March 16, 2016 The Honorable Mitch McConnell Majority Leader United States Senate 317 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510 Dear Majority Leader McConnell: I am writing on behalf of the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) to urge you to fulfill your Constitutional duty to act promptly to hold a hearing and a vote (both in the Judiciary Committee and before the full Senate) when President Obama sends forward a nominee for the vacancy on the Supreme Court of the United States. People with disabilities depend on a fully functioning Supreme Court to interpret and give effect to the important civil rights and other protections that Congress afforded them, including those in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Rehabilitation Act, the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act, and the Social Security Act programs, including Medicaid. The importance of these protections to enabling people with disabilities to live independently and be full participants in society cannot be overstated. Article II Section 2 of the Constitution of the United States requires the Senate to provide advice and consent regarding the nominations of the President to the Federal bench, including most importantly the Supreme Court. The promise not to take action on a nominee and your pledged refusal to hold even a hearing, let alone votes, regardless of who the President nominates abdicates these responsibilities. It is not possible to provide advice to the President regarding nominees by rejected all nominees irrespective of their qualifications. This blanket rejection of the authority of the President to nominate also prevents your fellow Senators from fulfilling their Constitutional duties. The duties outlined under Article II Section 2 do not apply only to the Majority Leader and Senate Judiciary Chairman and members of that Committee, but rather to each and every one of the 100 sitting Senators. Only a vote of the full Senate on a nominee allows every Senator to provide their consent, or lack thereof, for the President’s nominee. Failing to hold a hearing or a vote until a new president is in office would mean the Supreme Court would be shorthanded until well into 2017. Leaving the nation’s highest court with only 8 justices for two terms would be unprecedented. Shackling the Supreme Court to operate without a full bench would undermine our democracy, effectively eliminating the ability of the Court to provide the check and balance envisioned by the Framers to the legislative and executive authority and enshrined in the Constitution. President Obama has promised to satisfy his constitutional duty by nominating a qualified candidate to serve as a justice on the Supreme Court and will soon send such a nominee forward to the Senate for confirmation. I urge you to pledge to do your job and allow each of your fellow senators to fulfill their constitutional duties by considering that nomination by holding a hearing and voting on the nomination without delay. Sincerely, Helena Berger President and CEO