[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Pages 1130-1133]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           EXECUTIVE SESSION

                                 F_____
                                 

                           EXECUTIVE CALENDAR

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will 
proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations en 
bloc, which the clerk will report.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read the nominations of Nikki 
R. Haley, of South Carolina, to be the Representative of the United 
States of America to the United Nations, with the rank and status of 
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, and the Representative of 
the United States of America in the Security Council of the United 
Nations; and Nikki R. Haley, of South Carolina, to be Representative of 
the United States of America to the Sessions of the General Assembly of 
the United Nations during her tenure of service as Representative of 
the United States of America to the United Nations.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There will now be 30 minutes of debate, 
equally divided in the usual form.
  The Senator from South Carolina.
  Mr. SCOTT. Mr. President, today I stand in support of my good friend 
and Governor, Nikki Haley, who has been nominated for the position of 
Ambassador to the United Nations. Simply put, Governor Haley is the 
right choice, and I could not be prouder to support her nomination. She 
has shown amazing leadership during very trying times in South 
Carolina, and I know that she will bring the same strength and resolve 
in reinforcing and strengthening our relationships with our allies.
  As she showed through her confirmation hearing, Nikki is a strong, 
principled leader. During a time with so much international 
instability, we need a decisive and compassionate leader like Governor 
Haley representing our Nation. She is the type of visionary leader who 
will help turn the diplomatic tide of the past few years and reassure 
our allies that the United States stands in strong support of them.
  Nikki has served the people of South Carolina very well, and she will 
be missed. But now, I look forward to addressing her by her new title--
Ambassador.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. GRAHAM. 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. GRAHAM. Mr. President, I know we are going to vote here fairly 
soon, but I just want to address the body before the vote.
  Nikki Haley is soon to be the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, 
I believe with a very strong vote in the committee, 19 to 2. Senators 
Corker and Cardin did an excellent job of running the hearing. Governor 
Haley conducted herself very well. I know that, as Governor of South 
Carolina, she has brought us together at home.
  She has dealt with some things that are incredibly difficult for any 
State. We had a thousand-year flood, and we had the tragedy in 
Charleston, with Dylann Roof shooting nine parishioners praying at 
Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston. She handled these historic crises 
with dignity and grace. She was able to rally the State and remove the 
Confederate battle flag from the capitol grounds.
  All I can say is that the skill set she has of bringing people 
together I have seen. As she goes into this new job, she can learn the 
nuances of foreign policy, but diplomacy is something you either have 
or you don't. She is tough and determined, and I think she is very 
capable of being the United States' voice in the United Nations. As a 
matter of fact, I think she will represent us extremely well.
  The bottom line is that her story is a uniquely American story--
immigrant parents coming to a small town in South Carolina. She said 
very pointedly: I was too light to be African American or Black, and I 
was too dark to be White. She is Indian American. She and her family 
have contributed greatly to our State.
  I think all of us can be proud that Nikki Haley will soon be our 
voice and America's face in the United Nations. I think President Trump 
chose wisely. I look forward to helping her in her new job. I urge this 
body to support her nomination because I have seen her in action. I 
think she will represent us all very well.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, it has become fashionable, particularly 
among supporters of the Trump administration, to accuse the United 
Nations of just about everything. This is, however, nothing new. The 
U.N. has been an easy target, especially for some Republicans, for a 
long time, because like any unwieldy international organization 
comprised of member states with very different priorities and interests 
it will probably never be as efficient or effective as we would like.
  But there is simply no question that the U.N. serves many vital 
functions that are fully consistent with key U.S. interests and values. 
For that reason, it is essential that the U.S. continues to play a 
leadership role in the U.N., which we were instrumental in creating 
seven decades ago, in a manner that strengthens the institution.
  At times, I have expressed my own frustrations with the U.N. It 
wastes inordinate amounts of time debating and adopting redundant 
resolutions that accomplish next to nothing. It has suffered from 
personnel policies that make it difficult if not impossible to fire 
underperforming employees. It

