Judge Merrick Garland on Wednesday accepted President Obama’s nomination for the Supreme Court in an emotional address in the White House Rose Garden.
“This is the greatest honor of my life,” said Garland, flanked by Obama and Vice President Biden, his voice cracking before adding “other than Lynn agreeing to marry me 28 years ago.”
{mosads}”I know that my mother is watching this on television and crying her eyes out,” Garland said. “I only wish that my father were here to see this today.”
Garland also drew laughs when saying that his older daughter was hiking in the mountains outside of cellphone range when Obama called regarding his nomination.
The chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia outlined his judicial record in an appeal to Senate Republicans who have vowed to not confirm Obama’s pick to replace Justice Antonin Scalia, the conservative icon who died last month.
Obama called on Republicans to “play it straight” and hold hearings to consider Garland despite battles over several high-profile issues.
Garland, who spoke after lengthy remarks from Obama, noted that judges must “must put aside his personal views or preferences and follow the law, not make it.”
“Fidelity to the Constitution and the law has been the cornerstone of my professional life, and it is the hallmark of the kind of judge I have tried to be over the last 18 years,” he said.
“If the Senate sees fit to confirm me to the position for which I’ve been nominated today, I promise to continue on that course.”