[silence] [silence] okay. Lets go over why we are here. We are waiting for her. [crowd chanting] okay, thank you very much for coming and thank you for joining us this morning. I am here to stand with my colleagues on the Judiciary Committee who are boycotting todays Committee Markup on the nomination of judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. It is not a decision members of the committee have taken lightly. But a republican majority has left us no choice. We are boycotting this illegitimate hearing. The nomination of Amy Coney Barrett is the most illegitimate process i have ever witnessed in the senate and her potential confirmation will have dire, dire consequences for the senate, for the Supreme Court, and our entire country for generations to come. The Senate Republican majority is conducting the most rushed, the most partisan and least legitimate nomination to the Supreme Court in our nations history for potential confirmation for the senate, the Supreme Court and our entire country for generations to come. The senate majority, the most rushed, the most partisan and the least legitimate process in the long history of Supreme Court nominations. Democrats will not lend a single ounce of legitimacy to this sham vote in the Judiciary Committee. Democrats will not lend a single ounce of legitimacy to this awful, awful hearing. We are voting with our feet, we are standing together and we are standing against this unprecedented mad rush to jam through a Supreme Court nomination just days, days before an election. Today the seats of democratic members and the committee will remain empty. Instead they will be filled by reminders of what is ultimately at stake. Photos of americans whose lives will be turned upside down if Justice Barrett delivers the decisive vote to secure the longheld republican goal of destroying the Affordable Care act, stripping healthcare and preexisting conditions. You can imagine alongside their faces the faces of women who cherish the right to make their own private medical decisions. The faces of lgbt q americans who want to marry who they love and not be fired for who they are. The faces of American Workers who are breaking their backs to make ends meet and want their union to help them get a better wage, the faces of young people who know the globe is imperiled in their lifetimes. The bottom line is very simple, the senate should not be moving towards this nomination. To call this process illegitimate is being too kind, but chairman graham, chairman graham has broken the rules of the committee to move forward with a vote on judge barrett anyway. The rules require two members of the minority to be present to vote anyone out of committee but chairman graham just steamrolled over them just like the republican majority has steamrolled over principles, fairness, honesty, truth and decency in their rush to confirm a justice. The United States senate has never, never considered a Supreme Court justice this close to a National President ial election day especially one in which tens of millions of americans have already voted. The American People oppose this and can see the hypocrisy in real time. It is a hallmark of democracy that might should not make right. But republicans are blatantly ignoring this principle. The American People know what is going on. They are not fools. They know this process is a sham, a naked power grab. This is the culmination of a decadelong effort to skew the court to the far right. Republicans and the far right cannot accomplish through the legislature they are trying to accomplish through the judiciary. Senate republicans tried and failed to repeal the Affordable Care act so donald trump and republican attorneys general are suing to eliminate the law in court. And now if Senate Republicans confirm judge barrett, someone we all know is critical of decisions upholding the aca, they could be on the brink of achieving their goal. That is what this is all about. The American People who are voting right now by tens of millions, are not fooled by this farce of our confirmation process and they know what is at stake, their rights, if Amy Coney Barrett is confirmed. This nomination should not, should not go forward. Senator feinstein. Good morning. Last week, Committee Rules were broken to set todays vote. Republicans broke the rules again like we are seeing today without any democrats present. All along, democrats have objected to proceeding on this nomination in the middle of an election. 40 million americans have already voted and we are just 12 days from an election. In 2016 the republicans set a precedent against filing a Supreme Court vacancy in an Election Year where they blocked president obamas nominee, merrick garland, for ten months before that election. Then in 2016 republicans said it was necessary to hold the nomination until after the election in order to give the American People a voice at the ballot box. Majority leader mcconnell said this, and i quote. The American People should have a voice in the selection of the next Supreme Court justice. There for this vacancy should not be filled until after we have a new president. Theres an old adage. What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. Now, however, republicans are proceeding regardless. Last week, democrats