sensitive data and use that to assemble a full picture of a person that is sensitive to elements i think we need to be concerned about that. maybe they are beneficial but they can cause harm and we need to be alert of that. thank you. >> coming up on c-span2, we will bring you today's supreme court conformation hearing with supreme court neal gorsuch starting with the opening statement and showing you the entire hearing and later we will get reaction from committee chair senator charles grassley and democratic senator richard blumenthal of connecticut.

judge neal gorsuch begins the second day as his supreme court conformation hearing. he will take questions with questioning expected to last through wednesday. on thursday, the committee hears from outside witnesses. watch our live coverage starting at 9:30 a.m. eastern on c-span3ism -- c-span3. you can see it on c-span.org and the c-span app. president trump is headed to the house tomorrow to speak about his health care bill. watch live coverage of the debate and vote on c-span starting at 9:00 a.m. eastern.

coming up tuesday morning, texas republican congressman jody arington will discuss the future of health care, russian interference in the election and trump's 2017 budget. and robin kelly weighs in on health care, the budget and the congressional black caucus meeting at the white house. be sure to watch c-span washington journal live at 7:00 eastern. >> now the opening statement for supreme court nominee judge neal gorsuch before the senate judiciary committee. he is sworn in by senator grassley who chairs the committee. >> before you sit, would you raise your right hand to be sworn. do you affirm that the testimony you are about to give to the

committee be the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you god? >> i do. >> thank you. please be seated and you may tell us what you want us to hear at this point. >> mr. chairman, senator feinstein, members of the committee, i am honored and humbled to be here. since coming to washington, i have met with over 70 senators. you have offered me a warm welcome and wise advice, thank you. i want to thank the president and the vice president. they and their teams have been so gracious to me and i thank them for this honor. i want to thank senator gardner

and bennett for their kind introductions reminding us that long before we are democrats or republicans we are americans. sitting here i am acutely aware of my own imperfections but i pledge to you and the american people that if i am confirmed i will do all my powers commit to be a faithful servant of the constitution and laws of this great nation. mr. chairman, i could fougnot attempt to do this without louise, my wife of 20 years. the sacrifices she gives leave me in awe. i love you so much. we started off in a place very

different than this one. tiny apartment, little to show. when her mother came to visit she was concerned by the conditions. as i headed out the door to work, i will never forget her whispering to her daughter, are you sure he is really a lawyer? to my teenage daughters watching out west, baiting chickens for the county fair, devising ways to keep our pet goat out of the guard', building a semi functional hoverboard for a skie science project. these are just a few of my very favorite memories. i love you girls impossiblely.

to my extended family, here and across colorado, when we gather as the dozens of us, we hold different political and religious views but we are united in our love and between the family pranks and the pack of children returning rampant whoever is hosting is left with one drywall repair. to my parents and grandparents, they are no longer with us but there is no question on whose shoulders i stand. my mom was one of the first law gradutes at her school and helped develop a program to pursue dead beat dads. her idea of daycare sometimes meant i got to spend the day wondering the halls or tagging behind police officers. she caught me headlines are fleeting and courage lasts. my dad taught me success in life

has very little to do with success. kindness is a great virtue. he showed me there are fewer places to finding god than wading in the stream even if it is a long day home with the dog after encountering a skunk. as a boy, i could ride my bikes to my grandparents home. my dad's father, poor and irish, worked to take care of his family. he became a doctor. i heard stories from grateful patients who called him kneeling by their bedside so they could pray together. his wife, my grandmother, grew

up on a nebraska farm. with seven children she never stopped moving and she never stopped loving. my dad's mother made his way through college working on denver's trolley cars and practiced law during the great depression. his life came from a family of pioneers. he loved to fish. he is the one who taught me how to tie a fly. i want to thank my friends. so many of whom are here. liberals and conservatives and independents from every kind of background and belief. many hundreds have written this committee on my behalf and i am truly touched by their support. they have been there for me always. not least when we lost uncle jack, a hero of mine. and a life long priest.

he gave the benediction when i became a judge 11 years ago. as it is, i know he is smiling. i want to thank my fellow judges across the country judging is sometimes a lonely and hard job. i have seen how these men and women work. they make the laws real for all of us. byron white, my mentor, a product of the west who modeled judicial courage and followed the law wherever it took him without fear or favor to anyone. and yes, the highest paid

football player of this year. there is god, john elway and payton manning. in my childhood it was byron white. i had the fortune to clerk for justice kennedy who showed me judges can disagree without being disagreeable and everyone that comes to court deserves respect. a case isn't just a number or name but a story and a human being with equal dignity. justice scalia was a mentor, too. he reminded us that words matter and the judge's job is to follow the words in the law. this colleagues cherished his great humor, too. we didn't agree on everything. the justice with enthusiasm.

