[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 92 (Thursday, May 26, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2721-S2723]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL UNDER CHAPTER 8 OF TITLE 5,
UNITED STATES CODE, OF THE RULE SUBMITTED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
AND THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY RELATING TO ``PROCEDURES FOR
CREDIBLE FEAR SCREENING AND CONSIDERATION OF ASYLUM, WITHHOLDING OF
REMOVAL, AND CAT PROTECTION CLAIMS BY ASYLUM OFFICERS''
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will
proceed to the consideration of S.J. Res. 46, which the clerk will
report.
The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
A joint resolution (S.J. Res. 46) providing for
congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United
States Code, of the rule submitted by the Department of
Justice and the Department of Homeland Security relating to
``Procedures for Credible Fear Screening and Consideration of
Asylum, Withholding of Removal, and CAT Protection Claims by
Asylum Officers''.
The joint resolution was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading
and was read the third time.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the joint resolution
having been read the third time, the question is, Shall the joint
resolution pass?
Mr. BROWN. 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 Oregon (Mr. Merkley),
and the Senator from Maryland (Mr. Van Hollen) are necessarily absent.
Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator
from Tennessee (Mrs. Blackburn), the Senator from North Dakota (Mr.
Cramer), the Senator from Texas (Mr. Cruz), and the Senator from Alaska
(Ms. Murkowski).
The result was announced--yeas 46, nays 48, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 211 Leg.]
YEAS--46
Barrasso
Blunt
Boozman
Braun
Burr
Capito
Cassidy
Collins
Cornyn
Cotton
Crapo
Daines
Ernst
Fischer
Graham
Grassley
Hagerty
Hawley
Hoeven
Hyde-Smith
Inhofe
Johnson
Kennedy
Lankford
Lee
Lummis
Manchin
[[Page S2722]]
Marshall
Moran
Paul
Portman
Risch
Romney
Rounds
Rubio
Sasse
Scott (FL)
Scott (SC)
Shelby
Sullivan
Thune
Tillis
Toomey
Tuberville
Wicker
Young
NAYS--48
Baldwin
Bennet
Blumenthal
Booker
Brown
Cantwell
Cardin
Carper
Casey
Coons
Cortez Masto
Duckworth
Durbin
Feinstein
Gillibrand
Hassan
Heinrich
Hickenlooper
Hirono
Kaine
Kelly
King
Klobuchar
Leahy
Lujan
Markey
McConnell
Menendez
Murphy
Murray
Ossoff
Padilla
Peters
Reed
Rosen
Sanders
Schatz
Schumer
Shaheen
Sinema
Smith
Stabenow
Tester
Warner
Warnock
Warren
Whitehouse
Wyden
NOT VOTING--6
Blackburn
Cramer
Cruz
Merkley
Murkowski
Van Hollen
The joint resolution (S.J. Res. 46) was rejected.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. King). The Republican leader.
Motion to Reconsider
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I enter a motion to reconsider the
vote.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The motion is entered.
The Senator from New Jersey.
Unanimous Consent Requests--Executive Calendar
Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I am rising to ask unanimous consent to
consider the nomination of Leopoldo Martinez. This body should confirm
him today to serve as Executive Director of the Inter-American
Development Bank.
From the world's highest per capita COVID infection and death rates
to the largest economic contraction anywhere in the world, Latin
America and the Caribbean are still struggling to recover from
devastating waves of the pandemic.
The region also faces historic refugee and migration movements that
stretch across the continent. And added to this, many of these nations
must confront longstanding poverty and inequality as well as climate
change and threats to the environment.
Given the significant economic social and development challenges in
Latin America and the Caribbean, we urgently need Senate-confirmed
leadership at our hemisphere's most important multilateral development
bank. The Inter-American Development Bank is essential to addressing
these issues.
It is critical that we have strong U.S. leadership at the Bank. Mr.
Martinez brings decades of experience in the public and private sector,
as well as academia, and he will provide exactly that.
He has advised Fortune 500 companies and private equity funds. He has
helped international business and nongovernmental organizations, and he
has committed to work with the Senate to support a much needed capital
increase for the Bank, which we approved as part of the U.S. Innovation
and Competition Act last year.
This nomination has been pending for 9 months--9 months. It is time
for the Senate to act, especially when we have China--and I know my
colleagues on the other side of the aisle have spent a lot of time
talking about China and whether we were strong enough in meeting the
China threat. Well, China is all over the Western Hemisphere making
huge investments.
I talked to one foreign leader this past week from the hemisphere. He
said to me: Listen, what is the United States offering? Because I am
being offered $800 million, 1 percent, over 30 years. I am not taking
it, but at some point, we need to have engagement in the hemisphere
economically.
That is what the Inter-American Development Bank can do without
costing U.S. taxpayers money. But for that, you need leadership that is
focused on getting the IDB to build the partnerships and the programs
that can help us have a presence to counter China in the first place
and also to promote prosperity, security, and stability.
And for all of those of my colleagues who are concerned about the
southern border, well, let's get an organization that can help create
greater prosperity and stability in the hemisphere so people won't be
fleeing from the circumstances.
I don't understand why this has taken 9 months, but that is what
draws me to come to the floor. So I ask unanimous consent that the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee be discharged and the Senate proceed
to the following nomination: PN1028, Leopoldo Martinez Nucete, to be
United States Executive Director of the Inter-American Development Bank
for a term of three years, vice Eliot Pedrosa; that the Senate vote on
the nomination with no intervening action or debate; that the motion to
reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table; that no further
motions be made in order to the nomination; and that any related
statements be printed in the Record.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Mr. MARSHALL. Mr. President, reserving the right to object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kansas.
