[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 194 (Wednesday, December 14, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7177-S7179]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Unanimous Consent Request--Executive Calendar
Now, Mr. President, if I may continue, I want to rise, together with
my colleague from New Hampshire, Senator Shaheen, to seek consent to
advance the nomination of a friend, Dr. Geeta Rao Gupta for Ambassador
at Large for Global Women's Issues. And I would like to ask if I might
yield time now to my colleague from New Hampshire, Senator Shaheen.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Hampshire.
Mrs. SHAHEEN. Thank you, Mr. President, and thank you to my colleague
from Virginia, Senator Kaine. I am really pleased to join you on the
floor in support of Dr. Gupta to be Ambassador at Large for Global
Women's Issues at the Department of State.
Sadly, this isn't the first time that I have come to the floor to
raise Dr. Gupta's nomination here with our colleagues in the Senate but
also with our colleagues on the Foreign Relations Committee.
I have to admit that it is disappointing to still be standing here
trying to convince my colleagues that women's rights matter. They
matter whether they are in the United States, in Afghanistan, in Iran,
in China, or in Venezuela.
Partisan obstruction should not prevent a qualified nominee from
undertaking the necessary work of the Ambassador at Large for Global
Women's Issues. I have to be honest, it feels to me like what is at
issue here is more than just the Office of Global Women's Issues. It
feels like the Members of this body don't understand the role of that
office and think that anytime there is something that has ``women'' in
the title, that we must be talking about reproductive rights. Well,
that is not what the Office of Global Women's Issues does. Reproductive
rights are not part of that office, and it is disappointing that we are
here still debating whether we are going to put in an Ambassador into
that office, when since the beginning of the Trump administration,
we have only had about a year when we have had an Ambassador at the
Office of Global Women's Issues.
I would say to my colleagues across the aisle who are worried about
Dr. Gupta's record to meet with her. Sit down and talk about what she
would prioritize as Ambassador for Global Women's Issues. They should
request a briefing with USAID's Office of Global Health because that is
where their work is done to address women's healthcare.
What USAID's Office of Global Health has done is to reduce maternal
deaths by 30 percent annually. It saves the lives of 1.4 million
children under 5 each year, and it decreases--let me repeat that--it
decreases the number of abortions, particularly unsafe abortions, that
happen around the world. But that is not what the Office of Global
Women's Issues does.
I hope they won't continue to hold up Dr. Gupta's nomination because
they
[[Page S7178]]
don't understand how women's health is supported by the U.S. Government
or which offices do the work that they object to.
The Office of Global Women's Issues is charged with advancing the
rights and liberation of women and girls around the world through our
U.S. foreign policy. It endeavors to empower women and eliminate
barriers that prevent them from achieving equity and equality,
particularly economic equity and equality.
Not only does the Office of Global Women's Issues prioritize policies
and programs to advance the status of women around the world, it
ensures that U.S. policies incorporate a gender lens at all levels of
policy and decision making.
And now more than ever, we need an office that is charged with
leading U.S. policy on women, because around the world, what we have
seen as the result of the last few years of this pandemic is that the
gender gap has grown. Girls are dropping out and staying out of school
at a higher rate than boys; the female labor-force participation rate
has declined, with women holding less secure jobs and taking on even
more unpaid child and housing labor than before the pandemic; and
gender-based violence has increased to such an extent that U.N. Women--
the U.N. body charged with advancing the rights of women globally--now
warns of what they are calling a shadow pandemic of violence.
These are issues of consequence to half--more than half--of the
world's population. They need a champion in our U.S. foreign policy.
They need Dr. Gupta.
Gender equity, equality, and the empowerment of women and girls must
be a focal point of U.S. policy, and that is exactly what the
Ambassador at Large is intended to facilitate.
The reason it matters to our foreign policy is because what we know
is that when women are empowered, their families are empowered; they
give back more to their families and their communities than men do; and
societies that empower women are more stable societies.
These are issues that we need to pay attention to. We need someone in
that role who is going to pay attention to those issues. And that is
what Dr. Gupta would do if she is approved.