he thought the more you slap the line on the water the more the fish would love it. finally there is justice jackson who wrote so cleary everyone understood this decisions. he was a famously fierce advocate for his client as a lawyer he reminded us when you become a judge you fiercely defend only one client: the law. these judges taught me about the rule of law and importance of the of the law, how each generation must take a turn carrying a baton or watch it fall. i would hang up the road and the truth is i don't think that is what a life in the law is all

about. as a lawyer, working the trial court trenches i saw judges and juries while human and perfect striving hard every day to fairly decide the cases i put to them. there is a judge now for more than a decade and i have watched my colleagues spend long days worrying over cases. the answers we reach are not the ones we prefer sometimes. the answers we reach are always the ones we believe are the ones the law requires. nbl the rule of law in thisication is truly a wonder and if it is no wonder it is the envy of the world. of course, once in a while, we judges disagree. but they are not about politics but about the laws demands.

the court affirmed by judgment with the support of just thomas and sotomyer and justice stevens and scalia in defense. that is a lineup some might think unusual. it is that sort of thing that happens quitely day in and day out in the united states supreme court and the courts across this count country. justice scalia and breyer agreed even more often than 60% of the times. all in the toughest cases in our entire legal system. over the last decade i participated in over 2700 appeals. only 5% of cases make their way to the court of appeals.

i have served with judges appointed by president obama all the way back to president johnson. we hear cases from six states, two time zones and 20% of the continental united states. but in the west we listen to one another. 97% of the cases are decided unanimously and i have been with the majority 99% of the time. that is my record and how we do things in the west. as my daughters never tire of reminding me putting on the rob doesn't make me any smarter. and i will never forget the

first day of the job tripping on the hem of my robe and everything going flying. troublesome as the robe can be, the robe does mean something to me. it serves as a reminder of the modestation we advertise. in other countries, judges where silk and here we judges buy our own plain black robes. and senator seth knows i can attest the standard choir outfit at the supply store is a good deal. ours is a juduciary of honest black polyester.

neutral and independent judges apply the law and people's disputes. the very idea of a government by the people and for the people and those coming before the law would lib in fear. as alexander hamilton said liberty can have nothing to fear from judges who apply the law but liberty has everything to fear if judges try to legislate, too. i try to teach all who come before with fairly and with respect and equal rights to poor and rich. i have decided cases for native americans seeking to protect

tribal lands and class actions like ones that ensure c compensation for waste produced by california plants, for the disabled, workers seek rights and undocumented immigrants. sometimes i have ruled against such person but my decisions never reflect the judgment about the people before me. only the judgment about the law and facts at issue in each particular case. it is probably a pretty bad judge stretching for privacy results rather than the law compels.

i came across a lawyer and judge who was largely forgotten when i went through the graveyard. his name was sumner and written on his tombstone 200 years ago was the description of a man. as a lawyer, he was faithful and able. as a judge, patient and impartial, decisive. in private, affectionate and mild. in private life, dignified and firm. party feuds were laid by the correctness of his cob conduct. he was silenced by the weight of virtues and rancor softened by

his han manners. these serve as the daily reminder of the law's integrity and the hard work it takes and encouragement to good habits when i fail and when i falter. if confirmed, i mrenl to you to do everything in my power. >> thank you, judge. i have a few words to read but before i do that we will convene tomorrow at 9:30. each person will have 30 minutes rounds and i will have the first round tomorrow. not taking into consideration

any of the judges needs to get away from the table. i would suggest we have sen hours of work to do in addition to whatever the judge needs. i ask you to be prepared for that and the way i would like to do is if you start your last question before the time runs out i will ask the judge to give a short answer but i think we have to move on quickly and get it done. the next day we have 20 minute rounds and there wile be as many rounds as people need because i would like to get done by nendz night. if we can get to bed by 9:00 like i like to i would appreciate it. we have questions for the record being due at 5:00 p.m. this time line is consistent with how

we handled fast supreme court nominations. i want members and staff to work on the written questions throughout the week. with that we will recess -- i am sorry. with that, the meeting is ad adjourned.

[inaudible conversation

[inaudible conversations] >> a reminder judge neal gorsuch dpins the second day of the supreme court conformation tomorrow taking questions from senate judiciary members with questions expected to last through wednesday.

on thursday, the committee hears from outside witnesses. watch the live coverage starting at 9:30 a.m. on c-span3. you can see it on c-span.org and listen on the c-span radio app also. >> more now as supreme court nominee converimation hearing before the senate judiciary committee. -- conformation.