[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 76 (Thursday, May 4, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1528-S1529]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                     Nomination of Geeta Rao Gupta

  Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I come to the floor today in support of 
Dr. Gupta's nomination as Ambassador at Large for Global Women's 
Issues.
  Around the world today, women's rights and fundamental freedoms are 
under attack. In Ukraine, an untold number of women and girls are 
undergoing the brutal sexual violence accompanying Putin's war. In 
Iran, security forces have killed female protesters in the street. In 
Latin America, a wave of femicides has gone unanswered. In Saudi 
Arabia, women still need a man's approval to marry. In Afghanistan, the 
Taliban are erasing women from the public sphere, denying them the 
right to an education or the ability to work. In China, the government 
has sent ethnic minority Uighurs into concentration camps, forcing 
Uighur women onto birth control, forcing them to have abortions, and 
even forcing them to be sterilized.
  This has got to stop, and it is unacceptable. We cannot and must not 
stand idly by as such horrors continue.
  One way we can fight back is by making sure U.S. diplomacy and 
foreign assistance prioritizes the protection of women and girls in all 
corners of the globe.
  Dr. Gupta is an excellent and well-qualified choice to lead such an 
effort. She would bring decades of experience working to empower women. 
She has fought to increase the economic security and political 
participation of women. She has pushed for an end of pervasive violence 
against women and girls.
  And from her time as Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF to her work 
as President of the International Center for Research on Women, Dr. 
Gupta has demonstrated global leadership on women's issues and 
commitment to advancing gender equality through U.S. foreign policy 
efforts.

[[Page S1529]]

  As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I am confident 
that, as Ambassador of Global Women's Issues, she will work tirelessly 
and effectively to advance the rights of women and girls worldwide.
  Dr. Gupta should have been confirmed last Congress, but we cannot go 
back in time. But what we can do is act now. Mr. President, I strongly 
support Dr. Gupta's nomination and urge my colleagues to vote for 
cloture.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. MENENDEZ. I ask unanimous consent that the vote that was supposed 
to take place at 1:45 p.m. commence immediately.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.