other medical procedure seeing it as another method of control makes sense. the experience of women since 1973, the pain and difficulty, remorse and regret saying other children on sonograms, seeing there own children on sonograms is a constant argument to them that m

and him and what his views are outside the mainstream and there is every reason to believe he would overturn the row. back:rning roe would set freedoms. reality is it will impact all americans. we all have a stake in whether constitutional principles on observed. is a fundamental piece of case law. it upholds snow liberty and abilityrights, like the to marry whomever you love and use contraception in deciding when and if to have a family. because the issue of gun safety is so important to me, i want to mention how extreme his views are in this area. even though five circuit courts have upheld bans against assault

weapons, he argued in 2011 against washington, d.c.'s ban because weapons like ar-15's are use,".on when you combine president trump's repeated promises about his pro-life and pro-gun nominees and kavanaugh's record there is every reason to believe thoseominee will fulfill promises. we would go by señor d on the committee. senator schumer is on his way. everyone will yield when he arrives. to introduce patrick leahy. former chair. >> thank you. i willsaid in vermont say here. i have a message for donald trump. the constitution doesn't direct the president to nominate

justices with the advice and consent of the federalist society and the heritage foundation. the constitution gives that rolled to the senate. the president looks set independent courts like it does the justice department. be -- he it should thinks it should be an arm of the white house. the justice department will no withr defend people pre-existing medical conditions. that is in next ordinary step, goes against what the justice .epartment has done before i have been here for the last 17 nominations to the supreme court including every sitting member of the court. whether you consider roe versus wade or affordable haircut air -- health care amount voting

rights, so much more, i have never seen so much at stake. republicans, who blocked chief john collins to the court we actually take our obligations seriously. my consento withhold for this nominee who seeks to law.se 45 years of settled who intends to strip away insurance protection for millions of americans, who sides with powerful hard-working americans, or anyone who believes and shares the president's belief the courts are the extension of the president's power not a check against it. the court aspiration after role is to provide equal justice under the law.

what we feel and that is what this nominee has yet to prove. i see our leader here. i will yield. i want to thank our members of the judiciary committee. for the great job they do. one of the most talented group of senators i've ever seen assembled. i've seen a lot of senators assembled. thank you. last night president trump took a step that millions of americans fear he would take. nominated to the supreme court someone who would fill his campaign promise to overturn roe and declare health care for americans unconstitutional. with judge kavanaugh's

nomination, the president has put women's reproductive rights and vital health care particularly those that protect families with pre-existing conditions at grave risk. the american people cannot afford either. for every american who cares about women's health, about protections for people with pre-existing conditions, about civil rights come a labor rights, lgbtq writes, environmental rights, now is the time to fight. now. now is the time for american people to make their voices heard loudly, clearly from one end of this country to the other . now is the time to demand a justice who will protect our health care, not strike it down. now is the time to demand a justice who recognizes a woman's

personal liberty, her right to make her own health care choices . instead of one who will put the government between a woman and her doctor. for thehe time to fight freedoms and rights all americans deserve. that is what is at stake with this supreme court nomination. knew if president trump picked his nominee from the list that was written by special interest federal's list society and heritage foundation they would be overturned -- be prepared to strike down the health care law and overturn roe. those organizations are oficated to getting rid pharrell and getting rid of the affordable care act. has -- his goal of

life is to get a supreme court to repeal roe. does anyone think anyone of those names including judge kavanaugh would protect roe? they wouldn't be on the list if they were. you know that. i know that. the president knows it. the american people are going to learn it. kavanaughat judge argued. that the trump administration should keep a young woman ended tension and allow them, allow her to make her own choice but medical care, and amazingly he said the courts should consider a constitutional challenge to the health care law, the affordable care act and openly criticized the supreme court thesion to uphold affordable care act.

president trump had litmus tests. president trump had litmus tests . judge kavanaugh's rulings don't stop in those places. he is evening -- he has even argued sitting presidents should .ot face criminal investigation no investigation of a president. is it any wonder president trump chose kavanaugh, when we know he was obsessed with this investigation? a president doesn't have to follow a law if the president deems it unconstitutional. with this president who has had so little respect for rule of law, who has shown he will , it isr democratic norms no wonder he chose judge

kavanaugh, whose views are more extreme than just about anyone else on that list. mcconnell told the president there were other nominees. why did the president stick with kavanaugh? because he is worried. that mr. mueller will go to the court and ask the president be subpoenaed, and ask to do other things necessary to move the investigation foreword and president trump knows kavanaugh will be a barrier to preventing that investigation. the room if occasions battle will last a generation and more. i'm going to fight this nomination with everything i've got. the american people must join us and speak loudly. clearly. now.

