Watch Kennedy’s full remarks here.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today introduced an amendment to the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act of 2023 to condemn the recent racist attacks made against Justice Clarence Thomas. After a long discussion, the committee adopted the amendment by a vote of 21-0.

“I don’t understand the reluctance to accept the fact that Justice Clarence Thomas, who happens to be a black man, has been the butt of a lot of racist statements. And I don't understand the reluctance to condemn those,” Kennedy said after Democratic members of the committee proposed amendments to his proposal. “I don’t want to water it down. I don't want to bubble-wrap it. I don't want to sugarcoat it. I want it to say, as big as Dallas, the United States Senate condemns all these racist things that have been said about Justice Clarence Thomas.”

Kennedy noted that Justice Thomas had recently been compared to a house slave in a racist statement made by Minnesota Attorney General and former U.S. Representative Keith Ellison.

“You don’t have to be a senior at Cal Tech to figure it out. [The amendment] says [that] all of this stuff about Clarence Thomas, calling him a house slave and other racist, disgusting statements, we condemn. Now, you either condemn it or you don't, and that's all this amendment does,” Kennedy said. 

“If you support the racist things that have been said about Clarence Thomas, then vote against this amendment,” Kennedy later added. “If you think the things that have been said about Clarence Thomas are racist to the marrow and you condemn them, then vote for this amendment.”

Kennedy’s full remarks are available here.