(Ms. SMITH assumed the Chair.)
So, Madam President, Senator Kaine, that is why we are here again on
the floor in support of Dr. Gupta's nomination in hopes that our
colleagues on both sides of the aisle--but particularly our Republican
colleagues--will recognize what the Office of Global Women's Issues
does and understand that it is not the office that is working on
reproductive rights for women.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Virginia.
Mr. KAINE. Madam President, in just a second, I will make a motion
for unanimous consent. Before I do, I just want to say, this Nation has
a bipartisan track record of fielding fantastic women diplomats:
Secretary Clinton, Secretary Rice, Secretary Albright. So this is
something that we do well and we have done well in a bipartisan way.
My colleague from New Hampshire talked about what this important
position does and what it doesn't do. I just want to say a few words
about Dr. Gupta.
She is a nationally recognized leader and expert on women's
contributions to economic prosperity and stability. She has over three
decades of experience in research, policy formulation, advocacy, and
the implementations of policies and programs to empower women and
girls; that includes 5 years at UNICEF and a decade as the president
and CEO of a U.S.-based research institute.
She has taken, throughout her career, an evidence-based approach to
demonstrate again and again one irrefutable fact: Investing in women is
one of the best tools to promote economic development and stability.
Because of her strong reputation, because of the importance of the
role, because of the fact that this is not a position that deals with
some of the issues that often cause controversy on the floor--
reproductive rights--I now move to the following:
I ask unanimous consent that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
be discharged, and the Senate proceed to the following nomination:
PN1578, Dr. Geeta Rao Gupta, to be U.S. Ambassador at Large For Global
Women's Issues; 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. LANKFORD. Reserving the right to object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oklahoma.
Mr. LANKFORD. Madam President, let me clarify what this motion is.
This motion today is to ask for a unanimous consent of all 100 Senators
to be able to move a nominee through the process, a nominee that, when
she came through the Foreign Relations Committee, every single
Republican opposed--every one of them.
It seems the frustration here doesn't seem to be with Republicans; it
seems to be with the Democratic leader, quite frankly. This nominee was
brought to the committee last year and then was voted out of the
committee in July of this year but has never been brought to the floor
for a vote--never. Instead, it has been to try to do a unanimous
consent when my colleagues full well know that every single Republican
on the Foreign Relations Committee opposes this nominee. And now the
request is: Now that you opposed her in committee, now consent on the
floor to be able to support her. That is not going to happen,
obviously.
Now, we have not blocked a vote. If the Democratic leader wants to be
able to bring this nominee to a vote, he has had plenty of opportunity
to be able to do that and still has plenty of opportunity to be able to
do that. No one is inhibiting a vote on the floor.
What we oppose is what is being pushed onto us to say: Now
unanimously consent to someone you know you don't agree to in the first
place. It has often been interesting in this conversation to say this
nominee has nothing to do with reproductive rights, has nothing to do
with that. I have heard that from my colleagues.
It is fascinating to me that Planned Parenthood put out a statement
in strong support of this nominee and specifically stated in their
release: because she will speak out on reproductive rights for women
globally.
So either Planned Parenthood is not telling the truth or something
else. So it is interesting, when we get into this dialogue, to say: OK,
let's just have the vote on it and allow everyone to be able to speak
out.
We have a disagreement on this nominee, but it is the right of the
Democratic leader to be able to bring who he chooses to the floor for a
vote at any time. But I would say, as one Republican of many, please
don't ask me to unanimously consent to someone that we have a
philosophical difference with.
So, with that, I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
The Senator from Virginia.
Mr. KAINE. Madam President, in response to my colleague, might I
modify my request because, certainly, someone should have the right to
vote no if they want to vote no. So let me modify my request.
I would ask unanimous consent that the Senate Committee on Foreign
Relations be discharged and that the Senate proceed to the following
nomination: PN1578, Geeta Rao Gupta, of Virginia, to be Ambassador at
Large for Global Women's Issues; and that the Senate vote on the
nomination at a time to be determined by the Senate leadership.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Mr. LANKFORD. Reserving the right to object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oklahoma.
