[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 165 (Thursday, November 17, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6442-S6443]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           BANNON APPOINTMENT

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, while we are on the subject of the 
President-elect, he has indicated some of the appointments he will 
make. Some, of course, will require advice and consent by this body, 
and I hope we will do that, even though this body has refused to advise 
and consent on the Supreme Court nomination now pending before it.
  There are others he can appoint without being confirmed by the 
Senate. It is amazing that the President-elect, having said that he 
wants to bring the country together, that he wants to be a President 
for all of us, would then appoint to his inner circle, someone with the 
ear of the President, Stephen Bannon.
  Let me just read part of an editorial in the Chicago Tribune.
  ``The problem is that Bannon, who will sit at the right hand of a 
president, also works as a conduit to hate and intolerance. Bannon has 
said Breitbart is `the platform for the alt-right.' Yet the `alt-right' 
is a repellent, nationalist political movement that breeds racism, 
anti-Semitism and misogyny. The alt-right miasma `opposes feminism, 
diversity, gay rights, globalism, gun control and civil rights,' 
according to Baruch College professor Thomas Main, who is writing a 
book on the movement. At the fringes of alt-right is where you will 
find American neo-Nazis and the Klan, two groups evidently thrilled by 
Trump's victory.''
  Those aren't my words. Those are the words from the Chicago Tribune.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed at this point 
in the Record the full editorial.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

               [From the Chicago Tribune, Nov. 17, 2016]

       Editorial: Stephen Bannon: The Next President's Whisperer

       With just a week or so under his belt as president-elect, 
     Donald Trump has spoken in public briefly, given a few 
     interviews and bashed out some colorful tweets. Americans 
     still processing his stunning victory will have to wait a bit 
     longer to get a full sense of the next president's 
     priorities.
       But already there's this: Trump has named Stephen Bannon, 
     62, his White House chief strategist.
       Bannon, the political equivalent of a shock jock, was 
     little known until he became Trump's campaign chief executive 
     in August. He is a conservative media impresario whose resume 
     includes Georgetown, Harvard, the Pentagon and Goldman Sachs. 
     He's now the executive chairman of Breitbart News, whose 
     popular website dabbles in the swamplands of the far right. A 
     lot of bigoted ugliness swims out there in the so-called alt-
     right, and Bannon has let it fester on Breitbart.com.
       Trump won as a populist insurgent who used bullying and 
     intemperate language to fan his message. The strategy worked 
     but also helped divide the country. Appointing Bannon as 
     consigliere is not a good step toward unity. It agitates the 
     not-my-president slice of the American populace. And it 
     confuses Americans who are trying to give the president-elect 
     a fresh start--but who also need to see evidence that Trump 
     will abide his promise to be ``president for all Americans.''
       When Trump takes office, Bannon--if he's still around--
     won't be the Treasury secretary or the attorney general or 
     the secretary of state: leaders working largely in public. 
     Bannon instead will play the role David Axelrod played for 
     the nation's last novice president. His will be the whisper 
     in President Trump's ear. His work product won't be what the 
     White House proposes or what Congress passes. His work 
     product will be what the president does. What the president 
     says. What message the president projects to the country and 
     the world.
       We get what Trump is trying to do by appointing Bannon. The 
     president-elect made two major picks early this week: He also 
     chose Reince Priebus to be chief of staff, the Oval Office 
     gatekeeper. Priebus, head of the Republican Party, was a 
     shrewd selection. Someone in the White House needs political 
     experience to guide Trump's agenda through Washington's 
     thicket. Priebus is perfectly positioned to be the hour-by-
     hour liaison to his friend and fellow Wisconsinite, House 
     Speaker Paul Ryan.
       Priebus is nobody's bomb thrower. He's a member of the 
     Normal Club. But that also pegs him as an establishment guy, 
     making Trump vulnerable to accusations of being a sell-out. 
     So to assuage the anti-establishment crowd, here comes 
     Bannon, whose website was one of Trump's most vocal 
     cheerleaders.
       The problem is that Bannon, who will sit at the right hand 
     of a president, also works as a conduit to hate and 
     intolerance. Bannon has said Breitbart is ``the platform for 
     the alt-right.'' Yet the ``alt-right'' is a repellent, 
     nationalist political movement that breeds racism, anti-
     Semitism and misogyny. The alt-right miasma ``opposes 
     feminism, diversity, gay rights, globalism, gun control and 
     civil rights,'' according to Baruch College professor Thomas 
     Main, who is writing a book on the movement. At the fringes 
     of the alt-right is where you find American neo-Nazis and the 
     Klan, two groups evidently thrilled by Trump's victory.
       On the issue of Trump's presidency, we want to remain 
     patient as well as vigilant. We've said in prior editorials 
     that presidents get fresh starts and wide latitude to set 
     their agendas. Bannon helped Trump get elected, which makes 
     him more clever than the Democratic operatives who backed 
     Hillary Clinton, the losing presidential candidate. Maybe his 
     primary White House role is to be a sop to supporters and 
     that's all.
       But Trump voters aren't the only Americans anxiously 
     waiting for positive signals from the new administration. 
     While Trump will never placate Democrats, there's another 
     crucial group we'll call America's middle third who need to 
     be assuaged. Many of them didn't vote for Trump but they may 
     make the biggest difference in the success of his presidency: 
     They'll either be won over or will bolt to the opposition. 
     Like every president, Trump will calibrate many of his 
     actions according to how far he can go without losing them.
       That's always a tough balance. In today's America it's 
     especially tough. By adding someone as notorious as Bannon to 
     his team, the new president has more than sent the wrong 
     signal. He also has risked alienating the vast swath of 
     Americans who will determine whether his presidency succeeds 
     or fails. And he's done it well before even taking the oath 
     of office.

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, everybody, whether we supported Donald 
Trump or not--and, obviously, I did not--wants to give any President a 
chance to bring this country together. Throughout the country, during 
this campaign, we have become terribly divided. Even in my own State of 
Vermont, we heard of some of these divisions.
  I feel fortunate that Vermonters reelected me. I have never run 
negative campaign ads, and did not this time. I was opposed by somebody 
who ran a completely negative campaign. I think people reject 
negativity. There are so many positive aspects to America. We talk 
about making America great

[[Page S6443]]

again, and there is no other country we would trade it for. What 
country would we trade our country for? None. We are a great nation. 
But what makes us great is our diversity and our ability to come 
together. That is what we should be doing.
  I hope the President-elect will reconsider naming Stephen Bannon as 
his chief White House strategist and understand what kind of signal 
this sends to the country. We do not need more division. We certainly 
do not need people who might attack someone because of their religion. 
We need people who will realize the United States is an inclusive 
country, not an exclusive country. This is not the message we should 
send within our own country or throughout the world.
  Mr. Bannon wants to continue making these horrible and offensive 
comments, as he has a First Amendment right to do at Breitbart News, 
but let us not have that be the example set from the White House, by 
the President of the greatest nation on Earth.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I believe Senator Warren of 
Massachusetts will be joining me on the floor, and I ask unanimous 
consent that if she is here on the floor at the conclusion of my 
remarks that she be recognized next so that our remarks can be 
conjoined with one another.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. I thank the Chair.

                          ____________________