[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 211 (Tuesday, December 7, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8939-S8941]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       Unanimous Consent Requests

  Mr. MARKEY. Mr. President, I rise in support of the nomination of 
Rufus Gifford to be Chief of Protocol with the rank of Ambassador.
  Rufus, a native son of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 
transitioned to a career in public service after a very successful 
career in the private sector.
  In 2013, President Obama nominated Rufus to be U.S. Ambassador to 
Denmark, and he was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
  In Copenhagen, Rufus was the headliner in a reality TV show, ``I Am 
the Ambassador.'' The show's innovative approach to public diplomacy 
gave Danish viewers, particularly young people, an all-access pass into 
the life of a U.S. Ambassador and the U.S. diplomatic presence in the 
country. In a country of just 5 million people, 200,000 Danes tuned in 
to see how the U.S. Ambassador advanced his country's core interests. 
One Danish viewer said that ``it is the type of show you would watch 
with your mother-in-law, and she would say, oh, he is a lovely man, 
that Rufus Gifford.''
  Rufus's effusive personality makes him the perfect choice for this 
new role as Chief of Protocol. In Copenhagen, Denmark, Rufus opened the 
Ambassador's residence to thousands of visitors. As Chief of Protocol, 
he will once again play host to foreign dignitaries at the White House 
and Blair House. His hand will be the first outstretched to greet a 
Prime Minister, President, or Monarch at a time when diplomacy is most 
needed.
  Ambassador Gifford was unanimously confirmed by this body in 2013 and 
was