we must've feet judge kavanaugh's nomination to the bench to save women's reproductive freedom, to save health care protections to save the rights and freedoms all americans enjoy. that is what is at stake in this fight. that is why we are going to give it everything we've got. let me now call on my good friend for many years, senator durbin. >> the wisdom of our founding fathers, nine americans assembled that have the last to preserving the constitution, preserving our union, and preserving our freedom. we are now in the midst of a decision on the swing vote on the united states supreme court. if justice kennedy was a swing vote to the center, judge kavanaugh would swing to the far

right. kavanaugh's record has shown consistently given a choice between corporations and consumers, he is a reliable ally of big business time and time again. given a choice between polluters and public health, he consistently finds a legal escape or the polluters. deciding between the freedom of women to plan their own families and the strong hand of government, women lose an kavanaugh's courts. kavanaugh's views on the second amendment are straight out of the gun lobby playbook. where he grew up would be wild west dcf judge kavanaugh had his way. here is a presidential tweet you will never read. time thend that can of president found a supreme court nominee on record saying the president should not be distracted with criminal

investigations of prosecutions while he is in office. brett kavanaugh would be the deciding vote to change the rules in america for the next generation. are a number of my colleagues on the senate judiciary committee. on behalf of the american people we will look carefully at the extensive record of brett kavanaugh. activitys of political . i have found in the time i have had this responsibility if you really want to know what that supreme court justices going to do you pay attention to what they say in the hearing, and what they have done with their lives, where they have been, the kind of political decisions they made over and over. we know brett kavanaugh. we knew him when his name came up with the d.c. circuit court of appeals. we knew what he would mean to the supreme court. on behalf of millions of americans, to protect the union

and the constitution this senate judiciary committee is ready to act. >> this nominee like other recent republican nominees to the supreme court has had to run a special interest obstacle course moderated by the federalist society. as a committee we need to understand what assurances were to those special interests as this nominee ran that obstacle course that put them at the top of the list. that is a vitally important question. you may say that it is improbable we are in a country where that question would need to be asked. two dozen 5-4t decisions, partisan decisions of the united states supreme court that inevitably unpredictably

decide in favor of republican clinical interests at the polls, with dark money, and predictably decide in favor of big interests,special and against accountability to regulators. we are going to look into what and what assurances that made that brought this name to the top of the list. if there were assurances made roe v.minee will appeal wade and take away a woman's right to determine her own reproductive future. if he made assurances he would support this administration's position protecting people's right to get health insurance with a pre-existing condition is something unconstitutional. those are vital questions. there is a norm is grounds for a suspicion about this nominee.

with that i turned to my distinguished colleague from minnesota. talk to theg to american people. doetimes people say, what the american people care about who is on the court? thes the court that makes decisions and has made the decisions in the last few decades about how you can marry, where you can work, if you can and about if his workplace was saved. i would not be here without those rulings. that is what this is about. when you look at this nominee, who has notone upheld those rights. so many times. you look at his rulings on health care my colleagues have discussed. you look at his rulings on reproductive rights. you look at his rulings on

consumer issues. those people that thought it was wrong when wall street ran out -- ran over all of us, this if the consumer financial protection bureau was set up to protect you, that was unconstitutional. for people out there that want to have net neutrality, they think regular people should have the same access to the internet is wealthy people or big corporations coming he said the opposite. he dissented. he said that is not true. they shouldn't be able to protect net neutrality. we cannot go back to a time when women are made criminals for making a choice about what to do with their own bodies. we can't go back to a time when they can't make a decision about their own contraceptives. when you look at what is happening people want to move forward.

