EXECUTIVE CALENDAR--Continued

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. BALDWIN. Madam President, there is one standard we should all apply to any nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court--honesty. While some have chosen not to apply that standard to Judge Kavanaugh, I must. At the very least, we should expect a nominee for our highest Court to be honest.

I do not believe Judge Kavanaugh has met this standard. In fact, there is a long record of this nominee not being truthful when he came before the Senate Judiciary Committee. I don't believe he was truthful in his 2006 testimony before the Senate, just as I don't believe he was honest in 2018.

Last week, I joined millions of Americans in watching Dr. Christine Blasey Ford's powerful testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, in which she credibly presented serious and deeply disturbing allegations of sexual assault. I have deep respect for the strength and courage she has shown in coming forward and putting her own safety and that of her family on the line to do the right thing. To me, Dr. Blasey Ford was honest, and I believe her.

I supported the call for the White House to reopen the FBI background investigation of Judge Kavanaugh. Dr. Blasey Ford did too. However, in his testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Judge Kavanaugh repeatedly refused to support such an investigation by the FBI.

It is clear to me that the White House and the Senate Republicans severely limited what could have been a full and independent review by the FBI of the credible allegations against the Supreme Court nominee. The fact is, White House and Senate Republicans would not allow the FBI to interview Dr. Blasey Ford, Judge Kavanaugh, and a number of witnesses who came forward publicly. That is simply wrong.

It is also wrong to be moving forward on a Supreme Court nominee who so clearly lacks the honesty and judicial temperament we would expect of someone serving on our Nation's highest Court.

Let us not ignore what we all witnessed at last week's Judiciary Committee hearing. We saw a stark contrast between two witnesses. Dr. Ford was honest, credible, respectful, and thoughtful. On the other hand, Judge Kavanaugh was not honest about a number of things he was questioned about, and he did not provide truthful testimony. What he did provide were aggressively angry, political attacks that prove he lacks the judicial temperament to serve on America's highest Court. Even before Judge Kavanaugh's recent hearing, I did not believe he would be an independent judge.

Powerful special interests in Washington handpicked him and have used their massive, dark money resources to push his nomination forward. I can only conclude that Judge Kavanaugh would work for them and not the people of Wisconsin or our Nation. It is no wonder Judge Kavanaugh is the choice of these powerful, wealthy, corporate special interests. They want to ensure that they maintain the majority on the Supreme Court that will rule on their issues and in their favor.

As my colleague and Judiciary Committee member Senator Whitehouse has described in great detail, since 2006, the five conservative Justices have joined together 73 times as a bare majority in 5-to-4 rulings in favor of big special interests. These decisions have turned back progress on voting rights, environmental protection, and have allowed corporations to discriminate against workers.

Judge Kavanaugh's record shows he will advance this troubling trend when the people of Wisconsin need a fair, impartial, and independent Supreme Court Justice who will stand up for them, not just for big, powerful special interests.

At a time when so many in Washington are working to overturn the law of the land that helps provide affordable healthcare to 133 million Americans with preexisting conditions, including more than 2 million Wisconsinites, we cannot afford a nominee who would serve as the deciding vote to take us back to the days when powerful insurance companies wrote the rules.

The President vowed to appoint judges to the Supreme Court who would overturn the law of the land, Roe v. Wade, and I take him at his word. Judge Kavanaugh is his choice for a lifetime appointment that would turn back the clock on a woman's constitutional right and freedom to make her own healthcare choices, including access to birth control.

I also have serious concerns about Judge Kavanaugh's belief that a President should be protected from investigations and subpoenas and indictments. We have an ongoing national security investigation by the special counsel looking into Russia's attack on our democracy, criminal conspiracy, and potential obstruction of justice.

Particularly after his highly partisan testimony before the Judiciary Committee, I do not trust Judge Kavanaugh to provide the independence we need on our Supreme Court at this time. When Judge Kavanaugh was nominated, I reviewed his record and opposed his nomination because the stakes are too high for the American people. They do not want a Supreme Court to advance a political agenda to overturn the law of the land on healthcare for people with preexisting conditions, women's reproductive health, and the constitutional rights and freedoms of all Americans.

I truly wish I had been granted the opportunity to discuss these important issues with Judge Kavanaugh before this vote, but after seven requests to the White House for a meeting with this nominee, they did not grant me the opportunity to talk to Judge Kavanaugh.

The people of Wisconsin need a fair, impartial, and independent Supreme Court Justice. Based on everything we know, I do not have the confidence Judge Kavanaugh would be that Justice, and I will vote no on his confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source