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unanimously reported out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee 4 
months ago. I ask unanimous consent that Ambassador Gifford once again 
earn the support of the full Senate and be confirmed as Chief of 
Protocol with the rank of Ambassador.
  I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration 
of the following nomination: Calendar No. 320, Rufus Gifford, of 
Massachusetts, to be Chief of Protocol, and to have the rank of 
Ambassador during his tenure of service; that the nomination be 
confirmed; that 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 on the nomination and that the President be 
immediately notified of the Senate's action.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there objection?
  Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Texas.
  Mr. CRUZ. Reserving the right to object, the Senators in this 
Chamber, including Senator Markey, know precisely why I have a hold on 
this nominee.
  Right now, as we speak, hundreds of thousands of Russian troops are 
amassed on the border of Ukraine waiting to invade. This calamitous 
foreign policy disaster is Joe Biden's fault. This is the direct 
consequence of Joe Biden's surrender to Vladimir Putin on Nord Stream 
2. What is Nord Stream 2? It is a pipeline being constructed from 
Russia to Germany to carry natural gas. Putin is building Nord Stream 
2. Why? To go around Ukraine because right now Russian gas goes through 
Ukraine.
  Putin didn't just wake up recently and decide to invade Ukraine; he 
has wanted to invade Ukraine for years. He did so in 2014, but he 
stopped short of full invasion. Why? Because the Ukrainian energy 
infrastructure was necessary to get the Russian gas to market. Nord 
Stream 2 is all about building an alternative avenue to get the Russian 
gas to Europe, so then the Russian tanks can ride into Ukraine.
  We had a bipartisan victory. Indeed, the Senator from Massachusetts 
supported my bipartisan legislation sanctioning the Nord Stream 2 
Pipeline in December of 2019. When President Trump signed that 
bipartisan legislation into law, Nord Stream 2 was halted that day. Not 
the next day, not the next week, not the next month--that day, the 
pipeline shut down. We had won a major, bipartisan foreign policy 
victory. We had stopped Russia. We had stopped Putin.
  That pipeline remained dormant for over a year--a hunk of metal at 
the bottom of the ocean--until Joe Biden arrived at the White House. 
Joe Biden was sworn into office on January 20, 2021. Four days later, 
January 24, Putin began building the pipeline again--4 days later. Why? 
Because the Biden White House made the decision to waive the sanctions 
on Nord Stream 2 and to give Vladimir Putin a multibillion-dollar gift 
for generations to come and in doing so, to set the stage for the 
invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
  When Biden waived sanctions on Nord Stream 2, Ukraine and Poland both 
said that it was creating a security crisis in Europe, that it was 
increasing dramatically the chances that Russia would invade Ukraine. 
This invasion that we are facing the very real prospect of is Joe 
Biden's fault. But do you know what? It is also the fault of Senate 
Democrats.
  For 2 years, we had bipartisan agreement to stop Nord Stream 2, and 
we succeeded. When there was a Republican President in office, Donald 
Trump, I and other Republicans were perfectly willing to hold President 
Trump to account, to press him to stand up against Nord Stream 2, and 
he did.
  As soon as a Democrat got into the White House, our Democratic 
colleagues decided that partisan loyalty was more important than 
national security, that partisan loyalty to the Democratic Party was 
more important than standing up to Russia, was more important than 
defending Ukraine. So, suddenly, we have seen the Democrats in this 
Chamber bending over backward to avoid stopping Nord Stream 2.
  I want to be very clear. There is a lot of discussion about Joe Biden 
having a phone call with Putin today. Well, that phone call is real 
nice, but it is not going to stop an invasion. I will tell you what 
will stop an invasion. Joe Biden could stop the invasion today by 
simply following the law and sanctioning Nord Stream 2.
  This body could make a major step today to prevent war in Europe, to 
prevent Russia from invading Ukraine right now, by doing what Democrats 
and Republicans had agreed to do, had done together until Biden 
surrendered to Russia. We can do that by passing legislation that I 
have pending at the desk that would sanction Nord Stream 2, that would 
stop the project, which would mean Russia would remain dependent on 
Ukrainian energy infrastructure. For the same reason Russia didn't 
continue to invade in 2014, it would stop the invasion. We can do that 
right now.
  Accordingly, as if in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent 
that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 3322, 
which is at the desk. I further ask 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 ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there an objection to the 
modification?
  Mr. MARKEY. Reserving the right to object, Senator Cruz knows that 
the Democrats have offered the Republicans--offered him a vote on Nord 
Stream 2 as part of consideration of the National Defense Authorization 
Act. His own colleagues are the ones who objected to a vote being held 
on the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline as part of that agreement that was 
generously offered by the Democrats to the Republicans.
  The problem is not on this side; the problem is on the side of the 
Senator from Texas. Yet he continues to hold up dozens of State 
Department officials, many of them career officials who should be on 
their jobs around the world right now.
  Ultimately, right now, the onus lies on the Republican side for not 
having a vote on the subject that the Senator from Texas has raised, 
the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline; therefore, I object to the motion from the 
gentleman from Texas.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Objection to the modification is 
heard.
  Is there objection to the original request?
  Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, I would note 
that what we just heard was Democrats in this Chamber objecting to 
sanctioning Nord Stream 2. It is worth understanding what that means. 
It means that Senate Democrats prioritize political loyalty to Joe 
Biden and Kamala Harris more than they do standing up to Vladimir 
Putin.
  A month or two from now, if, God forbid, we see Russian tanks moving 
into Ukraine, remember this moment where Senate Democrats objected and 
said: No, we won't sanction the pipeline. We won't save Ukraine. We 
won't stand up to Russia.
  You know, the whole country endured Democrats going on and on and on 
for 4 years--``Russia, Russia, Russia''--and someone who didn't follow 
politics closely could be forgiven if they actually believed the 
rhetoric from the Democrats. But it turns out that by saying ``Russia, 
Russia, Russia,'' what they really meant was ``We hate Donald Trump'' 
because when it comes to standing up to Russia, for decades, Democrats 
had shown weakness and appeasement to the Soviet Union. As soon as 
Donald Trump was gone, we see Democrats going back to weakness and 
appeasement to Russia again.
  The Russian troops on the Ukrainian border are Joe Biden's fault and 
they are Senate Democrats' fault for being unwilling to stand up to a 
President of their own party.
  I would note that this particular nominee is a nominee to be the head 
of protocol at the State Department. It is really bad protocol to drive 
tanks into somebody else's country.
  You want to talk about protocol, how about the protocol of, let's 
defend American national security interests; let's defend Europe; let's 
defend our allies; let's stand up to a tyrannical bully named Vladimir 
Putin. Sadly, Democrats don't want to do that. Accordingly, I object.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The objection is heard.

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  Mr. MARKEY. I yield back.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Padilla). The Republican whip.