Sports Medicine Licensure Clarity Act of 2017
Floor Speech
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Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, what is the business before the Senate?
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Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I have been in politics for a long time, but I have never seen anything like what I witnessed when I went back to Chicago last Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. From the minute the plane landed at Midway Airport in Chicago through the entire weekend, everyone--everyone--was engaged. People were coming up to me--total strangers--expressing themselves about the hearing that had just been completed with Dr. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh. I was stunned, and I have done this for a long time. There was the doorman in the rain holding an umbrella at the hotel talking about what he heard and what he remembered from the hearing. The taxicab driver, the person on the street--everyone wanted to speak to me about this.
It has been estimated that 6 out of 10 Americans listened or watched the hearing last week. I am not at all surprised. The response I found on the street and in the neighborhoods and in meetings around my State of Illinois and in the city of Chicago certainly gave evidence to that.
It was an interesting response, too, primarily from women but not exclusively--women who came up to me, and I could tell by the look in their eyes and the tone of their voice that something had just happened publicly in America that touched them personally. Some would confide in me and whisper about a personal experience they had. Others would look into my eyes, and I realized this meant a lot to them for reasons they didn't want to share.
That hearing last week was a moment I have never seen before in American politics in the time I have been around.
The second thing I noted was the comments about Dr. Ford. Except for a still photograph, I had never seen her before she walked into the committee room last week to testify under oath. I didn't know what to expect as she sat down, after taking the oath, and began her testimony.
Time and again the people who worked with her described her condition as fragile. In her own words during the course of her testimony, she said she was terrified--terrified. And why wouldn't she be--at this point in her life, to become a national person, a national profile, a national celebrity; to see her experience turn her family life upside down to the point where she was forced to move out of her home and she and her family had to take refuge and safety in a secure location. There was all of the attention that was being paid to her, some with praise and some with criticism. It is the kind of thing that even politicians are supposed to get used to and never do. So imagine that scenario for an ordinary person.
I listened to her testimony, and I heard what she had to say about why this event took place. I realized that this woman from California believed she had what she called a civic duty to come forward before the White House made its final decision on the choice of a Supreme Court nominee because she believed she had important information about Brett Kavanaugh that the President should know and that Congress should know, and she didn't know where to turn.
For those who argue that she was part of some political conspiracy, she didn't know which way to turn. She ended up turning to the place most would, to her local Congresswoman, Anna Eshoo, and sitting down with her in California and talking about this confidential letter that she wanted to put in the hands of somebody who would make a decision about the future of the Supreme Court. It was a perfectly reasonable explanation of what an ordinary citizen would do, and that is what she did.
When she finally got in contact with the Senate Judiciary Committee with this same confidential letter and had communications with Senator Feinstein, she stressed over and over that she wanted this to remain confidential and that she didn't want her identity to be disclosed for fear of what it would mean to her and her family--a natural human reaction.
I want to say a word about Senator Feinstein. You may quibble, you may debate, you may argue with the way she handled this, but I think she did what she thought was right for the very right reasons. She believed that she had an obligation to Dr. Ford--an obligation to protect her identity. I know Senator Feinstein. She is a person of character and values and principles. I have been saddened and, in fact, angry at times when my colleagues from the other side of the aisle accused her of so many things--of plotting some political conspiracy to bring down this nominee. In fact, two of them suggested she was the one who leaked the letter to the press. I am as certain as I stand here, after years of working with her, that neither of those things are even close to the truth. She was trying to do what she felt was the right thing--first, for this woman, this mother, this resident of her home State, and, second, for this country. I don't question in any way whatsoever--and no one should--her efforts and good faith to serve this Nation in a very difficult process.
But Dr. Ford came forward and told her story. I asked her a question point-blank: ``We are now being told that perhaps you were mistaken. Perhaps it wasn't Brett Kavanaugh who assaulted you in that bedroom in the Maryland suburbs. I wanted to ask you: With what degree of certainty do you believe that Brett Kavanaugh was the assailant?''
Her answer to me was very short and direct: ``100 percent.'' She was 100 percent certain.
You think to yourself: It happened 36 years ago. How could she be so certain? It was so long ago, but then you realize that, at that moment, it impacted her life in a way that few people ever want to experience. For 36 years she has been carrying the memory of that party, that bedroom, that assault in her life, to the point where she sought therapy--couples therapy with her husband--and told her therapist, as well as her husband, the name of the assailant 6 years ago, long before Judge Kavanaugh was proposed as a nominee for the Supreme Court.
I came away with strong feelings about Dr. Ford--her credibility, her composure, the fact that she was resolute, and the fact that she showed a degree of character that is extraordinary under the circumstances. I believe Dr. Ford, and I believe what she told us.
