Democrat Congresswoman: House Dems Want to Broaden Supreme Court Security Bill to Include Court Clerks, Staff

(CNSNews.com) – The reason why House Democrats haven’t voted yet for a Supreme Court security bill despite the arrest Wednesday of an armed man who was planning to kill Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh is because they want to broaden the bill to include court clerks and support staff, Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.) told Fox News’ “America Reports” on Thursday.

As CNSNews.com previously reported, the “Supreme Court Police Parity Act of 2022” (S.4160) would grant security measures to “any member of the immediate family of the Chief Justice, any Associate Justice, or any officer of the Supreme Court if the Marshal determines such protection is necessary.”

“Yeah, well, let me start by saying I agree with my good friend and my senior senator, Dick Durbin from the state of Illinois that it does have to be done now. There is a sense of urgency, but let me tell you, amplify a little bit about why we haven’t voted on it yet. We want to protect our Supreme Court justices,” Bustos said.

“It’s incredibly important we do that. However, the bill that was sent over by the Senate, we are actually looking to broaden that and not only make sure we are there to protect our Supreme Court justices but also those who work at the Supreme Court: the clerks, the support staff,” the congresswoman said.

“So, we are looking to broaden that bill to make it even stronger than it is right now, and as the speaker said, the plan is, as we speak right now, to vote on this next week and get going on it. We do have a sense of urgency, but that is surrounding the fact that we want to make it even stronger than what the Senate sent over to us,” she said.

When asked whether she regrets Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-N.Y.) comments in 2020 that those on the Supreme Court who oppose abortion will “pay the price” and won’t know what hit them, and whether she believes that has anything to do with the violence being aimed at justices today, Bustos said, “Well, I would say it’s not my style. Keep in mind, my politics. I’m a moderate Democrat. 

“I represent down state Illinois, I come from a district that Donald Trump won in 2016, and in 2020, and actually won by the largest margin of any Democrat in that year that Donald Trump was elected in a district like that,” the congresswoman said.

“So, those are my politics. That’s not my style, but that said, I think that we’ve got to make sure that we are doing what we can legislatively. I think we will get to that next week,” she said.

“We do have a sense of urgency, and I think the message is much broader than just somebody taking a megaphone outside of the Supreme Court, but I think that the overall messages to Americans and that, we just lived through one of the most horrible mass murders in the history of our country in Uvalde, Texas, and just before that, a terrible mass murder in Buffalo,” Bustos said.

“I think this is a time where the message to all Americans is let’s figure this out, that we are a great country,” the congresswoman said.

“We are a great democracy, the longest serving democracy in the history of the world and let’s all play a part in making sure whether it comes to legislation where Democrats and Republican haves to come together, not just to protect the Supreme Court justices but even to get gun legislation in the right place, and keep in mind, I’m married to the sheriff of our county, so we’re a family of outdoorsmen, but we’ve got to get these issues and these policies in the right place,” she said.

On the issue of record high gas prices, Bustos said, “I’m going to add a little more perspective to this. Gas prices are high throughout the world. Part of the problem that was leading to this is that we have this unprovoked Putin war in Ukraine. So this is not unique to the United States. 

“The president has released millions of gallons from the Strategic Reserve, but I’m going to talk to you also from my perspective as the descendant of farmers, and as a member of Congress who has almost 10,000 family farms in my district. Ethanol, ethanol,” the congresswoman said.

“We can have home grown fuel that we blend with gasoline and just like that overnight we can bring down the cost of a gallon of gas by $0.50 to $0.60 a gallon,” Bustos said.

“The president just approved an executive order that allows for the sale of more ethanol being blended into gasoline year around, used to be you’d have to take a hiatus during the summer months, and so that can lead to bringing down the cost,” the congresswoman said.

Host Sandra Smith interrupted, “Congresswoman, respectfully, we’re seeing corn prices sky high because of the soaring price of fertilizer. I don’t know how you believe that will bring down gas prices.”

“It does, it will bring down gas prices because it is cheaper to blend ethanol with gasoline than it is to have 100% gasoline. I’m telling you right now, and you can verify this, but I know what I’m talking about. I served on the AG committee for the last 10 years,” Bustos said. 

“I respect your solution there, but we are also dealing with the fact that there could be a food shortage around the corner with sky high fertilizer prices and a squeeze on the grain market,” Smith said.

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