Coney barrett. I rise in the midst of a pandemic, in the midst of an election process in which over 50 million americans have already voted, to speak with a simple call that we should wait, we should not be doing this as a body. Now, thats not a radical statement. Its a statement thats been said by pretty much every member on the democratic side. But its also a as i said statement thats made by many people in the Republican Party before we got to this juncture. It was said around the time that Merrick Garland was up for nomination by president barack obama, 269 days before an election, and people said that we were in an election season, that we should wait. But this is not a typical election season. This is an election that is going on where the people are coming out to speak on an array of issues. There is a profound urgency in the air, not a partisan urgency. America has seen record turnout because they know whats at stake in this election. There are issues that are driving people to the polls, and in this context, our president is doing what has never been done before. The only time that this had a chance to be done before was when lincoln had ava can son on the Supreme Court in it the midst of an election, this close it an election, and abraham lincoln, one of our greatest president s of all time, made a powerful choice. He had the power to move, he had the power to nominate, but he showed a restraint on power. He showed in a sense what we would call an act of grace. He knew in the midst of an election when people were coming out to speak it was better to waist. This grace is also what was called for by Ruth Bader Ginsburg on her deathbed. She didnt know who would win this election, but she thought it was best to call to the better angels of our nature that sometimes the greatest demonstration of power is when we do not use it. That this precious democracy, this great experiment that has endured for this period of time has sustained itself on acts of decency and grace. And most importantly on trust, trusting people, trusting americans, trusting voters. Now, we havent always gotten it right, but this fundamental ideal that when people are exercising their voice, the people in this body should listen. Over 50 million americans, we are days, in fact hours away from the actual election day, but the process has started already. People are speaking but we are refusing to listen. And i fear that whats driving many people to the polls are the very issues that this Supreme Court justice will be in a position to hear. We know that donald trump spent the last four years trying to overturn the Affordable Care act. He promised to appoint justices that would overturn it. He promised to do the right thing, unlike bush appointee john roberts, on obamacare. This is clear. We know that the majority leader, mitch mcconnell, controlling this floor has spent years trying to overturn the Affordable Care act. In fact, between the house and the senate, there have been over 70 votes to overturn the Affordable Care act. And we know that there is a case that will come before the Supreme Court on november 10 that could very well determine whether or not over 600,000 people in my state and 20 Million People across the country can keep their Health Coverage. So this is not a secret. The American People know whats going on. They see whats happening here, and many of them, i believe, are going to the polls to speak about the issue of health care. And instead of waiting and trusting to hear and listen to the will of the people, we are here right now. People are scared. We are in a sense walking through the valley of the shadow of death. The fourth largest mass casualty event in the history of our country, and the death rate is rising every single day. Thats why so Many Americans have been speaking out and calling out because they know what this nomination could very well mean for their lives, and for that of their family members. They know what a World Without the a. C. A. Would be like, and for a president to nominate someone, a president hostile to the a. C. A. , a Supreme Court justice who has spoken to this, they know what this might mean. We know that there were 3. 8 million New Jerseyans and 130 million americans who have preexisting conditions. People with diabetes, cancer survivors, people with diseases like my dad had, parkinsons. It could mean being charged more or denied coverage completely. This is a terrifying reality. Folklore going to the polls, waiting hours online, knowing it could mean that once again more people are being bankrupted by outrageous medical bills. They know what it can mean for lifetime caps on care for children with complex medical conditions. They know what it would mean for a family with a child who survived a medical procedure and another medical procedure and another medical procedure, surgery after surgery being told if you want your child to live, pay for it yourself. So Many Americans know what it would mean for seniors not being able to afford lifesaving prescriptions, making the dangerous decision to put bills in half or ration their insulin. So Many Americans know that losing the a. C. A. Could mean real tragedy. New jersey, over 600,000 people losing their health care in the middle of a pandemic that in my state has already killed 16,000 of our first responders, of our neighbors, in many cases our friends and our family members. These are numbers, these are data, these are statistics, but each one is a human life, each one has dignity, each one has family. I know, for example, michelle luris from palisades park, new jersey. When michelle lost her husband, john, suddenly last year, she also lost the Health Coverage she had through his job, but she was able to get coverage through the Affordable Care acts marketplace and qualify for a subsidy that made it more affordable for her. Today she is insured and she can manage her diabetes and her Heart Disease and her auto immune disease because of her coverage. She said that if she lost her Affordable Health