[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 181 (Wednesday, November 13, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6534-S6536]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                    Nomination of Steven J. Menashi

  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I am here to speak on the confirmation 
of Steven Menashi to be a judge on the United States Court of Appeals 
for the Second Circuit. We have grown accustomed to the violations of 
norms around here, kind of a dumbing down of the institution. So by all 
of those standards, I would ordinarily be opposing Mr. Menashi.
  We have disposed of the blue slip convention for Circuit Court 
nominees. I just warn my colleagues, again, that there is a price to be 
paid for that. The blue slip for Circuit Court nominees is the thing 
that connects a Circuit Court nominee to a particular State so that an 
Arkansas judge on the Circuit Court of Appeals or the Rhode Island 
judge on our Circuit Court of Appeals or the Montana judge on their 
Circuit Court of Appeals only is the Arkansas judge or the Rhode Island 
judge or the Montana judge because we honor that blue slip.
  In another Presidency, when the shoe is on the other foot, I don't 
want to hear any of my colleagues who have thrown this Circuit Court 
blue slip out complain when somebody who is not even from their State 
gets appointed to the so-called State seat on the Circuit Court.
  In addition, we have dealt with a lot of unqualified candidates. I 
think this administration has set the record for ABA-designated 
unqualified candidates. This guy has never tried a case, never taken a 
deposition. He effectively has not practiced law. When he has tried to 
practice law, it has been a disaster. He has been the counsel for the 
Department of Education and managed to have various programs that he 
advised on all thrown out in court and his Secretary held in contempt--
so not a guy who, when you get a mere legal decision, comes up with a 
real winning record.
  Moreover, he refused, extremely arrogantly, to answer really basic 
questions, even to the point of frustrating Republican members of the 
committee when he was a witness before us, and has refused to answer 
related questions for the record as well.
  So, for all of those reasons, this is a pretty undesirable candidate 
for the Federal bench, but it gets way, way worse. If you look at what 
Mr. Menashi has said over the years, it is quite an astonishing window 
into his mind. With respect to affirmative action, he has compared 
universities--I am quoting him here--he has compared universities 
cataloging students according to race on college applications

[[Page S6535]]

and official documents, which you obviously do as part of any 
affirmative action program, he has compared that to the Nuremberg laws.
  If you look at the issue of sexual violence, he has made fun of Take 
Back the Night marches and described women who are active and concerned 
about sexual violence as--his words here--``campus gynocentrics''--
maybe he pronounced it gynocentrics, I do not know--campus 
gynocentrics. When you are talking about sexual violence, that is not 
just a normal word to use. When you are talking about affirmative 
action, reference to Nazi Nuremberg laws is just not normal.
  He has argued that gun regulations are ``pointless''--I am quoting 
him here--``pointless and self-defeating because guns reduce crime.'' 
Really? Ask the victims of the firearms massacres happening at such a 
horrifying rate in this country how guns reduce crime.
  With respect to the rights that have been enshrined in our 
Constitution and recognized in Roe v. Wade, giving women the right, to 
some degree, of self-determination about when to have children, he 
described the rights codified in Roe v. Wade--I quote him here--as 
``radical abortion rights advocated by campus feminists.'' Good luck, 
on an issue related to a woman's right to choose, getting a fair 
hearing from this character once he is enrobed.
  He mocked the gay rights group Human Rights Campaign, which he said 
incessantly exploited the slaying of Matthew Shepard for both financial 
and political benefit. We engage in some pretty acid rhetoric around 
here, but about a young man who was murdered about being gay, that is 
just appalling. If you are in his court on an issue in which the rights 
of LGBT folks are involved, there is almost no way that you could 
believe that a judge that has thought or said anything as vile as that 
could ever give you a fair hearing.
  With respect to the question of diversity, which many of us consider 
to be one of America's greatest traits, social scientists, he said, 
have found that greater ethnic heterogeneity, i.e., social diversity, 
is associated with lower social trust. Ethnically heterogenetic 
societies exhibit less political and civic engagement, less effective 
government institutions, and fewer public goods.
  First of all, I don't think that is true. I don't think that stands 
to scrutiny. But, second of all, it is just kind of a creepy thing to 
be saying, that we would be a better country if we marshaled ourselves 
together into our ethnic enclaves, which ``provide the groundwork for 
social trust and political solidarity''--not in my world, not in Rhode 
Island. That is not the way we work. I don't think that is the way 
America works.
  So whether you are looking at diversity, whether you are looking at 
gay rights, whether you are looking at a woman's right to choose, 
whether you are looking at safe regulation of guns, whether you are 
looking at sexual violence against women, whether you are looking at 
affirmative action in colleges, you can find something truly creepy 
that this individual has said. That, on top of all the other 
disqualifying factors, makes him perhaps the worst candidate that 
Donald Trump has tried to put on the Federal bench--by the way, that is 
in a crop of doozies.
  The problem here is that people are going to come into these courts 
and they are going to have a feeling that no American litigant should 
have and that is that I have got a judge who is predisposed against me, 
that it doesn't matter what my cause is. It matters who I am.
  And, sadly, I don't think this is the bug in these Trump judicial 
appointments; I think this is the feature. I think it is the intention 
of the dark money fueled apparatus that has got this assembly line of 
unusual and peculiar judges cranked on to our courts to actually make 
sure that our courts are more likely to rule for certain people than 
others, that they are more likely to rule for polluters, that they are 
more likely to rule for gun companies, that they are more likely to 
rule for dark money political operators.
  There are essentially, at this point, with this nominee to a Circuit 
Court of Appeals, no standards left--no standards left. I can't imagine 
anybody much worse.
  It is a sad day.
  With that, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Blackburn). The Senator from Kansas.


