Substance Use-Disorder Prevention That Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, over the past few days, new allegations have come to light about President Trump's nominee to the Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh. These allegations ought to be treated with the utmost gravity. The allegations are extremely credible. They were made by someone who voluntarily submitted to a lie detector test and had been discussed in the past--long before Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court--with a family therapist. I believe her, and many, many Americans believe her. Many women in America who have been taken advantage of certainly believe her. For too long, women have made serious allegations of abuse and have been ignored or dragged through the mud. It would be a disgrace if this body and our fellow Republicans let that happen.

Chairman Grassley must postpone the vote on Judge Kavanaugh's nomination until, at a very minimum, these serious and credible allegations are thoroughly investigated. The FBI conducted a background check on Judge Kavanaugh before these allegations were known. When they did their background check, the FBI had no knowledge of what went on, so it is now the FBI's responsibility to investigate these claims, update the analysis of Judge Kavanaugh's background, and report back to the Senate.

The FBI is the right place for this investigation for two reasons:

First, the FBI has the resources, the information, and the legal tools to conduct an investigation the right way--far better than some staffer talking to Professor Ford on the phone. You cannot lie to the FBI--that is a crime. The FBI will get to the truth. They almost always do.

Second, our Republican colleagues have run a transparently partisan confirmation process, and then they immediately insinuated that Dr. Ford is being untruthful. Republicans and their staff cannot impartially investigate these allegations; they have already said that they are not true. Republicans and their staff cannot do this in a respected way because they have run such a partisan investigation thus far. There is no bipartisanship here--none--so to have any credibility, this has to be done by an independent, outside body. The FBI is the best one.

The vote must be postponed until it is complete. It would be an insult to the women of America to rush this through after these serious allegations have been made. It would be an insult to the majesty of the Supreme Court to rush this through when these serious allegations have come forward.

In addition, Dr. Ford has said she is willing to testify before the Judiciary Committee. Does anyone believe it is better for staff to talk to her on the phone--Republican staff only because no Democratic staff will participate in this biased, far-fetched process. Does anyone think it is not better for her to come testify? Then why can't she? Chairman Grassley should provide the American people the forum to hear her out. I believe she is credible. A lot of my Republican friends don't. What are they afraid of? Are they afraid that she might be very persuasive? Well, if she is, it will be a whole different ball game, won't it?

Chairman Grassley should and must provide the American people the forum to hear her out and decide for themselves whether her testimony reflects on Judge Kavanaugh's character and fitness for the Supreme Court. Of course, he can have a chance to testify again, too, and both of them said they would. Why in the Good Lord's Name--why wouldn't we do that? Why? There is no reason. No reason. There is no requirement, rule, or precedent that says the Judiciary Committee must move forward on Judge Kavanaugh's nomination this week--none. What is the reason we have to rush it through when these allegations are hanging out there, when women who are victimized deserve the right to be heard at the very minimum?

Then the gall of my dear friend the Republican leader, who delayed Justice Scalia's seat being filled for 9 months, to say that we can't take a couple of extra weeks--unmitigated gall. The seat of Justice Scalia was held open for a long time, and now, with no reason, my colleague says we can't do that.

Chairman Grassley has to stop playing games, pretending like the nomination can continue to glide through while at the same time the Senate conducts a review of these allegations. Hastily arranged private phone calls with committee staff members is not even close to constituting a fair and thorough review, is not part of any sort of regular order, and does not substitute for an FBI background check or public hearing.

Again, let me ask my dear friend the leader, what is the reason, now that both Judge Kavanaugh and Professor Ford have said they will come and testify, that we won't do it? Give me one good reason. One. It is unrelated to how we became aware of these allegations. Whether you like it or not, there is a right for them to be heard.

With allegations as serious as the ones before us, the Senate must not--it cannot for the honor of the Senate--conduct a haphazard, slipshod review of Dr. Ford's claims or be rushed to a vote. There must be time for the FBI to do its work and for the Judiciary Committee to properly prepare to hear testimony from Dr. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh.

There is another issue here. Judge Kavanaugh's credibility has already been seriously questioned in the aftermath of his testimony regarding emails stolen from the Judiciary Committee by a Republican staff member, his involvement in the nomination of Judge William Pryor, and other controversies. In all of these cases, Judge Kavanaugh's credibility was questioned because documents revealed that he was far more involved than he led on to when he testified.

Now, he has unequivocally denied this. So there is an issue of credibility here. You have two people with diametrically opposed views as to what happened. This is not just an argument for its own sake; it is for a nomination to the Supreme Court, the highest Court in the land, which determines through their legal rulings the lives of Americans and in many instances is seen as the arbiter of right and wrong.

Are we going to let this happen, not even hear what someone who believes she was terribly aggrieved--and I believe her--has to say? When the credibility of a Supreme Court Justice is on the line, we are going to just brush it under the rug--again, after delaying Merrick Garland for over 1 year--with no explanation as to why we can't wait a much shorter period of time? The double standard, the twisting of this body into a cruel, nasty partisanship, unprecedented, in a feverish desire to fill the bench with people with whom the other side agrees-- it is one of the lowest points I have seen in my years here.

I want to applaud my colleagues on the other side of the aisle who have called for hearings. I believe one way or another, six have said this should be delayed. I hope they will be strong. I hope they will tell Leader McConnell he is doing the wrong thing. Dr. Ford deserves to be heard. To railroad a vote now would be a deep insult to the women of America and a lasting scar on the integrity of the Supreme Court. Opioid Epidemic

Madam President, now on another matter, tonight the Senate will take up legislation that will help our country fight back against the opioid epidemic. The bill will help people from all backgrounds and all ages and is designed to address the spectrum of opioid addiction. That means medical prevention and law enforcement prevention, reversing overdoses, helping those in treatment, and enabling those in recovery to get back to their lives.

On this one, we have had real bipartisanship. Democrats and Republicans came together to pass major funding increases to fight the opioid crisis. When we consider the Labor-HHS appropriations bill this week--I hope we will see it signed into law soon by the President-- Congress will have appropriated $7 billion over 2 years to address opioid addiction, and that funding is now making its way to the States.

The legislation we will consider this week is another side of the same coin. The funding increases are important, and now this bill will complement those efforts by making important policy changes and creating new programs to help providers, first responders, law enforcement, communities, and families fight back against the scourge of addiction. Stopping this crisis will take a multifaceted effort, and this bill recognizes that fact.

I want to thank Members on my side whose legislation is included in this bill: Senators Baldwin, Donnelly, Manchin, McCaskill, Nelson, Casey, Heitkamp, and Klobuchar. Many more Democratic Senators contributed to this bill, as did many Republicans, and I thank them for their hard work.

Addiction has held too many Americans in its grip for too long. We cannot let up our efforts to fight this scourge. In the coming days and weeks, Congress will work diligently on merging the Senate bill with the House bill that has already passed. It is my sincere hope that we will come to an agreement and that we will have a new opioid law signed in the future. Hurricane Florence

Madam President, along with so many others, my heart goes out to the people of the Carolinas and surrounding States. To see the pictures of houses being flooded--it breaks your heart to see the devastation. It reminded me of what happened in my State a few years ago with Sandy. Our hearts go out to these people.

The Federal Government always pulls together when part of the Nation has a problem. I am not going to look up the voting record of those from the other side who are now going to ask for aid when they voted no when my State was so beleaguered. I don't believe that is the proper way to approach this. They are suffering, and we need to be there for them.

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