[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 164 (Wednesday, October 3, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6457-S6459]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     NOMINATION OF BRETT KAVANAUGH

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, first, I am glad that the majority leader 
and I get along. I am glad we are able to do certain things together, 
like the opioid bill and the appropriations bill, but that cannot hold 
me back from responding to the blatant falsehoods he tells day after 
day after day on this floor.
  First, from the man who singlehandedly delayed the filling of Justice 
Scalia's seat for 10 months to complain about a 1-week delay to get the 
truth--give me a break. It is classic, diversionary, blame-the-other-
person tactics, when he himself is the master of delay. It is galling 
and appalling day after day to hear the majority leader get on his high 
horse about delay, when he almost invented the word when it comes to 
judicial nominations.
  Second, he blames Democrats for the delay, which is about the most 
blatant falsehood I have heard uttered on the floor in a long time. The 
majority leader knows darn well that he has the sole power to determine 
when to put the Kavanaugh nomination on the floor. He could have done 
it 2 weeks ago. He could have done it last week. He is now insisting he 
will do it this week.
  Democrats have no say. He talked about an agreement that caused a 
week's delay. Who was the agreement with? Three Republican Senators.
  The majority leader knows--knows--that it was Republicans who caused 
him to delay, both for the FBI investigation and for Judge Kavanaugh 
and Dr. Ford to testify. He didn't have to do that. He had the power. 
He is to blame for the delay, but he couldn't do anything otherwise 
because his own Republicans insisted on it.
  Again, it is a blatant falsehood. I am so tempted to use the L word, 
but he is my friend. To say that Democrats caused the delay--Mr. 
Leader, assert your power to determine what is put on the floor, and be 
a man. Man up and say it is your decision, not ours. We have nothing to 
do with it.
  Third, he says he is one of the most qualified nominees we have ever 
seen. We know what is going on here. Everyone--everyone--including the 
majority leader himself, knows that Kavanaugh is a deeply flawed 
candidate for a whole lot of reasons. Knowing that, the majority leader 
and the Republican majority have to divert attention from Kavanaugh. So 
they are focusing on people who did nothing wrong, like Senator 
Feinstein, like the Judiciary Democratic minority, and like the 
Democratic Party.
  It is outrageous, but they know that Kavanaugh is not very good, and 
they know his testimony hurt him across America. I was talking to a 
CEO, a Republican of a major company. He said his board was watching 
the debate, and every one of them changed their mind after seeing 
Kavanaugh testify. They said: This guy doesn't belong on the bench. We 
can do better. That is the overwhelming reaction of Americans.
  Judge Kavanaugh hurt himself dramatically and permanently by his 
screed--his nasty, partisan screed. That is something of a new, 
unschooled, two-bit politician, not someone who wants to be on the 
Supreme Court of the United States.
  He hurt himself. Leader McConnell knows that. The Republican 
leadership knows it. Donald Trump knows it, but they have to get the 
focus off of Kavanaugh. So they come up with these straw men and women. 
They come up with these false innuendos, distortions, and dishonesty. 
It is not going to work. It is not going to work.
  Now, let me turn to the President, and in the strongest possible 
terms, let me condemn the comments by President Trump last night about 
Dr. Ford. President Trump's outright mockery of a sexual assault 
survivor, riddled as it was with falsehoods, was reprehensible, beneath 
the office of the Presidency, and beneath common decency from one 
person to another. President Trump owes Dr. Ford an immediate apology.
  For too long--far too long--survivors of sexual assaults have been 
afraid to come forward because they thought that powerful men would 
shout them down and destroy their character. The President of the 
United States, the most powerful man there is, confirmed those fears 
for millions of women in the most despicable way possible.
  President Trump should send a message to the women of America right 
now that he is sorry for saying what he said about Dr. Blasey Ford and 
that survivors of sexual assault should not only be heard but treated 
with dignity and respect and compassion.
  You don't have to believe everything Dr. Ford said--and I do--to 
refrain from the nasty and vicious attacks, riddled with lies, in sort 
of a mobocracy-type way, and yet Donald Trump shows no restraint and no 
regulator. He is the prime example of why the norms in America, 
regardless of politics and regardless of party, are declining, and we 
don't hear a peep out of my colleagues on the other side, with a few 
notable and noble exceptions.
  He is ruining the norms of America. He is so degrading the way people 
treat each other. It is pathetic, and it does permanent damage to this 
Republic, unless his own party members or others close to him speak up.
  Anyone who watched Dr. Blasey Ford saw a credible and courageous 
woman, who elected to relive the worst night of her life because she 
felt a civic duty to come forward. That action took immense courage.
  She is not the first. It is not unusual anymore. We know thousands of 
women who were hurt and then afraid to come forward mainly because they 
thought they would be ridiculed and disbelieved, just as President 
Trump appallingly, despicably, and lowly did last night.
  Dr. Ford's actions took courage. She is a woman who is far more 
honest than Donald Trump. She admitted that she was ``terrified'' to 
speak in public about her very private pain and trauma.
  I have been disappointed by President Trump's comments before, but 
this is a new low. I repeat, President Trump should apologize 
immediately.
  Now, what will my colleagues on the other side do? They will ignore 
President Trump's comments, sidestep President Trump's comments, and 
spend their time blaming Democrats, even though we had no say in the 
delay. The delay was through Republicans. We know what they will do. It 
is shameful.
  The President is day by day tearing down the norms that have built 
this country up. We have had the greatest norms, the greatest 
character, and the greatest behavior of any Nation ever, but it is 
declining now because people of goodwill allow Trump to do it without 
criticizing him. It is about time they did. It is about time they did.
  Now, shifting focus back to events here in Congress. We have to get 
back to reality and truth and focus on treating the Supreme Court 
nomination debate the right way. When all is said and done, this is 
about the nominee's credibility and temperament.
  I have said it before, and I will say it again: There are many who 
say what happened when someone was 15 and 18 doesn't indicate their 
personality and what kind of person they are when they are 53.
  Well, I believe Dr. Ford, and I believe what she said is very 
relevant. There are many who don't want to consider that, but there is 
an issue that should matter even to them, and that is the credibility 
and temperament of Judge Kavanaugh.
  This is what he is at 53. If he can't tell the truth about previous 
encounters, engagements, behavior, and activity, which we have found 
over and over

