mr. blumenthal: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. blumenthal: thank you, mr. president. i want to thank my colleague from tennessee, as well as the leaders on both sides. this effort has been truly bipartisan. it is a profoundly significant beginning, but only a first step. it needs to be followed by others because we know that this epidemic truly is national. and i want to thank especially my colleague from west virginia, who will follow me, senator manchin, for his tireless, relentless efforts on this issue. i have been very proud to work with him and to begin working on it when i was attorney general of the state of the connecticut in suing the painkiller manufacturers and taking action against the sellers of prescription opioids, to make sure that they are held accountable. the communities need our help. we've promised action, and we are now delivering, in part, on this issue, which has been so devastating and deadly for so many families, communities, states, and towns throughout connecticut and our nation. the calls for action to

mr. blumenthal can say all he wants, if you talk about tainted, you talk about senators who said before president even nominated his nominee for this position, they would note vote t vote that is tainted. i am voting no because i am a democrat and i don't like this. he knows what -- they know who this is, they know he is a brilliant legal mind, they know they can do nothing about it but watch the process and pitch a fit, i commend mitch mcconnell, and chairman grassley for moving forward, not giving in to temper tantrum today. liz: let's get to next case, tech executives heading to capitol hill this week, starting tomorrow with senate intelligence committee chase book ceo, twitter, and google executive on hot see th seat bee lawmakers this week. those stocks today, facebook down more than 2%, and twitter and google ending lower, shares of snap, touching an all-time low. congressman, here is the thing, we know that the democrats need 23 seats to retake control of the house. the cook report said that 70 republicans seats are in play, we know historically that at midterm election, ruling party in pr

mr. blumenthal. >> no. >> mr. booker. >> no. >> miss harris. >> no. >> the votes are 11 nays. ten ayes. >> the nominee will be reported. >> i want to thank my friend and colleague senator flake and thank you for giving us the time today to have a conversation. a number of my colleagues have asked for a one week delay in order there might be an fbi investigation of what allegations are currently before this committee. i respect senator flake's view that in his opinion it was best to respect your having given drchl ford t dr. ford to be heard yesterday and advance the nominee to the floor. it's my hope we could work together on a bipartisan basis to diligently pursue an fbi investigation within the next week not for the purpose of delay but for the purpose of investigating further either allegations made by dr. ford or others with a goal towards demonstrating a bipartisan commitment to diligently investigating these allegations. thank you. >> senator feinstein. >> i would support that motion. i misunderstood mr. flake, i thought it included one week investigation. i would like t

mr. blumenthal. >> mr. booker. >> mr. harris. >> mr. chairman. >> the motion is defeated. for at 1:30 p.m. today. >> mr. chairman, point of order. >> mr. chairman, point of order. >> stop violating the rules of the committee. >> mr. flake. >> it continues. >> mr. kennedy. >> ms. feinstein. >> it violates this committee. it violates it. >> mr. blumenthal. >> no. >> ms. hirono. >> i object. the answer is no, no. >> mr. booker. >> ms. harris. >> they are not answering because this is so unfair, mr. chairman. >> follow the rules and customs. >> mr. chairman, the votes are 11 11 -- we have an agenda with ten judges who are ready to be vote. nominated the eighth circuit and a district court judges. we also have two bills on the agenda. we will hold over as 31-78. the justice for victims of lynching asked, we will vote on s2785, sponsored by senators durbin and grandma. of this bill combats offensive election interference by foreign adversaries by denying entry to any foreign national who has been deemed it to engage election interference. the amendments i will be introducing mak

mr. blumenthal: thank you. madam president, the judiciary committee had an extraordinary meeting this morning, and each of us spoke at some length about our reservations or support for the nomination of judge brett kavanaugh to be a united states supreme court justice. at the end of that meeting, as we were about to take a vote, senator jeff flake, our colleague, announced his decision that he would request and seek a one-week extension of the vote so there could be an f.b.i. investigation of some of the unanswered questions that still very seriously and urgently demand responses. and that is a very promising and important step. it has to be a real investigation, not a sham who are a show. it has to be penetrating and impartial, which the trained professionals of the f.b.i. can do. i have a lot of confidence that the f.b.i. will do its job and answer those very serious and urgent questions. the answers are all the more oppressing after the extraordinary hearing that we held yesterday at the judiciary committee.

