Nomination of Amy Coney Barrett

Floor Speech

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Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, Justice Ginsburg was the first Supreme Court Justice I ever voted for and a North Star for me and so many others whose futures were irrefutably made possible in part by her life and her work.

I pledged I would do everything in my power to honor her last wish-- that the next President fill her vacancy--not just because Justice Ginsburg was a legal giant who can never be replaced but because I understand, like she did, that making such a momentous decision so close to an election could exacerbate our Republic's challenges and spin our democracy into chaos.

That is why I have been fighting so hard to push my colleagues to stop this charade and to just wait a few weeks. We should not be voting on this lifetime appointment while the American people themselves are in the middle of voting, of telling us how they want this country's future to look.

This is all made even worse by the fact that we are in the middle of a pandemic, and instead of working with Democrats to pass serious relief our communities are calling out for, Republicans are refusing to do anything but jam this anti-healthcare judge on to the Supreme Court.

Over the last 3 years, I have seen Republicans rubberstamp hard-right judicial nominees like it is all they came here to do, but watching them ignore the clear wishes of the American people, explicitly reject attempts to help families and communities get through this pandemic, and press on with this grotesque power grab--it is a new low for this body. It is a new low for our country and for the people we serve.

As I have made clear, I will be voting against Judge Barrett's confirmation, just like I voted against her confirmation to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, against Justice Kavanaugh and Gorsuch and against so many other Trump-nominated judges who, whether they admit it or not, are part of a Republican strategy to roll back our hard-won progress.

Judge Barrett clearly fits the same mold as the more than 200 partisan judges Senate Republicans have fast-tracked onto the Federal bench who are anti-healthcare and anti-abortion but pro-big business and pro-wealthy special interests.

This was all reinforced during the sham nomination process as Senate Republicans and Judge Barrett tried to downplay their own litmus test.

Judge Barrett was asked to affirm the constitutionality of the law that protects healthcare for hundreds of millions of Americans. She refused.

She was asked to affirm the longstanding ruling of Roe v. Wade as a superprecedent. Not surprisingly, given her record includes a statement calling Roe ``barbaric,'' she refused.

She was asked to affirm the constitutionality of the ruling that allowed same-sex marriages and opened up a new chapter of equality for LGBTQIA+ couples. She refused.

She was asked to affirm that climate change is causing air and water pollution. Yet, even on this matter of scientific fact, Judge Barrett refused to answer, and that was apparently exactly what Senate Republicans hoped she would do.

The lack of transparency from Judge Barrett and Senate Republicans is concerning, not because we don't know where they stand--we do--but because they are so comfortable obfuscating cold facts about Judge Barrett's record and judicial philosophy as well as their own previous statements, as if they are not real.

For example, in 2016, they were adamant that when the Supreme Court loses a Justice in an election year, the people's voices should be heard before the vacancy is filled. For 8 months, they refused to hold a hearing on President Obama's nominee, Merrick Garland, but now, even as the American people are in the process of voting, Republicans are trying to ignore their voices. Not on my watch.

I recently asked people in Washington State to share their personal stories about what is at stake for their families. The response has been overwhelming, and the stories have been alarming.

I have heard from people whose stories show how different life was before and after Roe v. Wade and how much would be lost if reproductive rights were rolled back.

I have heard from people who fear their right to marry or adopt a child or start a family could be lost.

I have heard from people who are worried they will die if Republicans get their way at the Supreme Court and take away the healthcare and protections they rely on.

Republicans may want to pretend the stakes are not this high, but they don't have to take my word for it; they can listen to their own constituents and look at their own records.

For Republican Senators to stand here and tell families ``not to worry'' is kind of like the captain of the Titanic passing out umbrellas and telling passengers that is all they need--with one key difference. Republicans have made clear from the start that hitting the iceberg is not an accident; it is the plan.

Despite the fact that climate change is an existential threat-- something the vast majority of the public understands--Republicans continue to cower to a President and special interests who insist it is a hoax.

Despite the hard-fought progress for LGBTQIA+ rights, they have stood by this President who undermines them at every turn.

Despite the fundamental importance of the right to vote, they have blocked our efforts to restore and secure those rights and protect our democracy.

Despite what they would have you believe, Republicans have tried time and again to end protections for people with preexisting conditions and upend healthcare in our country.

If the failed TrumpCare vote from a very few years ago is too painful or distant a memory for Republicans to revisit, they are at this very moment championing a lawsuit that would do all the harm of that bill and then some. Who is going to hear that lawsuit? The deciding vote could be a Justice picked by a President who vowed--vowed--he would only choose nominees who will rule against protections for preexisting conditions, who thinks that would be a ``big win,'' and who said just last week that he hopes that happens.

