Franken’s first comments

Sen. Al Franken made his first prepared remarks in a Senate hearing this afternoon when he got to read his remarks at the nomination hearings for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor.

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“I may not be a lawyer but neither are the overwhelming majority of Americans. Yet all of us, regardless of our backgrounds and professions, have a huge stake in who sits on the Supreme Court,” he said, invoking Winona, Duluth, and the Twin Cities in his remarks.

Franken turned the tables on Republicans by saying, “I am wary of judicial activism. The judicial branch is supposed to show deep deference to Congress.” It’s a key Republican point. But then Franken used several Supreme Court decisions applauded by Republicans as examples. “Looking at voter rights, appropriate deference may not have been shown in the past few years and there are ominous signs that judicial activism is on the rise in these areas.”

I posted Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s comments here earlier.

Here’s the audio from Klobuchar:

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