[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 105 (Thursday, June 15, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2114-S2115]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



             Unanimous Consent Request--Executive Calendar

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I take this time--and I will be making a 
unanimous consent request in regards to the superintendent of U.S. 
Naval Academy, but I first want to acknowledge my responsibilities on 
behalf of this body.
  You see, I serve on the Board of Visitors of the United States Naval 
Academy. I was selected to be one of the Senate representatives on the 
U.S. Naval Academy Board of Visitors. We are extremely proud of what 
that academy has produced, and today it is producing the next 
generation of military leaders. It is consistently ranked as one of the 
top colleges in the United States, and it should be for training the 
next generation of leaders for our military.
  I will just give you one example. The U.S. Naval Academy is prepared 
to deal with the challenges of AI and cyber security. It has new 
facilities there and is training experts to help defend our national 
security in that regard.
  I also want to acknowledge on behalf of the Board of Visitors Admiral 
Buck, the current superintendent, who is retiring. He has done an 
incredible service to our Nation as the superintendent of the U.S. 
Naval Academy and now has completed 40 years of service to this 
country.
  Rear Admiral Yvette Davids is exceptionally qualified to be the next 
superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy. Admiral Davids is a career 
professional military officer who has sworn an oath to support and 
defend the Constitution and our country. She has consistently put 
service before self and the Constitution before politics.
  Admiral Davids graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1989 with a 
B.S. in oceanography and was commissioned as an ensign. She later 
received an M.A. in national security and strategic studies from the 
Naval War College in 2002 and an M.S. in national resource strategy 
from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in 2012.
  She has had a distinguished career at sea, highlighted by commanding 
multiple U.S. warships as well as a carrier strike group. Ashore, she 
has served in increasing roles of importance, including as a senior 
military adviser at the State Department and as the chief of staff at 
U.S. Southern Command.
  Admiral Davids has led men and women in combat, and her extensive 
experience will be vital to leading our next generation of officers at 
the Naval Academy.
  Admiral Davids' confirmation as the next superintendent will be the 
culmination of a 34-year career dedicated to defending our country, and 
it will be historic, as she will become the first woman to lead the 
Naval Academy.
  The incoming class of 2027 reports to the Naval Academy for induction 
on June 29, just a few days from now, and the fall semester begins on 
August 24. Admiral Davids should be confirmed as superintendent without 
delay in order to complete the turnover with the ongoing superintendent 
and prepare for the fall semester.
  The last time the Naval Academy superintendent did not have a summer 
change of command was over 59 years ago. It occurred in 1964 when the 
incumbent superintendent had a heart attack that resulted in early 
retirement.
  The Senate needs to confirm the promotion of Rear Admiral Davids now. 
The U.S. Naval Academy superintendent is charged with the moral, 
mental, and physical development of our 4,500 U.S. Naval Academy 
midshipmen across four classes who represent roughly one-third of the 
naval officers we commission each fiscal year. The position provides 
direct oversight to the commandant of midshipmen, who serves as the 
dean of students and supervises all military and professional 
development training of the brigade of midshipmen, and direct oversight 
to the civilian academic dean, who manages the academic programs and 
student facilities at the U.S. Naval Academy.
  The superintendent is the public face of a premier academic 
institution and consistently hosts government officials, international 
symposiums, and liaises directly with alumni and distinguished Members 
of Congress on all matters pertinent to the institution.
  If Rear Admiral Davids is not confirmed, it would force potential 
courses of action that are not in the best interests of the 
institution. This could include having the O-6 commandant of midshipmen 
act as superintendent or temporarily assigning another flag officer to 
act as superintendent. Neither of these options provides the continuity 
and leadership and seniority required to oversee a world-class academic 
institution. The other option could be to require an involuntary 
extension of the current superintendent of the academy, who has already 
selflessly served his country for over 40 years.
  I think we all recognize that the United States Naval Academy is a 
unique institution. It provides us the trained leadership for future 
generations in our military. It is an academic institution that needs 
the full-time attention of a CEO to manage all the aspects that go on 
at the Naval Academy. We need to have that person in place before the 
beginning of this academic year, which is just a few days off.
  Delaying this promotion will adversely affect the morale and 
readiness of the Naval Academy and beyond. Delaying this promotion is 
unfair to the young men and women already at or entering the Naval 
Academy who have signed up to put themselves in harm's way to serve our 
Nation in uniform. Delaying this promotion is a gratuitous, self-
inflicted wound to our national security.
  So, Mr. President, I am going to make this unanimous consent request. 
I do that, as I said earlier, with my experience on the Board of 
Visitors representing this institution, charged with doing everything 
we can to make sure we are as supportive as possible to our men and 
women who wear the uniform of this Nation and to those attending the 
U.S. Naval Academy.
  I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration 
of the following nomination: Calendar No. 192, Rear Admiral Yvette Anne 
Davids, to be vice admiral; that the Senate vote on the nomination 
without any intervening action or debate; 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?
  Mr. TUBERVILLE. Mr. President.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alabama.
  Mr. TUBERVILLE. Reserving the right to object, this is the ninth time 
that my colleagues on the left have come to the floor to try to break 
my

[[Page S2115]]

hold on Department of Defense nominees. This is the ninth time I am 
coming forward to keep my word. Since the last time we did this, 
nothing has changed, and so my hold will remain in place.

