[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 155 (Tuesday, September 18, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6197-S6198]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     NOMINATION OF BRETT KAVANAUGH

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, yesterday, Senator Grassley announced 
that the Judiciary Committee will continue its hearings for Judge Brett 
Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court on Monday morning. Dr. 
Christine Blasey Ford of California and Judge Kavanaugh have both been 
invited to testify under oath.
  Dr. Ford will have the opportunity to offer sworn testimony. She 
communicated with the ranking Democrat on the committee in writing 
nearly 7 weeks ago, but through no fault of hers, Senate Democrats 
chose to play politics and keep it secret throughout the entirety of 
Judge Kavanaugh's regular confirmation process. They sat on this 
information for nearly 7 weeks, until they leaked it to the press on 
the eve of the scheduled committee vote.
  But as my colleague, the senior Senator from Texas, said yesterday, 
the blatant malpractice demonstrated by our colleagues across the aisle 
will not stop the Senate from moving forward in a responsible manner.
  As I said yesterday, I have full confidence in Chairman Grassley to 
lead the committee through the sensitive and highly irregular situation 
in which the Democrats' tactics have left all of us--all of us--Judge 
Kavanaugh, Dr. Ford, and the entire Senate.
  Dr. Ford will be heard, and, of course, Judge Kavanaugh will have the 
opportunity to defend himself against this accusation--an accusation 
that he has unequivocally denied and that stands at odds with every 
other piece of the overwhelming positive testimony we have received 
about his character from his close friends, colleagues, and law clerks, 
from the distant past to the present day, including the high school 
years during which this misconduct is alleged to have taken place.
  So this alleged incident is completely at variance with his entire 
history. He welcomes the opportunity to address the committee about 
this claim.
  But, colleagues, we should not have gotten to this point in this 
manner, at this time. That this process has played out with so little 
order and so little sensitivity lies solely at the feet of Senate 
Democrats who sought political advantage in leaking this to the press

[[Page S6198]]

instead of vetting it through proper channels.
  But this is where we are. So on Monday Chairman Grassley and our 
colleagues on the Judiciary Committee will reconvene. They and the 
American people will hear testimony under oath.

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