CHATHAM, VA -- President Barack Obama yesterday nominated Solicitor General Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court. While Rep. Tom Perriello will not be forced to take a vote on her nomination, Virginians deserve to know if he supports  the President's pick since the decisions of the next Supreme Court justice will have wide ramifications for each and every one of his constituents.

Because she has no judicial experience - in fact, she'd be the first justice in forty years without such a qualification - there are few clues as to her philosophy. But one aspect of her record is deeply insightful, and in state Sen. Robert Hurt's view, disqualifying. As the Dean of Harvard Law School, Ms. Kagan banned military recruiters from campus.

Hurt released the following statement Tuesday expressing his opinion on Kagan's nomination and calling on Rep. Perriello to do the same:

"Solicitor General Kagan's decision to bar military recruiters from campus  because she disagreed with The 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy - a policy with wide bipartisan support - signals a left-wing worldview that is out-of-touch with everyday Virginians. Someone who has proven that they cannot put aside their political ideology for the sake of the country's national security cannot be trusted to impartially evaluate important issues like the constitutionality of the president's healthcare bill or the legality of the War on Terror. Voters deserve to know if this nomination is just the latest in a long string of  presidential policies that Rep. Perriello blindly supports, or if he'll finally exercise some independent thought and give voice to the scores of Virginians who no doubt object to Solicitor General Kagan's nomination."

NOTE: Peter Beinart, a liberal political writer for The Daily Beast, an associate professor of journalism and political science at City University of New York and a senior fellow at the New America Foundation, wrote on April 19 that, "The United States military is not Procter and Gamble. It is not just another employer. It is the institution whose members risk their lives to protect the country. You can disagree with the policies of the American military; you can even hate them, but you can't alienate yourself from the institution without in a certain sense alienating yourself from the country. Barring the military from campus is a bit like barring the president or even the flag. It's more than a statement of criticism; it's a statement of national estrangement."