SEN. KERRY: Mr. President, I'm interested to hear my colleagues talk about the state of the evidence and the doubt. The fact is that in this case, the sum total of all of the evidence on behalf of Judge Thomas is his denial and witnesses who are friends who have offered a stubborn denial that their friend and their candidate for the Supreme Court could have done what he was accused of.
But none of their statements directly, or none of what they saw, directly contradicted the four witnesses -- four credible witnesses -- who under oath testified as to what they remember Anita Hill telling them. The one exception we have to the hearsay rule in cases of sexual transgression, called a fresh complaint, and a fresh complaint was made, Mr. President.
I can remember trying rape cases in which people have been sent to jail on the basis of the testimony of a victim and corroborating witnesses. People go to jail all across America on testimony such as was presented before this committee.
Now, it may well be that some people can't draw a conclusion or don't want to draw a conclusion, but you cannot ignore the weight of Anita Hill's testimony. You cannot ignore the credibility with respect to her motive; with respect to the fact that she didn't seek out the FBI; with respect that she sought to keep this confidential; that she has indeed taken a lie detector test, which is a tool we use in law enforcement all the time; with respect to each and every one of her witnesses who came before this committee with independent memory, independent corroboration of sexual harassment; and you cannot ignore the reality of how people behave in the case of sexual harassment.
Indeed, I think Anita Hill succumbed to ambition and there is part of this story that is untold. But that does not contradict the question of what may have happened.
Now, in the end, we're not called on to make the courtroom judgment about whether or not somebody should go to jail, and that's precisely the point. The standard for the Supreme Court is not whether or not the nominee has met the standard to avoid going to jail or not be found perhaps guilty of a felony; it's whether or not the nominee meets the highest standards of the Supreme Court of the United States. And I've already spoken on that issue.
VICE PRESIDENT QUAYLE: The Senator's two minutes have expired.
SEN. KERRY: I ask unanimous consent that the full text of my comments be placed in the record.
VICE PRESIDENT QUAYLE: Without objection, so ordered.