mr. chairman. >> senator blumenthal i think i ought to call on senator feinstein. >> if i through the chair could ask a question of senator flake. does your amendment include continuing the investigation during this period of time? >> if i can respond, there is no amendment. i'm simply stating that the discussion that we had between us all is that i would hope and i think we had some agreement before that the democrats who have been i think justifiably uncomfortable moving ahead could publicly in an effort to bring this country together, say that we would feel better, i'm not expecting them to vote yes, but not to complain that an fbi investigation has not occurred. and that's what i'm trying to do. this country's being ripped apart here, and we've got to make sure that we do due diligence. i think this committee has done a good job, but i do think that we can have a short pause and make sure that the fbi can investigate. my understanding is that some of us would have to, and i'm prepared to do it, make a request to the white house to ask the fbi to do that investigation. it would it be short and

blumenthal: mr. chairman, i moved to adjourn. you ruled that our hearing that my motion to adjourn was out of order at that time.

. >> senator blumenthal? >> mr. chairman, i ask if you have sworn statements that you're submitting to the record that we have those individuals come before us so we can ask them questions about those statements. i think that the nature of this proceeding would be compromised if we lack an opportunity to ask them questions about sworn statements that will be part of the record. so, frankly, mr. chairman, i would object to entering them into the record. >> mr. chairman? >> senator whitehouse? >> i have a number of letters that i would like to ask submitted to the record that relate to the importance of proper investigation by trained professionals in pulling these kind of investigations together from the leadership conference on civil and human rights, national women's law center, national organization for women and so forth. >> senator kennedy? >> mr. chairman i have a question for our chairman. the statements that senator blumenthal talked about, those were statements taken by our majority staff? >> they're already

. >> senator blumenthal? >> mr. chairman, i ask if you have sworn statements that you're submitting to the record that we have those individuals come before us so we can ask them questions about those statements. i think that the nature of this proceeding would be compromised if we lack an opportunity to ask them questions about sworn statements that will be part of the record. so, frankly, mr. chairman, i would object to entering them into the record. >> mr. chairman? >> senator whitehouse? >> i have a number of letters that i would like to ask submitted to the record that relate to the importance of proper investigation by trained professionals in pulling these kind of investigations together from the leadership conference on civil and human rights, national women's law center, national organization for women and so forth. >> senator kennedy? >> mr. chairman i have a question for our chairman. the statements that senator blumenthal talked about, those were statements taken by our majority staff? >> they're already

blumenthal. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i made this motion properly at the hearing pickup leaf i was entitled to a vote then on the motion to adjourn. we have an even more urgent and pressing duty to get those documents and have witnesses after we do the documents that would enable us to evaluate the serious concerns that have been raised as a result of the evasive and seemingly misleading answers given to us at entering a number of my colleagues are going to have specific emotions or subpoenas. i will have one myself that i believe that my motion to adjourn in the meeting was proper before we begin any business. it was pending and i made it properly. so, mr. chairman, i believe that this nomination is going to be tainted. it will be stained by a badly broken process that has shattered the norm and broken the traditions of this committee. committee. it has been rushed through to judgment and highly partisan and, unfortunately, failed way. >> i'd like to say something before we put his motion to a vote. we are in executive s

blumenthal: mr. chairman, if we cannot be recognized i move to adjourn.cmr.irman, i move to adjourn. [cheers] when things finally did settle down, the president's pick to join the supreme court delivered his opening statement. judge kavanah described how he sees the role of the highest court in the land. judge kavanaugh: our independent judiciary is the crown jewel of our constitutional republic.ep in our ident judiciary, the supreme court is e last line of defense for the separation of powers, and for the rights and liberti guaranteed by the constitution. laura: for more on day one of the kavanaugh hearings, i spoke earlier with greg stohr, supreme court reporter for bloomberg news. the president himself tweeted that the hearings show how mean and angry democrats are. have you ever known supreme court confirmation this chaotic and divided? greg: no, i haven't. this is my sixth confirmation hearing. nothing like this. u ve to go back to the 1980 or 1990's to see one as divisive as this one. in this case, it was from the get-go. the moment that chuck grass

