[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 81 (Wednesday, May 15, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2851-S2852]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       Nomination of Wendy Vitter

  Mr. President, I want to turn to speak about my opposition to Wendy 
Vitter's nomination, which is yet another step extreme politicians are 
taking to undermine women's rights and access to healthcare.
  I oppose Wendy Vitter's nomination to the U.S. District Court for the 
Eastern District of Louisiana.
  President Trump and Vice President Pence have made it clear that they 
want to pack the Judiciary with far-right judges who will turn back the 
clock on reproductive rights, and this nominee is no exception.
  Time and again, Mrs. Vitter has advocated against women's 
reproductive rights using inflammatory language and falsehoods. She has 
demonstrated a keen sense of partisanship and a poor sense of judgment, 
starting with her initial response to the Senate Judiciary Committee's 
questionnaire.
  Mrs. Vitter left out information about her past statements in her 
response to the committee--the kinds of serious submissions Republicans 
have objected to with other nominees. I am

[[Page S2852]]

not talking about a small memory lapse. I am talking about nearly 200 
additional pages that had to be added to her response once they were 
brought to light. I am not talking about insignificant statements, 
things that are hard to find or easy to forget. I am talking about 
campaign ads, panel discussions, political rallies. I am not talking 
about innocent uncontroversial comments. I am talking about the 
fearmongering of an activist who is entirely unfit for the Federal 
bench.
  Mrs. Vitter initially failed to disclose her remarks at a political 
rally opposing the construction of a Planned Parenthood clinic, remarks 
where she claimed Planned Parenthood--which, by the way, provides low-
cost healthcare like cancer screenings and STI screenings and 
contraceptive care to millions of people. She claimed Planned 
Parenthood is responsible for killing 150,000 women a year. That is 
careless, it is reckless, and it is wrong. It is incredibly poor 
judgment for somebody who is being considered for a lifetime judicial 
appointment.
  She also failed to disclose the time she moderated a deeply dishonest 
panel called ``Abortion Hurts Women's Health.'' Mrs. Vitter prompted 
panelists to peddle misinformation about women's health, encouraging a 
discussion that falsely suggested abortion is linked to cancer and 
infertility. One panel spoke at length about a deeply inaccurate 
brochure she had authored called ``How the Pill Kills.'' As you can 
tell from that title, the brochure was loaded with glaring falsehoods, 
like the false claim that birth control causes breast cancer or that 
women on birth control are more likely to die a violent death. In 
response to that speaker's long string of very dangerous lies about 
women's healthcare, Mrs. Vitter encouraged the attendees to download 
the brochure, bring it to their doctors, and ask them to put it in 
their waiting rooms.
  It is incredibly alarming that a nominee for the Federal bench would 
be so willing to voice her support for such dangerous propaganda, 
especially when that same nominee is unwilling to voice her support for 
one of the landmark civil rights cases in our country's history, Brown 
v. Board of Education.
  During her confirmation hearing, Mrs. Vitter was asked whether Brown 
v. Board was decided correctly. It wasn't a trick question. Many past 
judicial nominees, including Chief Justice Roberts, have been able to 
answer it. Mrs. Vitter refused.
  This week, we are going to celebrate the 65th anniversary of the 
Brown v. Board decision. Do Republicans really want to mark this 
occasion by confirming a judge who has voiced more support for outright 
lies about women's health than for the historic decision that struck 
down State-sponsored segregation? This should be simple. Someone whose 
statements and record fail to support the Brown v. Board decision 
cannot be trusted with the responsibility of deciding the historic 
cases of tomorrow. Someone who has worked to spread misinformation 
about contraceptives and undermine the constitutional right to safe, 
legal abortion that is enshrined in Roe v. Wade cannot be trusted to 
fight for the truth or uphold women's reproductive rights. In other 
words, someone like Wendy Vitter cannot be trusted with a lifetime seat 
on a Federal bench.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in rejecting this nomination. While 
President Trump and Vice President Pence may keep sending us these far-
right nominees and Senate Republicans may keep jamming them through 
under the radar, Democrats are not going to stand by or stand down. 
They may try to push our courts to the right. We are going to keep 
pushing back. We are going to keep holding a spotlight on these 
nominees and making clear just how extreme they are, and we are going 
to keep fighting for women and men and families in this country.
  Thank you.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. SMITH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.