[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 3 (Wednesday, January 5, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S34-S35]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                      Vote on Witkowsky Nomination

  Mr. BLUNT. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the rollcall 
vote be announced.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the Witkowsky 
nomination?
  Mr. BLUNT. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from California, (Mrs. 
Feinstein), the Senator from Minnesota (Ms. Klobuchar), the Senator 
from New Jersey (Mr. Menendez), the Senator from Washington (Mrs. 
Murray), the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Ossoff), the Senator from 
Vermont (Mr. Sanders), and the Senator from Arizona (Ms. Sinema) are 
necessarily absent.
  Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator 
from South Carolina (Mr. Graham), the Senator from Oklahoma (Mr. 
Inhofe), the Senator from Alaskas (Ms. Murkowski), the Senator from 
Ohio (Mr. Portman), the Senator from Idaho (Mr. Risch), and the Senator 
from Florida (Mr. Rubio).
  THE PRESIDIDING OFFICER (Ms. Baldwin). Are there any other Senators 
in the Chamber desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 61, nays 26, as follows:

                       [Rollcall Vote No. 2 Ex.]

                                YEAS--61

     Baldwin
     Bennet
     Blumenthal
     Blunt
     Booker
     Brown
     Burr
     Cantwell
     Capito
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Collins
     Coons
     Cornyn
     Cortez Masto
     Cramer
     Crapo
     Duckworth
     Durbin
     Fischer
     Gillibrand
     Grassley
     Hassan
     Heinrich
     Hickenlooper
     Hirono
     Hoeven
     Kaine
     Kelly
     King
     Leahy
     Lujan
     Manchin
     Markey
     McConnell
     Merkley
     Murphy
     Padilla
     Peters
     Reed
     Romney
     Rosen
     Rounds
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Shaheen
     Smith
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Thune
     Tillis
     Toomey
     Van Hollen
     Warner
     Warnock
     Warren
     Whitehouse
     Wicker
     Wyden
     Young

                                NAYS--26

     Barrasso
     Blackburn
     Boozman
     Braun
     Cassidy
     Cotton
     Cruz
     Daines
     Ernst
     Hagerty
     Hawley
     Hyde-Smith
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Lankford
     Lee
     Lummis
     Marshall
     Moran
     Paul
     Sasse
     Scott (FL)
     Scott (SC)
     Shelby
     Sullivan
     Tuberville

                             NOT VOTING--13

     Feinstein
     Graham
     Inhofe
     Klobuchar
     Menendez
     Murkowski
     Murray
     Ossoff
     Portman
     Risch
     Rubio
     Sanders
     Sinema
  The nomination was confirmed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the motion to 
reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table, and the 
President will be immediately notified of the Senate's action.
  The senior Senator from Delaware.


                        Anniversary of January 6

  Mr. CARPER. Madam President, 1 year ago tomorrow, a violent mob 
attacked our Capitol--this Capitol. Five Americans died, and hundreds 
sustained injuries in what has been described as the worst attack on 
our Capitol since the War of 1812 and the worst attack on our 
democracy, literally, since the Civil War. The mob assaulted and maimed 
police officers, desecrated our beacon of democracy, and in using 
force, sought to obstruct the peaceful transfer of power in this 
Nation.
  One year later, as we recall the chaos and the bloodshed of that day, 
more than ever, I am convinced that we must fully understand what 
happened and make sure that it never happens again.
  The 2020 election was hard fought, but it was not especially close. 
Not one example of widespread fraud was found nor was any evidence 
presented that would have altered the outcome. Let's take a moment and 
look at the facts.
  There were 81.2 million votes for Joe Biden last year--81.2 million. 
There were 74.2 million votes cast for Donald Trump--74.2. That is 
about 51.3 percent of the vote for Joe Biden and 46.8 percent of the 
vote for Donald Trump; 306 electoral votes for Joe Biden, 232 electoral 
votes for Donald Trump.
  Ironically, Joe Biden earned the same number of electoral college 
votes as Donald Trump did in 2016. Why is that relevant? Well, in 2016, 
Donald Trump declared that his 232 electoral votes was a--no, his 306 
electoral votes. Joe Biden got the same number of votes in 2020 as 
Donald Trump did in 2016. When Trump won with 306 electoral votes, he 
said it was a landslide. When Biden wins by the same number of 
electoral votes, Donald Trump says: No, it is not a landslide; it is a 
theft. You have stolen the election.
  Despite these facts, Donald Trump pressed ahead with legal challenges 
in several States. Many of these claims were downright bizarre, and 
many were unfounded. More than 60 Federal and State courts, involving 
more than 90 judges, many of whom were nominated by Republican 
Presidents, including Donald Trump, all agreed that no evidence of 
widespread fraud, wrongdoing or other irregularities were uncovered 
subsequent to the 2020 election--none. Allow me to quote one of them.
  Judge Bibas is a longtime member of the conservative Federalist 
Society, whom Donald Trump actually nominated to the Third Circuit 
Court of Appeals. In ruling against Donald Trump's baseless claims of 
fraud in Pennsylvania, Judge Bibas said: ``Calling an election unfair 
does not make it so.'' Let me repeat that. ``Calling an election unfair 
does not make it so.''
  Rather than accept defeat at the ballot box and in the courtroom, the 
former President embraced conspiracy theories and outright lies. The 
January 6 insurrection occurred because these lies--and let me repeat: 
lies--were a call to action for White supremacists and other domestic 
extremists.
  As someone who grew up in Danville, VA, the last capital of the 
confederacy, I have seen Confederate flags before--a lot of them--but I 
never expected to see any of them in this Capitol or in this Chamber.
  On January 6, the former President incited a mob at the National 
Mall, and he sent them to attack this Capitol. He lit a match, fanned 
the flames of violence, and did nothing to extinguish the fire. He was 
deservedly impeached for the second time for this heinous offense 
against our Constitution, which he was sworn to defend.
  One year later, I am standing in this sacred Chamber, thanks in large 
part to the heroism of countless officers from the U.S. Capitol Police 
and the DC Metropolitan Police Departments. Over 150 police officers 
were injured that day--over 150. Tragically, five police officers have 
subsequently lost their lives in connection to the January 6 attack, 
including, tragically, four by suicide.
  Many of the officers who defended our Capitol will carry the wounds 
of that day, both physical and mental, with them for years to come. In 
response, we must remain committed to their health and safety for years 
to come. They showed remarkable courage that day. They risked their 
lives--an unyielding to commitment to the oath that they took to 
protect our Constitution and this Capitol.

