VIDEO: Young Introduces Judge Amy Coney Barrett at Supreme Court Confirmation Hearing

Press Release

Today, U.S. Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.) introduced Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Senate Judiciary Committee during her Supreme Court confirmation hearing.

"Education. Faith. Family. Community. Equal justice under the law. These are all values that Midwesterners hold dear. Indeed, they are values that Americans hold dear. And they are all values embodied by Judge Barrett," said Senator Young.

Senator Young met with Judge Barrett shortly after her Supreme Court nomination and spoke about her qualifications on the Senate floor. He also penned an op-ed for the Indy Star about this week's confirmation hearing.

In 2017, Senator Young previously introduced Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Senate Judiciary Committee during her confirmation hearing for the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.

To watch the full video of Senator Young's opening statement, click here.

Full remarks as prepared for delivery:

Thank you, Chairman Graham, Ranking Member Feinstein, and members of the committee.

Today, I join you in the shadow of Monument Circle in Indianapolis, Indiana.

I am honored to appear before you to introduce Judge Amy Coney Barrett, a remarkable Hoosier poised to make her mark on our country. She truly is an American original.

In 2017, when there was an opening on the U.S Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, my office began looking for an extraordinary American who would uphold the rule of law.

In response, we received dozens of applications from many of the finest legal minds in the State of Indiana. My staff and I began researching in earnest to learn everything we could about each candidate to determine who among them would make the best judge, and I interviewed the best of the best.

One of those was a Constitutional Law Professor from the University of Notre Dame by the name of Amy Coney Barrett.

I first met with then-Professor Barrett in the Spring of 2017, and it was abundantly clear that she was a star.

A brilliant legal scholar, she was and is held in the highest regard by her peers in the legal world. Her integrity and character are unimpeachable. She is a model of collegiality and fairness, and simply, she possessed all of the necessary qualities to be a great Appellate Court Judge then, and to be a great Supreme Court Justice now.

My colleague, former Senator Joe Donnelly, and I approved of her nomination and a hearing was set.

Unfortunately, some resorted to attacks on Judge Barrett's religious convictions. I can tell you that in Indiana and much of the country, faith is viewed as an asset in a public servant, not a liability. As Notre Dame President Father Jenkins reminded us then, being a person of faith does not interfere with one's ability to apply the law.

Thankfully, Judge Barrett's qualifications outshone personal attacks, and she was confirmed by a bipartisan majority to the U.S Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit.

As a member of that Court, Judge Barrett has proven that she is a rather brilliant jurist who interprets the Constitution as written and carefully weighs the facts of a given case. She has heard more than 600 cases on the 7th Circuit and authored nearly 100 opinions. And I should note she is the first woman from Indiana ever to serve on that esteemed court.

During that 7th Circuit interview back in 2017, it was obvious that Judge Barrett loved the law and the Constitution. Her love for her family -- her husband Jesse and her seven children -- was also clear.

If confirmed, Judge Barrett will be the fifth woman, and the first mother of school-aged children to serve as a Supreme Court Justice.

Being a parent does not qualify one to sit on the Supreme Court, but it does give us Hoosiers yet another reason to be proud of Amy Coney Barrett and the trail she has blazed leading her to this moment.

Education. Faith. Family. Community. Equal justice under the law. These are all values that Midwesterners hold dear. Indeed, they are values that Americans hold dear. And they are all values embodied by Judge Barrett.

Author Kurt Vonnegut, another American original from Indiana, once said, "I don't know what it is about Hoosiers, but wherever you go there is always a Hoosier doing something very important."

Where Amy Coney Barrett has gone, she has always been doing something very important -- from raising a family, to educating the next generation of scholars, to administering justice on the Court of Appeals.

It is my hope that this body will confirm Judge Barrett in a bipartisan fashion so that we will soon find another Hoosier doing something very important on the Supreme Court of the United States.

Thank you.

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