Senator Patty Murray gestures to Educator Megan Martin during a meeting in May 2019 at Toledo High School.
Washington state's U.S. Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray joined fellow Democrats in opposing Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation to the Supreme Court, ripping Republicans for holding the vote just days ahead of the 2020 election.
Speaking on the Senate floor Monday morning, Murray slammed the Senate GOP majority for pushing the Barrett vote after blockading President Obama's 2016 nominee, Merrick Garland, for eight months.
Murray warned a new conservative court majority will threaten the Affordable Care Act, LGBTQ rights and legal abortion, citing messages from fearful Washington constituents.
"For Republican senators to stand here and tell families not to worry is kind of like the captain of the Titanic passing out umbrellas, and telling passengers that's all they need," Murray said. "With one key difference: Republicans have been clear from the start that hitting the iceberg isn't an accident, it's the plan."
Cantwell, in remarks Sunday, said Barrett's views on abortion are out of step with a majority of Americans and criticized the Senate for "adding insult to injury" by jamming through her nomination while failing to take up a new COVID-19 relief package.
"We know that one in five small businesses could be closed by 2021, a devastating impact to our economy. ... And so we should have sat down and fixed this," Cantwell said. "But no, true to form to the other side of the aisle, it's way more important to go after a woman's right to choose."
Murray and Cantwell previously opposed Barrett's confirmation in 2017 to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
___
(c)2020 The Seattle Times
Visit The Seattle Times at www.seattletimes.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
