[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 67 (Monday, April 25, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2121-S2124]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             CLOTURE MOTION

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Pursuant to rule XXII, the Chair lays before 
the Senate the pending cloture motion, which the clerk will state.
  The bill 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 nomination 
     of Executive Calendar No. 808, Lael Brainard, of the District 
     of Columbia, to be Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of 
     the Federal Reserve System for a term of four years.
         Charles E. Schumer, Mazie K. Hirono, Martin Heinrich, Tim 
           Kaine, Jack Reed, Jacky Rosen, Ben Ray Lujan, 
           Christopher A. Coons, Alex Padilla, Sheldon Whitehouse, 
           Sherrod Brown, Debbie Stabenow, Christopher Murphy, 
           Patrick J. Leahy, John W. Hickenlooper, Tammy Baldwin, 
           Angus S. King, Jr.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. By unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum 
call has been waived.
  The question is, Is it the sense of the Senate that debate on the 
nomination of Lael Brainard, of the District of Columbia, to be Vice 
Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System for a 
term of four years, shall be brought to a close?
  The yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. 
Casey), the Senator from Delaware (Mr. Coons), the Senator from 
Washington (Mrs. Murray), and the Senator from Michigan (Mr. Peters), 
are necessarily absent.
  Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Kansas (Mr. Moran) and the Senator from Alaska (Ms. Murkowski).
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 54, nays 40, 
as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 135 Ex.]

                                YEAS--54

     Baldwin
     Bennet
     Blumenthal
     Booker
     Brown
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Collins
     Cortez Masto
     Crapo
     Duckworth
     Durbin
     Feinstein
     Gillibrand
     Graham
     Hagerty
     Hassan
     Heinrich
     Hickenlooper
     Hirono
     Kaine
     Kelly
     King
     Klobuchar
     Leahy
     Lujan
     Lummis
     Manchin
     Markey
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Murphy
     Ossoff
     Padilla
     Reed
     Rosen
     Rounds
     Sanders
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Shaheen
     Sinema
     Smith
     Stabenow
     Sullivan
     Tester
     Van Hollen
     Warner
     Warnock
     Warren
     Whitehouse
     Wyden
     Young

                                NAYS--40

     Barrasso
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Boozman
     Braun
     Burr
     Capito
     Cassidy
     Cornyn
     Cotton
     Cramer
     Cruz
     Daines
     Ernst
     Fischer
     Grassley
     Hawley
     Hoeven
     Hyde-Smith
     Inhofe
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Lankford
     Lee
     Marshall
     McConnell
     Paul
     Portman
     Risch
     Romney
     Rubio
     Sasse
     Scott (FL)
     Scott (SC)
     Shelby
     Thune
     Tillis
     Toomey
     Tuberville
     Wicker

                             NOT VOTING--6

     Casey
     Coons
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Murray
     Peters
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Heinrich). On this vote, the yeas are 54, 
and the nays are 40.
  The motion is agreed to.
  The Senator from Ohio.


