[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 130 (Wednesday, August 1, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5555-S5556]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     NOMINATION OF BRETT KAVANAUGH

  Ms. WARREN. Mr. President, every day I meet all sorts of people--
small business owners, working moms, students, seniors, and 
servicemembers--and they are concerned about all sorts of things: the 
growing cost of healthcare, the cost of child care, the cost of 
college, the cost of student loan debt, stagnant wages, fixing our 
broken criminal justice system, gun violence in schools--you name it.
  But in the thousands of conversations I have had, I haven't met a 
single person who has said they are concerned that Washington doesn't 
work well enough for big businesses. If you ask any of them, they will 
tell you that, when it comes to the wealthy and the powerful, 
Washington works just like a dream, but for everyone else, Washington 
just isn't working.
  That is not a coincidence. Powerful interests have been working for 
years to capture every single branch of government to tilt the scales 
in their favor and against everyone else.
  Our courts are no exception in this. Powerful interests have worked 
for years, pouring incredible amounts of money into capturing our 
courts. It has been a real one-two punch.
  The first punch has been working with Republicans to stop fair-
minded, impartial judges from sitting on the Federal bench, slowing 
down or stopping those nominations, holding open a Supreme Court seat, 
and keeping fair people off the bench whenever possible.
  Then came the second punch. Whenever they get the chance, it is 
stacking our courts with judges dedicated to a vision of the law where 
the wealthy and well-connected get to call the shots--people who are 
willing to leave behind women, workers, people of color, LGBTQ 
individuals, students, families, and everyone else who doesn't have 
money or power.
  Donald Trump's decision to nominate Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme 
Court is just the latest example of this. Minutes after Donald Trump 
announced Kavanaugh's nomination, the White House blasted out a 
document. To whom? To business lobbyists around Washington touting 
Judge Kavanaugh's rulings in favor of corporate interests and against 
the interests of everyone else. They are not even hiding it anymore.
  Think about that. The first move by the White House is not a memo to 
the American people talking about the nominee's independence or talking 
about his commitment to justice for everyone but a memo to business 
lobbyists highlighting Judge Kavanaugh's loyalty to big business. That 
is a key part of Donald Trump's public case for Judge Kavanaugh--the 
promise that Judge Kavanaugh will tilt the playing field even further 
in favor of corporations and against working people.
  Take a look at cases the White House included in its sales pitch to 
corporate lobbyists. In one recent case, Judge Kavanaugh ruled that the 
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was unconstitutional, calling 
independent agencies like the consumer bureau ``a significant threat to 
individual liberty.'' Really? That is the consumer agency that a 
bipartisan group of 60 Senators and 237 Representatives created after 
the most devastating financial crisis in generations. It is the agency 
that is a tough watchdog for American families, the agency that in just 
7 years has returned $12 billion directly to people who were cheated by 
big banks, credit card companies, and student loan servicers. But I 
guess all Judge Kavanaugh saw was a threat to the individual liberty of 
companies that were looking to cheat people.
  Judge Kavanaugh's ruling was so out of the mainstream that the rest 
of his colleagues on the court promptly reversed his decision by an 
overwhelming vote. But if Judge Kavanaugh becomes Justice Kavanaugh, he 
could provide the decisive vote on the Supreme Court to strike down the 
CFPB and leave consumers at the mercy of predatory lenders again.
  That wasn't the only time that Judge Kavanaugh ruled against 
consumers and in favor of the giant corporations that squashed them. 
Last year, he issued an opinion that would have set aside a lower court 
ruling and allowed a merger of two giant health insurance companies to 
move forward, despite evidence that the merger could hurt consumers in 
14 States. Luckily, once again, Judge Kavanaugh's colleagues disagreed, 
and they criticized him for applying the law as he wished it were, not 
as it currently is. Again, Judge Kavanaugh found a way to rule in favor 
of corporate interests, no matter what the law said.
  Judge Kavanaugh has also ruled time and again to reverse rules 
designed to address climate change and to protect the air we breathe. 
In three separate cases, the Trump administration highlighted for 
corporate lobbyists that Judge Kavanaugh argued that the Environmental 
Protection Agency had acted illegally in taking action to protect the 
environment and to protect public health. In each case, the EPA had 
spent years carefully considering the input of scientists, experts, and 
the industry, but in each case, Judge Kavanaugh found that wasn't 
enough. He put maximizing polluter profits ahead of protecting working 
families and the well-being of our planet.
  The Trump White House and the Republican Congress have gone to bat 
for corporate interests time and again. They have showered them with 
$1.5 trillion in tax giveaways, rolling back the rules on some of the 
country's biggest banks, and reversing rules to protect workers and 
consumers from corporate abuse.
  But there may not be a single body in Washington that has delivered 
more victories for giant companies in the last 2 years--and more losses 
for everyone else--than the Supreme Court of the United States. In case 
after case, by 5-to-4 decisions, this Court has limited the rights of 
working people and expanded the ability of giant corporations to do 
pretty much whatever they please. It is no wonder that working families 
are working longer and harder, only to get squeezed between flat wages 
and rising costs.
  Judge Kavanaugh would tip the balance of the Court even further in 
favor of those corporations and special interests. For the next 30 or 
40 years, he would be a reliable vote in favor of whatever giant 
companies and their armies of lobbyists decide that they

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want, whatever special favors they can't secure in Congress and can get 
only through the courts. The world's largest companies already throw 
their money around this place with reckless abandon and try to buy the 
outcomes they want. They don't need any more help on the Supreme Court. 
It is time for Washington to start working for the people again, and 
that starts with defeating Judge Kavanaugh's nomination.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. TILLIS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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