[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 15 (Tuesday, January 26, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S133-S134]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   NOMINATION OF ANTONY JOHN BLINKEN

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, as we move through the first full week of 
the Biden administration, the Senate will continue the important work 
of confirming President Biden's Cabinet.
  Today, the Senate will hold a confirmation vote for Tony Blinken to 
be the next Secretary of State. Mr. Blinken is just the right person to 
rebuild and reassert America's national security prerogatives on the 
global stage and reestablish the first instrument of American power: 
diplomacy.
  For 4 years, the failed diplomacy of the Trump administration 
weakened our alliances, strengthened and emboldened our adversaries, 
and tarnished America's reputation abroad. We must reaffirm our 
commitment to NATO and other critical alliances around the world. We 
must hold Russia accountable for its malicious interference in 
democracies. We must confront China's economic, political, and human 
rights abuses. And we must work with the family of nations to combat 
the existential threat of climate change.
  Once confirmed, Mr. Blinken will also inherit a State Department 
workforce in desperate need of a leader who knows that everyone on the 
team plays a critical role in advancing America's interests abroad. 
Under President Trump, our Nation's diplomats and State Department 
civilians were relegated to the sidelines, and too many positions in 
the State Department were left vacant or relegated to irrelevance.
  None of this will be easy, but I am confident that Mr. Blinken is 
exactly the right person for the job. I look forward to seeing this 
Chamber confirm his nomination later today.
  After that, both parties must keep working together to confirm the 
rest of President Biden's outstanding Cabinet. We are off to a decent 
pace with the confirmations of the President's Secretaries of Defense, 
Treasury, and Director of National Intelligence. I appreciate the 
Republican leader's cooperation and hope it will continue because our 
country needs that.

[[Page S134]]

  That pace must continue this week with the confirmation of the 
Secretaries of Homeland Security and Transportation. After that, we 
need a Health and Human Services Secretary installed to oversee the 
public health response to COVID; an Education Secretary to facilitate 
the safe reopening of the schools, guided by the science; and a 
Secretary of HUD to help America's struggling families stay in their 
homes during this horrible economic crisis. The Senate is working at an 
encouraging pace, and we will not let up.

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