Mr. President , i, many here with an incredibly heavy heart. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a tireless, legendary champion of equality who has shaped our society for the better passed away on friday, first eve of rosh hashanah. Adherents of the jewish faith believe that a person who passes away during the high holidays is a person of a great righteousness. Well, truer words could not be spoken of Justice Ginsburg. Standing at just over five feet tall, she was a giant among thij immoral beacon, whos life and legacy have inspired millions of americans to do their part, to bring about a more perfect and just union. Were all forever indebted to her. Brooklyn born daughter of working class jewish parents, young girl would become just the second woman to serve on the Supreme Court. Knew from early on, shed have to fight for her place in the world. And what a fighter she was. When she entered Harvard Law School in 1956, just one of nine women in a class of over 500, the United States was truly a mans world. Women were expected to stay home and out of the workplace. Even when they had jobs, they could be fired for getting pregnant, and they otherwise earned barely half of what men earned for the same work. Women couldnt get credit cards without their husbands consent. As Justice Ginsburg would remark some years later, these and other gender based rules helped to keep women not on a pedestal, but in a cage, and Justice Ginsburg refused to accept the status quo. She believed unwaveringly that equal justice under law fundamentally required gender equality. When she joined the aclus womens rights project in the early 1970s, she waged a systematic Legal Campaign against gender discrimination, and she ultimately won five out of the six of the cases she took to the Supreme Court. She eloquently and incisively convinced the then all male court to see and strike down the visible and invisible lines that kept the genders unequal. In reed v. Reed, she convinced the Supreme Court for the very first time that the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment barred discrimination on the basis of sex, and that enshrined constitutional protections for generations of women and men. And during oral arguments, she spoke quietly and confidently, piercing through dense legal arguments with moral clarity. In frontiero v. Richardson, in which she convinced the court to end gender discrimination in the administration of military benefits, her words resonated powerfully today. She said, in asking the court to declare a sex a suspect criteria, i ask no favor for my sex. All i ask of our brother is that they take their feet off our necks. And within a few short years, Justice Ginsburg had already empowered millions of american women through her zealous advocacy, granting them more autonomy over their lives, their bodies, and their careers. She was widely hailed as the Thurgood Marshall of womens she could have simply rested on her laurels from that point forward, but she was justoi getting started. In 1980, president carter nominated her to be an appellate judge on the d. C. Circuit, and i was so proud to vote for her confirmation back then, back 40 years ago. There she developed a reputation as a pragmatic consensus seekera often finding Common Ground and building friendships with conservative judges. One of the best known of those friendships was hers and justice antonin scalia. So theres no surprise, in 1993, president bill clinton selected Ruth Bader Ginsburg to be a justice of the Supreme Court. He called her and im rather proud to say she and her husband were visiting vermont, my home state, when she received the call. I still vividly remember her confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary committee. She is the embodiment of humility and grace and strengthf and wisdom. She endured four long days of at times, intense questioning from senators of both sides of the aisle. Never once did she lose her poise. I remember that so well. I thanked her for fighting for a world in which my daughter would have opportunities equal to those of my two sons. Qu not surprisingly, she was confirmed by a 96 to 3 vote, becoming just the second woman to ascend to our nations highest court. My vote for her confirmation to the Supreme Court is among the most consequential and impactful i have cast as a senator. This weekend, my wife marcelle and i drove here to the capitol. We walked over to the Supreme Court. We saw all the people around, writing notes in chalk on the sidewalk, praising her, leaving flowers, leaving pictures. I saw so many. I was struck really by the number of teenagers and people probably in their early twenties who were just standing there sadly and saying, i talked to a couple of them, were all wearing our masks. Im sure they had no idea who i was. And i talked to them. They all said in one word or another, she was our inspiration. I think of my own daughter. When, a year ago, Justice Ginsburg was being honored by a Congressional Group against cancer. She asked my wife to introduce she asked my wife to introduce her. My wifes a cancer survivor. A my wife brought as her guest our daughter, and they sat there. Our daughters told me so many times the most meaningful times in her life, to sit with a woman who had always been her hero. Marcelle and i just stood there in silence and thought of the memories of the times wed been with her, of what she has done for this country. W because over the course ofne nearly three decades, Justice Ginsburg secured her place is one of the most ardent defenders of equal rights for all americans in Supreme Court history. She never tired of being a voice for the voiceless. She always tried to use her power, her power, to uplift the powerless. She authored the landmark majority opinion in United States versus virginia, which struck down the Virginia Military institute maleonly admissions policy as being unconstitutional. Her words still read like a treatise of what equality must mean in america. Presumptively invalid, she wrote it. They deny it to women simply a because they are women. Equal opportunity to aspire, to achieve, and participate in and contribute to society. And i think of my wife, i think of my daughter, i think of my three wonderful granddaughters. H and even when she was in the minority Justice Ginsburg did not go quietly. She always left an impact. In the Lilly Ledbetter case where the majority ruled the claim of unequal pay was barred by an arbitrary statute of limitations, Justice Ginsburg retorted, the majority does not comprehend, or is indifferent to, the insidious way in which women can be victims of pay discrimination. W she then urged congress to correct the courts parsimonious reading. And two years later, we did just that, we passed the Lilly Ledbetter fair pay act, a