Blumenthal Votes Against the Nomination of Justin Walker to the D.C. Circuit

[WASHINGTON, DC] – Today U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, voted against the confirmation of Justin Walker to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. Blumenthal spoke out against the nomination on the Senate Floor last night.

“I'm here to talk about the nomination of Justin Walker to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, but let's start with Conner Curran,” Blumenthal said on the Senate Floor. “Justin Walker actually has met Conner – not really, but I introduced him to Conner through this picture during his nomination hearing in the Judiciary Committee. Several years ago Conner was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a degenerative, life-threatening disease, which presently has no cure. There has probably nobody who has inspired me more with his courage, his energy, his strength of character than Conner Curran and his wonderful family who live in Ridgefield, Connecticut.”

“His parents were told at the time of his diagnosis that this beautiful, young, sweet child would slowly lose his ability to run, lift his arms, hug them, and he would need complex care for the rest of his life. He would need multiple specialists that would cost tens of thousands of dollars each year, which they could not afford. But it was made possible by the Affordable Care Act. And now, because of that Act, he cannot be denied care. He's alive. He's not giving up. He's fighting for both a cure and the Affordable Care Act. And he's not the only one. There are 1.5 million people in the state of Connecticut alone, millions more around the country, living with preexisting conditions. There are 182,000 children among those 1.5 million people just like Conner living with the potentially debilitating and even deadly effects of these preexisting conditions, and there are millions more around the country.”

“For them, for Americans, the Affordable Care Act is more than a law. It's a lifeline. Each of them can get the affordable care they need because of that lifeline. And right now we all know health care has never been more important. We talk about it every day. We are full of rhetoric on the Floor of this chamber about the health care crisis, which has precipitated an economic crisis. And about the disproportionate effects of that health care crisis, a pandemic of an insidious deadly disease on poor and often communities of color.”

“At the time of this crisis, the President of the United States has nominated Justin Walker to be an appellate judge. A present District Court judge who has said that his main mission is to destroy the Affordable Care Act.”

During Walker’s nomination hearing, Blumenthal shared the story of Conner, a nine-year-old resident of Ridgefield, Connecticut living with Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy – a fatal illness that requires tens of thousands of dollars in medical treatment every year. Conner’s disease is a pre-existing condition, and without the protections of the Affordable Care Act, he could lose access to life-saving care.

During Walker’s investiture ceremony as a District Court Judge – a position he was rated as “unqualified” to hold in the first place – he said, “Thank you for serving as an enduring reminder that although my legal principles are prevalent, they have not yet prevailed. That although we are winning, we have not won, and although we celebrate today, we cannot take for granted tomorrow or we will lose our courts and our country.” Walker had previously called the Supreme Court decision upholding the Affordable Care Act both “indefensible” and “catastrophic.”

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