participated in the nomination hearing because we wanted to show what was at stake for america if Amy Coney Barrett is confirmed. We made our case about risks to Affordable Care especially the Affordable Care act, reproductive freedoms, the right to vote and the quality for all. The Affordable Care act and roe v wade could be lost. The democratic members of the Judiciary Committee did not have the votes to defeat judge barrett in committee. At that point there was no further reason to participate in the Committee Process that has been used to rush this nominee forward. I will be voting against judge barrett on the floor, but between now and then, democrats on this committee and across the caucus will continue to make the case about what is at stake for the American People if judge barrett is confirmed. I recognize my colleague and friend, senator patrick leahy. Thank you. Senator schumer and senator feinstein pointed out, this was anything but fair. We saw what happened. Moments ago in the Senate Hearing room, republicans broke Committee Rules, in many ways even worse than that, they broke their word to finish the confirmation process that has become a caricature. Republicans have not been shy about why they are in this bad way. Republicans announce the nominee even before Justice Ginsburg was buried. They see an opportunity to accomplish from the courts they failed to accomplish in congress, that includes making voting a second class right. Republicans launched an allout war on voting. Last night they were successful. The Supreme Court voted 53 to block curbside voting in alabama during the pandemic and earlier this week when the courts put 44 for the right of pennsylvanians to vote by mail. Republicans obviously believe Justice Barrett ensured they do not lose again when they tried to stop people from voting. Not hard to see why. Time and time again the president has said he needs judge barrett on the bench when outrageous claims about mail in balloting. Another reason, another republican on the senate committee, this is the entire reason they need to confirm now before the election, donald trump said he has to have a nominee, Supreme Court justice who will do what he wants her to do. It doesnt bode well that during her hearing judge barrett refused to stand the most basic test of our democracy. She refused to affirm the constitution, the peaceful transfer of power, she refused to advise the voter discrimination when we all know it does. She refused to recuse herself for many election disputes. Make no mistake, donald trump sees this as a green light to do whatever he wants no matter the odds. We need to keep fighting this nomination. We need to do everything we can to protect our democracy including past the house. To pass it here. We have to be clear what is at stake for this nomination. Theres nothing more important, and for the people. Not a dictatorship. I yield to senator durbin. Thank you, senator leahy. On the floor of the United States senate we are discussing a Supreme Court vacancy. We should be talking on another topic. America is in the throes of the deadliest epidemic in more than a century. 222,000 americans have died. Ministates recommending a number of infections and deaths. My state of illinois, the governor recently called on the restaurants and the four major counties surrounding chicago to close because infection rates are outofcontrol. It is personal. Feeling ill last saturday, told her daughter i need to go to the hospital. She went to the first Major Hospital near her and was turned away because there was no room. She went to the hospital the second hospital, turned away. No room. Finally admitted to the third hospital. She passed away on tuesday morning. We have reached the point, her daughter said, to the very best hospital, that is the state of america today. You would never know it if you listen to debate on the floor of the United States senate because senator mcconnell and the republicans believe the priority for america is their political move to fill this vacancy on the Supreme Court. We should be passing a massive covid19 relief bill that would include testing, money for hospitals and clinics, money for schools, unemployment insurance, help for Small Businesses, help for the restaurant industry, the Airline Industry and state and local governments. Senator Mitch Mcconnell has no time for that only time for a political agenda. No time for coronavirus relief, no time for him to personally attend negotiations to come up with a massive covid19 relief bill to meet this national challenge. Senator mcconnell and the republicans have one priority, it is political. They need to reverse the position they announced four years ago when they denied president obama the opportunity to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court. They need to deny the American People a voice in this election process. They need to force through this nomination of Amy Coney Barrett. Millions of americans watched the senate Judiciary Committee last week. They can draw their own conclusions. She has a lot of law in her head but i wanted to know what she has in her heart. What we learned with she did not have the compassion for 23 million americans depending on the Affordable Care act. And provide them some refuge and confidence in the midst of