                                Ukraine

  Mr. PORTMAN. I am coming to the floor again this evening to talk 
about the tragedy that is unfolding in Ukraine. This is the ninth week 
in a row during sessions that I have come to the floor to talk about 
the brutal and unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine--Ukraine, an ally 
of ours, a democratic country, and a sovereign country.
  It has now been more than 2 months since Russia's assault began, and 
Ukrainians continue to fight with heart, toughness, and conviction. The 
Russians have been defeated in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. And the 
Russian Black Sea flagship, the Moskva, was sunk by Ukrainian Neptune 
missiles. So there have been some successes. But while Ukraine and its 
people have impressed the free world with their fierce defense of their 
homeland, the senseless and indiscriminate killing of Ukrainian 
civilians by Russia continues.
  In this new stage of the war, Russia has begun an intensified 
offensive in the Donbas region in the eastern part of Ukraine. A few 
days ago, a Russian commander affirmed that their goal is to gain full 
control of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts--meaning control of all of the 
Donbas in eastern Ukraine, rather than the roughly 50 percent they took 
in 2014, and control of southern Ukraine, cutting Ukraine off from its 
Black Sea ports, leaving one of the world's most important exporters 
landlocked.
  The commander also threatened the territorial integrity of the small 
country of Moldova that borders southern Ukraine by saying this would 
connect Russia to the breakaway province of Transnistria, where Russian 
troops are already stationed.
  It may not be coincidental that today we heard reports of bombs 
hitting the Ministry of State building in Transnistria, when no one was 
there, by the way. Some say this could be a false flag attack, giving 
Russia an excuse to invade all of Moldova. All of the countries in the 
region are nervous about their status. They are worried for a good 
reason. They could be next. I can see why they are concerned.
  We have all seen with our own eyes what is going on, on television or 
online, the videos we have seen, but let's not forget, Russia continues 
to commit war crimes and display an utter disregard for innocent human 
lives. They continue to prevent evacuation of civilians from Mariupol. 
They have executed noncombatants, and now there are reports of systemic 
rape and torture by Russian soldiers. This is on top of previous 
confirmed reports of the use of cluster munitions and thermobaric 
weapons on civilians.
  As of February 28, the International Criminal Court announced 
allegations would be investigated. That is good. That must happen. But 
if they wait and have the proceedings once the war is over, in my view, 
that is too late. The perpetrators must be brought to justice. These 
horrific Russian assaults on innocent Ukrainian families in Bucha, 
Mariupol, and elsewhere, the bombing of civilian targets, the rapes, 
the tortures, all of these are crimes against humanity, and Russia must 
be held accountable for war crimes, not later but now.
  If there is not accountability, more senseless killings in Ukraine 
will occur, and these atrocities are likely to be repeated by others in 
the future.
  Many of my colleagues and I were on a video call today with the 
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal. He expressed his appreciation 
for the lethal support we have provided here in the U.S. Senate and in 
the House and through the administration.
  But he stressed the need for more help, for more heavy weapons to 
defend and push Russia back in the Donbas region. He also detailed how 
the country's economy has been severely damaged and what they will need 
just to stay afloat.
  Regarding military assistance, I am pleased that this past week the 
White House heeded calls from a bipartisan group of us to appoint a 
Ukraine security assistance coordinator to cut through the redtape and 
get the right military assistance to Ukraine more quickly.

  It is important, with so many agencies and individuals involved, that 
one person be solely focused on this critical mission and be held 
accountable. That person the White House has appointed is a three-star 
general, Terry Wolff, who has extensive experience as the former Deputy 
Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL and 
has commanded every level from platoon to armored division.
  From the very start of this conflict, I have said we need to do more, 
and we need to do it more quickly. We cannot do that if our assistance 
gets bogged down by the bureaucracy. Every delay in lethal aid costs 
Ukrainians lives, so I am pleased we now have a coordinator, and I hope 
that this will streamline the process.
  I am encouraged that the administration also recently announced 
further

[[Page S2122]]

