WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today released the following statement after voting against the nomination of Cory Wilson to the Fifth Circuit Court:
“For the second week in a row, Senate Republicans have confirmed a Circuit Court nominee with a record of strident hostility toward the Affordable Care Act. Even in the midst of one of the greatest public health crises in our nation’s history, Republicans just won’t let go of their obsession with attacking Obamacare. But it isn’t just Cory Wilson’s views on the ACA that trouble me. He has vocally criticized efforts to protect the fundamental right to vote and has been strident in his support for restrictive voter ID laws. Nonetheless, Senate Republicans have granted him a lifetime appointment to the Fifth Circuit.”
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Judge Wilson, before he was appointed to the state court last year, was a state representative and a frequent column-writer in a local newspaper. Numerous times, Judge Wilson has spoken, written, and tweeted criticisms of the Affordable Care Act. In one of his columns, Judge Wilson wrote, “for the sake of the Constitution, I hope the Court strikes down the law and reinvigorates some semblance of the limited government the Founders intended.” In another column, he described the ACA as “big, intrusive government” and as “perverse” and “illegitimate.” Judge Wilson has tweeted negatively about the ACA more than 30 times.
During his Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Durbin pressed Judge Wilson to explain his attacks on Senate hearings on voting rights that Durbin held, but Judge Wilson refused to answer.
