to preserve our democratic institutions for our children by voting to confirm judge gorsuch to the supreme court. judge gorsuch is going to serve our people. saw this in hours of his impressive testimony. judgestep of the process, gorsuch is the man who respects he defends the constitution, and in so doing, he will protect our freedom. with judge gorsuch on the supreme court, america will be a more free, fair, and just a nation for all of our citizens. got bless you. >> i serve the people of rhode island in the united states senate. i sit on the senate judiciary committee considering nominees for the u.s. supreme court, the

most powerful court in the world, and one of our most corned institutions. the committee is preparing to vote on the nomination of neil gorsuch, a federal epaulet judge to be our next associate justice on the court. i want to give you an update on what i learned about judge gorsuch during his confirmation process and what i haven't. we began this hearing with a predicament. over the last decade or so, when republican appointees were a five justice majority on the court, a distinct pattern emerged -- a 5-4 decision benefiting republicans at the polls and big corporations pretty much everywhere. the results became predictable. the evidence is hard to overlook. in collection relating rulings involving issues like gerrymandering, state efforts to suppress democratic leaning voters, or flooding our

elections with republican leaning corporate spending, the score ended up 6-0 coming down on the side favoring republican interests at the polls. in rulings where corporations stood to benefit over humans, it is even more of a rally. businesses over unions, corporations rights over women's rights, gun manufacturers and big polluters over individual citizens' safety, finances, and health. companies got to chip away with consumer's seventh amendment rights. and rulings on corporate political standing benefited big corporations, out peddling their influence. by the count that i used in hearing to score on that front, it is 16-0 for corporations. during the hearing, i asked judge gorsuch about these important decisions and what he might do when presented with similar questions on the supreme

court bench. in particular, i asked him about all the dark money in our politics, which has smothered the voices of individual americans and obscured the hands behind the dark money. you have all seen the ads, groups with funny names like " people for puppies and prosperity" telling you in an ominous voice why senator smith wants to end america as we know it. behind that group, someone is paying for that airtime. thanks to citizens united, unlimited money can flow through those dark money entities, letting corporations and their ultra-wealthy owners buy unprecedented influence. that is why i wanted to hear what judge gorsuch thinks about unlimited dark money flooding politics. in particular, i wanted to know what he thought about the shadowy dark money group that in spent $17 million to back

and of those last years well-qualified nominee, judge merrick garland. judge gorsuch could not enjoy the question. in fact, when i pressed him and asked what made him so much more appealing than judge garland to the backers of the stock money group, here is what he said. gorsuch: was interesting is that this group sees a huge difference between you that i don't understand -- the dark money group that is spending money on your elections spent at least $7 million against him getting a hearing in a confirmation, and indeed produced that result by spending that money. now we have $10 million going the other way. that is a $17 million delta. i am figuring out what they see in you that makes that $70 million delta worth their spending.

-- 17 million dollar delta with understanding. >> you would have to ask them. >> i can't because i don't know who they are. it is just a front group. >> the supreme court has a big and important job to do. our constitution grants the supreme court the indispensable job of protecting our democracy, the integrity of our elections, and voices of individual citizens. the next supreme court justice has to understand that job. and to c with clear eyes the threats that can silence our citizens. dark money is one of the biggest of those fronts. judge gorsuch needed to convince me he would not join the posse of republican appointees that has relentlessly stretched the law to benefit republicans and corporations at the expense of everyone else. he convinced me he would stand up to real threats of democracy

like dark money. over and over during his hearing, she dodged and duct and failed. my callings are calling on george gorsuch to ask this dark money group backing his nomination to tell us who is behind him. we are calling on the group directly to come clean to the american people about their backers. we need that answer before the vote on monday. unfoldsn, where history daily. in 1979, c-span was created as a public service by america's cable television companies and is brought to you today by your cable or satellite provider. this week on "the communicators" we want to introduce you to the new president and ceo of u.s. telecom. first of all, welcome to the washington world again.