SUPERCUT: JD Vance Delivers Remarks On Senate Floor His First Year In Office | 2023 Rewind
Summary
TLDRThe video script captures a series of intense debates in the U.S. Senate, focusing on key nominations, foreign policy, and justice department operations. Discussions include the nomination of Stephanie Sullivan as US ambassador to the African Union, objections raised against Ambassador Sullivan and other nominees based on competence and ideological concerns, and broader criticisms of the Department of Justice under the Biden Administration. Senators argue about the politicization of justice, the strategic objectives in Ukraine, and the allocation of funds to support allies like Israel. The script reflects deep political divisions and the complex interplay between domestic policies and international relations.
Takeaways
- 😡 Senator Portman objects to unanimous consent request to confirm US ambassador to African Union due to concerns over her statements on transgender rights
- 😠 Senator Vance continues to object to confirming US Attorney nominees due to his view that the DOJ has become politicized under the Biden administration
- 😤 Senator Durbin argues strongly that blocking US Attorney confirmations makes communities less safe from violent crime
- 🤬 Senator Vance claims the politicized DOJ is trying to throw political opponents of Biden in jail
- 😖 Senator Durbin calls out Senator Vance for going back on his word to allow confirmation votes on US Attorney nominees
- 😩 Senator Durbin cites military and ambassador confirmations also being blocked by Republican senators
- 😢 Senator Durbin argues that Senator Vance's obstruction does not match his tough on crime rhetoric
- 😭 Senator Durbin argues that bipartisan tradition has been to confirm US Attorneys from opposing parties
- 😨 Senator Vance continues to demand going through regular order with individual confirmation votes
- 😰 Senator Paul argues against bipartisan consensus on foreign policy leading to bad outcomes
Q & A
What is the purpose of the unanimous consent request by the senator?
-The purpose is to proceed to confirm the nominee Stephanie Sullivan to be the US Ambassador to the African Union, a position that has been vacant since January 2022. Sullivan was nominated in June 2020.
Why does the senator think confirming this nominee is important?
-The senator believes confirming Sullivan is critical because the African Union can play a key role in resolving the conflict in Sudan, where domestic violence and war between military factions has put thousands of Americans at risk.
On what grounds does the senator from Ohio object to the nomination?
-He objects because he believes Sullivan has pushed divisive ideological views on transgender issues in Africa. He sees this as cultural imperialism that is unsupported and threatens US national security.
What compromise does the senator from Ohio propose regarding confirmation votes?
-He proposes that each justice department nomination go through regular order with a full Senate vote instead of unanimous consent, allowing scrutiny and an up or down vote.
How does the senator from Illinois respond to the objections?
-He calls the objections weak and questions their substance. He argues ambassadors reflect administration policy, not personal values. And he says partisan politics should not obstruct nominees who can save lives.
What previous statements does the senator from Ohio refer to regarding his position?
-He points to past statements that his objection is not to the specific qualifications of the nominees, but to his view that the Justice Department has become overly politicized under Biden.
What does the senator from Illinois request regarding votes on the nominees?
-After the senator from Ohio previously asked for votes on the nominees, the senator from Illinois requests unanimous consent for votes on the two remaining US attorney nominees.
How does the senator from Ohio respond to accusations his position has changed?
-He argues his position has remained consistent - that he objects to the Justice Department's politicization. He says he must keep responding to new arguments, but his fundamental complaint is unchanged.
What does the senator from Illinois imply is the real agenda behind the holds?
-He speculates that the goal is to grind government to a halt, preventing the Justice Department, Defense Department and State Department from functioning, to prove a political point.
What does the senator from Ohio say is needed for him to release his hold policy?
-He states he will release the hold policy only when Attorney General Garland commits to refocusing the Justice Department on law enforcement rather than politics.
Outlines
😴 Long speech about appointing a US ambassador to the African Union
😤 Objection raised regarding nominee's comments and ideology
🗣 Back and forth debate over the nomination
😤 Objection to Department of Justice nominations
😤 Debate over ending mask mandates
😤 Objection to confirming US Attorney nominees
😤 Request for vote on pending US Attorney nominations
😤 Defense of Department of Justice holds despite tradition
🗣 Urging confirmation of US attorneys facing security threats
😤 Accusation of politicization regarding Trump prosecution
😠 Denouncement of holds preventing law enforcement nominations
Mindmap
Keywords
💡us attorney
💡Department of Justice
💡confirmation process
💡closure vote
💡Hunter Biden investigation
💡Jesse Smollett controversy
💡Ukraine aid package
💡Israeli security assistance
💡ambassador confirmation delays
💡government shutdown
Highlights
The African Union is key to resolving conflict in Sudan, so confirming a US ambassador is critical.
