[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 193 (Tuesday, December 13, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7121-S7122]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



             Unanimous Consent Request--Executive Calendar

  Mr. REED. Mr. President, I rise to discuss the nomination of Musetta 
Tia Johnson, who is nominated to be a judge on the U.S. Court of 
Appeals for the Armed Forces, the senior appellate court for the 
military, with exclusive jurisdiction over the Uniform Code of Military 
Justice.
  Ms. Johnson was favorably reported out of the committee on April 5, 
2022, and has been pending on the Senate calendar ever since. I am 
unaware of any objection to her nomination with respect to her 
qualifications to be a judge on this appellate court.
  When confirmed, Miss Johnson will be one of five judges on the Court 
of Appeals for the Armed Forces, often referred to as the supreme court 
of military law. This court, which is composed of civilian appellate 
judges, has been operating without its full quota of confirmed judges 
for this entire judicial session, where it considered important 
jurisdictional and substantive military criminal law issues.
  Importantly, the fiscal year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act 
implemented extensive changes to the UCMJ, including a statute that 
would criminalize sexual harassment under some circumstances. Ms. 
Johnson will play a critical role on the court of appeals in reviewing 
challenges and issues with the recent sexual assault and sexual 
harassment statutes, including defendants' rights under the UCMJ. 
Without Ms. Johnson, the court risks deadlock, which will further 
hamper the military's ability to maintain good order and discipline.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate consider the 
following nomination: Calendar No. 861, Musetta Tia Johnson to be a 
judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces for a term of 
15 years; that the Senate vote on the nomination without intervening 
action or debate; and that, if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be 
considered made and laid upon the table and the President be 
immediately notified of the Senate's action.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  The Senator from Missouri.
  Mr. HAWLEY. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, it has now 
been 16 months since President Biden's disastrous withdrawal from 
Afghanistan; 16 months since Lance Corporal Schmitz from Missouri and 
12 other marines lost their lives at Abbey Gate; 16 months since 
hundreds of American civilians were left behind to the enemy; 16 months 
and no one has been fired, no one has offered answers. There has been 
zero accountability.
  So for approximately the 200th time, we are here on the floor as I 
continue to fulfill my pledge to seek accountability for what happened 
at Abbey Gate, for the lives that were lost, including a life from my 
own State, Lance Corporal Schmitz, and to press for answers. It is not 
too much to ask that not just the families of the fallen but that the 
people of this country not be lied to about what happened at Abbey Gate 
and that we be given the answers the American people deserve.
  In that time, in those 16 months, Central Command has done an 
exhaustive investigation and report. Here it is right here. It is 
thousands of pages long. I can't seem to convince my friend from Rhode 
Island to hold a hearing on it, so I have been entering it into the 
Congressional Record page by page. We are about--I don't know--100 
pages in. We have many hundreds more to go. But when we are finished, 
everyone will be able to read this report in full. There have been 
other reports since then. The Special IG for Afghanistan recently 
issued his own report, that office's own report, about the collapse of 
the Afghan Government. And what these reports have in common is a 
consistent theme that commanders on the ground repeatedly

[[Page S7122]]

warned the administration, repeatedly warned the National Security 
Council, repeatedly warned the State Department as early as the spring 
of 2021 that the security situation was deteriorating rapidly, that the 
Taliban was gaining ground rapidly, and that there needed be to be an 
evacuation.
  Yet what did the White House do? Well, according to the findings in 
this report, nothing. Did they plan? No. Did they take action 
necessary? No. And so on August 26, there was a terrorist explosion at 
Abbey Gate. We lose those 13 marines. Hundreds of American civilians 
are left behind in a botched evacuation. And here we are. Yet we are 
asked to act as if nothing has happened, as if we should just go on, 
business as usual. Keep the conveyor belt of nominees to this Pentagon 
running with no votes, no votes on this floor, no debate on this floor; 
just wave them through; waive regular order; move it right along; 
nothing to see here. I am not willing to do that. I haven't been 
willing to do it for over a year.

