Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee Leads Members of the House of Representatives In Protest of the Senate Judiciary Committee Vote Which Helps Secure Postponement of the Vote on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Robin Chand
September 28, 2018 202-228-3816
Press Statement
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee Leads Members of the House of Representatives In Protest of the Senate Judiciary Committee Vote Which Helps Secure Postponement of the Vote on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh
Jackson Lee – "The stakes of this nomination, and the lifetime appointment it carries, are too strong to ignore credible claims of sexual assault. Only after an FBI investigation has been completed, can the American people have confidence that a jurist nominated to the highest court in the land have the fitness and temperament to serve on the United States Supreme Court."
Washington, DC – Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, a senior member of the House Committees on Judiciary and Homeland Security, Ranking Member of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security and Investigations, and a Senior Member of the House Budget Committee, issued this statement following her successful efforts to help secure a postponement in the Senate Judiciary Committee vote to approve Brett Kavanaugh:
"Brett Kavanagh should not be confirmed to the Supreme Court. Not only because he is hostile to women's rights, unduly obsequious to the President or because, during his confirmation hearings earlier this month, he provided concerning answers to questions which, at the very least, call into question his veracity. It is because since those hearings concluded, a steady stream of accusations of sexual abuse have surfaced, all of which implicate Brett Kavanaugh's fitness to sit on the Supreme Court. In the face of these serious mounting allegations, the Senate Judiciary Committee heard from Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, Kavanaugh's accuser, and from the nominee himself. The hearing raised many more questions about Kavanaugh's fitness to sit on the Supreme Court. I am proud to have led members of the House of Representatives, as representatives of the people, to the Senate Judiciary Committee to make our opposition to this nomination known loud and clear, and to help secure a postponement of the committee vote, so that the FBI can conduct a fulsome investigation of these credible, serious allegations.
"The stakes of this nomination are too high. Mr. Kavanaugh is credibly accused of serious offenses. Despite this, Republicans in the Senate vowed to "plow through" these concerns. I am pleased that due in part to the advocacy led by my initiative, we were able to postpone a final confirmation vote until the FBI had an opportunity to investigate these very serious allegations, Mr. Kavanaugh's denials, and the testimony of a critical third party, Mark Judge, whom Dr. Christine Blasey Ford places at the scene of her sexual assault and whom Dr. Ford identifies as one of her alleged assailants, alongside Brett Kavanaugh.
"The stakes of this nomination, and the lifetime appointment it carries, are too strong to ignore credible claims of sexual assault. Only after a full FBI investigation has been completed, can the American people have confidence that the jurists who sit on the highest court in the land have the fitness and temperament to serve on the United States Supreme Court."
Sheila Jackson Lee, a Democrat representing the 18th Congressional District of Texas, is a senior member of the House Committees on Judiciary, Homeland Security and the Budget. She is a Ranking Member of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.