[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 145 (Tuesday, August 10, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6254-S6261]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
FOR THE PEOPLE ACT OF 2021--Motion to Proceed
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 77, S.
2093.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the motion.
The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
Motion to proceed to Calendar No. 77, S. 2093, a bill to
expand Americans' access to the ballot box, reduce the
influence of big money in politics, strengthen ethics rules
for public servants, and implement other anti-corruption
measures for the purpose of fortifying our democracy, and for
other purposes.
Cloture Motion
Mr. SCHUMER. I send a cloture motion to the desk.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The cloture motion having been presented under
rule XXII, the Chair directs the clerk to read the motion.
The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows
Cloture Motion
We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the
provisions of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate,
do hereby move to bring to a close the debate on the motion
to proceed to Calendar No. 77, S. 2093, a bill to expand
Americans' access to the ballot box, reduce the influence of
big money in politics, strengthen ethics rules for public
servants, and implement other anti-corruption measures for
the purpose of fortifying our democracy, and for other
purposes.
Charles E. Schumer, Tim Kaine, Robert P. Casey, Jr., Tina
Smith, Richard J. Durbin, Jack Reed, Sherrod Brown,
Jeff Merkley, Benjamin L. Cardin, Sheldon Whitehouse,
Alex Padilla, Margaret Wood Hassan, Chris Van Hollen,
Amy Klobuchar, Jacky Rosen, Richard Blumenthal,
Elizabeth Warren.
Mr. SCHUMER. Finally, I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory
quorum calls for the cloture motions filed today, August 11, be waived.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. SCHUMER. Thank you.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Jersey.
Unanimous Consent Request--Executive Calendar
Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I know the hour is late, but we have
nearly 30 highly qualified Foreign Affairs and Development nominees who
are languishing on the Senate floor. We have to confirm these nominees
to fully equip the United States to pursue our foreign policy
objectives, and I will be asking unanimous consent to confirm each one.
My distinguished colleague from Connecticut, Senator Murphy, a member
of the committee, is here to join with me in this effort. I know the
Presiding Officer is also a distinguished member of the committee.
In the nearly 30 years that I have been working on foreign policy, we
have never faced such a confluence of global challenges: a once-in-a-
century global pandemic; climate change threatening stability, health,
and safety across the world; fueling displacement and resource-driven
conflicts; great power competition from an increasingly emboldened
China and Russia.
We have the tools to confront these challenges; to promote American
values and interests around the world to advance the safety, health,
and economic well-being of all Americans. But we cannot do that when we
do not have empowered diplomats and development professionals in place
to do so.
So I call on this body to confirm these nominees--all of whom the
Foreign Relations Committee has moved with bipartisan support--to put
the United States in the best position to advance our foreign policy,
development, and national security priorities.
I am calling for confirmation of all of these nominees: those up for
Ambassadorships, senior State Department, and USAID positions. We need
them in place.
Now, the Trump administration had its first Ambassador confirmed on
day 62 of the Trump Presidency. The Obama administration had its first
Ambassador confirmed at day 73. The George W. Bush administration had
its first Ambassador confirmed at day 75. For the Clinton
administration, it was day 75. For the George H. W. Bush
administration, it was day 83.
We are now more than 200 days into the Biden administration, and as
of this moment, there is not a single confirmed State Department
country Ambassador--not one. And going back four administrations, there
is a precedent of moving a package of nominees before the August
recess.
Under George W. Bush, the Senate confirmed a package of 81 nominees.
During the Obama administration, the Senate confirmed a package of 104
nominees. And during the Trump administration, we confirmed a package
of 75 nominees.
We should be ashamed of holding the record for the longest delay in
fully equipping the State Department and USAID to pursue the foreign
policy, development, and national security interests of the United
States.
Now, some Members of this body call on one hand for assertive
American leadership on the global stage, and, at the same time, they
hold up these critical positions. Many of these nominees are career
diplomats, public servants who have dedicated their lives to advancing
U.S. interests. They have served under the Trump administration in the
same way they will serve in the Biden administration: on behalf of the
American people.
Many of my colleagues are readily focused on effectively confronting
Chinese malign influence. Well, a fundamentally critical element of
confronting China is empowered leadership in our diplomatic corps,
across the world. So let me be clear. Holding up diplomats to posts
across Africa and the Western Hemisphere is effectively ceding
influence to China and actively undermining U.S. national security
interests.
I recently heard an anecdote from a diplomat in Cameroon. When he
travels outside the capital city, Cameroonians will greet him with a
``ni hao,'' assuming that if he isn't Cameroonian, he must be Chinese.
Meanwhile, we haven't had an American Ambassador in Cameroon in more
than a year, and the Foreign Relations Committee approved a career
diplomat for the post by voice vote nearly a month ago. What could
possibly be the rationale for holding him up?
[[Page S6255]]
Lastly, looking at the Department itself, critical leadership
positions remain held up.
Now, I know many of my colleagues have dedicated a significant amount
of their time over the past few years to combating the flow of fentanyl
into the United States, but here we have a hold on a career Foreign
Service officer nominated to be Assistant Secretary for International
Narcotics and Law Enforcement, who would be leading the Department's
efforts to combat the flow of fentanyl.
So which one do you want? The American people deserve better than
this.
Now, I know we are all tired of being here, and I want to salute and
thank the different--the reading clerks, the Parliamentarian, the
Democrat and Republican staff who are still here, but we feel compelled
to go through and ask UC for each of these nominees. They all deserve
to be confirmed tonight. So let me start off.
