thank you very much mr. chairman I'll
make just a brief comment on your
references to me yes I did receive a
letter from dr. Ford it was conveyed to
me by a member of Congress on a su the
next day I called dr. Ford
we spoke on the phone she reiterated
that she wanted this held confidential
and I held it confidential
up to a point where the witness was
willing to come forward and I think as I
make my remarks perhaps you'll see why
because how women are treated in the
United States with this kind of concern
is really wanting a lot of reform and
I'll get to that for a minute but in the
meantime good morning dr. Ford thank you
for coming forward and being willing to
share your story with us I know this
wasn't easy for you but before you get
to your testimony and the chairman chose
not to do this I think it's important to
make sure you're properly introduced you
do that but I want you know I didn't
forget to do it because I would do that
just as she was about to speak thank you
I have to say when I saw your CV I was
extremely impressed you have a
bachelor's degree from the University of
North Carolina Chapel Hill two masters
degrees one from Stanford and one from
Pepperdine and a PhD from the University
of Southern California better known to
senator Harris and I as USC you are a
professor affiliated with both Stanford
University and Palo Alto University you
have published over 65 peer-reviewed
articles and have received numerous
awards for your work and research and as
if that were not enough you are a wife a
mother of two sons and a constituent
from California so I am very grateful to
you for your strength and your bravery
and
coming forward I know it's hard but
before I turn it over I want to say
something about what is to be discussed
today and where we are as a country the
sexual violence is a serious problem and
one that largely goes unseen in the
United States it's estimated by the
Centers for Disease Control 1 and 3
women and 1 in 6 men will experience
some form of sexual violence in their
lifetime according to the rape abuse and
incest national network 60% of sexual
assaults go unreported in addition when
survivors do report their assaults it's
often years later due to the trauma they
suffered and fearing their stories will
not be believed last week I received a
letter from a 60 year old California
constituent who told me that she
survived an attempted rape at age 17 she
described as being terrified and
embarrassed she never told a soul until
much later in life the assault stayed
with her for 43 years I think it's
important to remember these realities as
we hear from dr. Ford about her
experience there's been a great deal of
public discussion about the me2 movement
today versus the year of the woman
almost 27 years ago but while young
women are standing up and saying no more
our institutions have not progressed in
how they treat women who come forward
too often women's memories and
credibility come under assault in
essence they are put on trial and forced
to defend themselves and often
revitalized in the process 27 years ago
I was walking through an airport when I
saw a large group of people gathered
around the TV to listen to Anita Hill
tell
her story what I saw was an attractive
woman in a blue suit before an all-male
Judiciary Committee speaking of her
experience of sexual harassment she was
treated badly
accused of lying attacked and her
credibility put to the test throughout
the process today dr. Christine Blasi
Ford has come forward to tell her story
of being assaulted and fearing for her
life when she was a teenager initially
as I said dr. Ford did not want to make
her story public then within 36 hours of
coming forward
Republicans scheduled a hearing without
talking to her or even inviting her to
testify she was told she had to show up
for the or the committee would move
forward with a vote it took a public
outcry for them from the majority excuse
me for the majority to back down and
give her even a few days to come before
the committee Republicans also scheduled
this hearing with dr. Ford without
having her allegations investigated by
the FBI in 1991 Anita Hills allegations
were reviewed by the FBI as is the
normal process and squarely within its
jurisdiction however despite repeated
requests President Trump and the
Republicans have refused to take this
routine step and direct the FBI to
conduct an impartial investigation this
would clearly be the best way to ensure
a fair process to both judge Kavanaugh
and to dr. Ford in 1991 the Senate heard
from 22 witnesses over three days today
while rejecting an FBI investigation
Republicans are refusing to hear
testimony from
any other witness including mark judge
who dr. Ford identified as being in the
room when the attack took place and we
believe judge should be subpoenaed so
