[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 195 (Tuesday, December 11, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S7395]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
NOMINATION OF JONATHAN A. KOBES
Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I come to the floor today to oppose
Jonathan Kobes' nomination to serve on the 8th Circuit Court of
Appeals. People across the country know how important it is that we
fight back against extreme and extremely unqualified judicial nominees.
Earlier this year, during Judge Kavanaugh's confirmation, we saw just
how far President Trump and Senate Republicans are willing to go to jam
through extreme judges who will work to strip away women's rights.
But that wasn't all we saw. We saw millions of women and men across
the country inspired to stand up and fight back against his nomination.
We saw people speak out and share their own personal stories about what
was at stake, about sexual assault, and how important it is that we
believe survivors, and about the right to safe legal abortions, what it
means for women and their families, and about what kind of country we
want to live in.
We saw, without question, that people across the country want us to
stop President Trump from swinging our courts far right by packing them
with ideological judges--judges like Mr. Kobes, who will continue the
Trump-Pence agenda of rolling back women's rights and access to
healthcare.
Making sure families know exactly what Mr. Kobes would mean for women
if he is seated is what I am here to do today. It means weaker rights
and less access to healthcare.
He is like many of President Trump's nominees before him. Mr. Kobes
lacks almost any real experience to qualify him for a seat on the
Eighth Circuit Court. He has little trial experience, little appellate
experience, and no record of legal scholarship to speak of.
I am not the only one concerned by that. The American Bar Association
has rated him unqualified. That makes Mr. Kobes the sixth judicial
nominee from President Trump who is opposed by his professional
colleagues.
But the thin record he does have is disqualifying because it shows he
will put extreme rightwing ideology ahead of women and science. Mr.
Kobes is an outspoken advocate for fake women's healthcare centers,
sometimes called crisis pregnancy centers, that seek out women looking
for information about their healthcare needs and reproductive rights
and then use misleading--even blatantly false--propaganda to scare and
pressure them. Mr. Kobes even went out of his way to represent some of
these fake clinics free of charge.
He voluntarily defended a law requiring providers to give a lecture
full of ideological propaganda and fearmongering to women seeking safe,
legal abortions. The required lecture in this case actually went so far
as to demand that providers lie to women and claim abortion increases
their risk of suicide. It does not.
Think about that. He argued for a law that directly interfered with
the relationship between a patient and her healthcare provider--a law
that said women making their own decisions about their own bodies and
seeking healthcare, which is their constitutional right, should be lied
to, should be frightened out of a decision with fake information,
including fake information about suicide. That is utterly wrong and
disqualifying for any judicial nominee.
Mr. Kobes hasn't merely represented these fake clinics. He served on
the board of an organization that aimed to deceive and frighten women
out of getting abortions. It is clear he wasn't chosen for his bona
fides in the legal field. He doesn't have them.
Women and men across the country are paying attention. They know what
is at stake. Hours before the final vote on Kavanaugh, I came here to
speak about how angry I was when the Senate failed Anita Hill in 1991
and confirmed Justice Thomas, how I decided to run for the Senate after
that so I could fight to change things, and how I hoped everyone who
was angry about Judge Kavanaugh would stay angry and keep fighting for
change. I also promised right here that whatever happened, I was going
to get up the next day and keep fighting, too, and I meant it.
I am going to keep standing up, speaking out, and making clear just
how harmful the President's ideological nominees are.
I strongly oppose Mr. Kobes' nomination. I hope all of our colleagues
will do the same.
Thank you.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Kyl). The question is, Will the Senate
advise and consent to the Muzinich nomination?
Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
There appears to be a sufficient second.
The clerk will call the roll.
Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator
from North Carolina (Mr. Tillis).
The result was announced--yeas 55, nays 44, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 257 Ex.]
YEAS--55
Alexander
Barrasso
Blumenthal
Blunt
Boozman
Burr
Capito
Cassidy
Collins
Coons
Corker
Cornyn
Cotton
Crapo
Cruz
Daines
Enzi
Ernst
Fischer
Flake
Gardner
Graham
Grassley
Hatch
Heller
Hoeven
Hyde-Smith
Inhofe
Isakson
Johnson
Jones
Kennedy
King
Kyl
Lankford
Lee
McConnell
Moran
Murkowski
Nelson
Paul
Perdue
Portman
Risch
Roberts
Rounds
Rubio
Sasse
Scott
Shelby
Sullivan
Thune
Toomey
Wicker
Young
NAYS--44
Baldwin
Bennet
Booker
Brown
Cantwell
Cardin
Carper
Casey
Cortez Masto
Donnelly
Duckworth
Durbin
Feinstein
Gillibrand
Harris
Hassan
Heinrich
Heitkamp
Hirono
Kaine
Klobuchar
Leahy
Manchin
Markey
McCaskill
Menendez
Merkley
Murphy
Murray
Peters
Reed
Sanders
Schatz
Schumer
Shaheen
Smith
Stabenow
Tester
Udall
Van Hollen
Warner
Warren
Whitehouse
Wyden
NOT VOTING--1
Tillis
The nomination was confirmed.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Missouri.
Mr. BLUNT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the motion to
reconsider be considered made and laid on the table and the President
be immediately notified of the Senate's action.
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