  I want to be clear about this because my Democratic colleagues have 
been spreading a little bit of disinformation. I am not blocking anyone 
from getting confirmed. I am not blocking a single vote. I am only 
blocking unanimous consent. If Democrats want to vote on these nominees 
one at a time, I am all for it and will probably vote for them.
  I understand that Senator Cardin is a strong supporter of this 
nominee. I am a strong supporter of the Naval Academy. I have several 
relatives who have gone to the Naval Academy. It is possible that when 
these come up, I will vote on all of them. But, so far--let me just 
respond to some of the false claims that have been made against me in 
the press and even on this floor in the last week or so.
  Yesterday, the White House Press Secretary was asked why they haven't 
reached out to me at all from the White House. She said:

       I do not know when the last time is that [the White House] 
     has talked to the Senator.

  I will tell you when the last time was--never. The White House has 
not reached out to me once in 4 months. No one has contacted me. There 
has not been one conversation about a path forward.
  I have spoken to Secretary Austin, outside of Armed Services 
hearings, exactly once in the last 2 years. That was a 10-minute phone 
call 3 months ago. He made absolutely no effort to find a compromise in 
our situation.
  I have never once heard from Chairman Reed on this issue, of the 
Armed Services Committee--absolutely no discussion regarding my 
concerns. Instead, Senator Reed has attacked me on this floor.
  I have never once heard from Senator Schumer. Instead, Senator 
Schumer has attacked me six or seven times on this floor in his seat.
  Many of the claims made about me have been completely false.
  This is no way to negotiate with a colleague. I don't understand it--
especially not in this body, the United States Senate. Frankly, this 
kind of behavior just steels my resolve. The more false claims my 
colleagues on the left make about me, the more it makes me inclined to 
just keep my hold in place.
  I have already laid out the reasons why these claims do not add up. I 
don't need to repeat them all as we speak. We don't need to waste time. 
But I would note that yesterday a news story reported correctly that 
these military positions are being fulfilled by acting officials. These 
jobs are being done as we speak. They are not empty. Four months into 
this situation, it is obvious that people are doing the job. It is not 
affecting our readiness. Anyone who says otherwise is wrong.
  So let me just say this one more time because I keep getting asked 
the same question over and over again. I will keep my hold until the 
Pentagon follows the law or Congress changes the law. That is the way 
we do it here in the Senate.
  A show vote in committee is not good enough. We can do that all we 
want, but it is not going to make any difference. An amendment that 
gets stripped out on the floor by Senator Schumer is not good enough. 
What I have said from the beginning is either follow the law or change 
it. Follow the law we have made in this body or change the law.
  The burden is not on me. It is not on me to pass this legislation. 
This is an illegal policy that they changed to. So let's in this body 
discuss it and go one way or the other. The burden is on the 
administration to stop breaking the law, and that is exactly what is 
going on here.
  There are two conditions that would get me to stop this and drop this 
hold, and I think everybody knows those conditions.
  So because of that, Mr. President, I object.
  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  The Senator from Maryland.
  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, obviously I am deeply disappointed by the 
objection being heard here. I really feel compelled to explain one 
factor of my colleague's comments.
  We don't want the military involved in politics. We do everything we 
can to keep them insulated from the internal politics of the Congress, 
the Senate and the House, and that is exactly what my colleague is 
doing by this hold.
  We are responsible to make sure that we support our men and women in 
harm's way. Having the military academies properly managed is part of 
our responsibility so that they have the tools they need to defend our 
Nation.
  One last point that was mentioned by my colleague about having up-or-
down votes on these nominations, that he would not hold that up. Well, 
he is. He is requiring the break of a filibuster. What he is suggesting 
is that he is not letting us have an up-or-down vote. That is what my 
unanimous consent request would have allowed. My unanimous consent 
request would have allowed us to have an up-or-down vote on the 
nomination so we don't have to go through a cloture motion, which is 
exactly what my colleague is suggesting we need to go through, in order 
to vote on hundreds of these promotions within the military; that if we 
followed the course he is suggesting, those plebes who are entering 
this month at the Naval Academy will be in their second year before we 
get around to voting on that nomination.
  So for all those reasons, I regret that we are playing politics with 
our military and affecting our ability to defend our Nation.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.

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