care, she would have to sell her home and be in financial crisis. Losing the a. C. A. For merit bowman who is a 49yearold dad with twin boys and a football coach from new jersey, he said that before the a. C. A. Was passed, he didnt even go to the doctor because he was afraid he couldnt afford it, putting his own health in danger. After the a. C. A. , he was able to get affordable coverage. And when he felt sick a few years back, he made a doctors appointment and was diagnosed with diabetes. Today, thank god, his condition has improved, but he said, and i quote, now i have a preexisting condition. My insurance covers my medications, my equipment to monitor my diabetes. If thats taken away from me, whats going to happen . I cant afford those things on my own. I know this reality, we must know this reality, we must listen to americans right now who are saying openly im going to the polls because of my fears on health care. And yet, we are going through instead of waiting to listen to our fellow americans, showing that grace that they should decide, we are rushing forward. Protections that are granted people, those on roe v. Wade. Think about that, decisions that we should let voters decide, we should listen to the American People. What about protections for workers . What about protections for organizers . What about Voting Rights . All of these issues in the midst of an election deserve to be decided by the people. The American People know whats at stake right now because we know that donald trump nominated judge barrett with a very specific agenda in mind. He told us very clearly. We know that donald trump wants the Affordable Care act to be overturned. And he would appoint judges that he believed would do that. We know donald trump wants roe v. Wade overturned. He has explicitly told us that. We know that donald trump wants us to question the validity of an election because he has questioned the validity of an election that is ongoing right now. I never imagined i would have a day in my life as an american citizen i watch other countries, but i never thought in my own, we would have a leader that would question the validity of an election, going as far as to say that if i lose, this election was rigged, it was illegitimate. That does real damage to not just this moment in time, it does damage to our very institutions, our processes that are essential for this democracy. It is dangerous language. The behavior of this president is so dangerous that his own cabinet members, former cabinet members have called it out. I know the strength of our nation, but our institutions must be protected. They must be preserved. The processes that ensure this democracy continues to go on, that our truth goes marching on have to be protected, and when you have a president that calls into question our very election processes, and literally says that if i lose its illegitimate and then says i wont even commit to a peaceful transfer of power. That should raise alarms. Thats why people within his own party, people that served in his own cabinet, people respected in this entire body like general mattis, former secretary of defense, have said that donald trump is a threat to our democracy. And then in that context, in the middle of a National Crisis that were in the midst of an election, and we cant even get a Supreme Court nominee to commit themselves to the idea of the peaceful transfer of power, who the president himself has said he is rushing to the highest court in the land because he believes that this election may be decided by that judge. And that judge wont even commit to recusing themselves under these circumstances. Is that strengthening our democracy . Is that girding trust in our countrys processes, or is it weakening them, because it clearly is doing damage to what is necessary for the endurance of our country and our ideals. These arent just my words. These are the words of people on both sides of americas political divide. And yet, we are not showing restraint in this moment. We are not showing that grace. We are rushing for shortterm gain for one political party, the longterm damage to our nation. I dont understand why this is not something that arises worry and concern. A president who so easily trashes some of the most valued and sacrosanct ideals. I remember the hurt i felt when Peaceful Protesters in Lafayette Park were turned upon. I remember a note i was forwarded from a College Classmate if i have it correct about her son being hit with a rubber bullet. I remember journalists that i learned and got to know in these very hallways telling me about the horror of seeing the panic and the screams and the running as the gas and the rubber bullets hit. I saw how a president seemed to utilize the military themselves to menace what is one of our most important constitutional protections, the right to protest peacefully. I have seen four years now as too many people remain silent in the face of erosions to our constitutional norms. As a president has so willingly trashed that which people on both sides of our political divide have worked so hard to build up. I stood right there down near the president , raised my hand like so many of us have, like all of us have, to protect and defend the constitution of the united states. And to not see us right now in the midst of a potential constitutional convulsion, in the midst of a potential constitutional crisis, where our president himself is not committing to the peaceful transfer of power, where there are people organizing to do harm to elected leaders. Kidnap them when you could go online right now and look at groups calling out to people with special forces training to go to polls and perhaps cause mayhem. I dont understand why we dont share a bipartisan deep concern for what is happening right now in our country. And how this moment in American History fits into the concern that moving forward right now causes danger, causes harm. And i would be remiss to not mention that amidst it all, we are in the midst also of a racial awakening