[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 37 (Wednesday, March 5, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1285-S1288]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CHILD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT ACT OF 2014--MOTION TO PROCEED--
Resumed
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 309, the
Child Care and Development Block Grant Act.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will report.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
A bill (S. 1086) to reauthorize and improve the Child Care
and Development Block Grant Act of 1990, and for other
purposes.
Schedule
Mr. REID. Mr. President, because of the inclement weather we have had
to rearrange things. Senator McConnell and I have been directing our
staffs to help us get through what we need to do. We should be able to
finish this week's work tomorrow, but that is not assured. So we are
going to be working throughout the day to move forward as quickly as we
can. Everyone should be aware that we could have some votes into the
evening tonight and tomorrow. We may have to be here on Friday.
Following my remarks and those of the Republican leader, the Senate
will proceed to executive session with the time until 11:45 equally
divided and controlled. At 11:45 there will be up to three rollcall
votes. We expect to recess following those votes to allow for the
weekly caucus meetings and work through the remaining nominations this
afternoon. Senators will be notified when the votes are scheduled.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Markey). The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Recognition of the Minority Leader
The PRESIDING OFFICER: The Republican leader is recognized.
Adegbile Nomination
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, the Department of Justice and this
administration have too often put politics ahead of the law. The record
of the nominee before us to head the Civil Rights Division strongly
indicates that if he were confirmed, the politicization of the Justice
Department would increase even further. He has a long record of
leftwing advocacy marked by ideologically driven positions and very
poor judgment.
In the District of Columbia v. Heller he argued in the Supreme Court
that it would be ``radical'' to recognize ``an individual right to keep
and bear arms.'' In fact, before the Supreme Court he repeatedly
described the principle of individual liberty protected by the Second
Amendment as a ``radical'' proposition. It was the position advocated
by the nominee, however, that the Supreme Court rule was woefully at
odds with the Constitution and individual liberty.
He also called the requirement to present identification before
voting a ``modern poll tax.'' Americans strongly support this basic
safeguard for the integrity of our elections. It has been endorsed by
liberal Democrats such as President Carter. Not surprisingly, in
Crawford v. Marion County the Supreme Court rejected the nominee's
views on that subject as well.
In Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC he took the position in the Supreme Court
that a church did not have the First Amendment right to hire or fire
individuals who were responsible for conveying the church's message and
implementing its mission. The position the nominee advocated would
greatly infringe on the free exercise of rights of religious
institutions. The Supreme Court rejected his views there too, this time
9 to 0.
But it is his advocacy on behalf of the Nation's most notorious cop
killer that most calls into question his fitness for the powerful
government position he seeks. Back in December of 1981, 25-year-old
officer Daniel Faulkner was conducting a routine traffic stop when
Wesley Cook, also known as Mumia Abu-Jamal, shot him in the back. He
then stood over Officer Faulkner and shot him several more times in the
chest. As Officer Faulkner laid dying in the streets defenseless, Abu-
Jamal shot him in the face, killing him. At the hospital Abu-Jamal
bragged that he had shot Officer Faulkner and expressed his hope that
he would die.
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At trial he was remorseless. He turned the trial into political
theater, interrupting the proceedings, insulting the judge, and even
smirking at Officer Faulkner's widow when the blood-stained shirt was
held up in court as evidence. Four eyewitnesses saw Abu-Jamal gun down
Officer Faulkner--four eyewitnesses. Three more witnesses at the
hospital heard him confess to the crime. Ballistics evidence proved
that Officer Faulkner had been shot with a handgun that was registered
to Abu-Jamal, which was found at the scene of the murder, along with
the shell casings.
Based on this overwhelming evidence, Abu-Jamal was tried, convicted,
and sentenced to death. What followed was a 30-year effort by the far
left to glorify Abu-Jamal and to exonerate him. This effort was taken
up by law professors, leftwing activists, and in 2009 by the
organization which the nominee before us led for several years, the
NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
When the Legal Defense Fund became Abu-Jamal's cocounsel in 2011, its
press release called him a ``symbol'' of ``racial injustice.'' It said:
``Abu-Jamal's conviction and death sentence are relics of a time and
place that was notorious for police abuse and racial discrimination.''
