[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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