mr. blumenthal. >>eye. >> mr. booker. >>eye. >> mr. chairman. >> no. vote 11 anyways.s defeated now i move as i said i was going to do that we set the vote to report out judge kavanaugh's nomination at the 1:30 p.m. today. mr. chairman point of order. >> mr. chairman. point of order. >> violating the rule of the committee. yes. >> mr. lee. yay. [names being read] >> no because it violates the customs of this, of this committee. >> mr. durbin. >> violate it is. no mr. lighthouse? >> no. >> no. >> no. >> blumenthal -- >> strongly october this is ridiculous -- no, no. no. >> mr. booker. >> ms. harris. >> they're not answer aing because this is so unfair mr. chairman. motion carried. i'll go to my opening statement now. >> we have an agenda with ten judges who are ready to be voted on. brett kavanaugh nominated the supreme court, jonathan nominated the eight circuit, eight district court judges with two bills on the agenda. we will hold over s3178. the justice for victims of lynching act. we will vote on s2785, the deter act by senator durbin and graham this combats observ

mr. blumenthal. senator markey? >> thank you, chairman. the reason we're here is that california has passed a privacy law. the country is going to ultimately want california's law preempted, and they'll want other states' laws to be preempted. they're going to ask this panel to do that. so our goal has to be to ensure that any law which we pass out of this committee is a strong law. we don't need to pass weak laws in washington that override strong laws in california or massachusetts or other states. so that's why we're here, because finally your states are beginning to move in the absence of a federal policy. but that federal policy is going to have to be strong. the bill which i've introduced for years, which is essentially the consent act, basically says, one, people should have a right to knowledge that information is being gathered about them, two, notice that that information might be reused for purposes that they never intended it to be used, and three, that they have a right to say no, that they don't want it to be reused. so, mr.

mr. chairman. >> okay. senator blumenthal. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, mr. chairman, for your conducting these hearings as fairly and patiently as you have, and i am going to be remarking further on what procedurally i think is appropriate here, but i want to begin by thanking judge kavanaugh and your family for your commitment to public service. i want to thank the many, many americans who are paying attention to this hearing, not only in this room, but also across the country. i want to thank them for their interest and indeed their passion. that is what sustains democracy, that commitment to ordinary, every day americans, participating and engaging in this process. there is a t-shirt worn by a number of folks walking around this building that says "i am what's at stake." this vote and this proceeding could not be more consequential in light of what is at stake. whether women can decide when they want to have children and become pregnant, whether the people of america can decide whom they would like to marry, whether we drink clean water and breathe clean

mr. chairman. >> okay. senator blumenthal. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, mr. chairman, for your conducting these hearings as fairly and patiently as you have, and i am going to be remarking further on what procedurally i think is appropriate here. i want to begin by thanking judge kavanaugh and your family for your commitment to public service. i want to thank the many, many americans who are paying at a tension to this hearing not only in this room, but also across the country. i want to thank them for their interest and indeed the passion. that is what sustains democracy. that commitment to ordinary e r everyday americans participating and engaging in this process. there is a t-shirt worn by a number of folks walking around the building that says "i am what's at stake." this vote and this proceeding could not be more consequential in light of what is at stake, and whether women can decide when they want to have children and become pregnant, whether the people of america can decide whom they would like to marry, whether we drink clean water and breathe clean

blumenthal: mr. chairman, i moved to adjourn. you ruled that our hearing that my motion to adjourn was out of order at that time. i believe it was pending before this committee and so i moved to adjourn. we lack the time, we lack the documents, and we need witnesses before we can proceed further with this meeting mr. chairman. sen. grassley: i have already taken the action of holding kavanaugh over. i would entertain your motion but as long as we have a quorum here -- sen. blumenthal: with all do respect, that motion was proper before began business. sen. grassley: you did not have the floor, i had the floor. sen. blumenthal: the motion was pending and i asked for a vote on it to proceed with any business. sen. grassley: just so anybody understands, the reason i want -- we have some people because of the weather situation in the southeast that wanted us to get some things done before we -- so that is why wanted to take the motion that i did on kavanaugh. sen. blumenthal: with all do respect -- sen. grassley: that motion is taken.

