[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 198 (Monday, November 15, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S8071]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2022--MOTION TO 
                                PROCEED

  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 144, 
H.R. 4350, the National Defense Authorization Act.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       Motion to proceed to Calendar No. 144, H.R. 4350, a bill to 
     authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2022 for military 
     activities of the Department of Defense, for military 
     construction, and for defense activities of the Department of 
     Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such 
     fiscal year, 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 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 debate on the motion to 
     proceed to Calendar No. 144, H.R. 4350, a bill to authorize 
     appropriations for fiscal year 2022 for military activities 
     of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and 
     for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to 
     prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, 
     and for other purposes.
         Charles E. Schumer, Jack Reed, Jon Tester, Jeanne 
           Shaheen, Margaret Wood Hassan, Angus S. King, Jr., Alex 
           Padilla, Sherrod Brown, Mark Kelly, Tim Kaine, Jacky 
           Rosen, Tina Smith, Ben Ray Lujan, John Hickenlooper, 
           Christopher A. Coons, Raphael Warnock, Mazie K. Hirono.

  Mr. SCHUMER. Finally, I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory 
quorum call for the cloture motion filed today, November 15, be waived.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. SCHUMER. I yield the floor, and I thank the Senator from 
Tennessee for her courtesy.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee.


                                 China

  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, as I have been saying, it has been 
so difficult to get people to realize what we are facing from the 
Chinese Communist Party. They are an adversary, and seeing the evidence 
of genocide in Xinjiang didn't seem to be enough to persuade people.
  Then you have the reports that Beijing manipulated multiple 
international organizations when it comes to the origins of the COVID-
19 virus. That wasn't enough.
  Hearing the Chinese officials threaten our pharmaceutical and medical 
supply chains in the midst of a pandemic--that didn't seem to be 
enough.
  Watching in horror as the Chinese Communist Party threatened the Hong 
Kong freedom fighters and as they have threatened our friends in 
Taiwan--that didn't seem to raise the attention for them that this is 
not our friend.
  They are not a competitor. They are an adversary.
  We have seen these effects of the Belt and Road Initiative on the 
global balance of power. They still haven't said: We have to deal with 
China.
  Not even Beijing going out here and pushing their nuclear power has 
seemed to push some of our colleagues across the aisle, as they have 
not paid attention to what is happening with our nuclear deterrent 
capabilities and what China is doing.
  So it leads a lot of Tennesseans that I talk to say: What is it going 
to take for Joe Biden and his administration to take these global 
threats seriously?
  If you look at what is going on in China and that doesn't do it, are 
you looking at Iran? Are you looking at Russia and how they are 
posturing troops on the Ukrainian border?
  What is finally going to get them to say: China is an adversary, the 
new ``axis of evil''--with Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea. These 
are adversaries. They are intent on global dominance and taking us 
down.
  You know, and I have to tell the Presiding Officer, I think that the 
answer to that question, if we look at these threats, it really 
frightens a lot of people.
  When I talk to our veterans, as I did last week, many of them--it 
frightens them when they see the nonchalance in attitude of this 
administration as we talk about these issues that are threatening our 
Nation's security and freedom at home and abroad. When you talk about 
inflation, when you talk about crime in the streets, when you talk 
about what is happening in our schools, when you talk about what is 
happening globally, people see this as a threat to their life here. 
They see it as a threat to our security abroad.
  My hope is that what we will see is real governance and real 
leadership that will come from the Senate. And also we would like to 
see this come from the administration, that people would see decisions 
made in good faith, not decisions made in bad faith or trying to 
dismantle the institutions of this government.
  I yield the floor.

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