[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 201 (Monday, December 11, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7940-S7941]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                 New York City Attempted Terror Attack

  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, first, this morning, as everyone knows, 
there was an attempted terrorist attack in New York City, near the Port 
Authority bus terminal and very close to Times Square. I was about 15 
blocks away when that happened. Thankfully, praise God, the attack was 
a failure, and the only serious injuries were sustained by the would-be 
perpetrator.
  On mornings like this, I am even more thankful--and I am thankful all 
the time--for the service of the New York City Police Department, the 
Port Authority Police Department, the New York City Fire Department, 
and the bomb squad, that responded so quickly to the scene. Today was a 
startling reminder as to why the ``See Something, Say Something'' 
campaign is so crucial to keeping our city safe and why we must always, 
always, always be vigilant against the threat of terrorism.
  Madam President, on judicial nominations, this evening, the Senate 
will vote on whether we should consider the nomination of Leonard 
Steven Grasz to be a judge on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. The 
nomination is significant because Grasz is just the third nominee since 
1989 to be unanimously deemed ``not qualified'' by the American Bar 
Association. To underscore that fact, the ABA has reviewed over 1,700 
judicial nominees since 1989. Before this administration, only two were 
ever unanimously deemed ``not qualified.'' Those two nominated by 
President Bush were not confirmed. The nominee we are voting on this 
evening is the third.
  A panel of nonpartisan legal experts unanimously concluded that this 
man is not fit to be a judge. What else do my colleagues need to know? 
They should all vote no this evening.
  Instead of withdrawing the nomination and finding someone better, 
which is what President Bush did in a similar

[[Page S7941]]

situation, some of my Republican colleagues have started attacking the 
ABA.
  The junior Senator from Texas said:

       The ABA's record on judicial nominations has been highly 
     questionable. It has demonstrated over past decades 
     repeatedly partisan interests and ideological interests.

  I don't remember my colleague from Texas complaining when his party 
was touting then-Judge Gorsuch's favorable rating from the ABA. I heard 
over and over again from my Republican colleagues that he received a 
favorable rating from the ABA. All of a sudden, they attack it.
  Leader McConnell once likened a ``well qualified'' rating from the 
ABA to ``getting straight A+'s on your report card.'' That is what 
Leader McConnell said. Now Members of his party are singing a much 
different tune, as not one but two of President Trump's judicial 
nominees have received unanimously ``not qualified'' ratings.
  Unfortunately, this is indicative of what has become part of the 
Republican playbook--a playbook that Donald Trump specializes in, and 
unfortunately my colleagues are joining right in. If you don't like the 
message, shoot the messenger. If you don't like what the CBO is saying 
about healthcare, attack the CBO even if it is your handpicked 
Director. If you don't like what the Joint Committee on Taxation is 
saying about your tax bill, attack the JCT even if it is using the 
exact type of economic model that you asked it to use. If you don't 
like what the ABA is saying about judicial candidates, call it partisan 
even if you praised its judgment only a few months ago.
  This is the Republican Party of President Trump, who, instead of 
mounting a credible defense of his record by using facts and arguments, 
will resort to shooting the messenger, whether that is Special Counsel 
Mueller, the CIA, the intelligence community, or the entire FBI. 
Imagine attacking the entire FBI. I know those agents. They are so 
dedicated to the country--they are nonpolitical--but when they 
investigate President Trump because he might be doing something wrong, 
he just attacks them recklessly.
  The same thing has happened with our Republican colleagues. Like 
President Trump, when Republican lawmakers don't agree with what 
independent arbiters are saying, they try to discredit them. These 
attacks may suit their short-term political interests, but it is going 
to have a devastating effect on our country. A tax bill that explodes 
the deficit and raises taxes on millions of middle-class Americans may 
pass, but Republicans refuse to believe the analyses that say it does. 
Our Federal judiciary may be filled with unqualified candidates--
lifetime appointments, mind you--because Republicans refuse to trust 
the advice of independent legal experts.

  More importantly, these attacks in important ways diminish our 
democracy. We are a country founded on facts. People have different 
views once they view those facts, but we are founded on facts. That is 
what the Founding Fathers did at the Constitutional Convention--they 
debated, but they started from the same fact base. That is what the 
townhall meetings throughout America have done for two centuries and 
more. They are beautiful. They debate, they discuss, but people accept 
a row of given facts. That is what we are supposed to do here in the 
House and Senate, and for many years we did. Now, led by President 
Trump, facts don't seem to matter. Anything he doesn't like he calls 
fake news, even though it is real. He contradicts himself. He says one 
thing one day and one thing the next, and it doesn't even matter. That 
is him, and he was elected, but why are our Republican colleagues so 
willfully going along? Why are they not saying that truth matters? Why 
do they attack the ABA, which has been nonpartisan and has had a grand 
tradition for decades? When the ABA approved Judge Gorsuch, they 
embraced it.
  This is not a good thing for democracy. American democracy depends on 
our ability to work together on a common baseline of facts to find 
solutions that work in the real world. We can't do that if Republicans 
are going to discredit or ignore the judgments of agencies like the 
CBO, JCT, and ABA. We will end up with an even less productive debate 
here in Congress--something that no one will like and the American 
people can ill afford.