blumenthal: mr. morhard was interested in some of the questions that have been asked that i want to repeat the same being overlyisk of repetitive. confirmed, your boss said he wanted somebody who has a lot of space experience, a space professional. it needs to be somebody who has run large organizations who understands the technology. that is what nasa administrator said he wanted in his deputy. what do you say to critics who have indicated you meet none of those qualifications? mr. morhard: i appreciate the question. nasa, if ihe work at am confirmed, is empowering scientists and engineers and astronauts and technicians, and also the quiet professionals that are behind the scenes that really are the connective tissue of nasa. it is really creating an atmosphere for these people of collaboration come of a team, where people can enjoy their jobs and they are able to see a clear vision of success. sen. blumenthal: and i am more than happy to allow you to make this response in writing for the record, i'

mr. chairman? when will we review senator blumenthal's motion to adjourn? >> i renew my motion to adjourn, mr. chairman. i think we're entitled to a vote on it. the responses that mr. chairman, you've given with all due respect, really fly in the face of the norms of this committee, our traditions and our rules. >> mr. chairman, if i might add an additional point i agree with my colleague. it is striking given your long history of encouraging the executive branch to treat minority requests equal with majority requests that you discourage the national archives from responding to ranking member feinstein's request. which we tried to craft with you to be identical to request for records for justice kagan. we should not be receiving until we have the full documents that allow us to review the judge's record. >> 200,000 pages of documents of judge kavanaugh's work are being withheld on a claim of executive prij. executive prij has never been invoked during a supreme court nomination this includes when justice kagan was nominated to the supreme court as well as justice roberts. yesterday my colleagu

so i deny -- senator blumenthal: mr. chairman with all due respect, point to me in the language in rule 4 or anywhere else in our rules that limits scope to executive business meetings. there is no such language, mr. chairman. senator grassley: i would have you quote language to the contrary. senator blumenthal: can you quote me that language. senator grassley: you quote me the language to the contrary of what i rule. senator blumenthal: i'm asking for a vote in this session now. there is nothing that precludes the vote in our hearing at this exact time. senator grassley: i have ruled, do you want to proceed, do you? senator blumenthal: if the chair is ruling against me, i move to appeal the ruling of the chair. with all due respect, the chairman is not above the rules of the committee. i ask for a roll call vote to overturn the ruling of the chair and to allow for a vote on my motion to adjourn these proceedings. senator grassley: that would be an appropriate motion if we are in executive business session. but we are no

mr. chairman? when will review senator blumenthal motion to adjourn? >> what is -- >> i renew my motion to adjourn, mr. chairman, a think we are entitled to a a on it. the response is that you've given with all. due respect really fly in the face of the norms of this committee, our traditions and our wills. >> trade if i might add an additional point. i agree with my colleague. it is striking given your long history of encouraging the executive branch to treat minority request equal with majority requests that you disgorge the national archives from responding to ranking member feinstein request when she tried to craft for records from justice kagan. we should not be proceeding until we have the full document that allow us to do the judges records. >> and, mr. chairman, last friday nearly 102,000 pages of documents from judge kavanaugh's work in the white house counsels office are being withheld from the committee andco the public based on a claim of constitutional privilege. executive privilege has never been in vote to block the release of presidentia

mr. chairman. >> senator blumenthal. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you all for being here. this panel is extraordinary and really powerful advocates. thank you, congressman richmond for your standing so strong in the dark and dangerous time for our democracy. when history of this error is written my view is that the heroes will be our independent judiciary and our free press. and i'd like to ask you, mr. olson, by the way, and interest of full disclosure you and i argued before the supreme court to give it a you may not remember it because it was one of 63 you but was one of four for me. >> i remember it very well, senator. >> thank you. and we won nine to zero and uploaded the sex offender registry case. >> correct. >> i am deeply troubled by the attacks on our judiciary. and most especially from the president of united states. you are absolutely right when you say, and including you, our courts are the envy of the world. they depend on the faith and confidence of the public. courts don't command armies or police forces. and the presidents attacks on the courts undermined

