[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 45 (Wednesday, March 15, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1818-S1819]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                     Nomination of Herbert McMaster

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I have a tremendous amount of respect for 
Lieutenant General McMaster and a great deal of admiration for his 
willingness to answer the call of service for his Nation as National 
Security Advisor.
  So I want to be clear that none of my comments are intended as a 
reflection on General McMaster himself.
  But I am greatly concerned about the current state of the 
organization that General McMaster is being asked to run and that the 
way in which the President and his senior advisers appear to be running 
it is creating great risk for our Nation.
  The President's first National Security Advisor, who lasted less than 
a month in office, had failed to register as a foreign agent, a job 
that he held throughout the Presidential campaign and into the 
transition--so much for America first.
  The initial Executive order structuring the National Security Council 
system for the new administration deliberately omitted the Chairman of 
the Joint Chiefs and the Director of National Intelligence from the 
Principals Committee--in other words, a National Security Council 
without the insight and guidance of our intelligence community or 
military.
  Every administration can structure the White House as it sees fit, 
but national security without intelligence or military advice is, 
frankly, mind-boggling.
  At the same time, the NSC was to include Steve Bannon, the 
President's political adviser. Although previous White Houses have had 
staff from outside the NSC sit in on NSC meetings on occasion and as 
appropriate, never before has an administration suggested that the 
NSC's work of safeguarding our Nation be subordinate to the political 
goals of safeguarding a President's political position and public 
opinion ratings.
  Alongside the NSC, this White House has established a so-called 
Strategic Initiatives Group under Mr. Bannon, which is reportedly 
undertaking strategic reviews of U.S. policy on sensitive issues--
including U.S.-Russia relations. Running a shadow NSC with crossing 
lines of jurisdiction and authority seems like a recipe for disaster.
  So all of this has created an environment of dysfunction and an 
organization in severe distress. It is one thing to run a family real 
estate company this way, but this is our national security that is at 
stake.
  If there is a crisis tonight--on the Korean Peninsula, with Russia, 
in the Middle East or Persian Gulf--it is far from clear that the NSC 
is in a position to provide our senior policymakers with the options 
they need and the decision-space necessary to safeguard America in a 
dangerous and unpredictable world.
  I wish General McMaster all the best, but hope that he is approaching 
the challenges of his job with clear-eyed conviction.
  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. President, in a few short months, President Trump 
has undermined U.S. credibility and our standing abroad. He has called 
for a nuclear arms race, asserted the United States should reinvade 
Iraq to take its oil, lavished praise on Vladimir Putin, and slandered 
stalwart allies like Australia and Germany. He has issued two Muslim 
bans--a move lauded by the Islamic State and condemned by top military, 
intelligence, and diplomatic officials of both parties.
  President Trump has put our national security apparatus under 
enormous stress. He has appointed Steve Bannon, an extremist with the 
explicit ambition to ``destroy the state,'' to the National Security 
Council--the highest body charged with protecting the state. He has 
failed to nominate officials for dozens of crucial national security 
positions, hobbling our ability to respond to a future national 
security crisis. He has repeatedly denigrated our intelligence 
agencies, rejecting findings that clearly demonstrated Russia's role in 
his election. He has accused the FBI of breaking the law by wiretapping 
Trump Tower, a groundless claim for which he has offered no proof.
  LTG H.R. McMaster is a respected military strategist with a 
reputation for an independent mind. He has demonstrated throughout his 
career that he is willing to challenge and criticize U.S. leadership, 
irrespective of party. He does not appear to be sympathetic to the view 
of President Trump or Steve Bannon that the United States is at war 
with the entire Muslim world. Instead, while commanding U.S. forces in 
Iraq, General McMaster told his soldiers: ``Every time you treat an 
Iraqi disrespectfully, you are working for the enemy.''
  I am concerned with General McMaster's handling of sexual assault

[[Page S1819]]

allegations against two of his cadets at West Point. McMaster's 
reluctance to interfere with the training of these cadets, despite 
allegations of sexual assault, was in violation of Army policy. I am a 
strong supporter of efforts to reform the military's handling of sexual 
assault, which is why I cosponsored legislation in the House to pass 
new legal protections for victims of assault in the military.
  While I remain deeply concerned with the large number of military 
officials in senior positions in the Trump administration, I support 
General McMaster's retaining his rank while he serves as National 
Security Advisor. I do so with the hope that General McMaster will 
remain faithful to his reputation for dissent, will challenge President 
Trump when he takes a dangerous approach to the world, will restore 
order to the National Security Council, and will steward a foreign 
policy that makes America safer.
  Mr. WYDEN. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. UDALL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.