Executive Session

Floor Speech

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Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I want to start today by saying I am really appalled by the extreme, cruel, shameful abortion ban that was passed yesterday in Alabama. That legislation is nothing short of an attack on women, and it is part of a larger effort we are seeing today around the country to take away the constitutional right of women to safe, legal abortion and allowing politicians to make decisions for women about their bodies, their health, and their lives instead of trusting doctors and women.

I want every woman reading the news this morning and wondering what this means for you, your family, and for your granddaughters to know I am with you, and I am going to keep fighting for you every step of the way. 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 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.

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