An LDF lawyer attended rallies for Abu-Jamal. She said it was
absolutely an ``honor'' to represent him and that doing so was her
``pleasure.'' She said: ``There is no question in the mind of anyone at
the Legal Defense Fund that the justice system has completely and
utterly failed Mumia Abu-Jamal.'' This demagoguery of the murder of a
defenseless police officer has shocked and offended law enforcement
officers from across the country. Current District Attorney of
Philadelphia Seth Williams wrote the Judiciary Committee last month to
oppose this nominee's confirmation. Here is what he had to say:
Apart from being patently false, moreover, these claims are
personally insulting to me. As an African-American, I know
all too well the grievous consequences of racial
discrimination and prejudice. I also know that Abu-Jamal was
convicted and sentenced because of the evidence, not because
of his race. And I have continued to fight for the jury's
verdict because it was the just result.
District Attorney Williams notes that, given all the cases in which
the Legal Defense Fund could be involved, it was ``telling'' that the
nominee would go out of his way to inject himself and his organization
into this one. ``His decision to champion the cause of an extremist
cop-killer . . . sends a message of contempt to police officers.''
The national Fraternal Order of Police wrote President Obama to
express its ``vehement opposition to the nomination.'' The FOP wrote
that ``as word of this nomination spreads through the law enforcement
community, reactions range from anger to incredulity,'' and that it
``can be interpreted in only one way: It is a thumb in the eye of our
nation's law enforcement officers.''
The Kentucky Narcotics Officers' Association wrote me a powerful
letter in opposition to the nomination as well. In it they note: ``The
thought that [the nominee] would be rewarded, in part, for the work he
did for Officer Faulkner's killer is revolting.''
The nominee has acknowledged that as the director of litigation for
the Legal Defense Fund, he ``supervised [its' entire legal staff.''
According to LDF's own Web site, the director is responsible for
coordinating ``the selection of cases'' the LDF chooses to get involved
in. He manages ``all aspects of the legal docket.'' He oversees ``all
aspects of discovery, motion practice, briefs, trials, appellate work
and amicus briefing.''
As director of litigation he is responsible for advocacy both in the
courts of law and in the court of public opinion.
Let me repeat. He is responsible for advocacy both in the courts of
law and in the court of public opinion. As the head of the Civil Rights
Division, the nominee now would be responsible for fulfilling the
Division's mission of upholding the civil and constitutional rights of
all individuals. He would have powerful resources at his disposal as
well as the discretion to determine how and on whose behalf to use
them.
As the junior Senator from Pennsylvania has noted, the head of the
Civil Rights Division must have an absolute commitment to truth and
justice. My friend from Pennsylvania goes on to observe that, while
there are many highly qualified Americans who could carry out this
critical mission, the nominee's record creates serious doubts that he
is one of them.
I might point out that the senior Senator from Pennsylvania also
opposes this nominee. So I could not say it any better. Everyone
deserves a fair trial and a zealous legal defense. Lawyers are not
personally responsible for the actions of their clients. But lawyers
are responsible for their own actions. In this case the nominee
inserted his office in an effort to turn reality on its head, impugn
honorable and selfless law enforcement officers, and glorify an
unrepentant cop killer.
This is not required by our legal system. On the contrary, it is
noxious to it. I therefore will oppose the nomination and strongly urge
my colleagues to do so as well.
Finally, I would like to note the manner in which this nomination may
come to an up-or-down vote. Last fall the majority chose to break the
rules of the Senate in order to change the rules of the Senate. In so
doing, they violated the right of the minority under the rules to
require extended debate on controversial nominees to powerful Federal
positions. This serious breach of the rules is an ongoing violation. It
is highlighted again today by the majority's effort to muscle through
the current nominee under a procedure they came up with in the majority
leader's conference room, not through the rules committee and regular
order as was promised.
Members of the majority who voted for this heavyhanded procedure last
fall will be responsible for the nominee's confirmation today--if that
occurs--regardless of how they vote on the nomination itself. And they
should not be heard to complain that the nomination process is not as
productive as it was only a few months ago--before they threw caution
to the wind and violated our rights under the Standing Rules of the
Senate.
Ukraine
Mr. President, last week's military intervention by Russian forces
into Crimea makes it clear that President Putin is determined to
maintain the Russian sphere of influence there--and at a cost to his
country. That is why Washington and its allies will now be of such
critical importance in Ukraine.
According to the Budapest agreement, Russia has an obligation to
respect the sovereignty of its neighbor, and the West should stand
united in holding President Putin to that agreement.
The United States, NATO, and the EU should also work together to
support the interim government in Kiev by supporting free and fair
elections. And Members of Congress are already discussing loan
guarantees and additional sanctions against Russia.
But if there is one thing Russia's military intervention into Crimea
also makes absolutely clear, despite the best hopes of some, it is
this: The foundation of the international system is governed by force,
capability, and interest. Let me say that again. The foundation of the
international system is governed by force, capability, and interest.