. >> senator blumenthal. >> mr. chairman, i ask if you have sworn statements that you're submitting for the record that we have those individuals come before us so that we can ask them questions about those statements. i think that the nature of this proceeding would be compromised if we lack an opportunity to ask them questions about sworn statements that will be part of the record. so, frankly, mr. chairman, i would object to entering them into the record. >> mr. chairman. >> okay. >> senator whitehouse. >> i have a number of letters that i would like to ask submitted to the record that relate to the importance of proper investigation by trained professionals in pulling these kinds of investigations together, from the leadership conference on civil human rights, the national women's law center, the national organization for women and so forth. >> senator kennedy. >> mr. chairman, i have a question for our chairman. >> there were statements that senator blumenthal talked about, those were statements taken by our ma

. >> senator blumenthal. >> mr. chairman i ask if you have sworn statements that you're submitting for the record that we have those individuals come before us so that we can ask them questions about those statements. i think that the nature of this proceeding would be compromised if we lack an opportunity to ask them questions about sworn statements that will be part of the record. so, frankly, mr. chairman i would object to entering them in the record. >> mr. chairman? >> senator whitehouse. >> i have a number of letters that i would like to ask submitted to the record that relate to the importance of proper investigation by trained professionals in pulling these kind of investigations together from the leadership conference on civil human rights to national women's law center, national organization for women and so forth. >> without objection senator kennedy. >> i have a question for our chairman. the statements that senator blumenthal talked about, those were statements taken by our majority staff -- >> they're

mr. chairman. >> senator blumenthal, ought to call on senator feinstein. >> if i, through the chair, could have ask a question of senator flake, does your amendment include continuing the investigation during this period of time? >> if i can respond, there is no amendment. i'm simply stating the discussion that we had between us all as s. that i would hope and i think we had some agreement before ha the democrats who have been, i think, justifiably uncomfortable moving ahead could publicly, in an effort to bring this country together, say that we would feel better, i'm not expecting them to vote yes, but not to complain that an fbi investigation has not occurred. and this is what i'm trying to do. this country is being ripped apart here. and we have got to make sure that we do due diligence. i think this committee has done a good job, but i do think that we can have a short pause and make sure that the fbi can investigate. my understanding is that some of us would have to and i'm prepared to do it, make a request to the white house to ask the fbi to do that investigation. it would be short, and lim

mr. chairman. >> senator blumenthal? >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, mr. chairman, for your conducting these hearings as fairly and patiently as you have. and i am going to be remarking further on what procedurally i think is appropriate here. but i want to begin by thanking judge kavanaugh and your family for your commitment to public service. i want to thank the many, many americans who are paying attention to this hearing, not only in this room but also across the country. i want to thank them for their interest and, indeed, their passion. that is what sustains democracy, that commitment for participating and engaging in this process. there is a t-shirt worn by a number of folks walking around this building that says i am what's at stake. what's at stake, whether women can decide when they want to have children and become pregnant, whether the people of america can decide whom they would like to marry, whether we drink clean water and breathe clean air, whether consumers are protected against defective product and financial abuses. and whether we have a

mr. chairman. >> thank you. senator blumenthal. >> thanks, mr. chairman. mr.droegemeier, the role of your office and you personally will be in the sense to advocate for scientific integrity and i know a number of my colleagues have remarked on the somewhat disturbing lack of appreciation in this administration for scientific integrity undermining the role of science and public policy, withdrawing from the climate accord, giving industry undue influence and certain decision making challenges creating a hostile environment for some federal scientists, reducing public access to scientific information. do you intend to be an advocate against those kinds of tendencies? >> senator, i strongly advocate for -- i don't know if i'd say i'd advocate against or advocate for the positive buzzs but i ag that all the things you mentioned are challenges or problems and science has to be done with integrity so i would either advocate that they be undone or advocate for the positive and maybe one is the same as the other. to me, integrity in science is everything. we owe that t

