Sen. Marco Rubio reacted to the news that Justice Antonin Scalia had passed away at a ranch in Texas on Saturday.
“Today, our nation has suffered a deep loss,” Rubio said in a statement. “Justice Scalia was one of the most consequential Americans in our history and a brilliant legal mind who served with only one objective: to interpret and defend the Constitution as written.”
Rubio recalled a personal visit to the Supreme Court to defend the right to religious freedom as he attended the oral arguments during the Town of Greece v. Galloway decision.
“I will hold that memory forever,” he said.
Rubio urged the next president to nominate a Supreme Court justice similar to the conservative champion on the Constitution.
“The next president must nominate a justice who will continue Justice Scalia’s unwavering belief in the founding principles that we hold dear,” he said. “Jeanette and I mourn the loss of Justice Scalia, and our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Maureen and his family.”