assistance of $800 million in artillery pieces, ammunition, armored 
vehicles, and a new loitering munition called the Phoenix Ghost. This 
is a suicidal drone that is now in the hands of the Ukrainians. That is 
promising.
  I understand that the $3.4 billion in security assistance Congress 
passed in March will soon be exhausted and that there will be a need 
for additional supplemental funding for Ukraine. I encourage the 
administration to go ahead and look at that package, send it to us, get 
us to start thinking about it because when it comes here for a vote, I 
think we need to act quickly on it, review what the administration has 
sent, and be sure we do it on a stand-alone basis, rather than having 
it get bogged down in unrelated legislative matters.
  I am also pleased that some State National Guards are sending armored 
vehicles to assist Ukraine in their efforts. The Ohio National Guard 
will provide some M-113 Armored Personnel Carriers as part of a 
drawdown of DOD inventories to support Ukraine. This sends a strong 
message of support to our allies from the Buckeye State.
  I also appreciate the number of police departments across Ohio, 
including the Cleveland Police Department--where I was last week--for 
providing over 200 protective vests to Ukrainians. Thank you.
  Last week, I had the chance to visit an incredibly effective 
nonprofit in Ohio called MedWish that collects donated medical supplies 
from hospitals and provides these medical supplies to countries that 
are in need--sometimes because of a natural disaster, in this case, 
because of war.
  Today, their major focus is on Ukraine, where they have delivered 
over 7 tons of badly needed medical supplies, and this effort 
continues. Again, I thank them for what they are doing. I thank all the 
hospitals and all the private practices that have donated equipment to 
be able to be sent to Ukraine to save lives.
  As we all know, this war continues to produce a staggering number of 
refugees. Last week, the White House announced the program Uniting for 
Ukraine to streamline the process for bringing 100,000 refugees, with 
strong ties to the United States, into our country. Uniting for Ukraine 
will allow Americans and organizations here to sponsor Ukrainians who 
have been forced to leave their country. The American sponsors will be 
required to declare their financial support for the applicants, and the 
Ukrainians applying for this program must meet vaccinations and other 
public health requirements, as well as biographic and biometric 
screening, vetting, and security checks.
  That is all good. These individuals will then be allowed to work and 
remain in the United States legally for up to 2 years. I have heard 
personally from so many generous Ohioans who want to open up homes to 
these refugees, who want to be helpful. More than 500 people have now 
called or emailed my office, and a number of businesses have expressed 
interest in offering jobs to these refugees. I urge the administration 
to quickly staff up this program so that we can bring some of these 
desperate refugees to the United States as planned.
  Unfortunately, I am finding out that there is no online portal yet, 
no way for people to be able to know how they can participate in this 
process. So my hope is that we will launch this online portal with 
applications soon so that folks who want to sponsor Ukrainians fleeing 
the war are able to do so. I wish this had been done sooner, but this 
is a step in the right direction.
  Our partners in Europe are doing more than their fair share here. 
More than 5 million Ukrainians have fled their homeland since the war 
began, and they are crossing borders into their neighboring countries 
in Europe.
  As I saw when I was in Poland last month meeting with refugees, 
Poland has taken in almost 3 million refugees alone. I think Poland is 
to be commended with the way they have responded to this Ukrainian 
crisis in so many respects, including taking these refugees.
  We saw cars lined up at the refugee processing center, down at the 
border, of everyday Poles who were there to pick up Ukrainian refugees 
and to take them into their home.
  Hungary and Slovakia have taken in hundreds of thousands, too. 
Surely, the United States can get our act together with regard to the 
100,000.
  I am pleased that Secretaries Blinken and Austin met with President 
Zelenskyy yesterday in Kyiv. This is the first time since the war began 
2 months ago that we have had American diplomats in Kyiv. I think it is 
important that we are there. The Europeans are there, other countries 
are there; we need to be there too.
  I am glad to hear that we are finally reestablishing our diplomatic 
presence in Kyiv, and I am also pleased that the administration is 
finally nominating an ambassador to Ukraine. We have had no ambassador 
to Ukraine during this administration. They have indicated they are 
going to nominate Bridget Brink, who is a career foreign service 
officer and is the current U.S. Ambassador to Slovakia; so she has some 
critical experience in the area.
  While both of these moves were long overdue, I commend the 
administration for finally acting--sending a strong signal to our 
allies and adversaries alike that the United States is serious about 
standing with Ukraine.
  Let's get our diplomats back to the capital, back to Kyiv. Let's get 
an ambassador in place as soon as possible.
  On the sanctions front, I believe we should be seizing, not just 
freezing, assets of Kremlin supporters and provide the funds from the 
sale of these assets to meet the needs of Ukraine. To do this, I 
introduced with Senator Bennet of Colorado the Repurposing Elite 
Luxuries into Emergency Funds--RELIEF--for Ukraine Act to require the 
Department of Justice to direct any funds resulting from the disposal 
of seized Russian assets to support Ukrainian refugees and support 
reconstruction. So like other countries have done, including France and 
Germany, let's seize these assets, like yachts owned by the Kremlin 
supporters or by President Putin himself, and then take those funds on 
the sale of those assets and use them immediately to help with the 
humanitarian effort.
  I urge the Senate and the House to act this week on this legislation 
so that we can give Ukrainians the help they need.
  I continue to believe our top priority on sanctions should be cutting 
off Russia's No. 1 source of income that fuels the war machine. Forty 
to 50 percent of their budget is from one place--energy. Those receipts 
from energy are fueling the Putin war machine. Energy is Russia's 
largest export and accounts, again, for a significant part--or of 
roughly half of their budget.
  Over the past year, the average oil revenues going back to Russia 
from their exports to the United States alone was $50 million a day. 
Under pressure from Congress, the administration reversed course and 
supported blocking Russian oil, natural gas, and coal imports into the 
United States. I am glad we did that. It made no sense for us to help 
fund the Russian war effort, especially when we have our own resources 
here, in terms of energy, that we can access.
  I welcomed the President's announcement in Brussels of the creation 
of a joint U.S.-EU task force to help reduce Europe's dependency on 
Russian energy and strengthen Europe's energy security. Europe has 
become much more dependent on Russia for energy than the United States. 
Germany now gets almost 40 percent of its natural gas from Russia.
  This means that Europe, by the way, is now sending an estimated $870 
million a day to Russia--$870 million a day in payments for its natural 
gas, oil, and coal from Russia. Ending that European reliance on 
Russian energy is the right policy, and it will save lives.
  Fortunately, again, some progress has been made. The EU has agreed to 
phase out imports of Russian coal over time. They say over the next 
several months. They have said that they are willing to work with the 
United States to have some of our liquefied natural gas, LNG, replace 
some of the Russian gas. This is a good idea. We should allow more 
production here in the United States so we have that LNG to be able to 
export to Germany and to other European countries to replace some of 
that Russian gas to make them less dependent on Russia and to stop 
sending this revenue to fund the war machine.
  Lithuania needs to be held up as the first European Union country to 
completely cut itself off from Russian natural gas.