Ambassador Sullivan is a talented diplomat whose actions reflect administration policy, not her personal values.
Senator Portman argues Ambassador Sullivan pushed divisive transgender ideology in Africa against US interests.
Senator Portman believes the US shouldn't force controversial domestic issues onto other countries.
Senator Portman argues Ambassador Sullivan focuses on moralizing instead of pursuing US national interests.
Senator Durbin defends Ambassador Sullivan's qualifications and notes her role was limited in a controversial case.
Senator Vance pledged to fight criminals, not cops, but now stops prosecutors being appointed.
Senator Vance said he had no objection to the specific nominees, but now finds issues with their competence.
Senator Durbin argues stopping law enforcement appointments makes their jobs harder, helping criminals.
Senator Vance wants the DOJ focused on law, not politics, and will continue holds until that happens.
Senator Durbin cites a hate crime case showing the need for a confirmed US attorney in Chicago.
Senator Durbin argues grinding DOJ to a halt endangers public safety to score political points.
Ambassador and military appointment holds show total obstruction is the House and Senate GOP agenda.
Bipartisan foreign policy over decades has been disastrous despite claims of wisdom.
Debate is needed on US support for Ukraine - cost, benefit, end goal - which the public deserves.
Transcripts
without objection Madam president I am
in a moment going to ask unanimous
consent that we proceed to confirm a
nominee Stephanie Sullivan who's been
nominated to be US ambassador to the
African Union she was nominated June
15th of 20202 a position now vacant
since January of this year let me
briefly say why this is important the
African Union is the entity most likely
to successfully negotiate peace in Sudan
a country now iled by domestic violence
by a war between one faction of its
military and another and thousands of
Americans are at risk I think it's
crucially important to fill all of our
vacant ambassadorial positions but this
one is particularly critical because of
the role the Au can and should play in
resolving this conflict but we lack an
ambassador in this vital continent-wide
organization I will go on at some
greater length about the qualifications
the back background of this talented
career Foreign Service Officer who's
been an ambassador twice before in
Africa but I'll also say that statements
that she has made in her role as an
ambassador reflect the policy of the
administration at the time not her
personal preferences or values she is a
talented representative of the United
States as a diplomat whose actions and
statements reflect the administrations
she has served with that I ask you
unanimous consent as if an executive
session that the Senate consider
nomination calendar number 68 Stephanie
Sanders Sullivan to be represent of the
United States to the African Union and
that the Senate vote on the nomination
without intervening action or debate
that if confirmed the motion be
considered made and laid upon the table
and the president be immediately
notified of the Senate's action is there
objection Madam president the senator
from Ohio thank you madam president
reserving the right to object I want to
talk about a few things things here and
why I'm objecting to this nomination and
why I would not vote for it uh if and
when it comes before the full Senate so
first is a question of con competence uh
this is a this is an ambassador
Ambassador Sullivan who went to uh Ghana
and said on local television that she
was proud of the fact that she had
failed her foreign service exam twice uh
it's hard to imagine a Chinese uh leader
going to a country where they were
trying to develop diplomatic
relationships and bragging about failing
any type of foreign service exam and I
don't know where this idea that we
should celebrate failing the for foreign
service exam amongst our diplomatic Corp
comes from uh but it doesn't make us
look good and it doesn't help Ambassador
Sullivan in her duties now a second
problem the last time that we sent
Ambassador Sullivan to a senior job in
Africa her successor spent the following
couple of months apologizing for and
cleaning up for the job that she had did
in in particular she did so much to push
a very very divisive set of ideas in an
American political context on a foreign
country that had nothing to do with our
national interest in particular she
seems particularly fond of the most
left-wing versions of transgender
Ideology Now let me just address this
particular issue I have my views on the
transgender ideology question in
particular I really worry that we are
going too far too fast not in support of
the evidence prescribing treatments and
surgeries and hormonal therapies that
could damage children for years I think
we need to be patient with this and we
need to follow the science this is why
by the way most of our European allies
Sweden for example a country hailed as a
a a great example of good health care 10
years ago by many Democrats in this
chamber is going the opposite direction
of where we're going on the transgender
ideology question now that said I can
accept that many people disagree with me
but that disagreement in an American
political context has no place for the
Diplomatic core of our country we should
not be taking something that a majority