that is why you see people marching. that is why you see them organizing like never before. we cannot go back to a time when hope insurance companies can just kick you off if you have a pre-existing condition. that is a case that is heading to the court right now. i know it and my own life. when my daughter was born she could not swallow. she was in the hospital for weeks and we got to have health insurance and keep having health insurance even though we did not know if she was going to make it. thatt other moms to have same feeling that they know their kids can be protected. that is why we need a judge in the real world, independent of political ideology who makes decisions for the people. that is why this is important. with that my turn it over to my colleague. >> thank you. thank you for reminding us with

compelling personal stories about how courts matter. the decisions of the supreme court matter more than any other courts decisions in ways that have impacted you as a mother and daughter. is not ame court temple. it is not an academic institution. nine justices applied the constitution to our society commit to our lives and families. courts have consequences. it didn't have to be this way. president trump could have nominated someone not off of the narrow list of those preapproved by far right organizations. we could be here discussing a nominee who was potentially someone with a wide open record who might command a bipartisan majority. instead we have someone who has a long record of being at the most conservative end of jurisprudence. we don't really know his full record.

he was at the center of the bush administration. he has written hundreds of the opinions on the d.c. circuit court. the president taking his step of nominating a supreme court justice, we have a job to do as members of judiciary to dig into his record, to go through it thoroughly and demand the release of every single record that might be relevant so you might know what this next justice if confirmed might do with your rights, liberties and freedoms. should wenly then have a hearing and take a vote. we must know this man's record. where he is going with their court and our freedoms can best be predicted by how he has behaved and where he has been, at the center of so many issues in the bush administration, in conversations, in decisions of the federalist society.

democraticthat turned out not , because millions of americans recognized their health care was at stake. they called, they acted, they got engaged, they spoke out, they came here to the capital. it's my hope that americans won't do is look at the numbers of our two caucuses but they will realize that courts matter, that this nominee will have an impact on your life and as we dig into his record, you will take of your role as citizens and speed out and communicate to your senator and this congress your passion for our making sure that the freedoms hard-won over decades by a key decisions of this court will not be rolled back in the event this man is confirmed, and the way to know that is to know his record and to hold them accountable. i look forward to your voice and your role in making sure we win this fight for freedom. let me now yield to a seasoned

senior litigator former attorney general and member of the judiciary committee, senator blumenthal of connecticut. blumenthal: thank you for bringing us together. i worked for a time in this building and i was a law blackmunjustice harry the year after he wrote the majority opinion in roe v. wade. i have argued cases in this building, four of them. i have deep respect, in fact, reverence for the united states supreme court as a central pillar of our democracy. truth to the powers across the street and down pennsylvania avenue. say'm here with sadness to

don't belongh, you in this building as a justice. judge kavanagh, you should not as arving in this building supreme court justice. because you have demonstrated an extraordinary hostility to the rights and liberties precious in this country that make this nation great. memo to the park -- if you care about common sense gun violence protection, judge kavanagh is your worst nightmare. checks ort background ban on assault weapons or any of the other common sense sensible measures that we haven't connecticut or california or new

york, judge kavanagh will strike them down. that's in his record. it's indisputable. nightmare ofst advocates for common sense sensible measures to stop the epidemic of gun violence in this country, given that the on this court and you can say goodbye to the measures in new york and connecticut and california that have helped save lives. no on this nominee. my colleagues should be in no on this nominee. kavanaghdge specifically commits that he will recuse himself on any involve president trump's personal financial dealings or the special counsel. , judge be the swing vote

kavanagh, if he is a justice, would be the swing vote in deciding whether he can pardon himself. get out of jail free pass. that's the accountability that will be lost if judge kavanagh is confirmed. likewise whether he can be called before a grand jury. whether he can be indicted while he is still president. whether he will be stopped from violating the emoluments clause of the united states constitution as he is doing every day by taking foreign gifts and payments without coming to congress for consent, whether our lawsuit, 200 of my colleagues have joined in this lawsuit to hold them accountable and stop them from violating that clause can go forward. is a memo to the american people. the question we are asked most often is can you stop him?