the committee can hear from him directly
Republicans have also refused to call
anyone who could speak to the evidence
that would support or refute dr. Ford's
claim and not one witness who could
address credibility and character of
either Ford or Kavanagh has been called
what I find most inexcusable
is this rush to judgment the
unwillingness to take these kinds of
allegations at face value and look at
them for what they are a real question
of character for someone who is asking
for a lifetime appointment on the
Supreme Court in 1991 Republicans
belittled professor Hill's
experience saying and I quote it won't
make a bit of difference in the outcome
and quote and the burden of proof was on
professor Hill today our Republican
colleagues are saying this is a hiccup
dr. Ford is mixed up and declaring I'll
listen to the lady but we're going to
bring this to a close
what's worse many of our colleagues on
the other side of the aisle have also
made it clear that no matter what
happens today the Senate will plow right
through and ensure judge Kavanagh would
be elevated within a week in fact on
Tuesday the majority went ahead and
scheduled a vote on the nomination
before we heard one word of testimony
regarding allegations of sexual assault
and misconduct by Brett Kavanaugh
Republican leadership even told senators
they should plan to be in over this
weekend so the nomination can
pushed through without delay this is
despite the fact that in the last few
days two more women have come forward
with their own serious allegations of
sexual assault involving Brett Kavanaugh
this past Sunday we learned about Debbie
Ramirez who was a student at Yale with
Brett Kavanaugh she too did not want to
come forward but after being approached
by reporters she told her story she was
at a college party where Cavanaugh
exposed himself to her she recalls
pushing him away and then seeing him
laughing and pulling his pants up then
yesterday
Judy sweat Nick came forward to say that
she had experiences of being at house
parties with Brett Kavanaugh and Mark
judge she recounted seeing Kavanaugh
engage and I quote in abusive and
physically aggressive behavior toward
girls
end quote including attempts to quote
remove or shift girls clothing and quote
not taking quote no for an answer
grabbing girls quote without their
consent end quote and targeting quote
particular girls so that they could be
taken advantage of and quote each of
these stories are troubling on their own
and each of these allegations should be
investigated by the FBI all three women
have said they would like the FBI to
investigate please do so all three have
said they have other witnesses and
evidence to corroborate their accounts
and yet Republicans continue to blindly
push forward so today we're moving
forward with a hearing and being asked
to assess the credibility of Brett
Kavanaugh he's made several statements
about how his focus was on school
basketball service projects
going to church he declared that he
quote never and quote dranked so much he
couldn't remember what happened and he
has quote always treated women with
dignity and respect and quote and while
he has made these declarations more and
more people have come forward
challenging his characterization of
events and behaviors James wrote his
freshman roommate at Yale stated
Kavanagh was and I quote again
frequently incoherently drunk end quote
and that was when he quote he became
aggressive and belligerent end quote
when he was drunk liz Swisher a friend
of his from Yale said and I quote
there's no medical way I can say that he
was blacked out but it's not credible
for him to say that he has no memory
lapses in the nights that he drank to
excess and quote Lynne Brooks a college
classmate said the picture Cavanaugh is
trying to paint doesn't match her
memories of him and I quote he's trying
to paint himself as some kind of
choirboy you can't lie your way onto the
Supreme Court and with that statement
out he's gone too far it's about the
integrity of the institution end quote
ultimately members and ladies and
gentlemen I really think that's the
point we're here to decide whether to
evaluate this nominee to the most
prestigious court in our country it's
about the integrity of that institution
and the integrity of this institution
the entire country is watching how we
handle these allegations I hope the
majority changes their tactics opens
their mind and seriously reflects on why
we are here we are here for one reason
to determine whether Judge Cavanaugh
should be elevated to one of the most
powerful position
in our country this is not a trial of
dr. Ford it's a job interview for judge
Cavanaugh is Brett Kavanaugh who we want
on the most prestigious court in our
country is he the best we can do Thank
You mr. chairman