[[Page 1131]]

pays its officials at rates that dwarf what many could earn in their 
own countries. It has been too slow to implement procedures to ensure 
transparency and accountability, including for whistleblowers who have 
suffered retaliation for exposing corruption and other misconduct.
  So there is no dispute that the U.N. needs to do better. The new 
Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, knows this as well as anyone and 
he has made clear that he is going to do his best to put the 
institution on a road to real reform.
  But, of course, he cannot do that by himself. He is empowered only to 
the extent that the U.N. member states, and particularly the permanent 
members of the Security Council, support him.
  Attempts by past the Secretary Generals to implement reforms have 
been partly stymied by resistance from governments that prefer the 
status quo. While I believe the prospects for U.N. reform have never 
been better, that will not be possible without the active leadership 
and skillful diplomacy of the United States.
  And that is where our U.N. Ambassador comes in.
  I have known many of them, although I was only 7 years old in 1947 
when Warren Austin of Vermont, nominated by President Truman, became 
our third U.N. Ambassador.
  The position of U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. has also been held by 
such accomplished people as Henry Cabot Lodge, Adlai Stevenson, George 
H.W. Bush, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Thomas Pickering, and Madeleine 
Albright. Each was recognized and widely admired across the political 
spectrum for his or her depth of foreign policy experience and wisdom.
  Today we are considering the nomination of Nikki Haley to be the next 
U.S. Ambassador. Governor Haley's record as Governor of South Carolina 
was decidedly mixed, and I will not take time today to discuss that 
record. What is most relevant here, however, is her dearth of 
experience for the job she has been selected for. That is not so much a 
criticism of Governor Haley as it is of President Trump, as there are 
certainly well qualified, seasoned diplomats in the Republican Party 
who would be well received by members of both parties.
  Instead, we are asked to support a nominee who will no doubt be 
confirmed but will be starting from square one. If there ever were a 
case of having to learn on the job, this will be it. That might not 
concern me if it were not for the indispensable role of the United 
Nations in an increasingly dangerous and polarized world, the 
importance of this position, and the complex challenges the next U.S. 
Ambassador will face on her first day on the job.
  It was painfully apparent during her confirmation hearing that 
virtually everything Governor Haley said in her opening remarks and in 
her responses to questions of Senators, she had learned in the previous 
2 months since she was chosen for the job. Her answers largely parroted 
popular Republican talking points with little substance to back up her 
response and revealed only an elementary understanding of how the U.N. 
functions. Her stated interest in U.N. reform is well placed, but it 
did not appear that she grasps what U.N. reform entails or what it 
takes to build the necessary support for reform.
  Again, I do not blame her for that. Her career has focused entirely 
on issues relevant to the State of South Carolina. But that does not 
make her qualified to be our Ambassador to the U.N.
  As Governor, she jumped on the politically expedient bandwagon and 
opposed the resettlement of any Syrian refugees in her State over 
``security concerns,'' although it being a Federal decision some 
Syrians have been resettled there. In other words, she supported a 
blanket prohibition against an entire nationality of people--men, 
women, and children--regardless of the merits of their individual 
status as refugees fleeing war.
  She stated, in spite of the fact that all of our major European 
allies supported the nuclear agreement with Iran, that Russia's and 
China's support was a ``red flag,'' without acknowledging the reality 
