[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 33 (Monday, February 22, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S759-S760]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                 Nomination of Linda Thomas-Greenfield

  Mr. COTTON. Madam President, today, the Senate will vote on Linda 
Thomas-Greenfield's nomination to be Ambassador to the United Nations. 
I will oppose her nomination.
  The United Nations is a troubled institution. Too often, the U.N. is, 
at its best, a feckless debating society, but at worst--and that is 
more common, sadly--an apologist for tyranny, corruption, and 
hypocrisy.
  Our Ambassador must give voice to our interests, priorities, and the 
conscience of the United States and regularly confront our enemies on 
the world stage. This position requires foresight, judgment, and 
courage, the courage to speak truth in a den of liars.
  Unfortunately, Ms. Thomas-Greenfield hasn't demonstrated these 
qualities when it comes to the world's most notorious liar: Communist 
China.
  Little more than a year ago, Ms. Thomas-Greenfield delivered a speech 
at a China-funded Confucius Institute at Savannah State University. In 
her remarks, she could have condemned China's economic regression, 
denounced China for flooding our streets with deadly drugs like 
fentanyl, objected to their ethnic cleansing of Uighurs and Tibetans, 
called for Beijing to uphold its international commitments to Hong 
Kong's autonomy, or criticized their predatory lending practices in 
Africa.
  Instead, she praised China. She excused their behavior in Africa and 
said there is much the United States can learn from China. It is beyond 
me how anyone, especially a seasoned diplomat, could utter such a 
grotesque line. America has nothing to learn from a genocidal, 
Communist tyranny.
  She excused China's debt-trap diplomacy and said she could ``see no 
reason'' why China couldn't help spread values that included ``good 
governance, gender equity, and the rule of law.'' Gender equity? Would 
that include China's barbaric one-child policy, which led to the 
elimination of millions of unborn girls over decades of sex-selection 
abortion or China's policy of systematic rape of religious and ethnic 
minority women in Xinjiang Province? Gender equity, indeed.
  She showed a similar lack of tact and understanding on the subject of 
trade with China. She asserted that the United States and China should 
simply ``come to an understanding'' without uttering a sentence, not a 
word, not even a syllable of criticism of China's unrestricted and 
illegal economic aggression against our workers and our companies.
  She also asserted that ``we are not in a [new] Cold War'' with China. 
This statement, along with the rest of her speech, shows a strategic 
blindness that is disqualifying for a senior foreign policy post.
  Ms. Thomas-Greenfield has expressed regret for her speech, and some 
people say a single speech shouldn't define an entire career, but this 
isn't some ancient speech dug up from a long-lost era by political 
opponents. She gave it just 16 months ago. The whole world knew--and 
certainly a career diplomat would have known--about China's long, dark, 
lamentable catalog of crimes against America, international order and 
stability, and its own people.
  And these remarks were not isolated mistakes or a slip of the tongue. 
This nominee has spent years minimizing the threat of China's actions 
in Africa and has spoken repeatedly in favor--in favor of China's Belt 
and Road Initiative, which is a transparent ploy to spread Communist 
Chinese influence into other countries.
  And the Biden administration's attempts to excuse this speech have 
done her no favors. After her speech came to light, President Biden's 
transition team stated that Ms. Thomas-Greenfield was ``repulsed'' by 
what she saw at the Confucius Institute. Really? Repulsed? If that were 
true, why didn't she speak out then? Why did she keep the money from 
the speech?
  Either President Biden's team is misleading the public or this 
nominee failed to speak up when it mattered most on another occasion. 
Neither possibility reflects favorably on the administration or the 
nominee.
  To be honest, I doubt that Ms. Thomas-Greenfield or the 
administration are particularly ``repulsed'' by Confucius Institutes. 
That is why, after all, in his first week in office, President Biden 
withdrew a rule that would force universities to disclose their secret 
agreements with Confucius Institutes.
  This was an unnecessary, undeserved, and unwise gift to China, as 
well as a payoff to higher education, a client and a patron of the 
Democratic Party. Many colleges have become addicted to Chinese 
Communist money, and the Biden administration isn't about to shut off 
that gravy train. After all, Joe Biden's son Hunter takes Chinese 
money, so how could he object to liberal universities taking Chinese 
money?
  I will conclude by saying that in the last month, we have witnessed a 
gradual erosion of America's resolve in confronting China. This 
nomination is just another signal of weakness to Beijing. Supporters of 
Ms. Thomas-Greenfield's nomination can pretend that this dove has 
talons, but any fairminded observer, and especially those in Beijing, 
know that is not true. I will oppose the nomination
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. MENENDEZ. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. MENENDEZ. Madam President, I rise today to support the nomination 
of Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield as U.S. Representative to the 
United Nations, the Security Council, and the General Assembly of the 
United Nations.
  Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield's impressive career in public service 
makes her uniquely and eminently qualified for this role. For over 35 
years, she has served this country faithfully and ably, under both 
Democratic and Republican administrations, in senior Senate-confirmed 
positions such as Ambassador to Liberia, Director General of the 
Foreign Service, and Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs.
  Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield understands at her core that foreign 
policy is about forging connections and building relationships. So I 
have no doubt that what she calls her personal brand of ``gumbo 
diplomacy,'' which emphasizes connecting with others to solve problems, 
will be of tremendous service to the United States at an institution 
like the United Nations, where personal relationships matter a great 
deal.
  Our country is truly fortunate that the Ambassador has agreed to 
return to public service, especially at this critical moment. We face 
an array of formidable challenges, both around the world and at the 
U.N., that demand someone with her skills and commitment to democracy, 
good governance, human rights, and anti-corruption.
  Over the last 4 years, the United States has accrued more than $1 
billion in peacekeeping arrears, tried to pull out of the World Health 
Organization in the middle of a pandemic, undermined international 
protections for women, girls, and LGBTI individuals, defunded or cut 
funding to key agencies like the U.N. Population Fund and the Office of 
the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and pulled out of the Paris 
climate agreement.
  Meanwhile, China and other authoritarian countries have filled the 
vacuum left by our absence. We must regain U.S. leverage and influence 
at the Security Council, where Russia and China

