OPINION:
President John F. Kennedy, a Democrat and a Roman Catholic, would be appalled to see how today’s Democratic members of Congress treat people like Judge Amy Coney Barrett. So, too, would the founders of our country, who drafted Article VI of the U.S. Constitution. It reads, in part: “The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”
Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley beautifully discussed this at Judge Barrett’s recent confirmation hearings. Senators who have raised questions about Judge Barrett’s religious faith violate their own oaths of office to uphold the Constitution. Sens. Dianne Feinstein, Kamala Harris and others who have done this to Judge Barrett should be expelled from the Senate. Future Senate hearings should bar such questions from being asked, or else nominees should refuse to answer such questions, citing Article VI. Let’s see if the cowardly senators will try to hold them in contempt of Congress.
COMM. WAYNE L. JOHNSON
Judge Advocate General’s Corps, U.S. Navy (retired)
Alexandria, Va.
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