  I hope my colleagues see now, a year on, that I was serious in August 
of 2021 when I said I would not consent to waiving the rules to send 
more nominees to this Pentagon until something is done to get answers 
and, frankly, to change the culture because the truth is, we have a 
cultural problem in the whole military-industrial complex.
  This is an entity, an organization, that has lied to the American 
people repeatedly over the years. They lied about Vietnam for a decade. 
They lied about Iraq. They lied about the true state of the war in 
Afghanistan. And now we are getting the same lies again, to the point 
that we can't even hold a hearing in public because the White House 
won't consent to it.
  I don't really blame Chairman Reed. He can't get witnesses to come 
testify in public because this White House doesn't want to say another 
word about what happened at Abbey Gate. We have a word for that. It is 
called a coverup, and it is time for it to stop.
  Listen, much has been said about my blocking nominees. The truth is, 
I can't block any nominee. All of these nominees can be brought to the 
floor. They can't even be filibustered. It is just a matter of what the 
Senate majority leader wants to do. Sadly my side is not in the 
majority, and we are not going to be for the next 2 years. So if the 
Senate majority leader sees fit to vote on these nominees, he can at 
any time. But as to whether or not I will consent to waiving the rules 
and allowing these nominees to the Pentagon in leadership positions to 
be confirmed without even a vote--I will not until something changes at 
the Pentagon, until something is done about what happened at Abbey 
Gate.
  I know that my colleague the chairman is acting in good faith. It is 
a privilege to serve with him on the committee. I know he is in a tough 
spot here because he has a White House that doesn't want to give an 
inch and doesn't want to say a word. I would just say that I hope, with 
real oversight coming soon in the House of Representatives, that the 
Senate will see fit and see its way to doing its part and holding open 
hearings on this report, on this tragedy, and making sure it does not 
happen again.
  With that, I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The objection is heard.
  Mr. REED. Retaining my time, Mr. President, I disagree, obviously, 
with the Senator from Missouri.
  The Senate Armed Services Committee has had extensive oversight on 
Afghanistan. The committee actions include seven public and closed 
hearings regarding the Afghan war, lessons learned, and ongoing 
regional counterterrorism requirements since the withdrawal last 
August. Senator Hawley had the opportunity to participate in each of 
these hearings.
  The fiscal year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act contained a 
provision that mandated that the Department of Defense deliver 
quarterly briefings in both unclassified and classified form on the 
security situation in Afghanistan and ongoing counterterrorism efforts. 
The classified briefings have taken place on January 20, April 14, and 
July 21. The unclassified briefings have taken place on February 14 and 
April 25. Most recently, on October 19, the committee held unclassified 
and classified briefings, and Senator Hawley has full access to these 
briefings.
  The fiscal year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act also 
contained a provision, section 1069, which requires the yearly 
assessment of our ``over the horizon'' counter-terrorism capabilities 
in Afghanistan. The committee has received the first installment, and 
this, too, is accessible to all members of the committee.
  The fiscal year 2022 NDAA further mandated the establishment of the 
Afghanistan War Commission, which will spend several years examining 
all aspects of the 20-year war in depth. Let me emphasize--the 20-year 
war in depth. All the Commissioners have been appointed. We expect the 
Commission to commence work in the near term.
  I note that Senator Hawley indicated that beginning in 2020 there 
were reports that military leaders were warning of possible 
complications. That was during the term of President Trump.
  I think also one of the issues that has to be looked at is the 
release of 5,000 Taliban fighters at the direction of President Trump 
and over the objections of the Afghan Government. Were they at Abbey 
Gate? Were they the leading forces who were moving in and surrounding 
Kabul?
  This situation requires a long, detailed study. To focus on one event 
will create headlines but not information or knowledge that we can 
bring forward. The factors contributing to Abbey Gate were long in the 
making, and unless we look at those factors over time, unless we look 
at the whole operation, I don't think we are going to get the kinds of 
insights we need.
  So I respectfully disagree with Senator Hawley's objection, and I 
hope we can find a way to confirm Ms. Johnson.
  With that, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Connecticut.
  Mr. MURPHY. Mr. President, if I could just briefly build on the 
remarks of Chairman Reed, never before has such a small number of 
Senators stood in the way of this large a number of nominees. The 
impact of this constant effort to hold up nominees to the State 
Department and the Department of Defense is to compromise the national 
security of this Nation; to try to rob from this administration, from 
this President, the ability to govern and to protect this Nation.
  I would just remind my colleagues that what comes around goes around. 
I know right now some Republicans may delight in the President not 
having any personnel necessary to run Agencies because of this record 
number of holds that have been put on nominees by the Republican 
minority. But there will be a Republican President someday. There will 
be a Republican majority someday. And a handful of Democratic Senators 
will use the same tactics that are being used today to essentially rob 
from this administration its right to do the job it was elected to do 
by the American people, at great risk to American national security.
  So my prerogative on this is that we should just change the rules and 
make it less easy for one Senator to hold up nominees who are supported 
by 90 to 95 percent of us and make it easier to proceed to a vote on 
nominees.
  The Senator from Missouri wants to vote no on this nominee or others. 
That is his right, but we should come up with a process by which the 
entire administration is not ground to a halt by 1 or 2 of 100. We 
should just decide to do that because today this is hamstringing a 
Democratic President. But let me guarantee you, it will hamstring a 
Republican President someday as well.