On the recordOctober 25, 2020
Mr. President, I rise to speak about the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to be an Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. That has been the subject of, I know, a number of floor remarks tonight and this morning. We know that in terms of the history of the nomination at this time before an election, no person has ever been confirmed this close--just days away from a Presidential election--and no election, of course, has had so many votes cast this early. Fifty-nine million is the last number I saw a couple of hours ago. And this is all happening--this rushed confirmation process--while people are voting, all while Republicans here in the Senate are ramming a nomination through and not voting on a COVID-19 relief bill, which should be the subject of our work at this time, in my judgment, because of the nature of the pandemic, the threat that it still poses, and the relief that is needed all across the country. But as much as we focus, in this Supreme Court Justice nomination debate, on this judge from the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, ultimately, it is really, in the end, not about her nomination; in the end, it is about real people's lives, especially as to how the Supreme Court will impact those lives, those families, when it comes to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. That will be the focus of my remarks this morning.…





