[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 118 (Monday, July 18, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3327-S3329]
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 legislative 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. 1035, Nina Nin-Yuen Wang, of 
     Colorado, to be United States District Judge for the District 
     of Colorado.
         Charles E. Schumer, Richard J. Durbin, Robert P. Casey, 
           Jr., Sherrod Brown, Tammy Baldwin, Tina Smith, Jeanne 
           Shaheen, Chris Van Hollen, Elizabeth Warren, Catherine 
           Cortez Masto, Tim Kaine, Benjamin L. Cardin, 
           Christopher Murphy, Maria Cantwell, Christopher A. 
           Coons, Jack Reed, Gary C. Peters, Tammy Duckworth.

  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 Nina Nin-Yuen Wang, of Colorado, to be United States 
District Judge for the District of Colorado, shall be brought to a 
close?
  The yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant executive clerk called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Ohio (Mr. Brown), the 
Senator from Maryland (Mr. Cardin), the Senator from Vermont (Mr. 
Leahy), the Senator from Oregon (Mr. Merkley), the Senator from 
Washington (Mrs. Murray), and the Senator

[[Page S3328]]

from Hawaii (Mr. Schatz) are necessarily absent.
  Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Wyoming (Mr. Barrasso), the Senator from Nebraska (Mrs. Fischer), 
the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Graham), the Senator from North 
Dakota (Mr. Hoeven), the Senator from Louisiana (Mr. Kennedy), the 
Senator from Kansas (Mr. Moran), the Senator from Alabama (Mr. Shelby), 
the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Toomey), and the Senator from 
Alabama (Mr. Tuberville).
  Further, if present and voting, the Senator from North Dakota (Mr. 
Hoeven) would have voted ``nay''.
  The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 52, nays 33, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 256 Ex.]

                                YEAS--52

     Baldwin
     Bennet
     Blumenthal
     Blunt
     Booker
     Burr
     Cantwell
     Carper
     Casey
     Collins
     Coons
     Cortez Masto
     Duckworth
     Durbin
     Feinstein
     Gillibrand
     Grassley
     Hassan
     Heinrich
     Hickenlooper
     Hirono
     Kaine
     Kelly
     King
     Klobuchar
     Lujan
     Manchin
     Markey
     Menendez
     Murkowski
     Murphy
     Ossoff
     Padilla
     Peters
     Portman
     Reed
     Rosen
     Rounds
     Sanders
     Schumer
     Shaheen
     Sinema
     Smith
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Tillis
     Van Hollen
     Warner
     Warnock
     Warren
     Whitehouse
     Wyden

                                NAYS--33

     Blackburn
     Boozman
     Braun
     Capito
     Cassidy
     Cornyn
     Cotton
     Cramer
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Daines
     Ernst
     Hagerty
     Hawley
     Hyde-Smith
     Inhofe
     Johnson
     Lankford
     Lee
     Lummis
     Marshall
     McConnell
     Paul
     Risch
     Romney
     Rubio
     Sasse
     Scott (FL)
     Scott (SC)
     Sullivan
     Thune
     Wicker
     Young

                             NOT VOTING--15

     Barrasso
     Brown
     Cardin
     Fischer
     Graham
     Hoeven
     Kennedy
     Leahy
     Merkley
     Moran
     Murray
     Schatz
     Shelby
     Toomey
     Tuberville
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Heinrich). On this vote, the yeas are 52, 
the nays are 33.
  The motion is agreed to.
  The Senator from Florida.


