Third Day of Hearings on the Nomination of Judge Roberts
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And you have to be able to substantiate your position. There’s no place for rhetoric. People are pointing to the law. And I found that a very encouraging part of the process, what goes on in the conference room, which was, of course, a part of the process that I hadn’t participated in before. KOHL: It’s something that we don’t see, either. ROBERTS: Right. KOHL: We have no way of seeing it. ROBERTS: Right. And the positive part of that process to me was that nobody was invested in anything other than getting the right result. And they’re prepared to be convinced, contrary to initial impressions. And I was as well. I found it a very encouraging part of the process. KOHL: Let me ask you, moving to administrative law issues, if I could. As you know in the 18th and 19th centuries, we really did not have the governmental agencies that have such a profound influence, for better or worse, on the daily lives of Americans. Today, administrative agencies set workplace safety rules, establish environmental regulations, lay down traffic safety standards, just to name a few things. As far as I know, there’s no specific article in the Constitution dedicated to the administrative state we live in today. In your view, what is there in the text or history of the Constitution that supports the growth of this administrative state that we live in? Is the growth of the administrative state an example of the Constitution being amended simply out of necessity or is the administrative state consistent with the Constitution as drafted by our founding fathers? More : nytimes.com |