It is no mystery why President Trump nominated and Republicans are rushing to confirm a judge with a record of hostility to the Affordable Care Act.

It is no secret that a victory for them would be a disaster for families across our country. If you don't believe me, ask Mays from SeaTac, WA, who lives with sleep apnea, asthma, prediabetes, complex post-traumatic disorder, and hypothyroidism. If Republicans succeed in this lawsuit, she would lose her Medicaid expansion coverage and access to care, meaning her conditions could deteriorate, increasing her risk of diabetes, coma, or dying in her sleep.

If you don't believe Mays, then ask Rhiannon from Arlington, WA, who has type 1 diabetes and could get kicked off her parents' insurance plan if Republicans win this case at the Supreme Court. As she wrote to me, ``Right now the ACA is the only hope I have of living past 26.''

If you don't believe Rhiannon, ask Madeline, who has a medical condition which makes pregnancy fatal. For Madeline, affordable healthcare coverage--coverage that includes access to birth control--is absolutely essential, as is the right to an abortion. If Republicans get their way, insurance companies would no longer have to cover birth control, even though a pregnancy for Madeline would be life- threatening.

Things get even worse for her if Republicans overturn Roe v. Wade. Last year, when Madeline learned that, despite being diligent about her birth control, she was pregnant, she knew what she had to do. She had to get an abortion. It was safe; it was legal; it was totally her decision; and it was lifesaving.

But if Judge Barrett were Justice Barrett, if the right to abortion were a thing of the past, Madeline's pregnancy would have been a death sentence. As she put it, ``This isn't a right vs. left issue for a lot of us, it's life or death--and knowing [that] is at stake . . . is terrifying.''

Madeline isn't the only person who is terrified. If Republicans win their lawsuit, over 130 million people with preexisting conditions like Madeline could be charged more for their health insurance, have benefits excluded, or be denied coverage entirely.

Over 20 million people like Mays and Rhiannon could lose coverage for Medicaid expansion, the exchanges, or their parents' plans. Insurance companies could exclude essential health benefits countless other patients rely on, like prescription drugs or maternity care or therapy or wheelchairs or much more.

Half the country could be charged more for health insurance just because they are a woman. Seniors could face thousands more in healthcare costs with the return of the age tax and the Medicare doughnut hole. Lives of people with disabilities could be upended if they lose access to home- and community-based services that help them live independent lives or if insurance providers can discriminate on the basis of disability by denying coverage or charging more.

And people with expensive healthcare needs--cancer diagnosis, a medically complicated pregnancy, a fight with COVID-19--could be left with an enormous bill since insurance companies won't have to cap patients' out-of-pocket costs but will be able to place annual and lifetime limits on their benefits.

And we cannot forget the communities of color who already face worse outcomes due to systemic racism in our healthcare system who would be hit hardest by so much of the damage of the Republicans' healthcare lawsuit.

Healthcare isn't all that is at stake for families--far from it. Fundamental rights and protections and opportunities for workers are on the line. The fate of immigrants and refugees and asylum seekers-- families and Dreamers who came to our Nation in search of a better life and brighter future are on the line. And hard-fought victories for the LGBTQIA+ community are on the line.

Matthew, in my home State of Washington, and his husband were able to marry, to adopt, and fortunate to be able to form a loving family. But that might not be possible for LGBTQIA+ couples like them in the future if the highest Court in the land turns back the clock and refuses to see them as equal under the law.

The bottom line is that this Supreme Court fight is not about politics. It is about the lives of hundreds of millions of people. If Republicans don't believe my constituents, I invite them to ask their own. I encourage them to listen because I guarantee people across the country know what Republicans have been saying, know exactly what Republicans are voting for, and they are speaking up about it.

I am here sharing their stories on the Senate floor, and Democrats brought their stories to the committee room so that Republicans have no choice but to hear them.

When we vote, Republicans will have no excuse to pretend they do not know exactly what is at stake. Instead, every one of them will have a simple choice. Will you listen to the families who are speaking up, the people who are saying to you, in no uncertain terms, that if you put this judge on the Court, if you win this partisan lawsuit, it could kill me or will you ignore them?

If Republicans truly want to reassure their constituents and want to show they are listening, the choice is simple: Vote no on this nomination. For those who choose to put this President and the profoundly lost Republican Party above anything else, to those Republicans who are capping these brutal last 4 years off with such a staggering show of fealty and partisanship and callousness, know the consequences of this vote will be felt long after this President is gone from office, regardless of the outcome of this election. People of this country will not forget and neither will your Democratic colleagues.

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