                                  Cuba

  Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, on July 11, 2021, in an act of 
incredible bravery, thousands of freedom-loving people in Cuba 
collectively stood together to demand freedom from the oppressive Cuban 
dictatorship.
  They stood outside the headquarters of the Cuban Communist Party 
demanding liberty. They shouted ``Patria y Vida,'' which means homeland 
and life.
  In cities across the island, Cubans young and old showed they are not 
afraid of the regime. It was a sign that freedom, liberty, and human 
rights are not merely American ideals but universal rights given to all 
by God, not any government.
  In response to the peaceful protest, the Cuban Communist Party, an 
illegitimate and brutally oppressive regime deployed a wave of terror 
throughout Cuba by unleashing its secret police and military forces on 
peaceful protesters and democracy leaders.
  The regime's thugs and security forces unlawfully detained more than 
1,400 demonstrators, including leaders from Cuban civil society groups 
such as UNPACU, the San Isidro Movement, the Ladies in White, and 
targeted religious and Afro-Cuban leaders.
  In the aftermath of the demonstrations and the government crackdown, 
crowds of Cubans and supporters of the Cuban people gathered here in 
Washington urging Joe Biden to act.
  They gathered in front of the White House. They protested in front of 
the Cuban Embassy. I heard their cries asking the American Government 
to show its support. I joined them in front of the White House and in 
front of the Capitol.
  We know Joe Biden has the power to join the Cuban people to call for 
the Cuban Communist Party to change. But aside from a couple statements 
he made last year, Joe Biden has not taken one action to support the 
Cuban people and their fight for freedom.
  He has done nothing to provide them with internet connections or to 
support the democracy movement on the island.
  I want to be clear: The President of the United States is known both 
here and around the globe as the leader of the free world. Our 
President, regardless of who it is, has immense power to rally our 
democratic allies and the freedom-loving people of the world to put 
pressure on oppressive regimes like the one occupying Havana and throw 
the full support of the global community behind the Cuban people's 
movement for freedom.
  Anyone who denies this is ignoring history. But Joe Biden hasn't done 
any of that. He hasn't even tried. Instead, he and his administration 
have bowed to the demands of Cuba's murderous Castro and Diaz-Canel 
regimes and chosen not to stand for democracy and human rights.
  And just weeks ago, he chose to prop up the oppressive regime with 
pathetic appeasement policies and sanctions relief. These actions bring 
shame to the United States. They do nothing to help the people only 
help line the pockets of the regime, its thugs, and its evil partners 
in Russia, Iran, and communist China.
  This failed President has done more to unite America's enemies than 
bringing together the world's democracies for a common cause. Biden's 
appeasement is horrible for U.S. national security, a threat to 
stability in Latin America, and a danger to the power of democracy 
across the world.
  Six months after the demonstrations started, the Senate unanimously 
passed my resolution that supported Cuban democracy activists like Jose 
Daniel Ferrer, and condemned the brutal torture, unjust imprisonment, 
and severe oppression that the illegitimate communist Cuban regime is 
subjecting innocent Cubans to every day.
  Last week, we honored the 1-year anniversary of the action of the 
brave Cuban people, and we remembered the horrific images of violence 
and oppression we saw as the illegitimate communist Cuban regime, 
terrified of the freedom movement, viciously cracked down on the people 
with mass jailings, beatings, and even murder.
  Well, most of us remember. Joe Biden could not be bothered to even 
make a statement. His silence on this issue shows he doesn't care about 
the consequences of his actions. He doesn't care that he is playing 
into the plans of Castro and Diaz-Canel.
  Meanwhile, the Cuban people get nothing in return, and the security 
situation in the region worsens. When Biden doesn't stand up to Castro 
and Diaz-Canel, we are left with a destabilized hemisphere that is less 
peaceful and puts our homeland security at greater risk.
  They are murderous, illegitimate dictators. Appeasement is the worst 
move imaginable. And you better believe that Iran, Russia, and 
communist China love it when Biden is nice to their friends in Latin 
America.
  So in the midst of this 1-year anniversary of the July 11 historic 
and peaceful demonstrations, I am asking Joe Biden to call for the 
immediate release of the hundreds of pro-democracy activists, including 
children whom the regime is unjustly detaining and subjecting to 
physical and psychological torture.
  I hope someone in the White House is paying attention. Unfortunately, 
we know Joe Biden isn't. Children are locked away in jail, kept away 
from their families. These are kids. Some are just 14 years old. What 
is it going to take for Joe Biden to grow a backbone and do something?
  Now, I am sure the administration will say that they have spoken out. 
Sure, we have seen statements and tweets, but that is not enough. Where 
is Joe Biden?
  The White House can try to hide behind the words of the State 
Department and claim false leadership, but statements from bureaucrats 
and tweets from an embassy that shouldn't even exist will never be 
enough.
  Sadly, that is all we can expect from this weak and incompetent 
President. It is essential to the national security of the United 
States as well as our efforts to support freedom, democracy, and human 
rights that Joe Biden reverse the foolish actions he has taken and not 
allow totalitarian dictators in our hemisphere to go unchecked.
  I am also calling on Joe Biden to support the DEMOCRACIA Act, 
legislation I introduced last year with Congressman Byron Donalds. Our 
bill would hold the illegitimate communist Cuban regime accountable 
through severe sanctions, actions, and unprecedented

[[Page S3329]]

financial pressure, and put safeguards in place to ensure those 
sanctions are not wrongfully lifted.
  It would also require the President to establish a task force to 
develop long-term solutions for providing reliable internet service to 
the people of Cuba that is not censored or blocked by the Cuban regime.
  As the Cuban people's fight for freedom from the oppressive and 
illegitimate communist Cuban regime continues, the United States must 
stand for the Cuban democracy.
  We can never bow to dictators--never. It is time for Biden to lead 
and to oppose those genocidal dictators and support human rights.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota.

                          ____________________