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  • UFCW Local 1776 Statement on Sen. Pat Toomey and SCOTUS vacancies
    Updated On: Sep 19, 2020

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – CONTACT DANNY BAUDER 215-279-4337 

    UFCW LOCAL 1776 Keystone State President Wendell Young Urges Sen. Toomey to Honor His Commitment to All Pennsylvanians Regarding Supreme Court Vacancies

    PLYMOUTH MEETING September 18. 2020 – UFCW 1776 Keystone State President Wendell Young IV is urging U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) to re-affirm his belief that nominations to the U.S. Supreme Court should not occur in the heat of a national election. Young noted that on March 16, 2016, Senator Toomey issued the following statementregarding President Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court : 

    "With the U.S. Supreme Court's balance at stake, and with the presidential election fewer than eight months away, it is wise to give the American people a more direct voice in the selection and confirmation of the next justice. Should Merrick Garland be nominated again by the next president, I would be happy to carefully consider his nomination, as I have done with dozens of judges submitted by President Obama.”

    This reaffirmed the position he expressed in a statement made a month earlier, on February 15 of that year, nine months before election day: “Given that we are already well into the presidential election process and that the Supreme Court appointment is for a lifetime, it makes sense to give the American people a more direct say in this critical decision.”

    “Voting in this presidential election has already begun. If nine months away is too close to an election, as the Senator believes, he cannot justify considering a potential nomination when, again, this election is underway with early voting already underway in some states,” said Young. 

    In a lengthy column published in April 2016 in Pennlive regarding the Garland nomination, Senator Toomey yet again, he made his position on the timing crystal clear, writing that:

    “First, the balance of the Supreme Court is at stake, and we have an election right around the corner. With lifetime tenure, the next justice will determine the Court's balance for a generation. In that light, I believe it is sensible to allow the American people to participate in the choice of Justice Scalia's successor less than seven months from now.” (emphasis added). 

    In that same column, the Senator added, “These concerns, in addition to my preference for giving the American people a voice in November about the long-term balance of the Court, lead me to oppose his nomination at this time.

    “I do not agree with many of Senator Toomey’s positions on many important issues. But I do believe that he is a man of his word,” Young said. “I urge him to honor his commitment and urge his colleagues to defer consideration of a new justice until the next President has been sworn into office.”

    Representing workers in the grocery, retail, food manufacturing, health care industries throughout Pennsylvania, the Ohio Valley and Hudson Valley, UFCW Local 1776 is proud to be a voice for the 35,000 members we represent.

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