[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.

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