[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.
____________________