That is the reality by which we should be guided in approaching this
conflict, and it is a reality by which we should be guided when it
comes to American power more generally.
As I have argued before, this President has eroded American
credibility in the world:
[It starts] with the arbitrary deadlines for military
withdrawal . . . and the triumph and declaration that
Guantanamo would be closed within a year, without any plan
for what to do with its detainees. . . . there were the
executive orders that ended the Central Intelligence Agency's
detention and interrogation programs . . .
We all saw the so-called reset with Russia, and how the
President's stated commitment to a world without nuclear
weapons led him to hastily sign an arms treaty with Russia
that did nothing to substantially reduce its stockpile, or
its tactical nuclear weapons.
We saw the President announce a strategic pivot to the
Asia-Pacific, without any real plan to fund it, and an effort
to end the capture, interrogation, and detention of
terrorists, as well as the return of the old idea that
terrorism should be treated as a law enforcement matter.
After a decade-long counterinsurgency in Afghanistan, we've
seen the President's failure to invest in the kind of
strategic modernization that's needed to make his pivot into
Asia meaningful.
Specifically, his failure to make the kind of investments
that are needed to maintain our dominance in the Asia Pacific
theater, in the kind of naval, air, and Marine Corps
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forces that we'll need there in the years ahead, could have
tragic consequences down the road.
Let's be clear. Whether it is recent reports suggesting the Obama
administration knew for years about potential Russian violations of the
treaty that regulates medium-range missiles or whether it is Russia's
refusal to negotiate a reduction in tactical nuclear weapons, its
shipment of arms to the Syrian Government, or its invasion of Crimea,
we can now put to rest for good any notion that the relationship with
Russia has been reset.
President Putin sees himself as the authoritarian ruler of a great
power--and one who is determined to preserve his regime. That is how we
should understand him.
In invading Crimea he clearly concluded that protecting Russia's
sphere of influence there was worth the risk of Russian lives and of
any response on the part of the United States and Europe. We and our
allies pay a price when our capabilities diminish. That is why I have
continually advocated for investments in the modernization of our
forces, for marrying our commitments to our capabilities, and for a
recognition that receding from the world comes with consequences--
mainly bad ones.
We remain a member of NATO and have treaty commitments to our fellow
members. We also know that in Asia, China has pursued a policy of
coercing its neighbors and exploiting territorial disputes. American
military might is the backbone of the international order, but when we
diminish our capabilities, we must understand that regional powers will
fill the void.
Our President is still the leader of the free world. We will support
him however we can to ensure a satisfactory outcome for the Ukrainian
people and to prevent this conflict from escalating into a wider war.
Ukrainians deserve our support. But this is a moment when President
Obama is going to have to lead.
Honoring our Armed Forces
Chief Petty Officer Collin T. Thomas
Mr. President, I rise to speak in tribute to a brave Kentuckian who
has given his life in service to his country. CPO Collin T. Thomas, a
highly distinguished and decorated Navy SEAL, was killed in his final
mission on August 18, 2010, in eastern Afghanistan in direct combat
with the enemy. In his final act, he killed a Taliban fighter who had
shot him and other members of his team, thus saving his teammates. For
these acts of valor, he received the Silver Star Medal. He was 33 years
old.
Chief Petty Officer Thomas held a rating of chief special warfare
operator, was a Navy SEAL for 10 years, and served in the Navy for 13.
In that time he received many awards, medals, and decorations,
including the Silver Star Medal for the actions I have described, three
Bronze Star Medals with combat ``V'' distinguishing device, a Purple
Heart, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, two Joint Service
Commendation Medals with combat ``V'' distinguishing device, a Navy and
Marine Corps Commendation Medal, six Marine Corps and Navy Achievement
Medals, two Combat Action Ribbons, four Good Conduct Medals, the
National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medals with two
campaign stars, the Iraq Campaign Medal, Marksmanship Medals with
``expert'' service device for both rifle and pistol, and a multitude of
personal, unit and campaign awards.
On September 11, 2001, Collin Thomas's cousin, Navy weatherman AG1
Edward Earhart, was the first identified military casualty of the
terrorist attack that struck the Pentagon. Sadly, this was not the
first time terrorism had directly struck Collin's family. His uncle,
Maj. John Macroglou, was the senior marine killed in the Beirut
barracks bombing in 1983.
Then a Navy SEAL for a little over 1 year, Collin vowed to his family
to make amends for the death of his uncle and his cousin. Collin's
father Clayton says:
When asked by his grandfather why he continued to be a
SEAL, Collin would say that he was going to be the one to
capture or kill bin Laden.
