[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Pages 734-735]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              NOMINATIONS

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, the President of the United States deserves 
the right to choose a team to carry out the work that is being done 
here, and the leader of that work to be done here is the President. It 
was the same way with President Bush, President Reagan, and President 
Clinton. They deserved a team--a team they chose--to help effectuate 
policies they saw as necessary for this country. The President of the 
United States deserves the right to choose a team to carry out his 
vision here at home and around the world--his vision. I am not alone in 
that belief. My friend, the senior Senator from Arizona, Mr. McCain, 
said: ``The President, in my view, has a clear right to put into place 
the team he believes will serve him best.''
  Sadly, since President Obama was elected, Republicans have stopped at 
nothing to undermine the President's team--seeking to prevent progress 
by denying him the personnel he wants to carry out his agenda. Despite 
record obstruction, President Obama has achieved remarkable progress. I 
talked about some of that just a minute ago. Imagine what President 
Obama could have accomplished if Republicans took their constitutional 
duties seriously.
  Regrettably, during the Obama Presidency, Republicans have done 
everything within their power to block, obstruct, stonewall, hinder 
qualified public servants from serving. In the first year of Republican 
control, the Senate confirmed the fewest nominations of any first 
session in memory. This blatant strategy of obstruction is shameful and 
dangerous to our economy and the national security of our country.
  Headlines around the world remind us each day of the turmoil that 
exists in the global financial market and terrorism that threatens the 
world. Today we learned of multiple bombings yesterday and last night 
in Nigeria--lots of people killed. We can only wait and see where else 
that turmoil will arise.
  Most Americans agree that we need a full complement of appointees to 
address the challenges we face. Republicans are preventing our 
government from doing its job at home and around the world.
  According to the Congressional Research Service, the Senate banking 
committee has reported out at least one nomination every year for the 
past 50 years, but not last year--last year, not a single nominee. 
Currently, nominees to the Federal Reserve Board, the Securities and 
Exchange Commission, and other important financial assignments are 
stalled in the banking committee. The committee has been operating 
under Republican leadership for the past 13 months, and they have yet 
to report a single nomination out of that committee. That is the 
definition of historic obstruction.
  If there is any nominee who deserves to be confirmed immediately, it 
is a man by the name of Adam Szubin, whom the President nominated to 
combat terrorism financing--think about that--terrorism financing. He 
is desperately needed at the Treasury Department. Jack Lew has called 
me on many occasions talking about how this man needs to fill this 
assignment. He has expressed to me the importance of his job in trying 
to slow ISIS and their financial network and other terrorism activities 
around the country. As Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial 
Crimes, Szubin would lead a team that disrupts terrorist financing 
networks, cutting off money for terrorists so they can't finance their 
evil deeds. He has served as a career civil servant under both 
Republican and Democratic Presidents.
  Despite the importance of his work, Republicans are preventing a vote 
in the banking committee and thus preventing Adam Szubin from having a 
vote here on the Senate floor. He is currently acting--he is certainly 
acting in a role that is not permanent, which is why they call him an 
acting member of the Treasury Department. He lacks the stature that his 
counterparts have around the world. So he is not able to do all that 
should be done to disrupt terrorist financial networks throughout the 
world.
  In a September hearing on his nomination, the chairman of the banking 
committee, the senior Senator from Alabama said: ``Mr. Szubin is 
eminently qualified for this [position].''
  Eminently qualified, not reported out of the banking committee, no 
vote here on the Senate floor--why are we holding up this critical 
nomination? We all know why. Powerful rightwing groups have announced 
that they are scoring votes on Presidential nominations. In fact, 
Heritage Action, which is a front group for the tea party and the Koch 
brothers, said the Senate should only confirm nominees they deem 
worthwhile--they deem, not Senators but this rightwing cabal. This 
comes at the expense of the American people and our national security.
  If the Republican leadership follows this weird plan, scores of 
Ambassadors charged with representing our interests around the world 
could be prevented from service. They have been prevented from service.
  We have several credible nominees currently awaiting floor votes. Ms. 
Azita Raji, who has been nominated to represent America in Sweden, is 
an accomplished businesswoman who has lived and worked in Europe, Latin 
America, and Asia. There has been more than 300 Swedish citizens who 
have left Sweden to fight with ISIS in either Syria or Iraq, making 
this nation the second largest country of origin per capita for foreign 
fighters coming from Europe to the Middle East. We need to get this 
done. It is not right for America to not be able to deal, on a daily 
basis, with the authority to help Sweden with their issues. The Swedish 
Government is on heightened alert for an attack. Yet we don't have a 
Senate-confirmed ambassador to represent us in Stockholm. She was first 
nominated to be Ambassador in October 2014. We are now in 2016. We 
don't have an ambassador to Sweden.
  We don't have an ambassador to Norway, and it has been that way for 
more than 2 years. President Obama nominated a person by the name of 
Samuel Heins, an accomplished lawyer and humanitarian from Minnesota. 
His nomination is not controversial. It is only controversial, I guess, 
to the Koch brothers, the tea party, and Heritage Action. He should be 
confirmed without delay, but it has been 2 years.
  Other State Department nominations have been blocked for partisan 
reasons by the junior Senator from Texas. Tom Shannon has been 
nominated to be Under Secretary of State. We don't have an ambassador 
to Mexico. Tom