[[Page S6458]]

with Judge Kavanaugh, he doesn't deserve to be on the bench. He doesn't 
deserve to be on the bench.

  That is why we need an FBI investigation. That is why Republicans 
stymied Leader McConnell in his head-long rush to have a vote and 
demanded an FBI investigation--it wasn't Democrats, we know that--
because they wanted to get to the truth, because credibility of a 
Justice on the Supreme Court is a very, very important characteristic, 
right below it is temperament, and then lack of partisanship. 
Unfortunately, at least from initial indications, Judge Kavanaugh is 
not high on any of those three lists. That is why we need the 
investigation, and that is why we need it to be thorough, but we still 
don't know how thorough of an investigation the FBI is conducting.
  As of last night, Dr. Blasey Ford and her list of corroborating 
witnesses have not been interviewed. While Deborah Ramirez has 
reportedly been interviewed, her attorney says her list of 
corroborating witnesses have not. NBC News is reporting that more than 
40 people with potential information for the investigation have not 
been contacted for interviews by the FBI. I heard this story over and 
over. People call the tips line--that is what they are supposed to do--
and they don't get a call back. This may be vital information. We want 
to know the truth. It can all be done in a week, the week Senator Flake 
and Senator Collins and Senator Murkowski asked for, not the Democrats 
asked for--although we certainly agree with them--but that is not what 
caused Leader McConnell to delay, and every Republican Senator knows 
it. So that is why we need this to be a thorough investigation.
  Without a clear sense of what the White House has told the FBI to 
look at in this investigation, we have no idea if the FBI is doing a 
real investigation or simply preparing a figleaf--at the direction of 
the White House--for Republicans to vote yes.
  I understand the difficulty for the FBI. I have a great deal of 
respect for Director Wray. He has been pushed around. They have been 
ridiculed by the President--the brave men and women who risk their 
lives for us as part of law enforcement, but the FBI has a duty to do, 
and Director Wray has a duty to their reputation. If he is being 
constrained by the White House, he has an obligation to let us know, 
and certainly Counsel McGhan has an obligation to let us know what 
constraints he has placed upon the FBI.
  So here is what needs to happen: First, the White House must publicly 
release in writing what the White House Counsel has instructed the FBI 
to pursue. If the FBI is not interviewing these witnesses that Ms. 
Ramirez's attorney presented to them because Counsel McGhan or Donald 
Trump has said don't do it, we ought to know that, and certainly not 
just we ought to know that, the Senators who requested the FBI 
investigation ought to know that.
  Second, Leader McConnell should arrange an all-Senators briefing from 
the agent in charge of the investigation before the vote. We should 
know what he did and what he didn't do and why.
  Third, the findings of the FBI investigation, upon completion, should 
be released publicly, with any personal information redacted. This is 
not the usual practice, but it has been done in the past when it is 
needed, and it is sure needed now. The FBI should do it.
  These three steps would go a long way to ensure the public's faith 
that the investigation has been conducted fairly, fully, and properly.
  This debate, this nomination, is about whether Judge Brett Kavanaugh 
has the character, the credibility, and the impartiality to serve on 
the Nation's highest Court. In order to be an effective judge at any 
level, you need to be impartial. You need to be dispassionate. We don't 
ask our judges to be perfectly neutral, but we can't tolerate judges 
who are nakedly partisan either. Judge Kavanaugh himself has said that 
``most obviously, a judge cannot be a political partisan.'' Those are 
his words, but that is just what he has shown us he is, through his 
long history and now with his recent rant.
  The testimony Judge Kavanaugh prepared for the Judiciary Committee 
last Thursday--prepared testimony, this was not just on the spur--
showed who he was, and it was steeped in partisan resentment and 
acrimony. He tried to implicate sitting Senators in a ``calculated and 
orchestrated political hit job.'' That is what he said to the Senators 
he was being interviewed by. He denounced ``left-wing opposition 
groups'' who don't have close to the power the hard right has had in 
pushing our Republican colleagues around to rush this nomination 
through, but we don't hear about them. Then, topping it off, he 
portrayed the recent allegations against him as ``revenge on behalf of 
the Clintons.''
  I dare say, Dr. Ford didn't have the Clintons on her mind once when 
she wrestled and struggled with whether to come forward. It is an 
absurd charge--absurd.
  He even told Democratic Senators: ``What goes around comes around,'' 
which, to many here, sounds just like a threat. A judge telling people 
``what goes around comes around''? A judge, a Supreme Court Justice 
says that when he is nominated? We can certainly do better. Even if 
someone who has the same ideology as Kavanaugh is chosen, someone who 
doesn't do things like that should be before us. I hope that person 
will not be chosen, of course, if he has Judge Kavanaugh's ideology, 
which is one of the main reasons I was against him to begin with.
  We should never forget it is likely Judge Kavanaugh will greatly 
impede or eliminate a woman's right to choose. It is likely--it is very 
likely--he will get rid of healthcare, including preexisting 
conditions. It is likely he will allow Presidential overreach. Those 
three substantive bases motivated most of us to come out against 
Kavanaugh, even before his awful testimony.
  I understand Judge Kavanaugh felt his character was under assault. I 
understand how he is feeling angry and upset. I understand responding 
to questions in the heat of the moment with words you might later 
regret, but these were prepared remarks. It takes a partisan to see a 
partisan conspiracy against him.
  As conservative fellow at the Brookings Institute and former 
Kavanaugh defender Benjamin Wittes wrote in a column entitled ``I know 
Brett Kavanaugh, but I wouldn't confirm him'':