that without their support it would be impossible to achieve an 
agreement to halt Iran's nuclear weapons program or any of our other 
key objectives at the U.N.
  She condemned the U.S. abstention on U.N. Security Council Resolution 
2334 regarding Israeli settlements and incorrectly implied that it is 
inconsistent with longstanding U.S. policy and interests. In fact, she 
insisted that the resolution, not settlements themselves, makes peace 
negotiations more difficult--a view with which I disagree. She seemed 
to acknowledge that the U.S. does not support settlement construction, 
but stated that the U.S. should have vetoed the resolution anyway.
  She mischaracterized U.S. law regarding our share of dues in support 
of U.N. peacekeeping missions that the U.S.--Republican and Democratic 
administrations--voted for, failing to acknowledge that we have a 
treaty obligation to pay 28.5 percent of U.N. peacekeeping costs. She 
made little mention of and gave little if any credit to the troop-
contributing countries themselves, other than to highlight incidents of 
sexual exploitation and abuse. This is a critical issue that I and 
others here have been working with the U.S. Mission to the U.N. to 
address, and progress is being made in developing meaningful 
accountability procedures.
  She stated that the cut-off of U.S. funding for UNESCO as a result of 
the vote of a majority of its members to accept Palestine as a member 
state, which led to our loss of influence, is a ``good thing'' and that 
she would continue to support the cut-off of funding. She and I 
disagree about that and what it could mean for the future. I think even 
the Israeli Government has come to recognize that it is better for the 
U.S. to be at the table, using our influence to deflect attempts to 
unfairly target Israel, than on the sidelines.
  Governor Haley suggested that the U.S. may want to reconsider 
participation in and funding for the U.N. Human Rights Council, despite 
overwhelming evidence that our role serves to protect our interests and 
has reduced substantially the council's disproportionate and wasteful 
focus on Israel. At no time did she acknowledge the many council 
resolutions that are fully consistent with U.S. interests or that the 
influence lost by the U.S. is simply ceded to the very governments she 
opposes having a say in the council.
  On the other hand, Governor Haley did repeatedly reject what she 
described as ``slash and burn'' tactics when it comes to budget 
cutting, and on that, I fully agree with her.
  She said she supports moving our embassy to Jerusalem, although there 
is no compelling need to do so, it is strongly opposed by our ally 
Jordan, would likely incite a violent reaction in Arab countries, and 
could do more to drive a nail in the coffin of what little remains of 
the Middle East peace process than anything else.
  In responses to written questions she betrayed a serious lack of 
understanding about Cuba, its economy, and the failures of the 55-year-
old U.S. embargo. Indeed, if she were to apply her answers regarding 
Cuba to other countries with repressive governments, we would have to 
close dozens of U.S. Embassies, end diplomatic relations, and impose 
ineffective, unilateral sanctions against each of them.
  I urge Governor Haley, as our U.N. Ambassador, to listen to the 
overwhelming majority of Americans and Cubans, including many 
Republican Members of Congress, who support a policy of engagement. I 
urge her to travel to Cuba and see and hear for herself, unlike those 
who continue to favor a Cold War embargo that has been exploited by the 
Cuban Government to justify its repressive policies and that has hurt 
the Cuban people.
  I have been a congressional delegate to the United Nations three 
times, after being nominated by Presidents of both Republican and 
Democratic parties. I appreciated that opportunity because I have long 
believed that it is in the strong interest of the United States to play 
an active, leadership role in the U.N.
  That is only possible if we, by far the world's wealthiest country, 
meet our financial commitments. And it is only

