[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 118 (Thursday, July 13, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3968-S3969]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



             Unanimous Consent Requests--Executive Calendar

  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, let me begin by reviewing the threats the 
United States is facing around the world today. The campaign against 
ISIS is far from over. We must build on the success of retaking Mosul 
and ensure an enduring defeat of terrorist threats in Iraq and Syria 
and throughout the region.
  Every day we learn more about Russia's asymmetric capabilities--from 
cyber attacks to disinformation campaigns--even as they modernize their 
military, occupy Crimea, destabilize Ukraine, and threaten our NATO 
allies. China continues to militarize the South China Sea and modernize 
its own military at an alarming rate. North Korea gets ever closer to 
developing the capability to strike the U.S. homeland with a nuclear-
armed missile.
  I could spend a lot of time going through all of the threats we face. 
We are at war. We are at war. There are brave young men and women 
serving in Afghanistan, as I speak. Some of them have been wounded and 
killed. We must always ask ourselves: Are we really doing all we can to 
support them?
  Our military is facing a crisis. Years of budget cuts from this 
Congress have failed our men and women in uniform. In order to rebuild 
the military, the Pentagon needs to ramp up readiness programs and 
embark on an ambitious plan for modernization to make sure our 
servicemembers are given the training, resources, and capabilities they 
need. To do that, the Department of Defense must have senior 
leadership.
  The position of Deputy Secretary of State is one of the most critical 
positions in our government. It is essentially the chief operating 
officer of the largest, most complex organization in the world--the 
Department that is entrusted with ensuring our national security.
  Patrick Shanahan is a well-qualified nominee who passed out of the 
Armed Services Committee on a voice vote. This body voted 
overwhelmingly, 98 to 1, to confirm General Mattis as Secretary of 
Defense. He had our overwhelming support to lead the Department during 
challenging times. Yet we have not given Secretary Mattis the senior 
leadership he needs to help him do his job.
  Tomorrow, I say to my colleagues, the current Deputy Secretary of 
Defense, Bob Work, will leave his office. There simply is no more time 
to delay moving the nomination of Patrick Shanahan. You can choose to 
vote no, you can choose to vote yes, but let's just vote. The 
obstruction has gone on long enough, and it has to stop.
  I wish to say, I understand the frustration my colleagues on the 
other side of the aisle feel with the process we have been through, 
particularly on the issue of healthcare. The issue of healthcare should 
have gone through

[[Page S3969]]

the relevant committees. It should have had amendments, it should have 
had debate, it should have had discussion, and maybe we could have 
passed something going through the regular order, and we didn't. I 
understand the frustration my colleagues on the other side of the aisle 
are feeling. I felt the same thing in 2009 when we did ObamaCare, 
basically on the same basis. Yet amnesia seems to have set in here or 
new Members are not remembering or care.
  What is going on in this body, unfortunately, these days is plagued 
by partisanship and politics. This is a time to put aside all of that 
for the sake of our national security and come together as Republicans 
and Democrats to move this nomination. Our men and women in uniform 
deserve no less.
  Let me say again to my friend from New York, whom I have enjoyed 
doing battle with for many years, he is a man of honesty and integrity 
and a man of his word. I understand his frustration, and I understand 
the frustration on the other side of the aisle because we felt the same 
thing.
  I would again ask the indulgence of the leader of the Democrat Party 
on the other side to at least consider this unanimous consent request.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the 
consideration of Executive Calendar No. 157, the nomination of Patrick 
Shanahan to be Deputy Secretary of Defense; that the nomination be 
confirmed; that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid 
upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the 
Senate's action.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, first, 
there is no one I have more respect for on either side of the aisle 
than the Senator from Arizona. He said some nice words about me, and I 
extend them back to him five times over. He is a fine man. He has great 
integrity, great courage, great service to our country, and no one has 
helped defend America more--both when he was in the Armed Forces and 
here on the Senate floor--than the gentleman. I respect that.
  I respect that you always try to put yourself in the other person's 
moccasins. That was one of the great Indian proverbs.
  I know he is doing that, as he mentioned in his remarks.
  I would like to make a couple of quick points.
  First, our Republican leader has chosen this week to proceed with 
three nominees under regular order. He could have advanced this nominee 
and a few others from the DOD but instead chose a district court judge 
in Idaho, a nominee to OMB, Ambassador to Japan. So I say to my good 
friend from Arizona, given the frustration he remarked on that our side 
has on healthcare, which is so important to so many--as is keeping a 
strong and fully staffed Defense Department--I would say to the 
gentleman that we would be happy to consider the nominee in the regular 
order. And maybe once things change a little bit on healthcare, with 
the consent of my colleagues on this side of the aisle, we can move a 
lot of things quickly. But at this point, despite my great respect for 
my dear friend, I must object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  Mr. McCAIN. Before the Democratic leader leaves, may I ask one more?
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that at 5 p.m. on Monday, July 
17, the Senate proceed to executive session for consideration of 
Executive Calendar No. 157. I further ask that there be 30 minutes of 
debate on the nomination equally divided in the usual form and that 
following the use or yielding back of time, the Senate vote on 
confirmation of the nomination with no intervening action or debate, 
and that, if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and 
laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the 
Senate's action.
  Before I ask for a ruling on that, may I just say that the Senator 
from New York has a legitimate comment. Why in the world we would be 
wasting time on the Ambassador to Japan when we have the Department of 
Defense nominees in line is something I can neither account for, nor 
can I condone. So I understand the frustration of the Senator from New 
York.
  Maybe sometime after our 2 weeks in August, perhaps some of us ought 
to sit down and talk and work out an agenda. We have a train wreck 
coming, as the Senator from New York knows. We have the debt limit. We 
have appropriations bills to pass. We have all these things piling up, 
we have about 30 days to do it in, and so far, I have seen no plan to 
address these challenges.
  The only way we are going to address some of these challenges, I say 
to my colleagues, with their partisanship and anger and dislike of 
anybody who lives over there, the fact is that we need to work together 
to work these things out, and we can do it without betraying principle, 
but we can also do it by understanding the priorities and the 
dedication and patriotism of those on the other side of the aisle.
  So I understand the Senator from New York. I don't agree with the 
Senator from New York, but I understand his frustration. So I renew my 
consent request.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. SCHUMER. Reluctantly, again, I must object. But I would say to my 
colleague from Arizona, I would like very much to sit down and work out 
these other problems. I think that if he and I sat in a room together, 
we could figure these things out ourselves pretty well, and it would be 
our job to persuade our colleagues to try to do the same. I understand. 
I used the same words--``train wreck''--earlier this morning. If we 
don't come to a good agreement, for instance, on appropriations and the 
budget, the defense forces that he so dearly holds and so many of the 
issues on our side would be hurt dramatically--the country would. So I 
promise him, I will endeavor to work with him in the most good-faith 
way.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  Mr. McCAIN. May I ask one more question of the Democratic leader? 
When would Mr. Shanahan's nomination be in order?
  Mr. SCHUMER. I think if it is filed--it will be up to the Republican 
leader. If it is filed tonight, the cloture motion would be voted on 
Monday night, and then maybe we could talk about--with the permission 
of my colleagues from the other side--speeding it up after that.
  Mr. McCAIN. I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Massachusetts.