Formatting necessary for an accurate reading of this text may be shown by tags (e.g., <DELETED> or <BOLD>) or may be missing from this TXT display. For complete and accurate display of this text, see the PDF.
[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.
