With Saturday's news of the passing of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, our country is left with a giant vacancy on its highest court. Like many Americans, I appreciated and admired the wit, wisdom, and dedication to the law that he displayed throughout his life.

All of his best qualities were apparent to those in attendance for his visit to University of Arkansas at Little Rock's Bowen School of Law in 2005. Any who came to see him speak that day had the privilege of hearing an exceptional jurist, thinker, and constitutional scholar.

Now, the process to replace this titan of American jurisprudence begins. It will undoubtedly be difficult, but it is a process that will highlight a concept very near and dear to the heart and mind of Justice Scalia: the separation of powers among the branches of government.

It will be the president who names the successor, but he or she will not make it to the bench without the blessing of the U.S. Senate. People around Washington are gearing up for a real fight over this nomination. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has already indicated the vacancy should not be filled until after the next election. While this process might not always look pretty, whatever fight between the Congress and the president lies ahead will be a fitting tribute to a man who truly believed in this process as it is outlined in the Constitution.

In his final week on the Supreme Court, the Court issued a stay, effectively halting the president's Clean Power Plan. The Clean Power Plan circumvented Congress and was neither a reasonable nor legal way to protect the environment. The Administration's plan to implement the Clean Power Plan is emblematic of our president and his habit to bypass Congress in order to legislate from the White House. These aren't the principles that made America the greatest democracy in the world, and they aren't the principles that Justice Scalia and many great justices before him spent their lives defending.

On this President's Day, think not just to presidents past, but also to presidents future, and the true danger we face if we can't reign in an Executive Branch that operates with total disregard for the Congress and our Constitution.

Sincerely,

Representative French Hill