                                S. 2330

  Mr. MORAN. Madam President, today in the Commerce Committee, 
following an in-depth 18-month investigation to examine cultural and 
systemic issues regarding abuse in the Olympic movement, Senator 
Blumenthal and I introduced bipartisan legislation, the Empowering 
Olympic and Amateur Athletes Act of 2019. It was accompanied by an 
investigative report, findings, and, recommendations. I am pleased that 
the Commerce Committee approved that legislation today. This marks a 
significant step forward to improving the protections and 
representations provided to our amateur athletes.
  The subcommittee that I chair exercises jurisdiction over the U.S. 
Olympic Committee and amateur sports at large, and I remain fully 
committed to ensuring the health and safety of all American athletes. 
Our Empowering Olympic and Amateur Athletes Act would enact reforms to 
the U.S. Olympic system by strengthening legal liability and 
accountability mechanisms, restoring a culture of putting athletes 
first, and fortifying the independence and capacity of the U.S. Center 
for Safe Sports.
  Our investigation, which led to the foundation of the provisions in 
this bill, included four subcommittee hearings, interviews with Olympic 
athletes and survivors, and the retrieval of 70,000 pages of documents. 
This was also made possible by the supportive leadership of the 
committee--the chairman and ranking member, Senator Wicker and Senator 
Cantwell--and the contributions of the committee staff, including the 
contributions of my staff and those of former Chairman Thune and 
Ranking Member Nelson.
  Also, I want to take this moment to thank Mr. Grassley, the Senator 
from Iowa and the chairman now of the Finance Committee. For a portion 
of the time we were dealing with this issue, he was the chairman of the 
Judiciary Committee. He, too, made contributions to our legislation, 
and his continued leadership on this issue in general has helped to 
move this bill forward and out of the committee today.
  During our investigation, Senator Grassley indicated an interest in 
working together to protect amateur athletes. After we introduced the 
legislation, I am pleased we were able to include provisions from his 
legislation that was just introduced yesterday here in the Senate. 
Specifically, the substitute amendment included funding accountability 
language for safe sports, clarification on mandatory reporting parties 
related to child abuse, and new reporting requirements to improve 
transparency. Senator Grassley was also successful in working with 
Senator Peters to include whistleblower protection language in the bill 
during today's markup.
  Again, I thank Senator Grassley for his leadership and commitment to 
the health and safety of our amateur athletes.
  Additionally, there were thoughtful contributions to our 
legislation--most recently, in the form of our substitute amendment--
from other members of the Commerce Committee, including Senator Gardner 
of Colorado.
  I also thank my colleague Senator Blumenthal, the ranking member of 
the subcommittee, for his steadfast and ongoing support and leadership 
that he has shown throughout this long process.
  This investigation and legislative process started out as a 
bipartisan effort to provide substantive policy protections to amateur 
athletes and has remained as such. That bipartisanship has continued 
and will continue to be prioritized as we push for timely consideration 
of this legislation on the Senate floor.
  Finally, I would be remiss not to express my sincere and humble 
thanks to the survivors for their bravery in guiding our policymaking 
with their testimonies and ongoing input throughout the process. Their 
willingness to recount and relive their traumatic experiences played a 
vital role in informing Congress as it seeks to address key reporting, 
governance, and resource issues within the Olympic system. This 
critical legislation would not have happened without their active 
involvement.
  I will never forget the question that was asked of me by one of the 
survivors

[[Page S6536]]

as we were gathered together in the Russell Senate Office Building. The 
question was this: Why was there more than one? It is a question we 
would always hope to answer. There should never be a victim or survivor 
of sexual abuse. And if there is one, there should never be a second.
  The sad thing about this circumstance in which we found ourselves and 
in which the athletes found themselves was that not only was there one, 
but there were many more. We should be able to take that call--why was 
there ever more than one?--and make certain that we do everything to 
keep it from ever happening again.
  I thank my colleagues in the Commerce Committee for their support on 
this critical legislation. I look forward to working with the leader 
and my Senate colleagues as we push to enact these necessary reforms.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Montana.
  Mr. TESTER. Madam President, before I get into my comments on Agent 
Orange, I just want to thank Senator Moran and Senator Blumenthal for 
leading the charge on making sure that our Olympic athletes are 
protected. There are some who say that government has no business in 
this realm; I couldn't disagree with them more. The fact is, this is a 
wrong that I think Senator Moran and Senator Blumenthal have tried to 
right. I just want to thank them for their leadership.
  Mr. MORAN. I thank the Senator.