copy of which she proudly hung in her chambers, a bill that i was so proud to help bring to fruition on the floor of this body. In Shelby County versus holder, the disastrous decision to invalidate key provisions of the Voting Rights act, Justice Ginsburgs dissent spoke truth to power. She wrote the key provisions of the Voting Rights act when it has worked to stop discriminatory changes is like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because youre not getting wet. And of course, justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was right. And since that decision, weve witnessed a turn to Voter Suppression laws because the Supreme Court did not listen to her. Thats why ive championed the bipartisan john lewis Voting Rights advancement act to restore the Voting Rights act. These drives for change, and many others, often began with two words from the justice, or individual, i dissent. All the greatness of Justice Ginsburg was matched in [inaudible] by her authentic goodness. Always a member of the action for Cancer Awareness event. I mentioned that earlier, but she and my wife, marcelle, spoke at that together last year. She was so genuinely kind to marcelle and to me, to all the r people she interacted with. She loved people, so its not surprising they loved her right back. Its not surprising. We saw tears in people who knew her and didnt know her as we stood in front of the Supreme Court this weekend. Justice ginsburg became a beloved cultural icon. She inspired books, movies, evei saturday night live skits. And so, i teased her about that, and she took it all in good humor. Her dogged public battle of cancer, her can do attitude, in fact, she missed less than a handful of arguments despite her years long illness, inspired millions across the world. She gave hope to people she would never see, never meet, but they felt they knew her, and she gave them hope. But through it all, she never lost her humility. When asked how she shed like to be remembered, Justice Ginsburg simply said, just as someone who did whatever she could, and whatever limited talents she had, to move society along in the direction id like it to be for my children and grandchildren. Im proud to stand on the floor of the United States senate as dean of this body, but i can say with certainty, that shes going to be remembered for that and for so much more. Shell be remembered long after any of us are. This incredible life and legacy should be the only story of today. But sadly, thats not the case. Instead of simply celebrating her life and her many contributions to our society, President Trump and our majority leader forced our attention to turn to her vacancy on the court, this day before shes even laid to rest. In fact, immediately after news of her passing senator mcconnell announced he would rush to replace her on the court. Even as her family are standing there mourning her, he made that announcement. He tossed aside all precedence and principals, his intent to ram through a nominee no matter the cost. Despite all of senator mcconnells talk promises four years ago, when a vacancy arises 269 days before a president ial election, the American People should have a voice in deciding what president fills that vacancy. Thats what he said when president obama was the president. We got to wait 269 days to see who wins the president ial election. But today, the majority leader is doing everything he can to deny the america people a voice, and this time with just 42 days, not 269 days, but 42 days remain before the president ial election. And seeking a fig leaf for the institutional cover, today, the leader is trying to conjure up yet another rule that essentially there was an unspoken exception to everything he promised in 2016. I guess i didnt hear that 2 unspoken exception. And apparently the American People do not get a voice when the white house and senate are under the control of the same party. Pay no attention to the fact that this contradicts everything leader mcconnell and many other republicans claim to believe ad nauseum for 10 months in 2016. But even this desperate hairsplitting falls flat on its face. If the majority leaders 2016 rule, let the American People decide, only applies when there is a divided government, and the unprecedented 10 months blockade of Merrick Garland contradicted the confirmation of Justice Kennedy nominated by a republican president and confirmed by a Democratic Senate during Election Year in 1988. And i was one of the democrats who voted for this republican nominee, as did virtually every other democrat. The majority leaders abrupt aboutface is not about following precedent. It certainly isnt about principle. S the blatant hypocrisy, believes the norms and principles apply only to the other party, or only apply when nothing is at stake, is a result of something even more insidious, is the direct result of the president and the majority leader wanting to bend the course of their will no matter the cost, at no matter the cost for the senate, and certainly, no matter the cost for all our courts across the country. Ur i have much more to say about this. Make no mistake, the actions were taking during these waning days of the Trump Administration will forever stain, or redeem, this institution in which weev proudly serve, depending upon whether they go along with this or not. The 100 members of this body represent 313 million americans. Were entrusted to act in their best interests, and to our actions in the weeks ahead, we risk forever eroding the American Peoples trust and faith in our independent judiciary. And our actions have a Lasting Impact for good or for ill on every americans most basic rights, rights of equality and fairness, that Justice Ginsburg spent her lifetime securing. We all know what we should do. We all know how we can make the United States senate be as it should be the conscience of the nation. I i fear were willing to close americas door on that conscience. But today, i simply seek to honor Justice Ginsburg. She dedicated her life to the causes of equality and justice and made both a reality for millions of americans. Shes left us a rich legacy to cherish, more importantly to carry forward, will be forever in her debt a generation. Actually, who i saw standing at the steps of the Supreme Court, more than a generation of women and all americans have been inspired by her leadership and courage. Her trailblazing legacy to thank. Lets honor her memory by following her example by recommitting ourselves to pursuing a more perfect union, not just for the few. No, not just for the few, but for all americans. Madam president , i yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum. Mr. President , this past friday evening on rosh hashanah, our nation lost a giant of our Supreme Court. We lost the trailblazer for