That is why I am troubled to hear Republican Senators come to the floor today and say: Well, you know, we feel that she was mistreated. Some of the same Senators, including the majority leader, have said that. They came to the floor on 3 successive days last week and dismissed her complaint as a smear. That is the word that was used-- ``smear''--on the floor of the Senate. Even before she had testified, even before they had seen her under oath say what she did, they dismissed this as a smear. I don't think that is an indication of respect for Dr. Ford to have said that on the floor of the Senate, and I think that she deserves more, as anyone would, who is willing to testify under oath.
I would also say that the testimony of Brett Kavanaugh last week was a revelation. He stayed with his story that he was mischaracterized and was improperly and wrongly accused, and he, too, was certain that this event had never occurred, but in his testimony, in his opening statement last week before our Judiciary Committee, I saw something that I had never seen before in the Senate. I saw a level of emotion, which was understandable, considering the accusations that had been made, but there was a level of anger that I have seldom seen, and perhaps have never seen, in the Senate.
Judge Kavanaugh attacked those who had raised these questions about him. He said that he bore no ill will toward Dr. Ford, but then he called her allegations ``a calculated and orchestrated political hit,'' citing ``apparent pent-up anger about President Trump and the 2016 election,'' and then he added: ``revenge on behalf of the Clintons.''
It is hard to imagine that a person aspiring to serve on the highest Court of the land--where your temperament is so important, where you have to make certain, as best you can, that you take politics out of your legal equation--would be so direct and so specific in blaming his plight on ``revenge on behalf of the Clintons.''
This political grace note from Brett Kavanaugh--this ``lock her up'' grace note--may be appealing to some on the political spectrum, but it speaks volumes about this judge and how he would serve if he ever had an opportunity to be on the Supreme Court.
It has been said over and over by the Republican majority leader that the Democrats are in the midst of a big delay tactic. I have to echo the comments of Senator Schumer earlier. It is very difficult to take the Senate majority leader credibly when he makes a statement that we are trying to delay filling a vacancy on the Supreme Court. The Senate majority leader set the record in delaying Merrick Garland's nomination for more than 300 days when he even refused to meet with the man, let alone consider a hearing, when Judge Garland was nominated by President Obama. To have this majority leader now tell us that we are the ones responsible for delaying really is to ignore history and to ignore the reality of what has occurred here, because of the courage of his Members, three of whom have stepped up and said: We will not dismiss Dr. Ford's allegations with just a staff phone call; we want an actual hearing. That was inspired by three Republican Members of the Senate, and we backed them up. We thought their request was right.
As for this FBI investigation, I know a little bit about that because I asked Judge Kavanaugh directly during the course of this hearing what he wanted us to do. I did not ask him what the White House wanted us to do and not what the Senate Judiciary Committee Republican leadership wanted to do, but what he, Judge Kavanaugh, wanted to do when it came to this FBI investigation. My point was, if Dr. Ford is willing to submit her allegations to an FBI review, why wouldn't you, Judge Kavanaugh? If you believe there are no credible witnesses and no credible evidence, otherwise, why wouldn't you want a complete investigation done by the nonpartisan professionals at the FBI? But even then, he refused that thought of an FBI investigation.
It wasn't until Senator Jeff Flake, a Republican of Arizona, made it clear that he would not move forward on a vote on the floor without that FBI investigation, joined by Senator Coons of Delaware and many others, that this FBI investigation was under way. So give credit where it is due. Any delay of a week for us to consider this is really inspired by Senator Flake's request, with the support on the Democratic side of the aisle. So to blame us for this delay, unfortunately, again, is not accurate.
It appears now that Senator McConnell, the Republican majority leader, is determined to plow through this, as he has said. He has said this nomination will be on this floor this week. If the FBI investigation is completed Thursday or Friday, there will be a report that is available for Senators to review, as they should, and to read the results of this investigation and draw their own conclusions. That is the regular process of the Senate, but it appears that Senator McConnell can't wait. He can't wait for that to be completed and thoughtfully considered by his colleagues in the Senate.
It has to be this week, he has determined, and has said it over and over again. He blames us for delay, delay, delay. If we take a day or two or more to thoughtfully consider whatever the FBI finds, isn't that our constitutional responsibility filling a vacancy, a lifetime appointment, to the highest Court in the land? That, I think, is my responsibility and should be his as well.
Let me close by saying, this has been a celebrated chapter in history and will be remembered. To have a Supreme Court nomination for the swing vote of the Court that may tip the balance for decades before us is something we obviously consider seriously. That it would come at a moment when these allegations have been made about sexual harassment as we are facing this issue at every level and every sector of American culture really dramatizes the importance that we get this right; most importantly, that we be fair--fair both to Dr. Ford, who had the courage to step forward, and fair to Judge Kavanaugh, who has the right to tell us his memory of events and to be taken seriously as well. The FBI investigation, though it was resisted by Judge Kavanaugh, is a step in the right direction.
I hope my colleagues on the other side of the aisle who have not declared where they are and how they will vote on the Kavanaugh nomination will wait until the FBI investigation is complete, review their findings, and reflect on the very basic question: Is Brett Kavanaugh the right person at this moment in history to be given a lifetime appointment to the highest Court in the land?
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