you are in the minority. the answer is republican control the senate, the american people are on our side in their beliefs and views. now is the time for americans to rise up, those park with students, the survivors and victims of gun violence across the country, women who believe that the government has no place in their doctors examining rooms or their bedrooms, people who believe that the air and water ought to be clean, that consumers should be protected, we all have a stake in this battle. and if america is heard, is those voices are real, we can win this battle. to very proud to turn now mazie hirono, senator hirono from hawaii. : we know that the

president has said he wants his supreme court nominees to be someone who will overturn roe v. wade. judge kavanagh does not, should not get the benefit of the doubt , he bears the burden of proof to convince all of us and the american people that he can indeed be a fair and objective justice, knowing full well that he has already been vetted by the federalist society and the heritage foundation, whose goals are to overturn roe v. wade and repeal the affordable care act. not to mention a time when we have a president who pushes the limits of his executive powers, we want to know where judge with regard to executive powers. because the indications are that he views executive powers as being fast -- vast. at a time when this president pushes his is i could've powers to the limit how much should we have 70 on the supreme court who believes there should be an insulation of the president

against either criminal or civil proceedings as long as he sits in office? this is a very troubling nominee , but it are for the course for this president. i certainly think that he nominated him because he is very concerned about the mueller investigation and whether he can have a justice on the court will sustain when he thinks is his right to be free from prosecution. so on many counts, this is a very troubling nominee. there are millions of people in our country who have freezing conditions. -- pre-existing conditions. i'm one of them and we should be very concerned that this nominee has been vetted by the heritage foundation, whose goal is to repeal the affordable care act and the protections that it provides for all of us, including the millions of us who have existing conditions.

we turn to cory booker, new jersey. senator booker: i look forward to standing with my colleagues all americans and what will be the most important fight of our lifetime, there will be no greater. colleagues senator harris. senator harris: you're a cool cucumber, corey. if you are a young woman in america or you care about young woman in america, pay close attention to this nomination. they close attention. because kavanagh has made his purpose clear. when he was on that list of 25, he has told us that in every decision is made on the issue of choice. let's be clear about what this is about. it's about government taking on the decision about a woman and what she does with her body is that of giving that woman and

her family and her god the power to make the decision for herself. this is about replacing the authority of government, putting the government's authority head of the authority of a woman to make a decision about her own body and her future. if you are a young woman in america or you care about a young woman in america, pay attention to this. because it will forever change her life. thate bottom line here is one individual on this court makes a difference. who that individual may be. i know that based on personal experience. because federal war and not been a member of this united states supreme court, that court would not have been and would not have been led unanimously to design brown v. board of education. at that decision not come down the way it did with the full force and authority of one individual who brought the entire court together, i would not be standing here as a united

states senator. cory booker would not be standing here is united states senator. the decisions that one person makes on that court can have ramifications for the future of our country. pay attention to this, guys. pay attention. collects anything all of my colleagues for their amazing statement that some of the readiness, questions -- for any of us? too late, i think i know why. >> what about the fact that harry reid is the one who started the nuclear option so now you're faced with the nuclear option instead of the 60 vote? >> mitch mcconnell blocked george after judge after judge on the courts. then, leader reid had no choice. law, we saidd the

supreme court should be different. then mitch mcconnell change that. and then to boot, he wouldn't let merrick garland have a hearing. mitch mcconnell has had as his goal to create a hard right supreme court and nothing has stopped him. if we weren't around we would not be in this position. >> sen. schumer: you talked a care,out roe and health but how much of the debate will you focus on the nominees executive powers? >> a lot. new with any of the 25 nominee is that health care and women's health and right to choose would be important. the kavanagh brings a new prominence to the issue of executive power, because he is almost certainly the most hard 25, he isll of the

almost certainly the one who would most yield to presidential power. to say that if a president deems along constitutional unconstitutional, he doesn't have to obey it, that's dangerous at any time, but it's particularly dangerous when donald trump is president and we are going to make this a major an important issue. thatme conservatives say kavanagh is insufficiently conservative and they are pointing to his decision on aca, the aca dissent and agar is a versatile argan. there's also reporting by nbc news there is negotiation between kennedy and thompson brett kavanaugh would be his successor. is there a sense that he would be a justice? >> anyone who gets the good housekeeping seal of approval and the federalist society the heritage foundation is not moderate and mainstream, it is hard right and wants to move america back decades.

thank you, everybody. >> from the democratic response here at the supreme court. we are going to take a look back at the white house that president trump was picking judge brett kavanaugh to replace justice anthony kennedy on the u.s. supreme court.