[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 89 (Tuesday, June 21, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3946-S3952]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Panetta Nomination
Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, I rise to support the nomination of
Leon Panetta to be the 23rd Secretary of Defense. Director Panetta has
a long history of government and private sector service and experience,
including service in the U.S. Army.
Director Panetta served ably for eight terms as a member of the U.S.
House of Representatives, rising to be chairman of the House Budget
Committee. He left that position to be President Clinton's Director of
the Office of Management and Budget and later served 2\1/2\ years as
President Clinton's Chief of Staff, which is where I got to know him
well. He then spent 10 years codirecting a foundation with his wife
that seeks to instill in young men and women the virtues and values of
public service. Knowing Director Panetta, this comes as no surprise. In
February 2009, he became the 19th Director of the Central Intelligence
Agency, and it is in this capacity where I have had the opportunity to
work very closely with him over the last several years and consider him
a close friend.
Director Panetta has been an outstanding leader of the Central
Intelligence Agency, and it is bittersweet to see him leave. Director
Panetta is a true leader in every sense of the word. He understands how
Capitol Hill works since he served in Congress for 16 years. He has
always shown the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, which is the
committee that oversees his organization, the right kind of deference
and responded to our questions and concerns promptly and directly.
Although he leaves the CIA, he is not leaving the administration and
I am quite pleased that I will continue to have the opportunity to work
with him as Secretary of Defense. I think he has the right
qualifications for his new job. He understands budgets, and in this
time of economic austerity we need someone with that knowledge and his
ability to understand and manage the resources of a huge organization
such as the Department of Defense.
In his current capacity as Director of the CIA, he has also worked
and built strong partnerships with the Department of Defense, having
been involved in the planning and execution of numerous joint
operations, including of course the most recent operation against Osama
bin Laden. He will continue this strong partnership in his new
position, and I know he will continue to ensure that these two
organizations work closely together and cooperate successfully in the
interest of our national security and for the safety of our country.
Director Panetta has a very challenging job ahead of him. The United
States is involved in three major military operations overseas, as well
as countless smaller ones. Budgets are extremely tight, and they are
only going to get tighter. However, no country has the global interests
and global responsibilities that the United States has, and for that
reason we need a military that can protect those interests and carry
out those responsibilities. Director Panetta will need to decide how we
do that and will also help decide what, if anything, the United States
can and needs to stop doing.
He will also need to take responsibility for shaping our military to
be prepared for the future. For the last decade, our military has
necessarily been focused on fighting and winning the conflicts we are
in; namely, Iraq and Afghanistan. We continue to meet that challenge,
and I am very optimistic that we, with the Afghan people, will prevail
against insurgents in Afghanistan, just as we prevailed with the Iraqi
people against insurgents in Iraq. However, we can't take our eyes off
the future. As a nation, we have a very poor record of predicting where
our next conflict will come from.
I have heard it said that when Secretary McNamara had his
confirmation hearing to be Secretary of Defense in 1961, no one asked
him a question about a country called Vietnam. And when Secretary
Rumsfeld had his confirmation hearing in 2001, no one asked him about
Afghanistan. But, in both cases, those were the issues that would
dominate their tenure as Secretary of Defense.
If I might say, Director Panetta, if a new global hot spot dominates
your tenure as Secretary of Defense, there is a good chance that it
will be one that no one asked you about at your confirmation hearing.
For this reason, our Armed Forces need to be prepared to fight
conflicts that are unlike our current ones. We cannot, and should not,
assume that the next war will be like the current one. We need to be
prepared for both high-end and low-end conflict. We need to be prepared
not just so that we can fight and win these conflicts but so we can
deter potential adversaries and not have to fight in the first place.
I know Leon Panetta realizes that, and I know he will continue to be
committed to ensuring our military is as prepared as possible to meet
whatever challenges may come our country's way. That will not be easy,
and it will take a man of his ability to do this successfully and in a
way that takes into account our current fiscal situation. However, I
believe the President has chosen the right man for the job.
I support Leon Panetta's nomination to be the next Secretary of
Defense, and I encourage my colleagues to support that nomination as
well.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon.
Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, let me first say I thought the statement
from the distinguished Senator from Georgia was spot on, and I
particularly appreciated his point that when we confirm Leon Panetta to
head Defense, no one can possibly predict what kind of challenges he
will face there. But this is the kind of person who, because of ability
and background, is up to any kind
[[Page S3952]]
of challenges that are thrown to him. So I want to associate myself
with my colleague from Georgia.
Mr. President, I would suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the
quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to yield back the
remainder of the time and I ask for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Is there a sufficient second? There appears to be a sufficient
second.
The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the nomination
of Michael H. Simon, of Oregon, to be United States District Judge for
the District of Oregon? On this question, the yeas and nays have been
ordered, and the clerk will call the roll.
The bill clerk called the roll.
Mr. KYL. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator
from New Hampshire (Ms. Ayotte).
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber
desiring to vote?
The result was announced--yeas 64, nays 35, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 92 Ex.]
YEAS--64
Akaka
Alexander
Baucus
Begich
Bennet
Bingaman
Blumenthal
Boxer
Brown (MA)
Brown (OH)
Cantwell
Cardin
Carper
Casey
Collins
Conrad
Coons
Cornyn
Durbin
Feinstein
Franken
Gillibrand
Graham
Hagan
Harkin
Inouye
Johnson (SD)
Kerry
Kirk
Klobuchar
Kohl
Kyl
Landrieu
Lautenberg
Leahy
Levin
Lieberman
Lugar
Manchin
McCain
McCaskill
Menendez
Merkley
Mikulski
Murkowski
Murray
Nelson (NE)
Nelson (FL)
Pryor
Reed
Reid
Rockefeller
Sanders
Schumer
Shaheen
Snowe
Stabenow
Tester
Udall (CO)
Udall (NM)
Warner
Webb
Whitehouse
Wyden
NAYS--35
Barrasso
Blunt
Boozman
Burr
Chambliss
Coats
Coburn
Cochran
Corker
Crapo
DeMint
Enzi
Grassley
Hatch
Heller
Hoeven
Hutchison
Inhofe
Isakson
Johanns
Johnson (WI)
Lee
McConnell
Moran
Paul
Portman
Risch
Roberts
Rubio
Sessions
Shelby
Thune
Toomey
Vitter
Wicker
NOT VOTING--1
Ayotte
The nomination was confirmed.
____________________