[[Page S2123]]

  But the reality, again, is that Europe continues to fund the war 
machine right now with this $870 million every day in energy receipts 
going to Russia.
  Part of the answer, again, lies with us. We must support our domestic 
energy producers as a means of supporting our national and economic 
security but also as a way to support our allies. This means America 
having a robust, all-of-the-above approach to power our Nation, which 
includes hydrogen, renewables, fossil fuels, carbon capture 
technologies, nuclear power, hydropower. The importance of this cannot 
be overstated. Energy is national security.
  As a practical matter, to stop the revenues going from Europe to fund 
the Russian war machine, the administration must change policies to get 
more American LNG to Europe to substitute for Russian gas. This 
requires more pipelines, more infrastructure, more export facilities, 
of course.
  Unfortunately, we aren't off to a very good start on that front. The 
President's tax proposals released with his recent budget submission to 
Congress eliminates important tax provisions used by our domestic 
producers, like the deduction for intangible drilling costs, or IDCs, 
which allows natural gas and oil producers to deduct costs that are 
necessary for the drilling in preparation of wells.
  Let's take an approach here where we are encouraging, again, all of 
the above in order to ensure our national security and to help our 
allies in Europe.
  The ruble has just about fully recovered to its preinvasion value 
because Russia is still bringing in these revenues from the sale of its 
energy. Shares on Russia's stock market are trading again, and Russia's 
VTB bank remains open for business in Europe, where it has gathered 
billions of euros in deposits, mainly from German savers.
  Our sanctions have left Russia's biggest economic lifeline largely 
untouched--again, energy sales, specifically to Europe.
  In fact, in addition to cutting off the natural gas and the revenue 
that fuels the Russian war machine, we need to tighten up bank 
sanctions as they relate to energy. Sanctions for energy transactions 
don't go into effect against Russian banks, including the VTB bank, 
until June 24. Those sanctions ought to go into place right now. They 
should have gone into place weeks ago.
  President Biden must lead the alliance to do what it takes to help 
Ukraine win, and the administration needs to make clear that their 
objective is for Ukraine to actually be victorious, to push the forces 
of Russia out of the sovereign territory of Ukraine.
  We must remember that the Ukrainians are not asking us to fight for 
them, but they are asking for the tools to defend themselves so they 
have a chance to win.
  I have said before that both Ukraine and Georgia should be given what 
is called a membership action plan as a next step toward NATO 
membership. Based on the actions of the Russians and the fighting 
spirit of the Ukrainians, I now feel more strongly than ever that 
Ukraine should be part of NATO. They deserve it.
  I am encouraged that both Finland and Sweden are considering NATO 
membership. They should both be immediately welcomed into the NATO 
family.
  Vladimir Putin sought to weaken the NATO alliance. This is yet 
another strategic failure on his part, as we are coming closer together 
and will potentially add even more members.
  I will close with this thought: Some might ask--even a few of my 
colleagues have asked me--why a Senator from Ohio cares about what goes 
on in Ukraine.
  Well, the first answer is, we should all care. This is about the 
fight for freedom in our time, in our generation. This is where it is 
being engaged right now.
  I also happen to have tens of thousands of Ukrainians who call Ohio 
home. These Ukrainian-Americans are good friends of mine. They are 
constituents. They keep me informed and have over the years. They have 
helped me to get more engaged on this issue.
  I have been to Ukraine six or seven times. When I was at the border 
of Ukraine and Poland last month, some of my Ohio friends were there 
too as volunteers, providing food and medical supplies to the refugees.
