[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Pages 266-267]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       NOMINATION OF SAMUEL HEINS

  Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Madam President, I rise today to call on the Senate 
and all of my colleagues to allow us to move forward on the nomination 
of Sam Heins of Minnesota to be the U.S. Ambassador to Norway. The U.S. 
Ambassador for Sweden has also been held up. Coming from the State of 
Iowa, which I believe is over 10 percent Scandinavian--over 300,000 
people--I think the Presiding Officer understands the importance of our 
country actually having Ambassadors to these incredibly important 
allies and nations.
  It has now been 836 days since there was last a confirmed Ambassador 
to Norway, one of our most important European allies. Part of this 
situation was caused by a different nominee who has some issues with 
the committee and with other Senators. That person has now been 
replaced, and it has been 166 days since a new nominee went through the 
Foreign Relations Committee. Mr. Heins was approved by a voice vote, 
without any controversy, as was the Ambassador to Sweden. I thank 
Senators Corker and Cardin and Senators McConnell and Reid for their 
help in trying to get this through.
  Unfortunately, these nominations are now being held up by Senator 
Cruz. Based on my discussions with him, it is not because of the 
qualifications of these nominees; it is related to, I suppose, other 
issues. Yet, I note for those Scandinavians out there, Senator Cruz has 
allowed votes on Ambassadors to other countries. We have Ambassadors in 
France, in England, in nearly every European nation, but not these two 
Scandinavian countries.
  Perhaps people don't understand the importance of these nations 
because they just think these people wear sweaters all the time. I 
don't know what they think of Norway and Sweden, but, in fact, Senator 
Cruz should understand that they are two of our best allies. Norway is 
one of our country's strongest and most dependable allies. I will speak 
more about Sweden at another time.
  I plan to take to the floor repeatedly in the next month to talk 
about the importance of these allies and to ask Senator Cruz what he 
does not understand, that these are important allies.
  Norway was a founding member of the NATO Alliance, and its military 
has participated in operations with the United States in the Balkans 
and Afghanistan. Norwegians work alongside Americans in standing up to 
Russia's provocations in Ukraine, in countering ISIS and the spread of 
violent extremism, and in strengthening regional cooperation in the 
Arctic. Norway has been especially strong on the issue of the Ukraine 
and on the issue with Russia. I know the Presiding Officer, with her 
background in the military, understands how important that is, and 
certainly my colleagues across the aisle understand how important it is 
to have allies that will stand up to Russia.
  In addition, Norway is an important economic partner. In a letter 
sent this July by the American Chamber of Commerce in Norway, Norway 
``represented the 5th fastest growing source of foreign direct 
investment in the United States between 2009-2013 and is the 12th 
largest source of foreign direct investment in the United States 
overall.'' Right now, the United States of America for over 700 days 
has said to one of the top investors in our country, one of our best 
allies in security, ``Sorry. You don't rate getting an ambassador.''
  There are also over 300 American companies with a presence in Norway, 
including 3M of Minnesota, Eli Lilly, General Electric, IBM, 
McDonald's, and so many others.
  In October Norway reiterated its commitment to Lockheed Martin with 
the purchase of an additional 22 F-35s. These Lockheed Martin warplanes 
will be built at a facility in Fort Worth, TX. I have called this to 
Senator Cruz's attention. In fact, this is an enormous purchase, the 
biggest purchase made in the history of the country of Norway.
  These companies, however, are hindered without a strong ambassador to 
help facilitate and strengthen economic ties between our two countries.
  Norway is also playing an important role in addressing the Syrian 
refugee crisis. Norway has a proud history of providing support to 
those fleeing conflict. It expects to take in as many as 25,000 
refugees this year and has already provided millions of dollars to 
Greece to help that country respond to the influx of refugees seeking a 
way to enter Europe. Norway is basically on the frontline of the 
refugee crisis.
  All of us on both sides of the aisle have talked about the importance 
of a strong Europe during this very difficult time. Yet, right now we 
have no Ambassadors in two of the countries on the frontline involved 
in these refugee crises, and those are Sweden and Norway.
  Norway deserves a U.S. Ambassador who understands the country and is

[[Page 267]]

deeply committed to the relationship. I believe Mr. Heins is the right 
person for the job. No one has seriously questioned his qualifications 
for the job.
  As a Senator from the State that is home to more people--more than 
800,000--of Norwegian heritage than anywhere except Norway itself, I 
think it is only fitting that the nominee to be the U.S. Ambassador to 
Norway hail from Minnesota.
  Of course, there is much more to Sam Heins than his Minnesota 
heritage. In addition to being an accomplished lawyer, he has 
demonstrated his devotion to and leadership in the cause of advancing 
human rights. He founded, organized, and served as the first board 
chair for the Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, which monitors and 
responds to human rights abuses throughout the world. He also cofounded 
the Center for Victims of Torture, which provides services, research, 
and advocacy for victims of torture around the world, and continues to 
serve as a board member. This record of accomplishment is particularly 
appropriate for someone nominated to be our Ambassador to Norway. 
Norway has long been an international leader on human rights issues. 
Mr. Heins' extensive work on human rights and with nongovernmental 
organizations that support human rights will be extremely helpful in 
sustaining and building on the strong U.S.-Norweigian partnership in 
this area.
  Last year, as we know, Congress was able to find common ground on so 
many issues. We passed a budget bill, we passed a transportation bill, 
a historic amount of funding, an increase in funding. We got the bill 
done on sex trafficking that Senator Cornyn and I worked on so hard. I 
can go through a list of the work we did together across the aisle.
  When it comes to foreign relations, our country has always believed 
that a united front is most important on the world stage. We have a 
united front when it comes to the countries of Norway and Sweden. We 
understand they are our true allies. We have a united front on these 
two Ambassador nominees. They were noncontroversial. They went through 
the Foreign Relations Committee. Senator Corker and Senator Cardin have 
worked together to make sure they get to the floor, but right now 
Senator Cruz is holding up these nominees for reasons that are 
completely outside of the qualifications of the nominees. I can say 
this is not the way we should be conducting world business.
  I am focusing today on Norway. I will focus on Sweden in the future 
as I continue to give these speeches. I don't think we can take these 
countries lightly just because it is cold there and darker in the 
winter. These are incredibly important allies and trading partners. 
They deserve to be treated like other European nations. They deserve to 
have an ambassador from the United States of America.
  It is time to end this delay and do the work the Senate is supposed 
to do. Let's move ahead and work to confirm these qualified nominees to 
represent us abroad. One is a country in Europe that just bought 22 
fighter planes from Lockheed Martin. If they had bought 22 fighter 
planes from the Presiding Officer's State, I believe the Presiding 
Officer would have looked at the fact that if it is a noncontroversial 
nominee to a country that invests in the United States of America, that 
is an ambassador we need to get confirmed, and we would get this done.
  I ask my colleagues to work with Senator Cruz. The hope is that given 
that we have seen no other opposition of any significance to these two 
nominees, we will be able to get this done. He has said to me 
personally that this is not about the qualifications of the nominees, 
it is simply other issues that I hope he can resolve within the 
Republican caucus and with us so we can move forward and so they are 
not held up any longer. Norway and Sweden deserve Ambassadors.

                          ____________________