[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 64 (Thursday, April 19, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S2303]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       Nomination of Mike Pompeo

  Mr. BURR. Mr. President, I rise today because of what is on our 
schedule for next week. Next week, the Senate will consider the 
nomination by the President for his Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo.
  This is one of those times that I want to compliment the 
administration on a great pick. Mike Pompeo is a great leader. Mike, as 
a teenager, decided he wanted to go to West Point. Not only did he 
graduate from West Point, he graduated from West Point at the top of 
his class. He went into one of the least likely places, the Cavalry. He 
was a magnificent leader within the U.S. Army Cavalry.
  He went on to Harvard Law School, and he earned his law degree, but 
he didn't stop there. He was invited to be part of the Harvard Law 
Review, which is a very special cadre of individuals.
  He left and started an aerospace company, as many know--a very 
successful business. After that, because he believed community service 
was important, he ran for the U.S. House of Representatives, State of 
Kansas, where he served three terms with great distinction.
  He was tapped, all of a sudden, to the Director of the CIA in one of 
the most challenging times to be involved in intelligence, much less to 
be the Director of the CIA.
  By all accounts, those of us who serve on the Intelligence Committee 
and those people within the intelligence community but, more 
importantly, our partners around the world, after a very short period 
of time, have gained unbelievable respect for Mike Pompeo.
  It is tough for me to believe that this is not a nomination we are 
passing like the last two Secretaries of State, John Kerry and Senator 
Hillary Clinton. The vote was 94 to 2 for both of them. I was here. I 
am pretty sure that I supported both of them, and it is not because I 
aligned with them politically. It is because I inherently believe that 
a President has the right to pick his nominees and for those nominees 
to serve, and short of something that is a disqualifier that the Senate 
finds in their background, the President should have the authority to 
have that person serve.
  I just described to you the background of Mike Pompeo. Somebody is 
going to be hard-pressed to show me anything that is a disqualifier--
other than politics. This institution has shown that politics never 
plays a part in nominations, whether we are in charge or whether the 
other side is in charge, regardless of who is at the White House.
  This institution has been bogged down because nominations take weeks. 
We pass nobody under unanimous consent. Everybody is a challenge. It 
makes you wonder why people like Mike Pompeo would, in fact, go through 
the process to be confirmed.
  Let me remind my colleagues, we just confirmed him for his post, so 
he has already been confirmed to serve in the administration in one of 
the most challenging jobs--the CIA Director. For some reason, people 
now find that he is not qualified to be Secretary of State. What could 
it be, other than politics, that comes into play?
  I am here to attest to my colleagues that Mike Pompeo is a good man. 
He is a good husband. He is a good father. He has been a great leader. 
As a Member of the Senate with the charge of confirming nominees, I 
would say that this is the type of person we pray will be sent to us by 
the executive branch to confirm in a role.
  I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle--you may have 
differences with positions he has taken in the past, but for God's 
sake, do not question his qualifications to be a great leader. He has 
proved it. Do not question his background from a standpoint of 
education or his commitment to the country. He has passed the hardest 
tests in education, and, more importantly, he has passed the most 
important test of patriotism. He has served his country with 
distinction. My hope, my plea with my fellow colleagues is that they 
will allow Mike Pompeo to continue to serve his country, this time in 
the role of Secretary of State. I urge my colleagues to support him.
  I yield back my time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Colorado.
  Mr. GARDNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to be allowed to 
speak for one minute.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. GARDNER. Mr. President, I rise today to recommend and urge my 
colleagues to vote for  Jim Bridenstine as Administrator of NASA. We 
will be voting on his nomination momentarily.
   Jim Bridenstine has incredible experience, an incredible resume, and 
an incredible understanding of the mission before NASA. We need 
somebody with a vision. We need somebody who actually has an idea of 
where we should take our great space mission--somebody who has 
commercial experience, somebody who has government experience, somebody 
who has management experience, and, yes, somebody who has experience 
within the industry itself, and that person is  Jim Bridenstine.
  Jim has bipartisan support and support from the House. My fellow 
colleague, Democratic Congressman Ed Perlmutter from Colorado, along 
with a dozen other Democratic Members from the House of 
Representatives, said that  Jim Bridenstine will be an excellent NASA 
Administrator. He has the understanding, background, capability, and, 
more importantly, the drive and desire to do an excellent and 
outstanding job at NASA. I urge my colleagues to vote yes.
  You just heard our colleague Richard Burr talk about Director 
Pompeo's nomination as Secretary of State. Blind bipartisanship cannot 
be the only reason that drives votes in this Chamber. Whether it is for 
the Secretary of State or the Director of NASA, I urge my colleagues to 
vote yes, put partisanship aside, and start moving these nominations 
and doing what is right for this country. I urge my colleagues to vote 
yes on  Jim Bridenstine.
  I yield back my time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is, Will the Senate advise and 
consent to the Bridenstine nomination?
  Mr. GRASSLEY. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk called the roll.
  Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Arizona (Mr. McCain).
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Perdue). Are there any other Senators in 
the Chamber desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 50, nays 49, as follows:

                       [Rollcall Vote No. 80 Ex.]

                                YEAS--50

     Alexander
     Barrasso
     Blunt
     Boozman
     Burr
     Capito
     Cassidy
     Collins
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Cotton
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Daines
     Enzi
     Ernst
     Fischer
     Flake
     Gardner
     Graham
     Grassley
     Hatch
     Heller
     Hoeven
     Hyde-Smith
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Lankford
     Lee
     McConnell
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Paul
     Perdue
     Portman
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rounds
     Rubio
     Sasse
     Scott
     Shelby
     Sullivan
     Thune
     Tillis
     Toomey
     Wicker
     Young

                                NAYS--49

     Baldwin
     Bennet
     Blumenthal
     Booker
     Brown
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Coons
     Cortez Masto
     Donnelly
     Duckworth
     Durbin
     Feinstein
     Gillibrand
     Harris
     Hassan
     Heinrich
     Heitkamp
     Hirono
     Jones
     Kaine
     King
     Klobuchar
     Leahy
     Manchin
     Markey
     McCaskill
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Murphy
     Murray
     Nelson
     Peters
     Reed
     Sanders
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Shaheen
     Smith
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Udall
     Van Hollen
     Warner
     Warren
     Whitehouse
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--1

       
     McCain
       
  The nomination was confirmed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the motion to 
reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table and the President 
will be immediately notified of the Senate's action.
  The majority leader.

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