  When Ukraine made a decision to turn to us, to turn to democracy and 
freedom and free enterprise back in 2014, I was there with my colleague 
Ben Cardin, a Democrat from Maryland. We were there as election 
observers, but what we really observed was a country that had made a 
decision to turn to us, to turn to the West, to be like us, to join us 
in the fight for freedom.
  Even if I had no constituents of Ukrainian descent, I would be 
standing here because this is the fight for freedom. This is our test. 
Are we going to be stand against tyranny and for freedom at a time when 
these terrible atrocities are being committed?
  I have been to the border of Ukraine and Poland and talked to these 
refugees. Through their tears, they spoke of their apartments or homes 
being destroyed and damaged. They talked of friends and family members 
being injured or killed. They talked of the pain of being separated 
from their husbands or fathers, not knowing their fate, since they had 
stayed behind to fight.
  They also begged us to put in place a no-fly zone to help them even 
more.
  The popular Ukrainian national rallying cry ``Slava Ukraini'' when 
translated into English is ``Glory to Ukraine.'' And then the response 
to that is ``Glory to the heroes.'' ``Heroyam Slava.''
  In the midst of all this, there are so many heroes to glorify in 
Ukraine--heroes like the people I saw in Ohio last week who work at 
MedWish and are providing medical supplies urgently needed in Ukraine; 
the staff that collect and send these much-needed supplies, going 
mostly to the women and children of Ukraine who continue to seek safe 
passage in their homeland.
  Not only are there heroes here, but there are so many heroes at home 
in Ukraine. Those are the firefighters. Those are the soldiers. Those 
are the citizen soldiers.
  With our help, the Ukrainians can win this war.
  One of the members of Parliament from Ukraine, from the Rada, who 
came to see us a few weeks ago here in Congress, perhaps said it best. 
We met with the Ukrainian Caucus that I co-chair, and we had four 
members of the Rada come, all women; and the Ambassador from Ukraine 
was there as well.
  She said she hears all the time that, ``We are all Ukrainians now,'' 
and I have heard that back home, and that is how I feel.
  She said that if that is true, since we are all Ukrainians now, we 
must be like Ukrainians. She said, ``We must be brave, creative, and 
fast.'' And that is what they are.
  They are very resourceful. They have figured out a way to take on one 
of the biggest armies in the world and be successful, brave, creative, 
and fast.
  I urge my colleagues, the administration, and the world: Let us help 
Ukraine win this war by being brave, creative, and fast. By doing that, 
we will show the world America stands with Ukraine, which is in our 
national security interest.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Ohio.
  Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, I thank the other Senator from Ohio, 
Senator Portman, for his work in Ukraine. I was with the Ukrainian 
group over the last week or so and talked about the work Senator 
Portman has done. And we also talked about how Putin has just been 
shocked by the passion and the effectiveness and the strength and the 
courage of the Ukrainian opposition, surely, and also Putin has been 
shocked by President Biden's skill at putting together this coalition 
in opposition to the Russians.
  Germany, who hadn't really played in an exercise like this, in an 
action like this in decades, and Sweden and Finland and Switzerland--
countries that simply were neutral. And I appreciate Senator Portman's 
work on that and the President of the United States, and it is why we 
are doing a reasonably good job as a world, as a world community, in 
helping with refugees who have gone to Poland and Moldova and other 
areas while we are getting arms to them, while we are doing damage to 
the Russian economy and will continue to do that. So I thank my friend 
from Cincinnati.


           Nominations of Lael Brainard and Lisa DeNell Cook

  Mr. President, I urge my colleagues in joining me in voting to 
confirm the

[[Page S2124]]

