AFBF Pres. Duvall: Confirm Judge Gorsuch

The following may be attributed to American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall:

“Judge Neil Gorsuch was nominated last night to the Supreme Court. If confirmed, he will assume the seat last occupied by Justice Antonin Scalia. He is a worthy successor. The American Farm Bureau Federation calls for his swift confirmation by the Senate.

“Like Scalia, Judge Gorsuch does the job he was appointed to do. He respects the law and the Constitution as written. We are encouraged by his past positions that courts should not blindly defer to regulating agencies, but should perform their constitutional role of interpreting the laws that Congress writes. That point alone is critical for many of the legal issues faced by farmers and ranchers today.

“Gorsuch has expressed an appreciation for the environment and is a conservationist – a philosophy shared by America’s farmers and ranchers who serve as caretakers for our lands.

“Judge Gorsuch’s qualifications are beyond question. In addition to a law degree from Harvard, he also earned a doctorate from Oxford University on a Marshall Scholarship. He clerked for two Supreme Court Justices – Byron White and Anthony Kennedy – and was confirmed by a unanimous Senate for the 10^th Circuit Court of Appeals.

“Judge Gorsuch was confirmed for the 10^th Circuit Court of Appeals without a single dissenting vote 10 years ago. Everything we know about him tells us he deserves to be confirmed by a similar margin today. Any Senator voting against a legal scholar like Gorsuch will have to produce a serious justification for a no vote. America’s farmers and ranchers will be watching closely.”