[[Page 735]]

Shannon has been nominated to the fourth highest ranking position in 
the State Department. He would like to be serving. He would serve as 
the day-to-day manager of overall regional and bilateral policy issues 
and oversee State Department bureaus around the world. He is a career 
Foreign Service officer, having served under Presidents of both 
parties. If he is confirmed, he would be the highest ranking career 
diplomat in the State Department.
  John Kerry called me saying: How can I continue this job I have? I 
don't have people to do the work. He doesn't even have a lawyer. The 
State Department doesn't have a lawyer. We have tried to confirm Brian 
Egan starting back in September 2014, but he has been held up for 
months and months.
  Do you know what this is about? Clinton's emails--Secretary Clinton's 
emails. If the senior Senator from Iowa is interested in getting 
answers to his countless letters to the State Department, wouldn't a 
Senate-confirmed legal advisor be of some help?
  Eric Fanning, the President's nominee to be the next Secretary of the 
Army, is being blocked by the senior Senator from Kansas, even though 
the senior Senator from Kansas, Mr. Roberts, said: ``I think 
[Fanning's] a pretty good nominee.'' In spite of that, there is no vote 
on his nomination. The Army needs Mr. Fanning's leadership and 
responsibility for over a $200 billion budget for more than 1 million 
servicemembers. Right now they are making do at the Pentagon, but we 
should have a Secretary of the Army.
  Unless Republicans change course, these important vacancies will go 
unfilled for the rest of the Obama administration, and our diplomacy 
and relationships around the world will continue to suffer because of 
what is going on here. I do not understand what my Republican 
colleagues are doing. If Republicans had their way, they would stop 
confirming officials at just about every key agency.
  According to the Congressional Research Service, the Senate has 
confirmed an average of 351 nominations during the first session of the 
Congress. Last year the Senate didn't even get to half of what it 
normally does. The Republicans should get to work and schedule votes on 
the President's nominees.
  Valid concerns about the qualifications of these nominees should be 
brought forth. We haven't heard any, but denying a vote for partisan 
gain does nothing to strengthen America at home or around the world. 
The American people deserve better.
  This Senator says America is less safe because of what is going on 
with the Republicans in the Senate. We are not as secure as we should 
be. We have vacancies for Ambassadors all over the world that are not 
being filled. People within the State Department, the Treasury 
Department whose job is to deal with terrorism are being blocked. For 
the first time in 50 years we don't have anyone reported out of the 
banking committee. America is less safe because of what Republicans are 
doing to our country.
  I yield the floor, Mr. President.

                          ____________________