[[Page 1132]]

possible if we build coalitions through skillful diplomacy and refrain 
from the tactics that some critics of the U.N. advocate, such as 
bullying and ultimatums, which are often self-defeating.
  I recognize that Governor Haley will be confirmed, and I wish her the 
best. I hope she becomes a great U.S. Ambassador. I urge her to seek 
out and listens to a wide range of views, particularly on controversial 
issues like the Middle East, Iran, and how the U.S. can best help make 
the U.N. work better for everyone.
  I will do everything I can to support Secretary General Guterres, the 
budget of the U.S. Mission to the U.N., and funding for U.N. agencies 
like the World Food Program, the U.N. Development Program, UNICEF, the 
U.N. Environment Program, the U.N. Population Fund, U.N. Women, the 
U.N. Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture, and so many others that 
carry out lifesaving humanitarian and development programs around the 
world.
  And if there are other ways that I can help soon-to-be Ambassador 
Haley to defend the values and effectively advance the interests of the 
United States at the U.N. and to bring about needed reforms I will 
gladly do so.
  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. President, in 1945, at the close of World War II, 
the 50 Allied nations formed the United Nations to help prevent another 
world war. Since its founding, the U.N. has grown to 193 nations. While 
it has many serious flaws, it has been an important tool for promoting 
peace, protecting human rights, providing humanitarian assistance, and 
safeguarding the environment.
  U.S. Ambassadors to the U.N. have included some of America's leading 
figures, including Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., Adlai Stevenson, Arthur 
Goldberg, George H.W. Bush, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Andrew Young, 
Madeleine Albright, Bill Richardson, and John Danforth. President 
Eisenhower raised the ambassadorship to cabinet rank. Although both 
Presidents Bush removed the position from Cabinet level, President 
Obama restored it to that level. I am pleased that President Trump has 
decided to keep it there.
  The U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. must advance principles that the 
United States has promoted over the years--the rule of law, individual 
liberties, and human rights. Our ambassador must not only maintain, but 
strengthen our relationships with our allies.
  Unlike many past ambassadors to the U.N., Governor Nikki Haley has 
little experience in foreign policy. But as Governor, she developed 
important experience building coalitions, and that skill should serve 
her well as ambassador to the U.N.
  Some positions that Governor Haley took during her confirmation 
hearing give me pause. For example, Governor Haley made some statements 
about the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement that indicated unfamiliarity with 
the joint comprehensive plan of action. I am pleased, however, that 
Governor Haley distanced herself from some of President Trump's most 
divisive positions, and I will support her nomination.
  Mr. GRAHAM. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. CARDIN. 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. CARDIN. Mr. President, shortly we will be voting on the U.S. 
Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley. She went through her 
confirmation hearings at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and I 
had a chance during those confirmation hearings to ask her a series of 
questions. I have also had an opportunity to meet with her and talk 
personally about her vision of the United Nations and the United 
States' role in how she would conduct her leadership at the United 
Nations.
  I must say, originally there was some concern because of her lack of 
foreign policy experience, but I must tell you, I was extremely 
impressed about her competency as Governor of South Carolina--the work 
that she did, dealing with some very difficult issues, including a 
tragedy that occurred in her State, as well as dealing with the 
Confederate flag and removing it from the State Capitol.
  She handled these issues with real professionalism and sensitivity to 
all communities, and during her confirmation hearing, she displayed a 
willingness to reach out, to understand more about world affairs, and 
to become fully knowledgeable in these areas. She exercised, I thought, 
a commitment and passion for the commitments that are important to this 
country--good governance, human rights, and democracy.
  I was impressed during the confirmation hearing about her commitment 
to the importance of the United Nations and the important work that it 
does. The United Nations, as we all know, does do work as peacekeepers 
to try to avoid conflicts but also does an incredible job on 
humanitarian needs with refugee assistance, as well as the sustainable 
development goals that provide help to people around the world, 
increasing maternal health, reducing infant mortality, dealing with 
women's education needs. These original Sustainable Development Goals--
originally the Millennium Development Goals, now the Sustainable 
Development Goals--have saved millions of lives.
  I must tell you, Governor Haley was very mindful of this and very 
committed to the United Nations and the work that it does and the U.S. 
participation in the United Nations. She recognized that it is 
important that we engage the international community in the work that 
is done within the United Nations.
  When she was questioned about whether she thought it was a good idea 
to slash funds to the United Nations in order to make a point about 
votes that we thought were unpopular, she said no. She opposed that 
slash-and-burn strategy; we need to engage and find ways to leverage 
our participation to get more favorable results.
  I might tell you, she was very strong about her sensitivity that the 
United Nations has not been fair to one of our key allies, Israel, and 
she would be a strong voice to make sure those types of issues are 
dealt with and the United States uses all the tools at its disposal to 
fight against those types of bias and prejudice within the United 
Nations.
  We have talked a great deal in our committee about moral clarity from 
our nominees, so there is no misunderstanding anywhere in the world 
that the United States stands for human rights, that the United States 
stands against abuses that take place around the world, and that it 
will fight for democracy in all parts of the world and support those 
causes through our diplomacy, through our development assistance, 
through our tools.
  She was very clear about the moral certainty issue. Just to give a 
few examples, we talked a great deal about Russia and its conduct and 
what it is doing in the United States about the attack on our free 
election system. She was very clear about how outraged she was with 
that type of conduct--what Russia has done in Ukraine, its occupation 
of Crimea. She acknowledged that Crimea is not Russian, that it belongs 
to Ukraine, and she spoke very strongly about defending Ukraine's 
rights and sovereignty.
  We talked specifically about what was happening in Syria and Russia's 
support for the Assad regime and the atrocities that have taken place 
in that country, most recently in Aleppo. When we asked if she would 
characterize that type of conduct as war crimes, without any 
equivocation she said: Absolutely--that this was a matter that required 
international accountability.
  I also brought up with her what was happening in the Philippines, one 
of our allies, where the President of the Philippines, Mr. Duterte, has 
done extrajudicial killings and how she would characterize that as 
gross violations of human rights. She agreed that type of conduct 
cannot be tolerated, that we need to speak to whether they are friend 
or foe when they commit this type of conduct, that this is wrong

[[Page 1133]]