Mr. MARSHALL. This nominee received a tie vote in the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee, meaning that he failed to be reported favorably to
the floor. This tie vote indicates that the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee Republicans have significant concerns with this nominee;
therefore, he should be discharged per the process laid out in the
Senate power-sharing agreement for this Congress, not passed by
unanimous consent. Therefore, I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I am going to be honest here. This isn't
really about Mr. Martinez, his experience, his views. It is just
another thinly veiled attempt to block another of the President's
nominees and to do so at a time in which China is eating our lunch.
So the next time one of my colleagues gets up and talks about China,
I am going to remind them of the position that they have taken to block
one of the critical nominees who could help us meet that challenge in
the Western Hemisphere.
Mr. President, let me turn to another nominee who has been pending
before the Senate, who did pass the committee, by the way, favorably--
not on a tie vote but favorably. I am going to, in a moment, ask
unanimous consent to confirm Dr. Monde Muyangwa to serve as Assistant
Administrator for USAID's Africa Bureau. This body should confirm her
without delay.
The promotion of democracy, a key goal for USAID, is threatened
throughout Africa. In just the past 2 years, there have been coups in
Sudan, Chad, Guinea, Burkina Faso, and two in Mali.
Authoritarians across Africa have new tactics to subvert democratic
movements. They have modern tools to silence dissenting voices. They
deploy disinformation campaigns and sophisticated surveillance
technology coming from China to stay in power. And from Mali to the
Central African Republic, dictators are turning to Russian mercenaries
for support.
Democracy advocates, human rights offenders, and civil society
leaders across the continent are courageously working to realize their
aspirations and goals. They need a reliable partner at USAID to keep
the struggle for democracy in their countries, and that is why we have
to advance this nominee today.
Dr. Muyangwa is eminently qualified to lead USAID's Africa Bureau.
She brings extensive professional and academic experience in Africa.
She is a Zambian-born immigrant to the United States, where she has
held senior positions at the Wilson Center, the Africa Center for
Strategic Studies, and the National Summit on Africa. She was a Rhodes
Scholar, a Wingate Scholar for her scholarship at Oxford, the
valedictorian for her graduating class at the University of Zambia, and
she holds a doctorate in international relations from the University of
Oxford. Do you think she is well qualified? In short, her
qualifications are exceptional.
Finally, let me say that while Africa faces many challenges, it is
also a land of tremendous opportunity. But here, again, China is all
over Africa in precious minerals and other precious materials, in
subverting nascent democracies by their debt-trap diplomacy. And where
are we? Absent, because we don't even have somebody who can focus on
the hemisphere--a hemisphere that we should have gotten a lot more
votes at the United Nations when we were pursuing the sanctions against
Russia. But guess what. We don't have anybody talking to these
countries. So I see no reason, with somebody with
[[Page S2723]]
such a stellar background, to ultimately be objected to.
So I will I ask unanimous consent that the Senate consider the
following nomination: Calendar No. 815, Monde Muyangwa, to be an
Assistant Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International
Development; that the Senate vote on the nomination without intervening
action or debate; that the motion to reconsider be considered made and
laid upon the table; and that any statements related to the nomination
be printed in the Record.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Mr. MARSHALL. Mr. President.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kansas.
Mr. MARSHALL. Reserving the right to object, USAID awarded a $200
million grant for a 10-year viral emergence early warning project known
as PREDICT.
We have uncovered evidence of possible embezzlement, possible money
laundering, and insider threats, as well as other concerns related to
the PREDICT and other USAID grant awards.
PREDICT was led by a consortium spearheaded by UC Davis and EcoHealth
Alliance, which funneled taxpayer dollars to the Wuhan Institute of
Virology to conduct risky research on potential pandemic pathogens,
including bat coronavirus research.
USAID and NIH both awarded multimillion dollar grants to EcoHealth
Alliance during the same 5-year period leading up to and immediately
preceding the COVID-19 outbreak.
EcoHealth is unable to produce to NIH proof of its research, such as
lab notebooks and virus samples, so we are simply asking USAID for
proof of the EcoHealth research they funded. We requested records from
USAID that grant recipients are legally required to maintain. Our
requests are, indeed, fact-based.
At this point, we believe either the USAID staff is withholding the
records from Congress or they have failed to access them through the UC
Davis and EcoHealth Alliance. Either option is unacceptable. As such, I
object to the unanimous consent motion but look forward to working with
the chairman to address these issues.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, through the Chair, would my colleague
say that--have you not been provided three rounds of documents that
have been requested?
Mr. MARSHALL. Mr. President.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kansas.
Mr. MARSHALL. Unfortunately, the documents were not what we asked
for. They are incomplete. They don't give us what we are looking for.
But we would welcome the opportunity to sit down with the chairman and
try to address--
Mr. MENENDEZ. Through the Presiding Officer, has my colleague not
been offered a briefing by USAID to try to answer the rest of his
questions?
This is an extraordinary amount of information being offered for
someone who is not even a member of the Foreign Relations Committee.
But, nonetheless, in order to accommodate him, we want to get to a
point that he feels comfortable to do so. Have you not been offered a
briefing, which you have not yet accepted?
Mr. MARSHALL. Not that I am aware of.
Mr. MENENDEZ. Well, my understanding is that there has been, Mr.
President, an offer of a briefing made to the Senator.
And, by the way, this has nothing to do with Dr. Muyangwa. She has
nothing to do with any of this. She is nominated to be the Assistant
Administrator for Africa, nothing to do with China, nothing to do with
Wuhan, nothing to do with anything else.
I would urge my colleague, if you have all this information about
illicit activities, please bring it forward. The committee would like
to consider it. But I haven't seen any of it. It is time to put up or
shut up.
I yield the floor.
____________________