Collin was born in San Diego, and by high school he had lived in
seven States and two countries. But he always considered himself a
Kentuckian.
After his father's retirement from the U.S. Marine Corps, the Thomas
family settled in Morehead, where Collin attended Rowan County Senior
High School. He ran track and played varsity football. Collin enjoyed
camping and hunting. He liked to shoot and was good at it. His
grandmother would prepare squirrel gravy from the spoils of Collin's
hunting expeditions reluctantly because as much as she wanted to
celebrate her grandson's marksmanship, squirrel was not a favored
delicacy in her household.
A story from Collin's high school years demonstrates that the
motivation to help others that was the driving force behind his Navy
SEAL career was present at a young age. At age 14 Collin stood up for
some younger children to bullies on the schoolbus. ``He didn't even
know these children, but he knew they were being bullied and denied a
bus seat by bigger and older children,'' Clayton remembers. He ``gave
them his seat and told the bullies they would have to answer to him if
he ever saw them bullying these or any other children again. . . . The
character and sense of fairness he demonstrated taking on bullies he
did not know to protect others would be repeated throughout his life.''
Collin was very driven and focused from a young age on his life's
goal--becoming a Navy SEAL. He began his unofficial training at age 15
after talking with a Navy master chief at the Naval Academy, who gave
him an idea of the physical, academic, and psychological training
Collin would need to undergo to follow his dream. By the time he
received his driver's license, Collin had also completed his SCUBA open
water dive certification.
Collin graduated from high school in 1995, and at Morehead State
University he took every ROTC class available. The summer after his
first year of college, Collin was selected for basic airborne training
by his ROTC commander. He met many Active-Duty Navy SEALs there and
came away convinced he was ready.
Collin enlisted in the Navy on February 20, 1997, and his oath was
administered by his father Clayton, a retired marine lieutenant
colonel.
Collin completed basic training, was an honor graduate at the
hospital corpsman school, and trained in basic underwater demolition.
He was then assigned to a SEAL team to develop his skills as a special
warfare operator. He became a SEAL on June 9, 2000, and was sent on his
first deployment to South America.
Chief Petty Officer Thomas was a highly skilled and capable SEAL, and
his constant training took him around the world. He became certified as
a paramedic and a lead climber, able to scale near-vertical cliffs. He
was a master parachutist specializing in nighttime high-altitude
operations. He mastered underwater diving and was able to stay
underwater for over 4 hours. He won inter-unit shooting competitions
with both longbarrelled and shortbarrelled weapons. He excelled in snow
skiing and skied the most difficult airdrop courses in South America,
Europe, and America.
In April 2010 Collin achieved a lifetime goal when he and two of his
SEAL teammates climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, the highest
freestanding mountain in the world at 19,341 feet above sea level. They
made most of the climb in speedy time. Near the summit, however, Collin
encountered two women from California who were ill from altitude
sickness. Against his guide's advice, Collin stopped to give them
medical attention, delaying his final ascent. Collin's father recalled,
``Somehow, one of the women found out that Collin had been killed, and
she sent a letter telling the family how kind he was to them, and she
felt he had saved their lives.'' Once again, the same young man who had
stood up to bullies on a schoolbus had set his own interests aside to
save others.
Collin was buried with full military honors at Forest Lawn Memorial
Gardens in Rowan County, KY.
We are thinking of his loved ones today, including his parents
Clayton and Paul; his sister Meghan; his fiancee Sarah Saunders, and
many other beloved family members and friends.
To his father Clayton I say ``Semper fidelis''--your son was always
faithful.
One of Collin's senior officers, engaged in many highly sensitive and
consequential missions, was unable to give his name for attribution on
the Senate floor. However, he was able to
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say these words about Collin, which I will share with all of you. This
unnamed officer said:
Collin Thomas was a brave American patriot and an
incredibly gifted Navy SEAL. His tireless professionalism,
inspiring passion for life, and humble demeanor made him a
role model for all who knew him. We are deeply saddened by
this tremendous loss of a brother in arms.
I know my colleagues share these sentiments, and we mourn the loss of
CPO Collin T. Thomas. We extend our deepest condolences to his family.
No words spoken in this Chamber can take away the sadness and loss
Collin's family must feel, but I do want them to know this Nation and
this Senate are deeply grateful for CPO Collin T. Thomas's service and
sacrifice. We are humbled to pay tribute to his life and legacy.
I yield the floor.
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