this pandemic. She didnt have the courage to stand up to donald trump and say she would not be a lackey when it comes to election contest. And she didnt have basic commitment to the pillars of modern law in america, the pillars including the rights of women, the battle against races, marriage equality, privacy for every american citizen and most importantly, no commitment when it came to Voting Rights in america. Look every day at news reports of people standing in line in the United States waiting for 10 hours to vote. That is shameful in a country that claims to be a democracy with opportunity for all. We come to you today to make it clear, we could not be party to the senate Judiciary Committee across the street this morning. It was in violation of committee law, Committee Rules, more importantly it was in violation of fair play. We believe the American People should have a last word in filling the Supreme Court vacancy and they will have the last word on november 3rd. Efforts by senator mcconnell to ignore this pandemic and move forward with this nomination are inconsistent with the basic principles of this country and that is why the members of the committee decided in advance not to participate. I know introduce senator sheldon whitehouse. For the third time now, they have bought their way to the table at which the United StatesSupreme Court justices are selected for the third time. More for the third time anonymous donors have written checks of 15 million and higher to pay for the campaigns for the confirmation of. And for the third time our republican colleagues have broken every rule, every practice, every norm of the senate including one this they set themselves in order to deliver vague anonymous donors a court that will serve their interests. They are turning the institution into a pantomime court that goes through the motions of adjudication but delivers the goods for the donors. This is over. With that let me turn it over to senator klobuchar. Thank you, everyone. This is Justice Ginsburg to send caller. I think we should not forget what her last fervent wish was and that was that the winner of the election, the next president , pick her successor. That was consistent with the president set by our republican colleagues just a few years ago. That is what this is about. They have engaged in a sham, violating their own precedent, not listening to the words of the great Justice Ginsburg. Justice ginsburg said that her dissents were blueprints for the future. As a rabbi noted in this great capital, they were blueprints for the future. That is what is at stake in this election. We can make our own blueprints for the future. We can make our own blueprints by voting. One thing i want to focus on today was something senator durbin referred to, deeply personal for so many americans. While the republicans are ramming through this justice and spending the whole weekend on that, what should we be doing . Helping the families of this country, the moms trying to keep kids on their laps when they have laptops on their decks. The moms and dads trying to teach fourthgraders how to use the mute button. Seniors like my dad who got covid19 through a glass door knowing if it would be the last time i saw him at 92 years old and he looked so small in that room. I didnt think he was going to make it home. This is personal for everyone. No matter where you keep an eye on this this is personal. This republican majority and this president have chosen to make as their Closing Argument that they are going to push through a nominee whose record shows us just where shes going to come out on so many things. The Affordable Care act is on the ballot. Voting is on the ballot. Womens rights are on the ballot in this is our moment. I do not stand here today with a cry of defeat no matter what a sham this is. I came here for Justice Ginsburg the weather a blueprint for the future. Good morning. This morning, the capital and the Supreme Court are shrouded in myths. It is not clear, let us help clear it up. Sometimes the talk of the votes and committees, quorums and filibusters here in the capital, in the senate, is a little hazy for the American People and sometimes tough to follow. While we are here on these steps, what this is all about, is all about what is on the ballot and what is on the docket. The agenda this morning on the senate Judiciary Committee was moving the nomination of judge barrett to the floor of the senate and as my colleagues said several times, the only way the republican majority was able to do this was by breaking the rules of the committee. We were not there, we were not part of that vote because after the confirmation hearings that have happened, it is abundantly clear that in the middle of a pandemic where 8 million americans have been infected, more than 220,000 have lost their lives, we should instead be negotiating a robust package of pandemic relief and the republicans have insisted on breaking the example of a set just four years ago, of refusing to move a qualified nominee in the midst of an election. We are in the midst of an election. Tens of millions of americans are already voting. We participated in the hearing so that we can ask judge barrett, so we could get clear for the American People what is on the ballot and what is on the