I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session
to consider the following nomination: Calendar No. 233, Larry Edward
Andre, Jr., of Texas, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, to
be Ambassador of the United States to Somalia; that the nomination be
confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon
the table with no intervening action or debate; that no further motions
be in order to the nomination; that the President be immediately
notified of the Senate's action and the Senate then resume legislative
session.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection? The Senator from Texas.
Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, the Senator
from New Jersey and, indeed, all of the Senators in this Chamber know
precisely why these nominees have not moved forward, and the reason is
because the Biden administration is currently engaged in open defiance
of the U.S. Congress and is doing so in a way that is working serious
and material harm to the United States national security.
Over a year ago, December of 2019, this Senate and, indeed, the full
Congress passed legislation imposing strong sanctions on the Nord
Stream 2 Pipeline. The Nord Stream 2 Pipeline is a pipeline between
Russia and Germany designed to carry natural gas. It is a deep sea
pipeline.
Vladimir Putin desperately wants this pipeline completed. If the
pipeline is completed, it will give billions of dollars to Putin to use
for malign efforts in Europe and throughout the world.
This Congress is overwhelmingly convinced that completing the Nord
Stream 2 pipeline is terrible policy. It is bad for the United States;
it is bad for Europe; and it is good for Russia and Putin. Accordingly,
the Congress passed overwhelmingly bipartisan sanctions legislation
that I authored, along with Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen, and that
legislation proved tremendously successful.
How successful was it? When the President signed it into law, if my
memory serves correctly, at 7 p.m. on a Thursday, construction on the
pipeline halted at 6:45 p.m. on that Thursday. Fifteen minutes before
the sanctions went into law, they ceased building the pipeline. And for
a year the pipeline lay dormant. It lay as a hunk of metal at the
bottom of the ocean.
We had succeeded together. This body had won a bipartisan national
security victory for the United States.
Then, in November of last year, Joe Biden was elected. When Joe Biden
was elected, President Biden and his foreign policy team immediately
began signaling weakness on Nord Stream 2 to Putin, and that signal was
heard. Putin commenced preparatory efforts to begin building the
pipeline again within days of the Presidential election in November.
And Russia began building the pipeline again in January, just days
after Joe Biden was sworn in.
Existing laws that this body has passed, not once but twice, mandate
sanctions to stop the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline. Unfortunately, the Biden
administration decided to waive those sanctions. Waiving those
sanctions, I believe, will prove to be a generational geopolitical
mistake. If we continue on the current pace set out by President Biden,
Putin will complete the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline.
If that happens, for decades, Putin and the next dictator in Russia
and the next dictator in Russia will get billions of dollars every year
from this pipeline. They will use it for military aggression. They will
use it for spying on America. They will use it for attacking their
enemies.
Not only that, Europe will be captive to Russian natural gas. It will
be subject to energy blackmail. We don't have to hypothesize this
because Putin has demonstrated his willingness to use energy blackmail
on Europe going forward. This undermines the interests of Europe. It
undermines the interests of America. And by the way, it also hurts jobs
in the United States of America.
I have made clear to every State Department official, to every State
Department nominee, that I would place holds on these nominees unless
and until the Biden administration follows the law and stops this
pipeline, imposes the sanctions.
As the Senator from New Jersey knows well--he and I worked together
closely on these sanctions legislation that the Biden administration is
refusing to follow--I have been negotiating with the Biden
administration in good faith for a month, months, laying out a path to
move these nominees forward. But unfortunately, to date, President
Biden has insisted on giving a multibillion-dollar gift to Joe Biden
benefiting Russia, hurting America, and hurting our national security
interests.
That being said, there is a path where I would readily lift these
holds, and it is a path I am in a moment going to propound a unanimous
consent resolution--a unanimous consent request to take up and pass
legislation that I have introduced that would impose the sanctions that
are already required by law that the Biden administration refuses to
follow. This legislation is legislation that both of the Democratic
members of the Foreign Relations Committee have voted for substantially
similar legislation in the past.
If this legislation passes the Senate, if it passes the House and is
signed by the President, the day it is signed by the President, I will
lift these holds. But given that the President and the White House have
indicated they intend to defy the law, I am not going to lift the holds
unless and until they relent in their effort to give this gift to
Vladimir Putin
Unanimous Consent Request
Mr. President, accordingly, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate
proceed to the immediate consideration of a bill at the desk that would
require the imposition of sanctions with respect to Nord Stream 2. I
ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and
passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid
upon the table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Kelly). Is there objection?
Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, and I
will be brief for the sake of everybody here. There is a lot more to be
said. But, look, first of all, this legislation was just introduced
today--today.
It has not been brought before the committee. It has not had a full
vetting. And it is not quite fair to say that it is exactly the same.
It isn't. I was just looking through it.
Secondly, I know that the Senator believes that he can dictate to the
President of the United States, duly elected by the American people,
what the foreign policy should be. I believe we should have a role in
foreign policy. I share that with the Senator. But you can't say: If it
passes the Senate, if it passes the House, signed by the President,
then I will release my hold.
I mean, I guess that would be nice if the Senator could accomplish it
for his goals, but it is not the way the system ultimately works.
And I would just say President Trump, for the longest period of time,
did not issue the sanctions that were necessary because he was so cozy
with Vladimir Putin, and the result was that the pipeline was almost
finished by the time President Biden came to office. And had he done
what the Senator wishes, we wouldn't be in this position today.