nominations of Lael Brainard to be Vice Chairman of the Board of 
Governors of the Federal Reserve System and Lisa Cook to be a Member of 
the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve.
  Dr. Brainard and Dr. Cook are highly qualified economists with 
decades of experience, having provided exemplary service to their 
profession and to this country.
  Since 2014, Dr. Brainard has served as a Member of the Board of 
Governors to the Federal Reserve. She has helped oversee the Fed's 
important financial stability work. She has worked to create a better 
payment system that works for consumers and for small banks.
  Prior to serving on the Fed, Dr. Brainard was Under Secretary for 
International Affairs at Treasury, where she played a critical role in 
helping support our country's recovery from the Wall Street-induced 
financial crisis in 2008.
  She has a long history of bipartisan support and bipartisan work. She 
served in administrations of both parties. She was Deputy National 
Economic Adviser in the Clinton administration. She was a staff 
economist at the Council of Economic Advisers during the first George 
Bush administration.
  And in between her public service to our country, she served as a 
professor of applied economics at one of the nation's great 
institutions, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
  Throughout this distinguished career, Dr. Brainard has been not just 
a good economist, but she has been a persistent advocate for working 
families and for communities who have been left on their own for too 
long.
  She understands the role of government and the role of the Federal 
Reserve should be--it is not always successful in getting them there; I 
think these new nominees will do that--putting workers at the center of 
our economy and putting the workers at the center of our financial 
regulatory system, and putting workers at the center of what we do 
here.
  She led the way at modernizing and strengthening the Community 
Reinvestment Act, a landmark civil rights law passed to begin undoing 
the legacy of redlining and lending discrimination, spurring 
investments in neighborhoods and communities. The CRA has fallen short 
many times, partly because of the last administration and the damage it 
did, but we are breathing new life into the CRA. Dr. Lael Brainard has 
done a good job in keeping it alive and setting the stage.
  She led decisive, bipartisan action to use the Fed's emergency 
lending and monetary policy tools to support families through the 
COVID-19 crisis.
  Like Dr. Brainard, Dr. Cook is a leading economist with years of 
research and international experience in monetary policy, banking, and 
financial crises. She knows that workers drive our economic growth. She 
knows how important their local communities are.
  Dr. Cook spent her formative years in the South, growing up in 
Milledgeville, GA. She spent a significant portion of her career in the 
industrial Midwest. She has seen how economic policy set here and 
economic policy set at the Federal Reserve affect all kinds of 
different people in different parts of the country.
  She graduated from Spelman College, one of the great institutions in 
this country. She was a Marshall scholar and a Truman scholar. Whom do 
we know that are both of those things? And she chose both, very 
exclusive honors and academic disciplines. She studied at Oxford 
University. She earned a Ph.D. in economics, again, from one of our 
great institutions in this country, the University of California 
Berkeley.
  She is a tenured professor of economics and international relations 
at one of the great institutions in my part of the country, Michigan 
State University. She taught at the Harvard Kennedy School of 
Government. She served on the Council of Economic Advisers during the 
eurozone crisis and at the Department of Treasury.
  Yet--yet--Mr. President, despite her extensive experience, despite 
her broad support, a small but really, really loud minority, far 
outside the mainstream, have engaged in a smear campaign against Dr. 
Cook. It is emblematic of the sorts of attacks that Black and Brown 
Americans, particularly women, have encountered for far too long here.
  I won't go through what has happened in my committee. I chair the 
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. I won't lay out--for 
one thing, the Senators on my side of the aisle know it, and the 
Senators on their side of the aisle don't want to think about it--what 
has happened with very, very qualified, accomplished Black women coming 
out of my committee and how few Republicans have voted for them. 
Counting one after another, they get zero votes or 1 vote or 2 votes 
out of 12.
  Women, and certainly Black women, know all too well what it is like 
to be called ``inexperienced'' when you are anything but. They know 
what it is like to be told that your qualifications are never enough, 
no matter how extensive they are, no matter how impressive they are.
  These naysayers wrongly claim that Lisa Cook doesn't meet the 
standards for this position--standards that only seem to apply for 
certain nominees. Like the game of Whac-A-Mole, each time these 
assertions and allegations are rebutted--and each time they are 
effectively rebutted--a new, more untethered one arises.
  She is unquestionably qualified. Dr. Lisa Cook is unquestionably 
qualified. If confirmed, she would be the first Black woman ever in the 
100-plus year history of the Fed to serve on the Board. Think of that. 
In 1913, the Fed started, and 109 years later, seven people--not one 
person on the Fed, not one Chair; seven people on the Fed, most times--
but with seven spots on the Fed, she will be the first Black woman ever 
in 109 years. Think about that.
  Dr. Cook and Dr. Brainard will be excellent additions to the Fed. We 
need them on the job now. As Americans face rising prices caused by 
corporate greed and the global pandemic and Putin's war, having a full 
Board has never been more vital than now. I urge my colleagues to join 
me in supporting Dr. Lael Brainard and Dr. Lisa Cook--their 
nominations--so they can get to work for the American people.
  I yield the floor.

                          ____________________