[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 45 (Wednesday, March 13, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S1816]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       Nomination of Neomi J. Rao

  Mr. President, I also want to take a moment to express my opposition 
to a nominee the Senate is considering today for the DC Circuit Court 
of Appeals--Neomi Rao.
  Ms. Rao is up for a lifetime appointment on the DC Circuit, but her 
record and previous statements make it clear that she is unfit for this 
position.
  Ms. Rao's writings as a college student are nothing short of 
outrageous. Ms. Rao once described race as a ``hot money-making 
issue.'' She has called the fight for LGBTQ equality a ``trendy 
political movement.'' She has criticized the ``dangerous feminist 
idealism which teaches women that they are equal.'' Perhaps most 
disturbing are Ms. Rao's previous writings on campus sexual assault and 
rape. Ms. Rao once claimed that women shared the responsibility for 
being raped, saying: ``If she drinks to the point where she can no 
longer choose, well, getting to that point was part of her choice.'' 
She also noted that ``a good way to prevent potential date rape is to 
stay reasonably sober.''
  I know that Ms. Rao has said she regretted these comments now that 
she is up for this appointment, but that cannot make up for the type of 
damage that rhetoric like this has done. In 2019, survivors are still 
not listened to and taken seriously, and dangerous rhetoric and callous 
beliefs like these have prevented women from coming forward with their 
experiences of sexual assault in the first place.
  I cannot support a nominee who made a decision to publish these types 
of outrageous sentiments.
  If Ms. Rao's previous statements aren't already disqualifying, then 
her record as a member of the Trump administration certainly is.
  As the head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, 
OIRA, Ms. Rao signed off on a policy that would allow the Environmental 
Protection Agency to not use the best available evidence when 
developing clean air and clean water protections--a policy with 
dangerous implications given the fact that the Trump administration has 
ignored science and fought to undermine these protections. Ms. Rao 
signed off on this policy even after publicly pledging to meet in a 
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee hearing that 
she would do just the opposite.
  Additionally, one of Ms. Rao's first efforts in the Trump 
administration was approving an effort to eliminate reporting 
requirements proposed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to 
identify wage discrimination with regard to race and gender.
  Finally, Ms. Rao approved of the title X gag rule, which, as I just 
discussed, will harm the health and well-being of people across the 
country.
  It is clear that Ms. Rao is a partisan nominee with a dangerous 
record.
  By the way, she has never tried a case--not in Federal court and not 
in State court.
  Given her past comments, her record in the Trump administration, and 
her complete lack of experience, it is clear that she does not meet the 
standard that a lifetime appointment to a vital court requires. I will 
oppose her nomination today, and I urge my colleagues to do the same 
thing.
  Thank you.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Montana.