Executive Calendar--Motion to Proceed

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I am here this afternoon to join the voices of my colleagues--Democrats and Republicans--in making sure this process that is going to continue to play out over the next several days is a fair one.

I will say to people right now that I am not for Judge Kavanaugh. I don't believe that his decisions and his views are in the mainstream of judicial opinion in the United States of America. I believe that not just about a woman's right to choose. I believe that not just about his decision on net neutrality. I definitely believe that about his decision on executive branch power.

My views are known. I would expound on them if I thought that is what we are here to debate today, and maybe that will happen in the future. But I am here this afternoon to ask my colleagues to think about this issue of sexual assault in a new way. It is not a new way that you have never thought of before, but a way that says it is time for us to slow down and have a nonpartisan investigation into the accusations that have been made by three women.

The reason that is so important is that in the last several days there have been comments that she is mixed up or confused or can't remember. I will tell you this: I guarantee you that any woman in the United States of America who has been assaulted remembers that she was assaulted. She may not remember exactly what the person was wearing, and she may not remember every person who was there, but I guarantee you it is seared into her mind, into her heart, and into her soul that she has been assaulted.

The question before us in the U.S. Senate is, Are we going to take seriously the process and not rush it to a conclusion and not join the ranks of other institutions that have swept allegations under the rug?

We all know where the Catholic Church is today, with information and documentation of accusations where people decided that, no, those couldn't be true; no, we don't have to listen; no, we can do something about it.

When I think about the fact that at least 332 victims were abused by one person in the gymnastics program at Michigan State and people said ``We don't have to pay attention to that,'' when I think about what happened at Penn State to young boys that people deny, that this couldn't be what is happening with Jerry Sandusky--it couldn't possibly be happening--I know that this is a cultural problem.

I have heard statistics that cite that anywhere from 20 percent of women in the United States of America have faced sexual abuse to a website by the Centers for Disease Control that says it is one in three women. One in three women in the United States of America has faced sexual assault or abuse, and we don't think it is a crisis? I am pretty sure there are more women in the United States of America who have been the victims of sexual assault than of the opioid crisis, yet we call that a crisis. What are we doing to make sure we are not like other institutions that have not fully addressed this issue?

We do not want to be the ones who rush through a process that demonstrates that the vote on the Supreme Court is more important than getting the truth. We need a nonpartisan investigation into the facts of these allegations against this Supreme Court nominee.

When I think of the tragedy that faces Native American women, it breaks my heart. Over 50 percent of Native American women have faced sexual assault and abuse--50 percent. How is that not a crisis?

So my colleagues, I know, do not think they are doing damage. They think they are sticking up for a nominee. They think they are sticking up for somebody that their team--their bench--pulled out of the ranks of their party or their backgrounds suggest that he should be the nominee. I understand their desire. But the desire today has to be that we do not make the same mistakes as other institutions, that we pay attention to these things and we take them seriously.

I implore my colleagues to do so. Why? It is because every victim in the United States of America who thinks that you are not giving these accusations their due is reoffended in the belief that society does not take this crisis seriously.

So I implore my colleagues: I know you think you are playing on a political scorecard to get something done for your party, but please make sure we have a thorough, nonpartisan investigation into these accusations so that we can tell victims of sexual assault in the United States of America that we treat these accusations seriously. We did our job. There is no rush, but for the actual facts that we can move forward on.

I know we can have more conversations about this. I know we can, and we should. We should. We had these conversations during the debate on the Violence Against Women Act, and we made sure that Native American women are covered under that law--a tricky problem in the Federal law that made a gap even worse by not having the aid and support--and now, with Federal help and support with Indian trial courts, we have created a better system to bring those perpetrators of those crimes to justice.

But we can, as an institution, also come to terms that this is a cultural problem in the United States of America, and we too must do our part. We must help. We must not keep reinjuring people by saying that we are not going to take the time to find the truth.

So I implore my colleagues, please--and for those of you who have spoken out, like my colleague from Arizona: Thank you. Thank you for helping us get to the truth in this matter. Thank you for standing up for women, for men, for Indian Country, and those who have faced this abuse. Let's make sure that this institution moves in a serious but deliberate and cautious path and does not spend its time tomorrow prosecuting a woman but listening to the facts and information that she gives.

I thank the Chair.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source