So for all of those reasons, I object to the Senator's unanimous
consent request.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
Is there objection to the request from the Senator from New Jersey?
[[Page S6256]]
Mr. CRUZ. Reserving the right to object, I will respond briefly to
the Senator from New Jersey.
The talking point from the Biden administration as to why they have
given this gift to Vladimir Putin is they say the pipeline is almost
completed; that it is over 90 percent complete. The problem with that
argument is it is demonstrably false because it was equally true in
December of 2019. In December of 2019, the pipeline was over 90 percent
complete. And, indeed, at that time, there was a massive Russian
disinformation campaign throughout Europe, where the Russian Government
was putting out: These sanctions will never pass, and if they pass,
they will never work.
Why? Because the pipeline is over 90 percent complete. Well, a
pipeline that is 90 percent complete is a pipeline that is zero percent
complete. Until it is 100 percent complete, it transmits zero natural
gas. The pipeline doesn't work until you finish it, and that Russian
disinformation we discovered the day the sanction legislation was
signed was exactly that, was utterly false, nonsense.
Why? Because the day it was signed they stopped construction, and
they stopped it for a year. And Putin only began construction after Joe
Biden was elected, after he was sworn into office, and after his team
indicated weakness, that they wouldn't enforce the sanctions against
Russia.
So their talking point that it was 90 percent complete, that was true
a year ago. And we knew we could stop it then. We can stop it now. The
only reason Putin is building this pipeline is because the Biden
administration is unwilling to stand up to Russia. Accordingly, I
object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
The Senator from New Jersey.
Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, one thing that is demonstrably true is
that Donald Trump did nothing as it relates toward this pipeline, and
there wasn't much effort to try to get them to stop the pipeline at the
time.
And while I disagreed with President Trump on a whole host of foreign
policy issues, I did not hold up all his nominees just to get my view
to be the order of the day.
Unanimous Consent Request--Executive Calendar
Mr. President, therefore, I ask that it be in order to make the same
request that I made previously with respect to Executive Calendar No.
234, Elizabeth Moore Aubin, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign
Service, to be Ambassador of the United States to Algeria.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
The Senator from Texas.
Mr. CRUZ. Reserving the right to object, I would note, as the Senator
from New Jersey knows well, that I pressed President Trump vigorously
on this topic, engaged aggressively with the Trump administration, with
the Treasury Department, with the State Department, with the National
Security Council, and we prevailed in those battles. The Trump
administration issued a series of sanctions, and they worked. They
stopped the pipelines.
So I have demonstrated a perfect willingness to stand up to a
President of my own party on this issue, and we succeeded in stopping
the pipeline. Now, when there is a Democratic President, we have yet to
see Democratic Members of this body willing to stand up as vigorously
to their own party's President, who is actively and eagerly
facilitating the building of this pipeline.
I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
The Senator from New Jersey.
Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I would just simply say that the Senator
from Texas did not hold up any of the nominees of President Trump as it
relates to this.
I ask that it be in order to make the same request with respect to
Executive Calendar No. 235, Maria E. Brewer, a Career Member of the
Senior Foreign Service, to be Ambassador of the United States to the
Kingdom of Lesotho.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
The Senator from Texas.
Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, because it is
a generational geopolitical mistake to give a multibillion-dollar gift
to Vladimir Putin to strengthen Russia and to undermine national
security, I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
The Senator from New Jersey.
Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I ask that it be in order to make the
same request with respect to Executive Calendar, No. 236, Christopher
John Lamora, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, to be
Ambassador of the United States to Cameroon.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
The Senator from Texas.
Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, because it is
a massive strategic error, one that weakens our allies, that endangers
our allies, and makes Russia more dangerous, more aggressive, more
willing to attack and undermine U.S. national security, and because Joe
Biden and the Biden administration are defying U.S. law passed with
overwhelming bipartisan support from Congress, I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
The Senator from New Jersey.
Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I ask that it be in order to make the
same request with respect to Executive Calendar No. 237, Tulinabo S.
Mushingi, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, to be
Ambassador of the United States to Angola and to serve concurrently as
the Ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
The Senator from Texas.
Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, because the
Biden administration should not be giving a massive multibillion-dollar
gift to Putin, strengthening Russia, and weakening America and U.S.
national security interests, I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
The Senator from New Jersey.
Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I ask that it be in order to make the
same request with respect to Executive Calendar No. 238, Eugene S.
Young, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, to be Ambassador
of the United States to the Republic of Congo.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
The Senator from Texas
Mr. CRUZ. Reserving the right to object, because I think it is a
generational mistake, one that will harm U.S. nationality security
interests, will endanger U.S. service men and women, will weaken
America, will weaken our allies, and will strengthen our enemies and
our adversaries, because I believe that Joe Biden giving a massive
multibillion-dollar gift to Vladimir Putin to make him stronger and
more aggressive is enormously harmful to America, I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
The Senator from New Jersey.
Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I ask that it be in order to make the
same request with respect to Executive Calendar No. 239, Michele Jeanne
Sison, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, to be Assistant
Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
The Senator from Texas.
Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, because Joe
Biden should not be giving a multibillion-dollar gift to Vladimir
Putin, strengthening Russia, and undermining U.S. national security, I
object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
The Senator from New Jersey.
Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, here is one where it is a monumental
mistake to not permit this person to be confirmed when we want to stop
fentanyl from coming into our country.
I ask that it be in order to make the same request with respect to
Executive Calendar No. 240, Todd D. Robinson, of New Jersey, a Career
Member of the Senior Foreign Service, to be Assistant Secretary of
State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
The Senator from Texas.
Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, because Joe
Biden
[[Page S6257]]
has made the decision to give a massive multibillion-dollar gift to
Vladimir Putin, because that weakness toward Russia empowers our
enemies, endangers our service men and women, weakens our national
security, and destroys jobs here at home, I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
The Senator from New Jersey.
Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I ask that it be in order to make the
same request with respect to Executive Calendar No. 241, Daniel J.
Kritenbrink, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, to be the
Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific affairs.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
The Senator from Texas.
Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, because Joe
Biden should not be defying U.S. law, disregarding the overwhelming
bipartisan consensus of both Houses of Congress, because Joe Biden
should not be giving a massive multibillion-dollar gift to Vladimir
Putin that constitutes unilateral surrender to Russia in a way that
strengthens Russia, weakens America, and endangers our Nation,
undermining U.S. national security, I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
The Senator from New Jersey.
Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I ask that it be in order to make the
same request with respect to Executive Calendar No. 317, Marc Evans
Knapper, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, to be
Ambassador of the United States to Vietnam; and that the Senator from
Texas' remarks, which he has made repeatedly, be inserted each and
every time after the motion that I have made.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
The Senator from Texas.
Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, I appreciate
my friend from New Jersey's attempt to abbreviate this, and I am
endeavoring to be concise but nonetheless lay out the factual
predicate, because it was a mistake for Joe Biden to give a
multibillion-dollar gift to Vladimir Putin, to disregard U.S. law, to
weaken U.S. national security interests and to strengthen Russia at our
expense, I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
The Senator from New Jersey.
Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, now is here one where we heard a lot
even during the debate we just had about the United Nations and the
need for reform. Well, here is an opportunity. I ask that it be in
order to make the same request with respect to Executive Calendar No.
318, Christopher P. Lu, to be Representative of the United States of
America to the United Nations for U.N. Management and Reform, with the
rank of Ambassador.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
The Senator from Texas.
Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, because Joe
Biden is giving a multibillion-dollar gift to Vladimir Putin, in
defiance of U.S. law, in contravention of the overwhelming bipartisan
consensus of Congress, which hurts America, strengthens Russia, and
endangers the people of this Nation, I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I ask that it be in order to make the
same request with respect to Executive Calendar No. 319, Christopher P.
Lu, to be an Alternate Representative of the United States of America
to the General Assembly of the United Nations.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
The Senator from Texas.
Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, reserving my right to object, because Joe
Biden is giving a multibillion-dollar gift to Vladimir Putin, which
weakens America's, strengthens Russia, and endangers our national
security, I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I ask that it be in order to make the
same request with respect to Executive Calendar No. 320, Rufus Gifford,
to be Chief of Protocol, with the rank of Ambassador.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
The Senator from Texas.
Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, because it is
a generational geopolitical mistake for Joe Biden to give a
multibillion-dollar gift to Vladimir Putin, because that mistake
weakens America, strengthens Russia, and endangers our national
security, I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
The Senator from New Jersey.
Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, now, here is a generational mistake if
we do not confirm the next person. We are in the midst in Latin America
and the Caribbean of turmoil all around. We have the challenges of
Venezuela, the Cuban people crying out for change, the situation in
Haiti after the assassination, Nicaragua becoming a new dictatorship.
We need to have the Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere
be out there helping us in the hemisphere.
So I ask that it be in order to make the same request with respect to
Executive Calendar No. 322, Brian A. Nichols, a Career Member of the
Senior Foreign Service, to be Assistant Secretary of State for Western
Hemisphere Affairs.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
The Senator from Utah.
Mr. LEE. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, I can't agree
to move forward with this nominee today. I think this is really
unfortunate. We could have avoided this. This could have been avoided
altogether if the Senate Foreign Relations Committee would simply
disclose the responses to the questions for records to Members
directly. Then Senators could review the nominees more quickly.
Unfortunately, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has refused to
do that, and so I have been forced to go to the State Department to get
this information. I received those responses on Monday evening.
Just a few hours ago, I sent some additional questions to the
nominee. They would have been easy to respond to. I still await those
responses, and I expect that I will receive them soon. But until then,
I can't do my job right. My advice and consent role can't adequately be
performed without having the information.
I am not going to relinquish that duty to represent the people of
Utah on all matters and not just on those matters as to which I enjoy a
seat on a committee.
There is one type of Constitutional amendment that is preemptively
unconstitutional. All Senators are equal; you can't treat them
unequally. I deserve to have access to these answers, and they are not
giving them to me. That is why we are here. That is why I can't agree
to this tonight, and I am not going to do that. I am not going to be
bullied into it. They need to share this information. I therefore
object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
The Senator from New Jersey.
Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I don't get to serve on every committee,
and I don't have the questions for the record of every committee
hearing. Eventually, they get printed, and they are available to all
Senators. But the suggestion that the Senator is being denied something
when he is not a member of the committee is a unique one, to say the
least. But nonetheless, I think there would have been another objection
even if his interests were answered.
I ask that it be in order to make the same request with respect to
Executive Calendar No. 323, Marcela Escobari, to be an Assistant
Administrator of the United States Agency for International
Development.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
The Senator from Texas.
Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, reserving the right to object--and I would
note something to my friend from New Jersey, as the Senator from New
Jersey knows--with respect to the previous nominee, I do not have a
hold on the previous nominee. I have lifted my hold pursuant to
discussions and negotiations. The same is true with respect to former
Senator Ken Salazar, who has been nominated to be Ambassador to Mexico.
