[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 169 (Tuesday, September 29, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5888-S5889]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    NOMINATION OF AMY CONEY BARRETT

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, after Senate Republicans established the 
principle that the Senate shouldn't consider Supreme Court nominations 
in Presidential election years, on Saturday, President Trump nominated 
Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court with less than 40 days left in 
the Presidential election.
  The Senate has never--never--confirmed a nominee to the Supreme Court 
this close to a Presidential election. In fact, the election is already 
underway, but President Trump gets to play by different rules under 
this Republican majority.
  By nominating Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, President 
Trump has once again put Americans' healthcare in the crosshairs. 
President Trump has promised to nominate Supreme Court Justices who 
will ``terminate''--his words--our healthcare law. In Judge Barret, 
President Trump has found the deciding vote.
  Judge Barret strongly criticized the ruling to uphold the Affordable 
Care Act, claiming that if Justices read the law the way she does, they 
would ``have had to invalidate'' the entire healthcare law. Let me 
repeat that: Judge Barrett strongly criticized Justice Roberts' 
decision to uphold the Affordable Care Act, saying that ``he pushed 
[the law] beyond its plausible meaning to save the statute.'' If 
Justice Roberts had read the law the way Judge Barrett does, the 
Supreme Court would have had to invalidate the entire Affordable Care 
Act.
  The Republican lawsuit against the Affordable Care Act, as everyone 
knows, will be heard 1 week after the election. Senate Republicans are 
rushing to jam Judge Barrett's confirmation through in time for her to 
hear arguments in that very case. Not one for subtlety, President Trump 
tweeted on Saturday that our healthcare law would be replaced ``if 
terminated by the Supreme Court.''
  So the American people should make no mistake, a vote by any Senator 
for Judge Amy Coney Barrett is a vote to strike down the Affordable 
Care Act and eliminate protections for millions of Americans with 
preexisting conditions.
  Judge Barrett's record also suggests that if she is confirmed, the 
reproductive freedom of millions of women would be in grave danger. 
Should Judge Amy Coney Barrett be confirmed, a far-right majority on 
the Court could turn back the clock on women's rights and a woman's 
right to choose, workers' rights, voting rights, civil rights, 
environmental protections, LGBTQ rights, and many more. The future for 
DACA recipients hangs in the balance as well.
  So this nomination concerns no less than the fundamental rights of 
the American people. After holding a Supreme Court vacancy open for 8 
months before a Presidential election, President Trump and Leader 
McConnell are doing what no Senate has done before--shamelessly rushing 
to fill Justice Ginsburg's seat less than 40 days before the 
Presidential election.
  Justice Ginsburg's dying wish was that she not be replaced until a 
new President is installed. Republicans are poised not only to ignore 
her wishes, but to replace her with someone who could tear down 
everything she had built.
  This reprehensible power grab is a cynical attack on the legitimacy 
of the Court, and I would strongly, strongly oppose this nomination.
  The Senate Republican majority has decided, however, that they will 
stop at nothing, break all the rules--even their own rules--to rush 
this nomination through before the election. But apparently the Senate 
majority isn't going to stop at naked hypocrisy. It is also going to 
engage in manufactured hysterics.
  For the past few weeks, long before President Trump even nominated 
Judge Barrett, Senate Republicans have been telling everyone who will 
listen that Democrats ``better not make Catholicism an issue in this 
nomination.'' That is their quote.
  Last week, a Member of this Chamber wrote me an entire letter 
preemptively warning about anti-Catholic attacks against a nominee who 
hadn't been named yet. Another Member of this Chamber said that ``in 
Chuck Schumer's America--only atheists can be Supreme Court Justices.''
  Of course, not a single Democrat will make these attacks or make 
personal religious beliefs an issue, but that doesn't matter to my 
Republican friends. Oh, no. They will try to slander Democrats with 
this imaginary issue anyway because they are desperate for a 
distraction. Republicans invented this concern because they are so 
eager to make this nomination about anything other than their 
disgraceful double standard--anything besides their attempts to take 
away healthcare and curtail the fundamental rights of the American 
people.
  Honestly, it is embarrassing how transparent Republicans are being 
about this manufactured line of attack. They couldn't even wait for a 
Catholic nominee to be chosen. They already scripted the attacks.
  The Senator from Tennessee is making wild allegations; the Senator 
from Missouri is writing ridiculous letters; and my friend from Florida 
is cutting videos decrying the kind of attacks on a person's faith that 
haven't occurred since the political right was implying that our last 
practicing Christian President, President Obama, was a secret Muslim.
  I don't remember my Republican colleagues making a fuss when peaceful 
protesters were tear-gassed so President Trump could hold the Bible 
upside down in front of a church for a photo op.
  I understand why certain Republicans are resorting to this disgusting 
tactic: They have no other argument. They can't argue that this 
nomination

[[Page S5889]]

could proceed because of some solemn constitutional duty because they 
argued the exact opposite position 4 years ago.
  They certainly can't argue the merits of Judge Barrett's position on 
the Affordable Care Act because they know it is dreadfully unpopular 
with the American people. No wonder--no wonder Republicans are so 
desperate to talk about, literally, anything else.

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