[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 159 (Wednesday, September 26, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6315-S6316]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Nomination of Brett Kavanaugh
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, as we approach tomorrow's hearing with
Dr. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh, I want to be very clear about how the
Republican leadership has handled these incredibly serious and credible
allegations of sexual assault. The Republican leadership has handled
them poorly, unfairly, and disrespectfully.
Leader McConnell has called this entire issue a ``smear campaign''
cooked up by Democrats. That is a blatant falsehood that demeans the
women who have courageously come forward. They came forward, not
Democrats. They did it on their own, not Democrats. And when Leader
McConnell says that it is a smear campaign, he is demeaning these
women. As I have said before--but we have yet to hear--Leader McConnell
owes Dr. Ford an apology for what he has said.
After Republicans on the Judiciary Committee learned of a second
potential allegation against Judge
[[Page S6316]]
Kavanaugh, they renewed their request, of course, to accelerate--to
speed up--the confirmation process.
Chairman Grassley has prohibited witnesses in tomorrow's hearing,
other than Dr. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh, including the one and only
alleged eyewitness to the events in question. Chairman Grassley and
several of his colleagues on the other side have already proposed a
final committee vote on Friday. They proposed the vote before the
hearing occurs. Isn't that prejudgment? And they are acting, when they
propose the vote before the hearing, as if the conclusion was
foreordained and the hearing is just a nuisance to ``plow through.''
Most galling of all: Republican leadership and the White House have
blocked the FBI from reopening an independent background check
investigation into Judge Kavanaugh, a standard procedure for Federal
nominees when new allegations arise. This isn't a new thing that
Democrats are pulling out of a hat. This is something we do all the
time--except in this case, no.
So this isn't a Democratic smear job, as the Leader so callously and
disrespectfully suggested; this is a Republican rush job and, I might
add, a rush job to avoid getting to the truth.
Here is the contradiction in Leader McConnell's logic: Leader
McConnell keeps saying that the allegations by Dr. Ford and other women
are ``uncorroborated''--his word--while, at the same time, he is
blockading the obvious avenues to corroborate them, and that would be
an impartial FBI investigation calling on witnesses to testify. Senator
McConnell's assertion is wrong on its face because sworn statements
corroborating Dr. Ford's account were submitted to the Judiciary
Committee yesterday. If he doesn't believe those statements, it is
simple: Have the FBI go interview those who submitted the statements,
and then they would have to tell the truth under the penalty of
perjury.
So right here and now, I challenge any Member of the Republican
Senate to come to the floor and give one good reason why we shouldn't
allow the FBI to follow up on its background investigation--one good
reason. I haven't heard one. With all the rhetoric, all the screaming,
all the name-calling, all the disrespecting of women who have come
forward--something this Nation knows all too well these days--we
haven't heard one actual reason why there shouldn't be an FBI
investigation.
Will it slow it down? It will take only a few days.
I would remind Leader McConnell that he slowed down a nomination to
the Supreme Court for a year, and now a few days is too much? Give me a
break.
Dr. Ford has asked for an FBI investigation. That shows the faith she
has in her account. Editorial boards across the country have echoed her
call for an FBI investigation. Anita Hill, treated so unfairly in her
day, said that an FBI investigation is essential. And I have to give
some credit: A handful of fair-minded Republican Senators have said
that an FBI investigation is warranted because they know it would get
to the facts. They know it would keep politics out of it. They know it
wouldn't cause much of a delay.
During Justice Thomas's confirmation process, an update to the FBI
background check took 3 days--3 days. Leader McConnell held a Supreme
Court seat open for over 400 days. So why was that OK, and this is not
OK?
Again, I say to my dear friend, Leader McConnell: Give me one good
reason--give the American people one good reason--why we shouldn't ask
the FBI to investigate. If it is a smear job, as he claims, the FBI
will find that out. But they also might find out that it is no smear
job; it is the God's honest truth.
Now, another tactic: The Republican leader has just trotted out old
quotes by Senator Biden pointing out that FBI investigations don't
provide conclusions.
I would say to the leader: That is just the point. The purpose of the
FBI investigation would not be to prove definitively who is right one
way or the other. That is a judgment Senators are to make. The purpose
of the FBI investigation is to provide the Senate with just the facts--
that is what we want, just the facts--to make a more informed decision
and one the American people could have some confidence in. Their
confidence in Judge Kavanaugh and in the process is slipping daily, and
with good reason. Isn't an impartial, fair, timely, and nondilatory FBI
background check investigation fair to both Dr. Ford and Judge
Kavanaugh, taking this out of the arena of politics and making it just
about the facts? You bet it is.
Of course it is the right thing to do. But the Republican leaders and
the White House have blocked it and scheduled a hearing for tomorrow
anyway because, as Leader McConnell promised last week, he is going to
``plow right through'' these allegations. And the motivation is clear:
They want to put Judge Kavanaugh on the bench as quickly as possible
because they know their nominee has a gigantic credibility problem, and
every day that goes by, more and more Americans realize it.
Judge Kavanaugh has misled the Judiciary Committee on numerous
occasions about his involvement in the ugliest Bush-era controversies,
including on torture, on the confirmation of controversial judges
William Pryor and Charles Pickering, on the sordid affair when Manny
Miranda, a Republican operative, stole Democratic emails. Just today,
Ranking Member Feinstein said that Judge Kavanaugh misled the Judiciary
Committee about an incident with a grand jury during his time working
for Ken Starr.
Telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth does
not seem to be Judge Kavanaugh's way, but that is what we need on the
Supreme Court.
Earlier this week, the Nation watched Judge Kavanaugh swear on
national television that he never had so much to drink that he forgot
events. That characterization doesn't track with several descriptions
given by many of his high school and college classmates and when he
says ``I can't recall this, that, and the other thing'' about his
youth.
So the question of credibility looms. Is Judge Kavanaugh willing to
say anything to get confirmed? And are Republican leaders willing to do
anything to get him confirmed? Unfortunately, signs are pointing to
yes.
Most importantly, when the credibility of the nominee is so
questionable, is that the kind of person we want on the Supreme Court?
I don't care if it is a liberal, a conservative, or a moderate. When
the question of credibility is so much in doubt, as it is now with
Judge Kavanaugh, that person should not be sitting on the highest Court
in the land, the arbiter of our laws and often the determiner of right
and wrong. It would be a new lower standard for the Court and for
America.
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. BLUMENTHAL. 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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