Mr. LANKFORD. Madam President, I would say to my colleague that,
obviously, I am not in the position to be able to make a decision for
all of my colleagues at this moment whether that is acceptable. That is
something we should discuss with the ranking member of the Foreign
Relations Committee and with the Republican leader and allow our
conference to be able to have that dialogue if that is an acceptable
thing.
[[Page S7179]]
So at this point, I would object just saying I am not in a position
because I am not going to speak for the ranking member of the Foreign
Relations Committee, who voted unanimously in opposition to this
nomination.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
The Senator from New Hampshire.
Mrs. SHAHEEN. Will my colleague yield for a question?
Mr. LANKFORD. Absolutely.
Mrs. SHAHEEN. I think, perhaps, I wasn't clear. I didn't talk about
Dr. Gupta's position on reproductive rights for women. I talked about
the role of the Office of Global Women's Issues.
When I supported Kelley Currie, who was nominated by President Trump
to be the head of the Office of Global Women's Issues, I didn't ask
what her position was on choice; I asked her what she was going to do
if she took that role. And she had an excellent history of working on
issues that matter to women and foreign policy, and because that is not
the Agency that is charged with women's reproductive health in our
government, I didn't think that should be the basis on which I judged
whether she was the appropriate person to take over that role.
And, sadly, what seems to have happened is that because Dr. Gupta
personally says she is pro-choice, all of the anti-choice organizations
have made her nomination an issue.
So I would ask my colleague: Have you sat down with Dr. Gupta? Have
you asked her what she would do in her role if she is approved to be
the head of Global Women's Issues and whether that was something that
she was going to talk about or work on?
Mr. LANKFORD. If I may respond to my colleague as well.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oklahoma.
Mr. LANKFORD. Have I engaged in a colloquy, in a conversation?
Actually, I have not. The members of the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee, as you serve faithfully in that role--that is not a
committee I serve on, but I do know that all the Republican members of
the committee have had the opportunity to be able to sit down with her
personally and to be able to go through all of those notes.
I know how she came through the committee without any Republican
support at all, and I know the different statements that have been put
up--one by Planned Parenthood, a very strong statement in support of
her specifically on the issue of women's reproductive rights.
That seems to say, at least somebody is saying this role is going to
take on that issue. But that is not a committee that I currently serve
on, but I do know those well who do.
Mrs. SHAHEEN. I would just say to my colleague, having sat through
those hearings, which my recollection is only one or two Republicans on
the committee showed up and that most of the people who I talked to had
not actually talked to Dr. Gupta, didn't actually know what the Office
of Global Women's Issues does. And it is very disappointing that they
are going to make a decision based on a press release from Planned
Parenthood as opposed to looking at what she would actually do in that
role and the responsibilities of that office.
So I am--you know, you guys think that every time you see ``women''
in a title, as I said, we are talking about reproductive rights. That
is not the case. There is a lot that women do besides having babies.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oklahoma.
Mr. LANKFORD. Madam President, I would affirm, again, as a husband
and as a dad of two daughters and as someone who is very passionate
about global women's issues as well, I am fully aware that women do a
lot more than have babies--regardless of Health and Human Services
currently using the term ``birthing people'' and ``menstruating
persons,'' which, again, I find offensive in the process as well--that
this is a group of people, half the population of the Earth, that has
made tremendous contributions, including my own wife and my own family.
I would just simply ask the question: This is not a nominee that we
are going to give unanimous support to, but I am unsure why the
Democratic leader has not scheduled this vote now for months on the
floor when there have been months that we have been in session but it
has yet to be scheduled for a vote.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Virginia.
Mr. KAINE. Madam President, I said I was rising for multiple
purposes. It is now my third purpose, but I would seek consent to
speak--I know we have a vote call at 5--for about 5 minutes on
legislation being contemplated tomorrow.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.