[[Page S760]]

have used their veto powers and ability to bully nonpermanent members 
to stymie the Council's work.
  They have shielded abusive regimes, like the criminal dictatorship of 
Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela, and the government of Burma, which 
committed genocide against the Rohingya.
  Our loss of influence at the Security Council under the Trump 
administration was on full display in the disastrous attempt to extend 
the U.N. arms embargo on Iran, where the United States could muster 
only one other vote of support on the Council--one other vote--
including some of our most longtime allies: Germany, France, Great 
Britain, to mention a few. It was an embarrassment, an embarrassment.
  Meanwhile, China has increased its role and activities at the United 
Nations and in other international organizations and has worked to 
pervert and distort the core values that make the U.N.'s work so 
important, especially the U.N.'s long-held commitment to human rights.
  Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield has a long history of expressed 
opposition to China's use of debt-trap tactics and its increasingly 
malign presence in world governance bodies.
  She has spoken plainly about China's authoritarian ambitions, its 
open hostility to universal human rights and democratic values, and has 
committed to confronting them every step of the way at the United 
Nations.
  What the United States desperately needs right now at the U.N. is 
renewal and reengagement with key alliances and institutions. 
Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield has the expertise, the strength, and the 
character to deliver on these priorities, to stand up for the 
challenges that we face from China, to regain U.S. leverage and 
influence in the Security Council, to reengage our allies and hold Iran 
accountable, and to stand firm when Israel is subject to biased 
attacks.
  Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield has my full support, and I urge my 
colleagues to support the nomination.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. MENENDEZ. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. MENENDEZ. I ask unanimous consent that the vote be held 
immediately.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.