in our country. We saw are perhaps the largest demonstrations in our nation around issues of racial justice, all 50 states, towns and communities from all backgrounds, people marching and protesting around race issues. Its led to millions of therns to learn more americans to learn more about their own history, like the coalfax massacre. Amidst all of this, we know that issues of race and the law will continuously come up before the court until we have justice rolling down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream and in the midst of all of this, even my conversations with this nominee i was surprised that they could not speak to one law review article or one column or book they read about issues of race and the law. When we are still in a nation that has such bias in its outcome where just by the color of your skin is directly correlated with longer sentences, more likely to get to the mandatory minimum, more likely to get the Death Penalty where we no longer see blacks and whites in america for using or selling marijuana but blacks are four times more likely to be arrested for using medical marijuana. And in the midst of all of this that has activated so Many Americans and many of them tole polls today, i couldnt get even a dialogue going about issues of race. And when i specifically asked about a case, judge barretts case in smith v. Illinois department of transportation. This case involved a black traffic patrol drifer who driver who had been fired by the illinois transportation department. He claimed he had been part of a hostile Work Environment and had been called the n word by his supervisor, and they say he did not have a race discrimination case. When i asked judge barrett why a supervisor using a vial and derogatory term, one that carries with it racial sub indication and violence did not constitute a hostile Work Environment when judge kavanaugh ruled in a it did. I was surprised was to go back and read the case that she blatantly mischaracterized a key fact in the case. Judge barrett said and i quote he didnt tie the use of the n word that he used in his hostile Work Environment claim. When the employees state is appellates position is that the n word and the acts identified immediately above did create a hostile Work Environment. She mischaracterized her own ruling claiming, and i quote, so the panel very carefully wrote the opinion to make clear that it was possible for one use of the n word to be enough to establish a hostile Work Environment claim if overplayed that way when in fact her opinion stated something different. Quote, the n word is an egregious racial epithet. Again, even Justice Kavanaugh stated that being called the n word by a supervisor suffices itself to establish a racially hostile Work Environment. Again, in this context at a moment that our country is moving in numbers we have not seen before we have a justice that mischaracterizes a case, doesnt speak directly to the facts as plain as they were and cant engage in a substantive conversation about any scholarship whatsoever around race in america. Id like to read an excerpt of the letter from derek johnson, president of the na a aacp. It is disturbing that use of this vial epithet constituted a hostile Work Environment, but the basis for his ruling races raises serious questions about her candor that extended beyond this case. I would like to enter for the record a letter from the black lives Matter Global Network foundation signed by 18,000 americans in opposition to the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to serve as associate justice on Supreme Court of the united states. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Booker thank you, mr. President. And so i appeal, again, one last time to the conscience of the senate. This is not that time to proceed. This is a time for grace. Its not a time to proceed. Its a time to firm up the found cautions of our republic. Its not a time to proceed, its a time to listen to the American People. Its a time to listen to the voters lined up now. It is a time to listen and wait. I know theres a lot of americans who are concerned right now. Not with the one nominee but with how this process has gone. It is a process that has is eroding Peoples Trust and their faith in the institutions. They dont see fairness in this. They look at their own words of republican senators and dont understand like hypocrisy can stand. One standard for one president another standard for another. But i want to tell everyone who is hurting, everyone who is worried about our republic, everyone who is concerned in this moment about their health care and their Voting Rights and their nation that this is not a time to give up. In will be difficult days ahead but its not a time to give up. We know that health care is at risk but its not a time to give up. We know that women controlling their own bodies sacrosanct as that idea and as under threat as it now is it, its not that time to give up. Where lgbtq rights are under threat, but its not a time to give up. We cannot give up in the cause of our country. And its not a right cause or left cause, its a right right or wrong cause that we can be a nation that builds for posterity a functioning republic that can elevate the best of human ideals like grace. We cannot give up in this moment, we cannot meet darkness with darkness, we cannot surrender to cynicism about our systems. We have to keep pressing forward. I still believe that our nations history, as speckled as it is with retchedness and pain is a story to overcoming injustice and that we live in a nation that the truth does prevail in the end. I still believe that even when wrongs are done, they can be righted. I still believe that though this may become today a moment of shame that we can reclaim in this nation the ideals of our founders, those testimonies to grace, the commitment to each other of their sacred honor that we still can take a body politic wounded and injured and in our country find healing, find redemption, and find grace