mr. chairman, when will we review senator blumenthal's motion to adjourn? >> i renew my motion to adjourn, mr. chairman. i think we're entitled to a vote on it. the responses that mr. chairman you've given with all due respect really fliel in the face of the norms of this committee, our traditions and rules -- >> mr. chairman, if i might add an additional point. i agree with my colleague. it is striking given your long history of encouraging the executive branch to give my jort requests equal with the majority requests. we should not be proceeding until we have the full documents that allow us to review the judge's records. >> and mr. chairman, last friday we learned that nearly 102,000 pages of documents from judge kavanaugh's work in the white house counsel's office are being withheld from the committee and the public based on a claim of constitutional privilege. executive privilege has never been invoked to block the release of presidential records to the senate during a supreme court nomination. this includes when justice kagen was nominated to the supre

senator blumenthal? >> thanks mr. chairman. i want to join in thanking you for being here today and just tell you i have found your testimony powerful and credible and i believe you. you're a teacher, correct? >> correct. >> you have given america an amazing teaching moment. and you may have other moments in the classroom, but you have inspired and you have enlightened america, you have inspired and given courage to women to come forward as they have done to every one of our offices. and many other public places. you have inspired and you have enlightened men in america to listen respectfully to women survivors and men who have survived sexual attack. and that is a profound public service, regardless of what happens with this nomination. and so the teachers of america, people of america should be really proud of what you have done. let me tell you why i believe you. not only because of the prior consistent statements and the polygraph tests and your request for an fbi investigation and your urging that this committee hear from

senator blumenthal? >> thanks, mr. chairman. i want to join in thanking you for being here today. just tell you i have found your testimony powerful and credible and i believe you. you are a teacher, correct? >> correct. >> what you have given america an amazing teaching moment, and you may have other moments in the classroom, but you have inspired and you have enlightened america. you have inspired and given courage to women to come forward as they have done to every one of our offices and many other public places. you have inspired and you have enlightened men in america to listen respectfully to women survivors and others who have survived sexual attacks. that is a profound public service, regardless of what happens with this nomination. and so the teachers of america, people of america should be really proud of what you have done. let me tell you why i believe you. not only because of the prior consistent statements and the polygraph tests and your request for an fbi investigation and your urging that this committee hear from other witnesses who could corroborate or dispute yo

senator blumenthal? >> thanks mr. chairman. i want to join in thanking you for being here today and just tell you i have found your testimony powerful and credible and i believe you. you're a teacher, correct? >> correct. >> you have given america an amazing teaching moment. and you may have other moments in the classroom, but you have inspired and you have enlightened america, you have inspired and given courage to women to come forward as they have done to every one of our offices. and many other public places. you have inspired and you have enlightened men in america to listen respectfully to women survivors and men who have survived sexual attack. and that is a profound public service, regardless of what happens with this nomination. and so the teachers of america, people of america should be really proud of what you have done. let me tell you why i believe you. not only because of the prior consistent statements and the polygraph tests and your request for an fbi investigation and your urging that this committee hear from

senator blumenthal: mr. chairman. i'd like to make a motion to subpoena mark judge as a witness before our committee. senator grassley: let me -- senator blumenthal: i'd be happy to speak to it. senator grassley: hold just a minute. would you -- could you make your remarks short, please and speak now and then we will vote. proceed. senator blumenthal: yes, mr. chairman, thank you. we heard yesterday from an extraordinarily courageous, strong, survivor, dr. christine blasey ford. every one of us, i think, were riveted and powerfully impressed by her truth. we heard her provide details in that story that can be corroborated and other facts that can be uncovered. if we hear from other witnesses who have very relevant, important knowledge about what happened to her. on that evening in that room. the third person allegedly in the room was mark judge. evidently he has never been interviewed by the f.b.i. he has never been questioned by any member of our committee. he has never submitted a detailed account of what he knows. s

