Dr. Coburn Votes Against Elena Kagan in Judiciary Committee

Statement

U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) released the following statement today after voting against approving Elena Kagan's nomination to the Supreme Court in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

"By her own words, Elena Kagan will violate her oath as soon as she's sworn in. Kagan believes wrongly-decided Supreme Court precedents trump the original intent of our founders. With Kagan on the Court, Congress and the executive branch may succeed at sweeping away whatever limitations remain on its power to micromanage the decisions of states and individuals," Dr. Coburn said.

"During her testimony Kagan indicated she would support the big government policies that created our $13 trillion debt and the welfare state that is threatening to bankrupt our country. The Court needs to force Congress to pull back from this precipice, not give it another reason to push our economy over the edge," Dr. Coburn said.

"Finally, it was extraordinary to hear a Supreme Court nominee decline to endorse the concept of natural rights contained in the Declaration of Independence that is the basis of our Constitution. Refusing to acknowledge natural or God-given rights undermines our entire system of government. Without natural law, so-called "progressives' would take us back to the 17th century, when rights emanated from the state or the king rather than the creator," Dr. Coburn said.

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