docket. Like all of us i brought a picture of a real person for whom the consequences of what is on the docket are very real. Just a week after the election the Supreme Court will hear another constitutional challenge to the Affordable Care act, long settled eight years ago. My case was from middletown with a preexisting condition, Small Business owner who cant get access to quality affordable healthcare if the Affordable Care act is overturned. In the confirmation process i asked judge barrett will you recuse your self if this rushed and partisan unprecedented process results in putting you in that court just in time to decide cases that arise from this election . She would not commit to recusing herself from a decision that would hand the election to donald trump. This is an issue because donald trump himself has said over and over, over and over donald trump has said i want her rushed through so that a judge can sit on the court and overturn the aca. I want her rushed through so that she can decide the election. Every member of the republican majority, in the Judiciary Committee and in the capital behind me has over and over voted to overturn the Affordable Care act. This isnt about what judge barrett said in her confirmation hearings because she wouldnt answer. It is about what we all know is on the agenda, is on the ballot, and is on the docket. I asked judge barrett if she would simply confirm, several conservative justices before her have, that the right to privacy first recognized in griswold versus connecticut decades ago in 1965 was settled, safe and secure, the sort of right that americans know is not on the docket and is not up for reconsideration, and unlike justices both progressive and conservative before her she would not say so. Why does that concern me . Her writings and her record show a judge willing to go farther to the right than even Justice Scalia. To reach back, reconsider and possibly overturn decisions she and other conservative justices think were wrongly decided. What does that mean might be on the docket . The whole line of cases that recognize privacy. The right to love. The right to marry. Dont listen to me, justices alito and thomas just weeks ago raised their hand and said we should reach back and reconsider. They may be shrouded in mist right now, but i hope i helped make it clear, all the democrats standing behind me, we were not over in the Judiciary Committee markup this morning because we wanted to be clear, what was on the agenda, what is on the docket, what is on the ballot. This is personal. It is about long settled rights for millions and millions of americans. In the middle of a pandemic we should not be racing for the republicans to confirm this partisan nominee who puts at risk hundreds of cases long settled. We should be delivering relief to the American People. Thank you. With that i will hand this over to senator blumenthal. Thanks. First of all, my thanks to senator schumer and senator feinstein for their leadership. Make no mistake, we are 100 unified. If it sounds like we are repeating the point it is not due to lack of originality. It is a sign a unity and determination to continue this fight. I listen to my republican colleagues during the meeting today. Their case for moving judge barrett forward was to attack democrats. It was full of violating anger and grievance against democrats. They are running away from the issue. The affect of this nomination to take away rights to health care for millions of americans, rights to gun violence prevention, rights to vote, rights to safety in the workplace and millions of americans with preexisting conditions will be at risk because of this nomination if it is confirmed but watching them in that Committee Room were real people on posters we brought into that hearing room. Real people whos lives may be decimated by ruling on the aca to strike it down, real women who will lose control over when and whether they have children because this nominee has said in fact the legacy of roe v wade is barbaric. She has aligned herself with groups that would criminalize in vitro fertilization. She is shown by her legal position that she would overturn roe v wade and in fact she has asked the trump past trump test, strike down the aca, overturn roe v wade, that is the reason she wouldnt answer our questions. She has already answered those questions for the vetting and screening rightwing groups that have given her a path. Almost half a century ago in the building across the street, Justice Blackman wrote the opinion in roe v wade shortly after he did it. We thought this issue was solved. Privacy was guaranteed. And get today we are still fighting the issue that protects womens rights. We owe it to them, we owe it to all americans to keep up this fight. We cant go back to the time when abortion was banned, when contraception was criminalized. We need to move forward. We are determined to do it. I heard from those americans who have been watching, the americans we brought into the hearing room, the americans who are scared and angry. I have been listening to people across connecticut feel fundamental rights may be gone. Our republican colleagues who pushed this nomination through in a wrong exercise of power. They are doing it because they can. The American People do what they can