[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 16 (Tuesday, January 31, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S528]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                               Travel Ban

  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I would like to address some of the very 
serious concerns posed by the nomination of Rex Tillerson for Secretary 
of State, along with several of President Trump's Cabinet nominees. But 
first I do want to briefly address what unfolded this weekend at 
airports across the country following President Trump's appalling and 
un-American ban on Muslims and refugees from entering the country.
  With the stroke of a pen, the Trump administration caused chaos and 
heartbreak for hundreds of families, many of whom are our friends, our 
neighbors, and our coworkers. On Saturday night, Members of this 
Congress, including myself, were denied answers to even the most basic 
questions from border enforcement officers, questions that affect the 
people whom we represent.
  While I am glad that a Federal judge quickly issued a stay and that 
the Department of Homeland Security has since provided further guidance 
on the Executive orders, many questions remain and too many lives hang 
in the balance.
  I am going to keep fighting as hard as I can, and I encourage 
everyone who is listening and watching right now to continue making 
their voices heard because President Trump is already governing the way 
he campaigned, by dividing our country and pushing extreme policies 
that hurt families across the country. Again, we saw this so clearly in 
the Executive orders he signed this past week.
  But it is also something we have seen in the Cabinet nominees he has 
put forward since his election. As we all remember, President Trump 
said that he was going to drain the swamp, but he seems to think the 
way to do that is by filling it with even bigger swamp creatures. He 
said he was going to stand with the working class and fight Wall Street 
and Big Business. But he nominated a Cabinet full of Wall Street 
bankers and billionaires and millionaires and friends and insiders and 
campaign contributors.
  As many of my colleagues have discussed today, one clear example of 
President Trump's broken promise to drain the swamp is the nomination 
of Rex Tillerson, CEO of ExxonMobil for Secretary of State. This is a 
nominee who is not only a known friend and business partner to Russia, 
but someone who publicly spoke against sanctions on Russia after the 
invasion of Ukraine and Crimea.
  People in my home State of Washington have significant concerns about 
who he plans to work for, and so do I--concerns that Mr. Tillerson 
failed to adequately address in his hearing. I have said before that 
reports of Russia meddling in our election should disturb and outrage 
every American, Democrat, Republican, or Independent who believes that 
the integrity of our elections is fundamental to the strength of this 
democracy. That is why it is so critical we have a Secretary of State 
who will stand up to protect those values.