My understanding is he is going to be confirmed momentarily. I don't
have a hold, and I don't believe there are any other holds or blocks to
his confirmation. So that will occur momentarily.
[[Page S6258]]
And, indeed, there have been several other nominees at the State
Department where I have lifted the holds in negotiations, including at
the request of the Senator from New Jersey. I have worked with my
colleagues, but at the same time used the leverage that we have as
Senators to try to pressure the Biden administration to follow the law
and to defend U.S. national security interests.
With regard to this particular unanimous consent request, because Joe
Biden is giving Vladimir Putin a multibillion-gift, which is a
generational geopolitical mistake, because it strengthens Russia at the
expense of America and it undermines U.S. national security interests,
I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
The Senator from New Jersey.
Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I ask that it be in order to make the
same request with respect to Executive Calendar No. 324, Monica P.
Medina, to be the Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and
International Environmental and Scientific Affairs.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
The Senator from Texas.
Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, because it is
a generational geopolitical mistake for Joe Biden to give Vladimir
Putin a multibillion-dollar gift that will continue for decades into
the future, because that mistake strengthens Russia at the expense of
America and it undermines U.S. national security, I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
The Senator from New Jersey.
Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, before I yield, finally, to my colleague
from Connecticut, a member of the committee, I just want to say that in
30 years of doing foreign policy between the House and the Senate,
sitting on both the House and Senate Foreign Relations Committee, God
forbid that something happens in one of these countries or in these
regions where we do not have a confirmed Ambassador, Assistant
Secretary of State, or Development Official to promote our interests,
to respond to it, to be able to deal with it. I wouldn't want to be the
Senator who held up that person when that happens at some point. I
wouldn't want to be the Senator who held up that person when that
happens at some point in the world.
I yield to the Senator from Connecticut.
Unanimous Consent Request--Executive Calendar
Mr. MURPHY. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
I am going to continue to propound these unanimous consent requests
in the same form as the chairman of the Committee, but before I do,
just a few brief remarks. I know the hour is late.
First of all, it is wonderful to hear this revisionist history about
the Trump administration's disposition towards Russia. Everybody knows
what was going on. This was an administration that was practically
sycophantish towards the Russian regime, refused over and over again to
stand up in any meaningful way.
That is why the pipeline got so far along. It was the eleventh hour
when the Trump administration, at the very last minute, decided to move
forward on sanctions.
We are not here to paint the merits of the Trump administration's
decisionmaking on Russia policy. But suffice it to say, Russia did very
well expanding its influence around the region during the 4 years that
Donald Trump was in office.
Second, the effects of holding up all of these nominees is to kneecap
American national security. Never, ever before has a President had so
few nominees confirmed to key national security posts than this
President. It has never happened before.
It is true that there is a history in this body of individual
Senators placing a temporary hold on one or maybe two officials
relevant to the policy over which they are having a disagreement with
the administration. Probably many Members of this body have done that.
But at least in the time that I have been here and from what I have
heard, never before has an individual Senator held up this many
nominees for key national security posts over a disagreement on one
specific policy.
And if every single Senator did that--because every Senator here has
a policy disagreement that they believe is significant with the
Secretary of State, with the Secretary of Housing and Urban
Development, with the Secretary of Defense--then the business of
nominations and confirmations would grind to an absolute halt in this
body.
I had deep disagreements with President Trump, but never did I
endeavor to hold up every single nominee to State Department posts,
because I came to the conclusion that that would do much, much more
harm to American national security than whatever concession I might get
from the administration would provide a benefit to American national
security.
So I share this just, really, paralyzing fear that Senator Menendez
expressed, that something awful is going to happen without the kind of
personnel that every President needs on post to do the job. We could
probably get by if this was a hold of one or two or three individuals.
We are talking about dozens of key national security posts that are
left vacant because of the decision of one Senator.
Unanimous Consent Request--Executive Calendar
Mr. President, I will continue to propound these requests. I imagine
the decision will not be different.
I ask that it be in order to make the same request as those Senator
Menendez was making with respect to Executive Calendar No. 327, Anne A.
Witkowsky, to be Assistant Secretary of State for Conflict and
Stabilization Operations.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
The Senator from Texas.
Mr. CRUZ. Reserving the right to object. The Senator of Texas spoke
of revisionist history. Perhaps it was fitting that he did so because
we proceeded to hear quite a bit of revisionist history.
The unfortunate reality is the Democratic Party in this Chamber has
been reluctant to stand up to Russia and reluctant to stand up to the
Soviet Union before that, for decades. The Democratic Party
consistently has embraced weakness on Russia and the Soviet Union.
I am old enough to remember President Barack Obama in debate with
Republican nominee Mitt Romney when Mitt Romney said we need to stand
up to Russia. And President Obama stood up and said: Mitt, the 1980s
called and they want their foreign policy back because the Democratic
Party position was weakness to Russia.
I am old enough to remember President Obama leaning over to Medvedev
caught on a hot mic saying: Tell Vladimir--that would be Putin--I'll
have more flexibility after the election.
It was only when Donald Trump was elected that the Democratic Party
suddenly discovered Russia is a menace. I welcome that. I welcome that
sudden discovery. I think Russia was a menace before and after.
But for too many Senate Democrats, it is purely political. Russia,
Russia, Russia was a stick to beat up on Donald Trump and the substance
of it didn't matter
So the Senator from Connecticut said: Well, gosh, Donald Trump--he
thinks--was terrible on Russia.
Here is a simple fact. Under President Trump, we stopped the pipeline
the day this sanctions legislation was signed into law.
