[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 120 (Tuesday, July 17, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S4998]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       Nomination of Ryan Bounds

  Mr. President, I turn now to Ryan Bounds, who was nominated to a 
circuit court judgeship even though the President knew that Mr. Bounds 
did not have the approval of either of his home State Senators. The 
nominee himself admitted that Oregon's two Democratic Senators, his 
home State Senators, Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, played no role in his 
selection.
  The Judiciary Committee ignored the traditional blue-slip process, 
which has been basically adhered to for over 100 years, by holding a 
hearing on Mr. Bounds' nomination even though neither of his home State 
Senators returned his blue slip. The Congressional Research Service 
could not find a single instance where a judicial nominee, without at 
least one blue slip returned by a home State Senator, had a hearing or 
was confirmed by the Senate, but nonetheless Mr. Bounds' nomination 
proceeds apace.
  In writings that were not disclosed to the Oregon selection committee 
that reviewed his application, Mr. Bounds published a number of very 
offensive articles on race and gender while he was an undergraduate. 
While these writings were brought to light by a third-party 
organization, Mr. Bounds himself should have disclosed them to the 
committee. His articles took disparaging positions on topics, including 
race relations, opposition to ``multiculturalism,'' LGBTQ rights, and 
labor rights.
  In closing, I seriously question whether, based on their full 
records, these two nominees can be the impartial and non-ideological 
judges we expect of life-tenured judges to our Federal courts, let 
alone, as in the case of these nominees, to the circuit courts. We all 
know that the circuit courts are only one step removed from the Supreme 
Court.
  These questions of fairness and impartiality will continue to apply 
to judicial nominees as long as the President continues to choose 
judges vetted by two far-right, ideologically slanted organizations 
backed by millions of dollars--the Federalist Society and the Heritage 
Foundation. This is certainly the case with Mr. Oldham's and Mr. 
Bounds' nominations to the circuit courts and Judge Kavanaugh's 
nomination to the Supreme Court.
  My colleague from Rhode Island, Senator Whitehouse, went into length 
about these very well-funded entities that have spent millions to 
support Neil Gorsuch on the Supreme Court, and that they are going to 
do the same thing with Judge Kavanaugh's appointment to the Supreme 
Court. Those who appear before Federal circuit judges and, of course, 
the Supreme Court should be able to rely on a fair, impartial, and 
objective judge, free of ideological propensities. Neither Andrew 
Oldham nor Ryan Bounds fits that bill.
  I will be voting no later this week on both of these nominees and 
urge my colleagues to vote against these confirmations as well.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota.