Article VI of the U.S. Constitution declares that "this Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof... shall be the supreme law of the land." Since its beginning, our nation has operated under the fundamental principle that the people of the United States should determine their own destiny. However, recently there has been a deeply disturbing trend in American court decisions. The Supreme Court, the highest court in the land, has begun to look abroad, to international law instead of our own Constitution as the basis for its decisions.

For example, Justice Ginsburg told the New York City Bar Association in 2005, "I will take enlightenment wherever I can get it. I don’t want to stop at a national boundary.” Justice Stephen Breyer actually said in a decision that he found “useful” the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe - a country that is in ruins due to the brutal rule of the dictator Robert Mugabe.

Furthermore, in Lawrence v. Texas, the recent case striking down a Texas sodomy law, Justice Kennedy argued that America needed to bring herself into line with modern western thoughts. Justice Scalia rightly articulated opposition to Justice Kennedy’s view when he said in his dissent that the Supreme Court’s job is not to “impose foreign moods, fads, or fashions on Americans.” It is the role of legislatures comprised of the elected representatives of the people and not courts to change the law when the people demand change.

Indeed, with the laws of an entire world of nations to choose from, looking to foreign law encourages cherry-picking foreign precedent that will simply suit the aims of the one looking for it. As elected representatives of the people, we cannot stand by and let this occur any longer.

The way to solve this dilemma is to return the focus of federal judges to their role as interpreters of the Constitution, not importers of foreign law. The fundamental question is whether the Framers meant what they actually said in drafting our Constitution or whether a majority of unelected Justices can alter the original intent of the U.S. Constitution by relying on foreign laws, constitutions, cultures, fads, or social mores.

Just days ago I introduced the ‘Reaffirmation of American Independence Resolution’, which says that judicial decisions should not be based on any foreign laws, court decisions, or pronouncements of foreign governments.

Our Declaration of Independence cited that one of the chief causes of the American Revolution was that King George had “combined to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution and unacknowledged by our laws.” I believe the judicial branch is guaranteed a very high level of independence when it operates within the boundaries of the U.S. Constitution. But, when judges and justices begin to operate outside of those boundaries, Congress must respond. We must be steadfast guardians of the freedoms that are protected in our precious Constitution of the United States of America.