[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 68 (Thursday, April 26, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2460-S2461]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                      Confirmation of Mike Pompeo

  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, we have just voted to confirm Mike Pompeo 
to be the next Secretary of State for the United States--an essential 
member of the President's Cabinet.
  There has been a tradition of sorts in this deliberative body to give 
some deference to the President on his pick for chief diplomat, 
recognizing that foreign governments view the chief diplomat or 
Secretary of State as being the personal representative of the 
President himself, the thought being that whoever wins the election 
deserves the ability to assemble their own team and build a Cabinet 
with top brass whom he respects and can work

[[Page S2461]]

well with. That is how the system has worked. The party that lost the 
election accepted Cabinet nominees--absent some glaring or egregious 
reason not to--and agreed to leave ongoing political battles for 
another day.
  This is not just some ancient history, by the way. In fact, this week 
I have discussed at length many modern-day instances of it. For 
example, Condoleezza Rice passed with 85 votes. Secretary of State 
Hillary Clinton passed with 94 votes. Secretary Colin Powell sailed 
through the process, needing only a voice vote--not even a rollcall 
vote--to be confirmed.
  All of these men and women were confirmed because all of them had the 
qualifications to do the job, and so does Mike Pompeo. It is absolutely 
clear that he has both the credentials and the character required to be 
a successful Secretary of State. I won't recite all the lines of his 
stellar resume because you have heard them before, and we have just 
confirmed him.
  The point is simply that the man has what it takes for the job. That 
is why the ``no'' votes by our Democratic colleagues rang so hollow. 
All of their statements have been lacking in any real, substantive 
critique. It is clear that their ``no'' vote is primarily a way to lash 
out at President Trump because anybody President Trump chooses, they 
instinctively and reflexively oppose. It was disappointing, but in 
today's environment, it is not all that surprising.
  Their obstruction was not only a sad break from the tradition that I 
mentioned a moment ago but was also a sorry continuation of the 
hyperpartisanship that they have been engaging in with so many of the 
President's Cabinet nominees since he took office. Not long ago, Mike 
Pompeo was one of the exceptions. Fourteen Democrats and one 
Independent supported his confirmation as CIA Director. Yet now, 1 year 
later, after his unblemished service as CIA Director, only three are 
voicing their support for him. Nothing has changed about the man, about 
Mike Pompeo himself, but everything has changed about the way Democrats 
view their responsibility in this Chamber, not just to their 
constituents but to the Senate as a whole. What has changed is their 
disdain for the President himself. It has grown, and they have decided 
to take it out on his nominees, which is unfair, of course, but it is 
also unwise. Any frustration they have is all the more reason why they 
should support a man like Mike Pompeo, who throughout his career has 
shown his capacity to exercise good judgment. He is no mere lackey or 
political shill--anyone would tell you that--and his experiences speak 
for themselves in that regard.
  The worst part of this whole debacle is that those who have suffered 
the most while we get our act together are the American people. They 
are aware--more so, maybe, than some of us--of what is happening across 
the world: threats posed by Russia, China, and North Korea, the 
unravelling of Syria. They are right to wonder why in the world the 
Senate would dawdle and politicize the confirmation of a well-qualified 
person and leave the rest of the world in doubt as to who is going to 
be representing us as our diplomat in chief. The American people 
understand how precarious our situation is in North Korea, which 
Admiral Harris of the U.S. Pacific Command has called ``the greatest 
threat we face.'' This is not a time for partisanship, for 
hyperpartisanship, or for voting reflexively against everybody the 
President has proposed as a nominee.
  The next Secretary of State will play a vital role in the 
negotiations with North Korea. In fact, as we now know, Mike Pompeo has 
already taken the initial steps, laying the groundwork and the 
foundation for what we all hope will be a successful negotiation on the 
denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
  Those are some of the reasons I strongly supported Mike Pompeo's 
nomination to lead the State Department, and I hope our colleagues will 
somehow find a way to overcome this reflexive opposition to everything 
the President has proposed and their hyperpartisan response every time 
the President proposes either a nominee or some policy provision.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon.