly worked for during her entire career. In a time when my constituents and fellow Americans are urgently voicing their need for unity and fairness, we must demand the very things Justice Ginsburg fought for so fiercely: equal health care, reproductive rights, equal rights, LGBTQ rights, workers' rights, voting rights, civil rights, and much more.

So much is at stake with the Supreme Court vacancy her passing has created. The Supreme Court is already scheduled to hear arguments the week after the election on the Trump Administration's reckless push to destroy the Affordable Care Act (ACA). That means, in the middle of this unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed more than 200,000 Americans, the President and his allies are trying to pack the Supreme Court to take away the health care of millions of Americans. This president has promised that his Supreme Court nominee will dismantle the ACA, so we must take him at his word.

President Trump and Senate Republicans are ignoring the dying wishes of Justice Ginsburg, the opinion of most Americans, and years of precedent in a desperate bid to pack the courts to rubberstamp their reckless agenda. This is an insult to our Democracy and a threat to every American. There should be no consideration of a replacement for Justice Ginsburg before the next president is sworn in.

We must act now, after Justice Ginsburg's passing, but before a new justice is appointed to roll back her legacy and our rights. We must take our shared grief and use it as turning point, drawing on her example as a courageous inspiration for us to all rise up and make her proud. We must fight for the rights of those who have been ignored or forgotten for too long. Justice Ginsburg fought and worked hard until the very end, showing us all that when love for Country and Constitution runs deep, there is no denying justice.

I urge my Senate Colleagues to honor both her and the American people's wishes.

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