Under President Biden, Putin began building the pipeline again. Those
are facts. You want to talk about who is weak on Russia? Those are
simple facts, and those facts are dangerous.
Because Joe Biden giving a multibillion-dollar gift to Vladimir Putin
was a generational geopolitical mistake because it strengthens Russia
and it weakens America because it endangers U.S. national security
interests, I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
The Senator from Connecticut.
Unanimous Consent Request--Executive Calendar
Mr. MURPHY. Because American national security is gravely compromised
by the inability of a President to have his national security team in
place at a time of crisis, I would ask that it be in order to make the
same request with respect to Executive Calendar No. 328, Anne A.
Witkowsky, to be Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
[[Page S6259]]
The Senator from Texas.
Mr. CRUZ. Reserving the right to object. Just a few moments ago, the
Senator from Connecticut said something bad is going to happen. Let me
tell you, he is right. Something bad is going to happen, and there is a
reason for it.
The Biden foreign policy, in just 7 months, has been the most
disastrous foreign policy we have seen of any administration since
Jimmy Carter. To every enemy of America, they have projected weakness.
On Russia, Joe Biden has given Vladimir Putin what he wanted most: A
multibillion-dollar pipeline to let him extort Europe.
On China, the Biden administration has been projecting weakness over
and over and over again, including kowtowing to China and reversing the
State Department policy on Taiwan, prohibiting Taiwan from displaying
their flag or wearing military uniforms on U.S. Government property;
kowtowing to the Communist Party of China.
On Iran, the Biden administration said their top foreign policy
objective is sending billions of dollars to the Ayatollah Khomeini,
even as he is the leading state-sponsor of terrorism to the world and
chants, ``Death to America.''
And on Hamas, the Biden administration has sent hundreds of millions
of dollars to the Palestinian Authority, much of which has found its
way to Hamas and has been materialized in rockets raining down on
Israel.
So is something bad going to happen?
Yes, because when you show weakness to our enemies, it encourages our
enemies and they get more and more aggressive.
Where I differ with the Senator from Connecticut is I don't think the
way to avoid something bad is to keep showing weakness and give Putin
what he wants. The way to stand up to our enemies is to demonstrate
strength, not weakness. I believe in peace through strength. I think
appeasement invites conflict.
Because Joe Biden's multibillion-dollar gift to Vladimir Putin is a
generational geopolitical mistake, because it strengthens Russia at the
expense of America, and because it undermines U.S. national security
interests, I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
The Senator from Connecticut.
Unanimous Consent Request--Executive Calendar
Mr. MURPHY. Mr. President, because every single day that the
President doesn't have his team in place to protect this Nation, our
Nation is under more serious threat.
I ask that it be in order to make the same request with respect to
Calendar No. 329, Mary Catherine Phee, a career member of the Senior
Foreign Service to be a Member of the Board of Directors of the African
Development Foundation, for a term expiring September 27, 2026.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
The Senator from Texas.
Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, reserving the right to object. I would note
one of the efforts that the State Department has endeavored to do to
try to force these nominations through is planning a whole series of
articles in papers, which they somehow believe would pressure me. The
most abusing of which was an article, I believe, in POLITICO, if I
remember correctly, that began ominously: The mansions in Europe where
our ambassadors reside are sadly empty due to this one Senator's
objections.
I will confess, my heart is not broken that some rich Democratic
donor is not wining and dining people in a grand ambassadorial mansion.
I am sure that is an enormous crisis in Georgetown.
What I think is a crisis is making Putin stronger and Russia stronger
and weakening Europe, weakening our allies, and weakening America.
And because Biden's multibillion-dollar gift to Putin weakened
America, strengthened Russia, and undermined our U.S. national
security, I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
The Senator from Connecticut
Unanimous Request Consent--Executive Calendar
Mr. MURPHY. Mr. President, because China is absolutely celebrating
every single day that our Corps of diplomats is dramatically and
dangerously understaffed because of these holds on the President's
nominees, I ask that it be in order to make the same request with
respect to Executive Calendar No. 330, Mary Catherine Phee, a career
member of the Senior Foreign Service to be a Member of the Board of
Directors to the African Development Foundation, for a term expiring
September 27, 2021.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
The Senator from Texas.
Mr. CRUZ. Reserving the right to object. I would note there is irony
in the Senator from Connecticut expressing deep concern about China
just an hour or 2 after this Chamber voted on an amendment I introduced
that said we should not be importing electric vehicles that were made
in China using slave labor in concentration camps. The Senator from
Connecticut and every single Democratic Senator, save one, voted to
reject that amendment.
The consequence is that the Biden administration is preparing to
import millions of dollars of electric vehicles that were built--or
parts of them were built--using slave labor in concentration camps in
China.
You want to talk about what is encouraging and empowering the Chinese
Communist regime?
It is the willingness of the Democratic Party to overlook their
murder, torture in concentration camps because of their commitment to
the Green New Deal.
Because Joe Biden giving a multibillion-dollar gift to Vladimir Putin
strengthens Russia at the expense of America and it undermines U.S.
national security interests, I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
The Senator from Connecticut.
Unanimous Consent Request--Executive Calendar
Mr. MURPHY. Mr. President, similarly, because without an ability to
have U.S. diplomats on posts, to have our most important leadership
positions staffed, we make ourselves intentionally, deliberately unable
to be able to manage crises across the world.
I would ask that it be in order to make the same requests with
respect to Executive Calendar No. 331, Mary Catherine Phee, a career
member of the Senior Foreign Service to be Assistant Secretary of State
for African Affairs.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
The Senator from Texas.