       Judge Kavanaugh's opening statement was an unprecedentedly 
     partisan outburst of emotion from a would-be judge. I do not 
     begrudge him the emotion, even the anger. . . . But I cannot 
     condone the partisanship--which was raw, undisguised, naked, 
     and conspiratorial--from someone who asks for public faith as 
     a dispassionate and impartial judicial actor. His performance 
     was wholly inconsistent with the conduct we should expect 
     from a member of the judiciary.

  That is from somebody who is a conservative and a Kavanaugh 
supporter. The courage that a good number of both Kavanaugh's friends 
and observers like Wittes are showing and realizing that this guy is 
too much, I wish we saw a little more of that from the Republican side 
because they know, deep in their hearts, this guy shouldn't be on the 
bench. We know they know.
  Now, the judge's partisanship at a hearing raises questions, as I 
have mentioned, but the biggest issue against Judge Kavanaugh, in my 
judgment, is credibility. It is the No. 1 issue. Does Kavanaugh always 
tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Whatever 
you think of what he did as a 17- or 18-year-old, what Judge Kavanaugh 
has said as a 53-year-old matters, whether you think the 17- or 18-
year-old behavior should be part of the decision, which I do, or 
whether you don't.
  The harsh fact is, Judge Kavanaugh has repeatedly--repeatedly--danced 
around the truth on issues large and small in 2004, his first 
confirmation hearings; in 2006, his second; and now again in 2018. On 
things such as what happened when he was in high school and college and 
law school, to things such as grand jury proceedings and White House 
controversies, again, he has danced around the truth, never been 
direct, and often tried to mislead. We cannot have a Supreme Court 
Justice whose credibility is in doubt. That will hurt the Nation for a 
generation.
  So I ask my colleagues, whatever you think about what Judge Kavanaugh 
did at 17 or 18, think about what he said at age 53. Think about the 
credibility of the man now as a grown adult and a judge. Think about 
whether you want to put someone who has been so partisan, with 
questionable credibility, on the Court or whether there is someone 
better.

[[Page S6459]]

  I yield the floor.

                          ____________________