and the United States must stand up for our principles. I was impressed 
by the way that she spoke to those types of issues.
  One of the more telling questions that we asked was whether she would 
support any registry for any subgroup of ethnic or religious Americans, 
and she said: Absolutely not.
  We had, I thought, moral clarity in her response to some of the most 
important questions. I think all of us feel that she has the passion to 
represent the United States and our views well at the United Nations.
  What was particularly important to us is how she would speak out to 
power within the United Nations; that she had no problem in dealing 
with Mr. Putin and calling his conduct exactly what it was and would 
not be intimidated by Mr. Putin saying ``Well, you need me for some 
other issue''; that we have to be clear that we will not tolerate that 
type of conduct that violates basic human rights.
  She gave us confidence that, on behalf of the American people, she 
would speak up in the Cabinet room with Mr. Trump and the Cabinet as to 
these values. For all those reasons, it was a comfortable vote for me 
to support her nomination and confirmation.
  I do want to relay the fact that she does represent the American 
story. She is a daughter of immigrants who came to this country at 
great risk in order to seek a better life for their children. She 
experienced some of the discrimination against immigrant communities as 
she grew up in this country and tried to participate in the business 
and political sphere. She overcame all of those types of challenges and 
is extremely sensitive, I think, to all the needs of Americans.
  For all those reasons, I am proud to recommend her to our colleagues 
on both sides of the aisle. I hope we will support her confirmation. I 
think she is the right person now to represent us at the United 
Nations. For all those reasons, I will support her nomination.
  With that, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. CORKER. 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. CORKER. Mr. President, I am going to speak only for a few minutes 
so that we can have the vote occur at 5:30, on time. I wanted to say 
that I am pleased to be here to support Governor Nikki Haley as our 
Ambassador to the United Nations.
  The United Nations is at a crossroads and really needs someone who is 
very reform-minded for the United States to lead our efforts in that 
regard. That not only would benefit U.S. interests, but candidly it 
would benefit the world. She is someone who has shown that ability as 
Governor of South Carolina.
  She also has a clarity about her as it relates to representing U.S. 
interests. People on both sides of the aisle in our committee were able 
to recognize that her instincts relative to where the United States 
needs to be on certain issues--I think most of us understand that the 
United States leading on issues of human rights, leading on issues of 
conscience, that the American values we all hold dear and want to 
promote around the world are things that she has the ability to 
communicate and cares deeply about, and I think people were very 
impressed.
  The United Nations has multiple issues relative to peacekeeping that 
have not been addressed. Sexual exportation and abuse by peacekeepers 
have been rampant, and things have not been done in that regard to 
curtail that activity or at least not in the ways that they should, and 
I know she is very passionate about that issue.
  There is no question that she is not the most adept person at foreign 
policy. She would be the first person to say that. She has spent most 
of her time out of the country solely on economic development trips. I 
think where the United Nations is today is at a place where we need a 
really driven person who cares about our own U.S. national interests 
but also has the ability to break through the clutter and reform.
  She has worked with legislators to bring people together, to make 
that happen in her own State. She has had an exemplary record in that 
regard. My guess is that is really the first effort that needs to take 
place. Over time, through the relationships she develops there, the 
travel that will take place, I am absolutely certain--especially with 
the drive that she has--she will develop some of the other capacity 
that I know she will want to utilize there at the United Nations.
  I am here to recommend her. I look forward to supporting her. Our 
committee did so in a voice vote with only two dissents.
  In spite of the fact that I am disappointed that we are handling our 
Secretary of State in a manner that is not in keeping with bipartisan 
precedent, and in spite of the fact that we are not going to handle 
that in a way that we should and could today, through a vote on that, I 
am appreciative of the minority leader allowing this vote to take place 
today, and I am glad she is going to be confirmed overwhelmingly as our 
United Nations Ambassador.
  With that, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Rubio). Under the previous order, the 
question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the Haley 
nominations en bloc?
  Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  The result was announced--yeas 96, nays 4, as follows:

                       [Rollcall Vote No. 33 Ex.]

                                YEAS--96

     Alexander
     Baldwin
     Barrasso
     Bennet
     Blumenthal
     Blunt
     Booker
     Boozman
     Brown
     Burr
     Cantwell
     Capito
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Cassidy
     Cochran
     Collins
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Cortez Masto
     Cotton
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Daines
     Donnelly
     Duckworth
     Durbin
     Enzi
     Ernst
     Feinstein
     Fischer
     Flake
     Franken
     Gardner
     Gillibrand
     Graham
     Grassley
     Harris
     Hassan
     Hatch
     Heitkamp
     Heller
     Hirono
     Hoeven
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Johnson
     Kaine
     Kennedy
     King
     Klobuchar
     Lankford
     Leahy
     Lee
     Manchin
     Markey
     McCain
     McCaskill
     McConnell
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Murphy
     Murray
     Nelson
     Paul
     Perdue
     Peters
     Portman
     Reed
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rounds
     Rubio
     Sasse
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Scott
     Sessions
     Shaheen
     Shelby
     Stabenow
     Sullivan
     Tester
     Thune
     Tillis
     Toomey
     Van Hollen
     Warner
     Warren
     Whitehouse
     Wicker
     Wyden
     Young

                                NAYS--4

     Coons
     Heinrich
     Sanders
     Udall
  The nominations were confirmed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the motions to 
reconsider are considered made and laid upon the table and the 
President will be immediately notified of the Senate's action.
  The majority leader.

                          ____________________