Mr. CRUZ. Reserving the right to object. Because Joe Biden's
multibillion-dollar gift of this pipeline in defiance of U.S. law and
contravention of the overwhelming bipartisan consensus of Congress,
because it strengthens Russia at the expense of America and it
undermines U.S. national security, I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
The Senator from Connecticut.
Unanimous Consent Request--Executive Calendar
Mr. MURPHY. Mr. President, I would ask that it be in order to make
the same request with respect to Executive Calendar No. 332, Lee
Satterfield, to be an Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and
Cultural Affairs.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there an objection?
The Senator from Texas.
Mr. CRUZ. Reserving the right to object, because Joe Biden's
multibillion-dollar gift to Vladimir Putin is a generational
geopolitical mistake that strengthens Russia at the expense of America
and undermines U.S. national security, I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
The Senator from Connecticut.
Unanimous Consent Request--Executive Calendar
Mr. MURPHY. Mr. President, I would ask that it be in order to make
the same request with respect to Executive Calendar No. 333, Karen
Erika Donfried, to be an Assistant Secretary of State for European
Affairs and Eurasian Affairs.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there an objection?
The Senator from Texas.
Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, because Joe
Biden's multibillion-dollar gift to Vladimir Putin is a generational
geopolitical mistake, because it strengthens Russia at the expense of
America, and it undermines U.S. national security, I object.
[[Page S6260]]
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
The Senator from Connecticut.
Unanimous Consent Request--Executive Calendar
Mr. MURPHY. Mr. President, I ask that it be in order to make the same
request with respect to Executive Calendar No. 334, Jessica Lewis, to
be an Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there an objection?
The Senator from Texas.
Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, because Joe
Biden's multibillion-dollar gift to Vladimir Putin is a generational
geopolitical mistake, because it strengthens Russia at the expense of
America, and it undermines U.S. national security, I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
The Senator from Connecticut.
Unanimous Consent Request--Executive Calendar
Mr. MURPHY. Mr. President, I ask that it be in order to make the same
request with respect to Executive Calendar No. 335, Donald Lu, a Career
Member of the Senior Foreign Service, to be Assistant Secretary of
State for South Asian Affairs.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there an objection?
The Senator from Texas.
Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, because Joe
Biden's multibillion-dollar gift to Vladimir Putin is a generational
geopolitical mistake, because it strengthens Russia at the expense of
America, and it undermines U.S. national security, I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
The Senator from Connecticut.
Unanimous Consent Request--Executive Calendar
Mr. MURPHY. Mr. President, I ask that it be in order to make the same
request with respect to Executive Calendar No. 336, Paloma Adams-Allen,
to be a Deputy Administrator of the United States Agency for
International Development.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there an objection?
The Senator from Texas.
Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, because Joe
Biden's multibillion-dollar gift to Vladimir Putin is a generational
geopolitical mistake, because it strengthens Russia at the expense of
America, and it undermines U.S. national security, I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
The Senator from Connecticut
Unanimous Consent Request--Executive Calendar
Mr. MURPHY. Mr. President, I ask that it be in order to make the same
request with respect to Executive Calendar No. 337, Isobel Coleman, to
be a Deputy Administrator of the United States Agency for International
Development.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there an objection?
The Senator from Texas.
Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, because Joe
Biden's multibillion-dollar gift to Vladimir Putin is a generational
geopolitical mistake, because it strengthens Russia at the expense of
America, and it undermines U.S. national security, I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
The Senator from Connecticut.
Mr. MURPHY. Mr. President, I am at the final unanimous consent
request, and I will make it in a moment.
Just to note, as we are wrapping up here, this has taken a while, and
this list of pending nominees is going to grow. It is going to get
longer and longer. There are going to be more key posts that are going
to go unfilled.
I understand Senator Cruz's desire to use his power to hold these
nominees in order to get a change in policy from this administration. I
doubt that the administration, which has already set a clear direction
and has executed an agreement with the Germans, is going to abide.
My worry, though, is that this won't be the end, that this is not
going to be the last foreign policy decision that the Senator from
Texas or other Republican Senators will disagree with, nor will it
likely be the last decision that any high-profile Cabinet member makes
that finds disagreement from my Republican colleagues.
And so I end where I began, which is to say that Senator Cruz and I
have a difference of opinion with respect to Nord Stream and the
gravity of the moment that we find ourselves in. But this place just
becomes unworkable if every single Senator holds up this many nominees
over one particular policy disagreement.
This tactic will be utilized by Democrats when there is a Republican
in the White House. It might not be me, because I find this
objectionable, but it will be copied, and you will find the same thing
happening to a Republican President and their administration grinding
to a halt in whatever Department finds itself the object of this
tactic.
So I continue to express this deep worry about what it means to not
have individuals in place in Somalia overseeing the Western Hemisphere
and to not have someone overseeing our counternarcotics operations, but
this list will get longer and longer and longer, and the risk to
American security will be greater.
Again, I will just suggest that the harm being done here to U.S.
security is much greater than the benefit that the Senator believes
will be gained through negotiation over these posts with the
administration.
So, at the risk of inspiring another very long speech from the
Senator from Texas, I make those remarks.
Unanimous Consent Request--Executive Calendar
Mr. President, I ask, finally, that it be in order to make the same
request, as I have and Senator Menendez has, with respect to Executive
Calendar No. 150, Brett Holmgren to be an Assistant Secretary of State
for Intelligence and Research.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
The Senator from Texas.
Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, you know, the
Senator from Connecticut is correct in that, if a Senator were to halt
a large number of nominations for an idiosyncratic concern, for a
concern unique to that Senator that was not widely shared, that could
constitute an abuse of power, and I am going to suggest some aspects of
this situation that make it quite different and that, in a subsequent
administration, if there were a comparable situation, would make these
same levers appropriate
No. 1, the Biden administration is defying three separate Federal
laws: two different Nord Stream 2 sanctions, both of which I authored,
along with Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen, both of which passed the
Senate and the House and were signed into law, both of which enjoyed
massive, near-unanimous bipartisan support. In addition to that is
CAATSA--strong Russia sanctions that are mandatory, that are designed
to force a President to sanction Russia even if they are reluctant to
do so like Joe Biden is.
Right now, the administration is defying the law, and so the message
that I have conveyed to the administration repeatedly is, follow the
law. I am not asking for a change in the law; I am saying follow the
law. That is No. 1, if you have an administration that is openly
defying the law, but No. 2, that is openly defying an overwhelming
bipartisan consensus of Congress.
This is not a narrow partisan issue. And I would note, after Joe
Biden waived the sanctions on Nord Stream 2, in the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee, I introduced an amendment to reverse his decision.
Every single Senator but one on that committee voted in favor of my
amendment. The Senator from Connecticut voted in favor of my amendment.
The Senator from New Jersey voted in favor of my amendment.
The Biden administration is telling all of Congress, essentially:
Jump in a lake. We don't care that every Democrat and virtually every
Republican has a dramatically different assessment of this situation
than they do.
Third is the national security magnitude of this issue. This was a
major national security victory.
When I met with the Biden administration, with each of their
successive national security officials, I said: Look, I understand the
instinct of any new administration to say, ``Whatever the old guys did
must be wrong.'' I get that the Biden guys want to say,
[[Page S6261]]
``Whatever Trump did must be wrong.'' And by the way, the Trump guys,
by and large, said, ``Whatever Obama did must be wrong.'' That is not a
new thing. Whenever you have a change in an administration, that tends
to be a default position. But what I urged them to do is, just because
that is your knee-jerk instinct, this was a massive bipartisan victory
for America, a national security victory that we won that Joe Biden is
on the verge of throwing away.
The Secretary of State sat in my office and promised to fight to
sanction Nord Stream 2. The Deputy Secretary of State sat in my office
and promised to fight to sanction Nord Stream 2. The Under Secretary of
State sat in my office and promised to fight to sanction Nord Stream 2.
They did, in fact, fight to sanction Nord Stream 2, but unfortunately
they were overruled by the White House, which made a political decision
to give in to Putin.
In those circumstances, when you are defying explicit U.S. law, when
you are defying the overwhelming bipartisan consensus of Congress, and
when you are endangering U.S. national security and, indeed, turning a
victory into a loss, I think it is appropriate to use the tools we have
in front of us.
That being said, I have engaged in active negotiation with the Biden
administration. In the past week, I have had conversations on this
topic with the Secretary of the Treasury, with the Deputy Secretary of
the Treasury, with the National Security Advisor. I have had
conversations with multiple Democratic Senators about a path forward.
But I will tell you what the path forward is not going to be. It is
not going to be, let's roll over, give Putin his pipeline, and accept a
massive national security loss for America. If that is where Joe Biden
and Kamala Harris want to go, they can go there, but they are not going
to go there with my acquiescence, and I am going to use every tool I
have as a Senator, elected by the people of Texas, to prevent that
outcome.
Accordingly, because Joe Biden's decision to defy U.S. law; to defy
the overwhelming bipartisan consensus of Congress; to surrender to
Vladimir Putin; to give him his No. 1 priority--a multibillion-dollar
pipeline that will provide billions of dollars of rewards for Russia
for decades to come--because that decision is a generational
geopolitical mistake on the order of magnitude of Jimmy Carter giving
away the Panama Canal--that even 50 years later, the consequences of
that geopolitical mistake still reverberate--50 years from now, Russian
dictators will benefit from Joe Biden's weakness on Russia.
Because that strengthens Russia, because it empowers Russia to attack
our enemies, to extort our enemies, to engage in economic blackmail
against our enemies--our allies, rather--because our allies are begging
us not to do this--I have met with senior officials of the Ukraine. The
Ukrainians are begging us not to do this, and the Biden White House is
threatening Ukraine: Keep your mouth shut because we have a political
objective here.
Because that strengthens Russia at the expense of the United States,
at the expense of Europe, at the expense of our allies, because it
destroys jobs in America, and because it endangers U.S. national
security, I emphatically object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
The Senator from Connecticut.
Mr. MURPHY. Mr. President, I understand the Senator believes he has
such a serious objection to administration policy that it merits this
exceptional tactic. I would submit, as I move into closing business,
that it is not the biggest disagreement that a Senator has had with an
administration. It is not the biggest disagreement that a group of
Senators has had with an administration. To believe that would be to
elevate this dispute beyond its merits. That is not to suggest it isn't
significant, but it is not the most significant disagreement that an
individual Senator has ever had with an administration.
What is exceptional is his tactic. Never before has a U.S. Senator
used their power in this way to hold up this many nominees at such a
critical moment. That is what is exceptional. That is what makes this
moment so dangerous. That is why Senator Menendez and I came down to
the floor to try to unlock some of these nominees toward confirmation,
because it is the tactic, not the disagreement, that is the exception.
____________________