[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 96 (Thursday, May 21, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S2582]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   CONFIRMATION OF JOHN L. RATCLIFFE

  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise today in opposition to the 
confirmation of Congressman   John Ratcliffe to be Director of National 
Intelligence.
  I voted against   John Ratcliffe for Director of National 
Intelligence for three key reasons.
  First, I do not believe Congressman Ratcliffe is qualified for the 
position of Director of National Intelligence, DNI.
  By law, a DNI requires ``extensive national security expertise.'' 
Past DNIs have been career civil servants or military officers with 
extensive experience in intelligence and foreign affairs.
  By contrast, Congressman Ratcliffe has been a member of Congress for 
4 years and the mayor of a small town in Texas. His sole intelligence 
community experience is a single year on the House Intelligence 
Committee.
  I am deeply concerned that during his hearings he was unable to 
demonstrate a sufficient understanding of the most pressing threats and 
challenges that we face as a nation.
  Second, I am very concerned with Congressman Ratcliffe's position on 
torture.
  During his nomination hearing, he refused to denounce torture. He 
refused to admit that certain CIA actions following 9/11 were torture. 
And he refused to agree that waterboarding is torture, regardless of 
potential changes to U.S. law.
  Torture is morally reprehensible, and the head of our intelligence 
community must be willing to say so and prevent it from happening 
again.
  Third, the DNI must not be politically motivated. The DNI directs 17 
intelligence agencies with a budget of more than $60 billion and is 
responsible for providing objective intelligence analysis to the 
President.
  Congressman Ratcliffe is a vocal defender of President Trump and 
served on his impeachment defense team. I am concerned that politics 
would interfere in his duties if he were confirmed.
  We need a confirmed DNI with the right experience and objectivity to 
do the job.
  Congressman Ratcliffe was nominated for this position last year and 
subsequently withdrew. Nothing has changed since then to qualify him 
for this role.

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