Y’all, today has been intense. I hope to sleep soon. We had an incredible meeting with the ACLU and all the women from the five (?) states who are here. Over 20 of us are from NE.

We made our plan for tomorrow but as of now, Senator Fisher does not plan to meet with us, nor does Senator Sasse. Senator Fisher’s staff will see us. I will have a small speaking part in tomorrow’s events and will leave a copy of this letter behind when I go (see below).

Please feel free to call our Senators or email them or tweet them or whatever you can do to help support survivors. There are plenty of good judges out there (& no, I don’t believe they all have to agree with me politically, although judges are supposed to be a bit above politics (& so I digress)).

Senator Fisher,

My name is Jennifer Welsch. I am a constituent from Hastings, NE and a sexual assault survivor. I would like to request a meeting with you to discuss the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh.

As a survivor it troubles me greatly that you are not representing my voice when you say that you will vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh for a lifetime to the Supreme Court, or the voice of any person in Nebraska who has been affected by sexual violence.

Sexual assault is not a political talking point or battle; it is a humanitarian crisis, and how we – how you – respond in this particular moment speaks volumes about our values and our support for Nebraskans and all Americans. Survivors have no choice but to live with the ramifications of their attacker’s actions for the rest of their lives. But you, Senator, can make the choice to stand up for all survivors, all people, who do not wish to see someone with the temperament and accused history of Brett Kavanaugh, who, if appointed, will make choices that will impact all of us for the rest of his life.

Best,

Jennifer Welsch