[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 36 (Wednesday, February 27, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S1508]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                        Nomination of Neomi Rao

  Mr. President, one other brief comment, as some colleagues will be 
coming to the floor in a bit, and I want to join them in speaking about 
the DC Circuit Court nominee Neomi Rao. I stand with them in opposing 
this nomination.
  In the era of #MeToo, when women are sharing their stories about 
assault and abuse, we don't need a judge who has written that women who 
drink are to blame if they are then sexually assaulted.
  We do not need a judge who blocked a critical equal pay measure 
intended to help close the wage gap.
  So I join with colleagues in encouraging, at the appropriate time, a 
``no'' vote on this nomination.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that both Senator 
Menendez and I be permitted to speak for up to 5 minutes each prior to 
the roll call vote on the Desmond nomination.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I am delighted to join the Senator from 
Michigan today, to add to her comments about the replacement for now-
Justice Kavanaugh after he was confirmed to the Supreme Court last 
year, and I want to remind my colleagues about the people who spoke up 
during Justice Kavanaugh's nomination and the critical issues that they 
spoke about.
  Women stood up. They rallied. They marched. They made clear they do 
not want to go back to the days before the Roe v. Wade decision 
affirmed their right to make their own healthcare decisions.
  Incredibly brave survivors, such as Dr. Ford and so many others, said 
they wanted to be heard and believed, not silenced.
  Families across the country said they wanted a Justice who would 
interpret the law fairly and objectively, without partisanship--someone 
whose priority is the Constitution and people across the country, not 
President Trump and his extreme agenda.
  Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, it is clear that President Trump 
and Republicans in Congress aren't listening to women or survivors or 
families, because the next nominee for the DC Circuit Court fails on 
each and every count I just listed.
  As we speak, Neomi Rao is enacting the Trump agenda in her role as 
the head of the Agency that reviews and approves the Trump 
administration's changes to regulations impacting so many people in 
communities who stood up to oppose Justice Kavanaugh's nomination.
  Under Ms. Rao's leadership, the Trump administration finalized a rule 
that prevents healthcare providers from even informing patients who 
come to title X-funded health centers about where to go to get safe--
safe--legal abortions and places new, burdensome, medically unnecessary 
requirements on title X-funded health centers, designed specifically to 
prevent Planned Parenthood from receiving these funds, meaning millions 
of patients may lose a source of quality, affordable, basic healthcare 
they trust.
  Ms. Rao has helped put forward rules that would make it harder for 
members of the LGBTQ community and women to get the care they need by 
allowing providers to turn them away simply because of who they are or 
because they want birth control.
  I also want to take a few minutes to address Ms. Rao's deeply 
concerning comments about rape and sexual assault. While in college, 
she wrote that ``a good way to avoid a potential date rape is to stay 
reasonably sober.''
  Let's be clear. It is never a survivor's fault, ever, that someone 
raped or sexually assaulted them.
  Ms. Rao was given an opportunity to explicitly reject those comments 
and failed to do so. She then sent a letter attempting to walk them 
back, but her actions speak louder than a letter sent during a 
nomination process, and her actions on this issue have been harmful.
  In her role within the Trump administration, Ms. Rao has helped 
Secretary DeVos to roll back protections that help survivors get 
justice when they are sexually assaulted on campuses. In other words, 
at the same time that Ms. Rao claims her views have changed on sexual 
assault and consent, her actions are aligned with those who believe 
what she wrote in college. To the survivors I hear from and those who 
bravely spoke out against Justice Kavanaugh and so many others, Ms. 
Rao's actions are what matters.
  Ms. Rao is also listening to corporate lobbyists instead of 
scientists when it comes to climate and our public health and is 
advancing rules that would allow more discrimination in our Nation's 
housing programs. Unfortunately, it seems that on many issues, where 
President Trump wants to do damage and hurt families, Ms. Rao is right 
behind him with a rubberstamp, just like Justice Kavanaugh and so many 
others President Trump has nominated to the bench.
  We need judges who will do what workers and families expect of a 
judge--to interpret our laws according to the Constitution and what is 
best for our country, not according to politics and what is best for 
President Trump. That is why I am strongly opposing her nomination, and 
I hope all of our colleagues will join us in doing so.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Jersey.