on november 3rd. We are not done. We will continue to fight this nomination. We will have the votes ahead and i hope my colleagues will be held accountable for disregarding the will of the American People who want their voice heard so that the next president and the next senate vote for the next justice which im happy to yield to my great colleague from hawaii, senator hirono. Thank you. I am very committed to joining my colleagues and other protests what is happening with this nominee. These are not normal times. Its not normal times when we have Mitch Mcconnell answer republicans, why are your priorities so screwed up that in the middle of a pandemic we cant work on a covid19 bill that helps people and your pushing through this nominee . It is a rhetorical question. We all know that amy barrett presents a clear and present danger to the Affordable Care act. On november 10th when republicans get their way she will be sitting there and the court to hear this case. She let it be known that she thinks she Justice Roberts made a mistake when he upheld the law. She would have struck down the Affordable Care act then. She is a clear and present danger to so many of the rights of ruth they are ginsburg. Have we forgotten all the things she fought for . Equal rights for women, access to Affordable Care, lgbt q rights, all the rights that Ruth Bader Ginsburg fought for, and she actually listened to the people who would be impacted by the courts decisions. I want to focus on one of these rights. Lgbt q rights. One of my colleagues mentioned the border film. Two Supreme Court justices have signaled, this is what they do, they signaled why dont we revisit, there is no constitutional reason for samesex marriage. This would be justices alito and thomas. They are really good at signaling what they would like to have a chance to overturn. Judge barrett aligned herself with Justice Scalia who wrote all the major decisions against gay rights including the last one. You combine the fact that judge barrett aligns herself with the rightwing, conservative wing, the Supreme Court, she very much in line with her mentor, Justice Scalia, with her outlier view of precedent where she says it is up to every justice to decide for herself what the constitution requires that if president does not align with that, down goes the president. That is why roe v wade is at risk. That is why overfilled is at risk, why so many things Ruth Bader Ginsburg spent her whole time on the Supreme Court fighting for are at risk. That is why i stand here with my colleagues in protest of this nominee and guess what . There are 40 Million People who have voted. They know what is at stake. Republicans hope people are not paying attention but they are. I will turn to my good friend cory booker. Good job, maisie. I stand with my colleagues in a Firm Commitment to some of the best american values. I stand with my colleagues with a commitment to noncorroboration with that which is wrong and boycott of that which is unacceptable. We stand resolute and in lockstep with tens of millions of americans of all backgrounds, all persuasions and all political parties, that what Senate Republicans are doing right now is wrong. They are violating process, violating rules, violating their own words. It is a difficult thing to witness such bitter violence against euro words but i stand also with my colleagues. Resolute, firm belief that we will continue the fight. Even though we stand at a point in the midst of a pandemic, walking through the valley of the shadow of death, at a time our country needs the best of us we have fallen into rank partisanship that is failing us instead of coming together to claim the high ground of action on the crisis we are dissenting into in quicksand, of a power grab that will go down in history as one of the darker moments of this institution. Today i stand with my colleagues and i lean upon the truth of our history. That has not been absent of wrongs of this institution. I stand with them in an understanding that in this great nation america has shown an extraordinary alchemy, the ability to turn dark, dark days, dark, dark nights into new days of hope, the ability to turn richard wrongs into pathways of redemption. The ability to take tragic defeat new possibilities for greater victories. Today, i join my colleagues in a great tradition of noncooperation and boycott of these proceedings. I also join with them i mean like so many of our ancestors did and say resolutely the words of those, we say we shall overcome. Thank you. Thank you, everybody. Time for questions, senator schumer. Are you watching over . I dont know. I dont know. Senator hirono . Good talk. The confirmation of judge Amy Coney Barrett for the us Supreme Court is about to begin in the senate when senators gavilan next they will begin several days of debate on whether to approve the Appeals Court judge nominated by donald trump, to fill for Ruth Bader Ginsburgs seat, judiciary, and yesterday to advance the nomination of judge barrett. The Democratic Senators have been asking republican members to hold off on approving a new justice until after the november president ial election. The senate is expected to vote on limiting debate over the confirmation, setting up a final vote monday. Live now to the senate floor on cspan2