. >> senator blumenthal? >> mr. chairman, i ask if you have sworn statements that you're submitting to the record that we have those individuals come before us so we can ask them questions about those statements. i think that the nature of this proceeding would be compromised if we lack an opportunity to ask them questions about sworn statements that will be part of the record. so, frankly, mr. chairman, i would object to entering them into the record. >> mr. chairman? >> senator whitehouse? >> i have a number of letters that i would like to ask submitted to the record that pulling these kind of investigations together, the leadership conference, national women's law center, organization for women and so forth >> mister chairman, i have a question. the statements that senator blumenthal talked about, those were statements taken by hour majority staff. >> they are already in the record. >> yes, sir but those statements were taken by majority staff. did minority staff participate? >> know why not? >> you will have to

blumenthal and cornyn. this is one hour and 20 minutes. >> mr. presidents, like millions of people across the country, i watch the hearing with a mix of so many strong emotions. first, i watch doctor forward with tears in my eyes. she is so brave, compelling and so real. the memories she re- counted and will never forget were heartbreaking, the living room, the stairs, the bedroom. the music turned up loud, the bed. brett kavanaugh drunken on top of her. the feeling she had when he covered her mouth to stop from screaming. the laughter between brett kavanaugh and mark judge. the way she did then and the way she did now, two boys laughing and having a good time while a scared 15-year-old girl late pin down on a bed worried she may die. the bathroom and listening for them to leave hearing them bounce off walls as they went down the stairs. leaving the house in the sense of relief that she escaped and something anyone who has been a 15-year-old girl can understand, not wanting to tell her. she'd been at a house with no adults, older boys and beer. d

. >> senator blumenthal. >> thanks, mr. chairman. good afternoon, your honor. welcome to your team.i want to first of all tie up a couple of loose ends from yesterday. i asked you yesterday whether during your service in the bush administration, you took the position that not all legal scholars believe roe v. wade is settled law, and of the supreme court, could overrule it. you said in fact that the supreme court could, and you declined it to say whether you would commit to saying that you would not vote to overturn roe v. wade. i believe, thanks to that exchange, that an email has now been made public, in which you took exactly that position. and you argued in that email that roe can be overturned. my question to you is whether during that break, did anyone suggest to you that i would ask about this email? i think we took a break before asked you my question. did anyone ask you -- did anyone suggest to you that i might ask you about this email during the break? >> just now? >> no, yesterday. >> i am not remembering. i am not remembering one way or another. i am not remembering. >>

mr. chairman. >> senator blumenthal. thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, mr. chairman for conduct in these hearings as patiently as you have and i am going to be remarking further or what procedurally here. i want to begin by thanking judge kavanaugh and your family. i want to thank the many, many americans who are paying attention to this hearing in this room, but also across the country. i want to thank them for their interest in their passion. that is what sustains democracy. participating in engaging in this process. there is a t-shirt worn by a number of folks walking around the building that says i am what is says take. this vote in this proceeding could not be more consequential in light of what is that stake, whether women can decide when they want to have children can become pregnant. whether the people of america can decide whom they would like to marry, whether we drink clean water and breathe clean air. whether consumers are dead against effect of product and financial abuses and whether we have a real system of checks and balances or alternatively

senator blumenthal. thank you, mr. chairman. [inaudible] general abrams, i know you're very familiar with the attacks on this country by north korea, attacks in the cyberdomain, one of the most prominent occurred in may of 2017. want to cry, which was attributed to the north korean entity group, the cyberattack impacted 200,000 tons in 150 countries. i'm sure you're familiar with the details. would you agree with me that we need to do more to make north korea pay a price for this kind of cyberattack? >> we should continue to remain vigilant furniture conducts cyberattacks against our country accountable for their actions. >> are we doing enough now to hold north korea accountable? >> senator, i'm unaware of an unclassified setting of which i can talk about this. but in short i believe we are. >> you're unaware of the depth. >> excuse me, you can't really go into it an unclassified setting, but i am aware of actions we've taken a hold them accountable. >> you think were doing enough? >> i think we are. >> well, i would like to he