[[Page S35]]

  One of those officers was Officer Eugene Goodman. Officer Goodman is 
a U.S. Army veteran who was raised right here in the District of 
Columbia, not far from where we are gathered. He saw combat in the Iraq 
war, fighting with the 101st Airborne Division, until he returned home 
and signed up to serve with the Capitol Police in 2009.
  He had shown valor in uniform previously--that was in a war zone--and 
I am certain that Officer Goodman never imagined that he would be 
called on to fight a battle to defend our Constitution in the U.S. 
Capitol, not far from his own backyard. Just outside these doors, 
Officer Goodman distracted the mob and helped to save 100 U.S. Senators 
and many of our staff members from harm, as well as Members of the 
House of Representatives and their staff too.
  The brave men and women of law enforcement, like Officer Goodman, put 
their lives on the line that day to protect not just the Members of 
Congress inside the House and Senate Chambers but our very 
Constitution.
  Ultimately, the insurrectionists and the former President failed to 
overturn the election because Democrats, Republicans, and a Republican 
Vice President, Michael Pence, returned to the House and Senate 
Chambers. After order was restored, we did not accept mob rule; 
instead, we certified the votes of millions of Americans because that 
is what our democracy and our allegiance to it demanded of us.
  We have learned a lot over the past year that puts that day into 
better context. There is still much to learn. But January 6 was far 
from a random event. It was a premeditated, coordinated, and, in the 
end, violent effort to overturn an election. In other countries, we 
would call this an attempted coup.
  One year later, I am alarmed and appalled by the attempts to rewrite 
the history of January 6 as a peaceful protest. These conspiracy 
theories and lies continue to fuel the same misinformation and hatred 
that led to January 6.
  Colleagues, we need to lead by our example. We must choose truth over 
the Big Lie. We must choose the Constitution over the mob. We must 
choose the rule of law and mutual respect for one another over hatred 
and division.
  Thomas Jefferson once said--this is a paraphrase, but something along 
these lines--he said: If the people know the truth, they won't make a 
mistake.
  I love that. If the people know the truth, they won't make a mistake.
  Well, we returned that day to this very Chamber to certify the votes 
of millions of Americans because we wanted the American people to know 
the truth: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the 2020 election fair and 
square. We must now make sure that every American knows the unvarnished 
truth related to January 6.
  Over the past several years, I have mentioned time and again the 
wisdom of the Framers of our Constitution. In the hot summer of 1787, 
they gathered and debated a new form of government, a constitutional 
republic with an intricate system of checks and balances. Little did 
they know that that document, first ratified by Delaware, would become 
the longest running experiment in democracy that the world has ever 
known.
  I have sworn an oath no fewer than 12 times to protect the 
Constitution of our country: first as a 17-year-old Navy ROTC 
midshipman at Ohio State; 4 years later when I was commissioned as an 
ensign in the Navy to become a naval flight officer during the Vietnam 
war; again as I relinquished my regular commission and assumed a 
Reserve commission; and then another, gosh, eight times as a House 
Member and here as a Senator. We have a sacred obligation to protect 
our Constitution from enemies both foreign and domestic.
  In his second inaugural address at the end of the Civil War, 
President Lincoln addressed a deeply divided nation. All told, more 
than 600,000 Americans would die in the bloodiest conflict in our 
Nation's history. Still, President Lincoln called on the Nation to come 
together, to bind up our wounds, and to begin to heal. I believe that 
these words, which were etched inside the Lincoln Memorial just a few 
miles from where we gather today, can guide our Nation in this moment.
  Colleagues, in order to truly bind up our wounds related to January 6 
and heal a deeply divided nation, we must continue seeking the truth 
and holding those responsible to account. More than 700 individuals 
have already been charged with crimes related to the attack on our 
Capitol.
  Moreover, the bipartisan House Select Committee must finish its 
important work that it has begun and provide us with the facts of that 
day and the days that preceded it. Armed with those facts, many of us 
who serve in this Congress must make sure that the American people know 
the truth and that everyone responsible for the plotting, for the 
planning, and for the execution of an attempt to overturn an election 
in the United States of America is held accountable to the fullest 
extent of the law. Our democracy demands no less.
  Thank you.
  I yield the floor at this time to my colleague from Texas.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The senior Senator from Texas.