[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 115 (Tuesday, July 10, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S4857]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                     Nomination of Brett Kavanaugh

  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I come to the floor to discuss my strong 
opposition to the nomination of Judge Kavanaugh for a lifetime 
appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court.
  There are few issues I take more seriously as a Senator than my duty 
to consider and vote on Supreme Court nominees. It was watching the 
Clarence Thomas hearings and seeing how my voice and the voices of 
people like me all across the country were not being heard that got me 
to run for the Senate in the first place. I believe it is one of the 
most important jobs we have on behalf of our constituents.
  During my time in the Senate, I have had the opportunity to consider 
nominees from Democrats and from Republicans. For each one of these 
nominees, I made my evaluation and based my decision on their 
experience and record and on my understanding of whether they would 
uphold the Constitution and protect our rights and freedoms.
  I voted for some of them, including a nominee from President Bush. I 
voted against some of them, each on their merits and each based on how 
I thought they would serve, but this time is different. There will 
still be scrutiny. There absolutely needs to be. This time we know 
everything we need to know already. This time, the balance of the Court 
is on the line. We know exactly where this nominee will fall on 
specific issues, no matter what vague answers he chooses to deliver 
throughout this process. We know this because President Trump told us 
openly, publicly, and repeatedly.
  More than any President I have seen, he has been explicit about what 
he expects from his nominee. He has laid out specific tests and 
promised to only pick nominees from a prescreened list of people who 
would absolutely meet them.
  Here is what he has said, and here is how we know exactly what this 
nominee will do. President Trump has said he wants a nominee who is 
fully committed to overturning Roe v. Wade, criminalizing abortions, 
and rolling back women's ability to access contraception and other 
basic healthcare.
  On the campaign trail, he promised that Roe v. Wade ``can be 
changed'' and that he was going to be ``putting pro-life justices on 
the court'' so that it would be overturned ``automatically.''
  He has said he wants a nominee who would immediately declare 
healthcare reform unconstitutional and cut off access to care for 
people with preexisting conditions.
  On the campaign trail, he criticized Chief Justice Roberts because 
he--this is him--``should have, frankly, ended ObamaCare, and he 
didn't'' and promised ``a strong test'' for a ``strong conservative'' 
who would be different from Roberts on healthcare.
  He has made it clear that he wants a nominee who would keep handing 
more power to massive corporations and the wealthiest Americans and 
keep diluting the power of regular voters. He has made it clear that he 
wants a nominee who would eliminate protections that preserve the air 
we breathe and the water we drink. He has made it clear that he wants a 
nominee who would roll back the rights and freedoms for our workers, 
for LGBTQ Americans, and for so many others.
  So there is no doubt. It could not be any clearer. For a nominee who 
would swing the balance of the Court--I am going to believe that 
President Trump has told us the truth, and I am going to believe that 
the extreme rightwing groups who wrote this list for him are sure about 
where this nominee stands.
  So I want to be very clear to anyone who may doubt it or who may 
think they need to learn more before making a decision. A vote for 
President Trump's Judge Kavanaugh is a vote to allow five men on the 
Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, criminalize abortion in America, 
and roll back the progress we have made to help more women and girls 
access the basic healthcare they need. A vote for President Trump's 
Judge Kavanaugh is a vote to put the government, bosses, and men in 
charge of the reproductive rights and freedoms of women and girls. A 
vote for President Trump's Judge Kavanaugh is a vote to go back to the 
days when women had to go into back alleys for healthcare, when women 
had to ask for permission, when women were shamed, and when women and 
girls died because of the laws of our land. We unfortunately already 
know all too well what this looks like because there are States 
nationwide where extreme politicians have chipped away at women's 
healthcare rights and have been waiting for exactly this moment--for 
someone exactly like Judge Kavanaugh--to go even further.
  But that is not all. A vote for President Trump's Judge Kavanaugh is 
a vote to end protections for people with preexisting conditions and go 
back to the bad old days when insurance companies were in charge and 
people would have to pay more or be cut off from care simply for being 
sick.
  A vote for President Trump's Judge Kavanaugh is a vote to give 
massive corporations even more power over our economy, our workers, and 
our elections.
  A vote for President Trump's Judge Kavanaugh is a vote to eliminate 
environmental protections and make our air and water dirtier and less 
safe, erasing so much of the progress we have made in recent decades.
  A vote for President Trump's Judge Kavanaugh is a vote to step back 
from the progress we have made to expand rights and freedoms and basic 
human decency to LGBTQ Americans.
  I could go on, and in the coming days and weeks, as we learn even 
more about the ways Judge Kavanaugh will fulfill President Trump's 
promises, I absolutely will.
  I voted against Judge Kavanaugh when he was nominated for the circuit 
court, and I strongly oppose this nomination now. I will be urging my 
colleagues to stand with me in rejecting him and calling on President 
Trump to send us someone who will stand with women and workers and 
families and who will truly commit to respecting settled law and the 
rights and freedoms we hold so dear.
  I will be here urging people across the country to stand up and speak 
out and make their voices heard.
  This is a critical moment right now. The U.S. Senate has the power to 
stop this Court from swinging against our rights and freedoms, and 
every Senator needs to know they will be held accountable for their 
vote.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.

                          ____________________