senator blumenthal? >> thanks, mr. chairman. i wanted to join in thanking you for being here today. just tell you -- i have found your testimony powerful and credible. and i believe you. you are a teacher, correct? >> correct. >> you have given america an amazing teaching moment. you may have other moments in the classroom, but you have inspired, and you have enlightened america. you have inspired and given courage to women to come forward, as they have done to every one of our offices, and many other public places. you have inspired and you have enlightened men in america. to listen respectfully to women survivors, and men who have survived attacks. and that is a profound public service, regardless of what happens with this nomination. and so the teachers of america, people of america, should be really proud of what you have done. let me tell you why i believe you -- not only because of the prior consistent statements, the polygraph test, and your request for an fbi investigation. you are urging that this committee hear from other witnesses who could corroborate or dispute your sto

blumenthal. >> thank you, mr. chairman. good evening. judge kavanaugh, i'd like you to tell me i am wrong.like you to tell me that you would put aside your heller dissent and as a member of the united states supreme court, if confirmed, you would uphold the ban on assault weapons. >> senator, as a sitting judge can't make a commitment about a future case. >> let me put it this way. in your view, a ban on assault weapons, in your dissent you voted to strike down because it was notot long-standing and it applied to weapons in common use. is that correct? >> i applied the precedence of the supreme court made clear machine guns can be banned. the supreme court said that explicitly and i said it as well. >> but assault weapons are equally destructive and evidence for them is equally compelling. that is, the evidence for a ban on assault weapons, which is what the majority in heller two in your court found, did it not? in fact, the court said that it was upholding the ban on assault weapons because, quote, our role is narrow to determine what the district hasas presented evidene sufficient to es

mr. chairman, when will we review senator blumenthal's motion to adjourn? >> i renew my motion to adjourn, mr. chairman. i think we are entitled to a vote on it. the response is that, mr. chairman, you've given with all due respect really fly in the face of the norms of this committee, our traditions and our rules. >> mr. chairman, if i might add an additional point, i agree with my colleague, it is striking given your long history of encouraging the executive branch to treat minority requests equal with majority requests that you discouraged the national archives from responding to ranking member feinstein's request which she tried to craft with you to be identical to the request for records from justice kagan. we should not be proceeding until we have the full documents that allow us to review the judge's records. >> and, mr. chairman, last friday we learned that nearly 102,000 pages of documents from judge kavanaugh's work in the white house counsel's office are being withheld from the committee and the public based on a claim of constitutional privilege.

mr. chairman? >> tomorrow morning -- >> when will we review senator blumenthal's motion to adjourn? i renew my motion to adjourn. i think we're entitled to a vote on it. >> yeah. >> the responses that, mr. chairman, you've given, with all due respect, fly in the face of the norms of this committee, our traditions, and our rules. >> mr. chairman, if i might add an additional point, i agree with my colleague, it is striking, given your history of treating minority requests equal will majority, that you discourage the national archives from responding, which feinstein tried to be identical. we should not proceed until we have the full documents that allow us to review the judge's records. >> mr. chairman, last friday, we learned that nearly 102,000 pages of documents from judge kavanaugh's work in the white house counsel's office are being withheld from the committee and the public, based on a claim of constitutional privilege. executive privilege has never been invoked to block the release of presidential records to the senate during a supreme court nomination. this includes when justi

blumenthal. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i want to join in thanking you for being here today and just tell you i have found your testimony powerful and credible and i believe you. you're a teacher, correct? >> correct. >> you have given america an amazing teaching moment and you may have other moments in the classroom, but you have inspired and you have enlightened america. you have inspired and given courage to women. you have inspired and enlightened men in america to listen respectfully to women survivors and men who have survived sexual attack, than is a profound public service regardless of what happens with this nomination. so the teachers of america, people of america, should be proud of what you have done. let me tell you why i believe you, not only because of the prior consistent statements and the polygraph tests and your request for an fbi investigation and your urging that this committee hear from other witnesses who could corroborate or dispute your story, but, also, you have been very honest about what you cann