of Americans disagree and try to force
it down the throat of another country
and the fact that we engage in this
cultural imperialism is one of the
biggest threats to American National
Security in the world today now let's
talk about this cultural imperialism the
fact that it's unsupported and the fact
that it's not good for our country we
haven't had a real debate in this body
we have not had a sufficient
conversation about whether we want to
support certain ideological preferences
in our diplomatic core why for example
do we have a liberal white woman going
to Africa and telling them that they're
not civilized enough when it comes to
issues of transgender ideology why do we
have
a diplomatic core that is taking a hotly
contested issue in an American political
context and demanding that African
nations follow the lead of the far-left
instead of doing what they think that
they should do now there are going to be
people who say that there there are all
manner of atrocities that happen in
Africa when it comes to sexual issues
when it comes to gender minorities and
so forth and of course we think that's
terrible we don't want that to happen
but she he's gone so much further than
that in placing a very particular set of
ideas at the Forefront of our diplomacy
and let me just leave us with with one
uh leave this body with one final
thought Madam
president look at the demographics of
the people who have fought and died in
American wars over the last generation
many Democrats of course have done so
and we honor their service and we honor
the sacrifice of themselves and their
families but a disproportionate share
especially of the enlisted troops who
are at the Forefront of American power
the threat of military action and
sometimes the reality of military action
is what gives the state department so
much power in the first place the
knowledge that if you don't follow
America's lead you can sometimes have
military and security consequences
because of it do we think that the
thousands of Americans who have died in
America's wars in the last 20 or so
years died so that the trans flag would
fly over the nation of Ghana or any
other African nation and why is it the
policy of this government again to take
a controversial Topic in the context of
an American political debate and force
it down the throats of somebody else
this is damaging our national security
Larry Summers an Obama administration
Economist a guy well respected on the
left side of the aisle said talking to
some some of his friends who work in
development in Africa that when the
Chinese come they bring let me get the
exact quote here because I don't want to
mess it up
um what we get from China is an airport
what we get from the United States is a
lecture and that's Larry Summers quoting
somebody who does economic development
in in troubled regions of the world M
why wh why the gentleman
yield with the gentl can I make can I
finish the point Chris and then go ahead
Senator sorry here's what I would
say here the final point that I'll make
is we have built a foreign policy of
hectoring and moralizing and lecturing
countries that don't want anything to do
with it the Chinese have a foreign
policy of building roads and bridges and
feeding poor people and I think that we
should pursue a foreign policy a
diplomacy of respect and a foreign
policy that is not rooted in moralizing
it's rooted in the National interest of
this country because Ambassador Sullivan
is at the lead of moralizing instead of
pursuing America's national interest I
object objection is heard Madam
president the senator from Delaware at
apparently another time I look forward
to having the opportunity um to hearing
some substantiation of the wild charges
just made by my colleague from Ohio um I
did as much research as I could before
appearing um in what I had understood
mistakenly to be the foundation of his
objection uh now I look forward to
figuring out how uh this nominee to
serve again as an ambassador uh is an
advocate of far-left
gender therapies of some kind um let me
make two simple points if I can in
response um to the comments I just heard
on the floor um as someone who chairs
the Senate appropriation subcommittee
that funds our development a efforts
around the world and particularly in
Africa and as someone who was just in um
five different countries across the
continent um to characterize China's
engagement with Africa um as one that
promotes development in a positive way
that is respectful and uplifting and our
engagement as simply hectoring badly
misses Decades of the United States
being the number one supporter of Public
Health across the continent we are just
now celebrating the 20th anniversary of
President Bush's signature initiative
pepar which has saved 25 million lives
the Chinese do not invest in public
health in anything like the scale and
scope the United States does the Chinese
it's true don't ask questions about
suppression of minorities about
mistreatment of journalists about the
closing of political space about
domestic repression and the United
States does and so if that's to be
characterized as hectoring then I would
be glad to stand up for hectoring we do
challenge autocrats across the continent
of Africa and we do stand up for
democracy we also invest significantly
in human development at a time when
China invests principally in airports
and soccer stadiums and highways so I
would be happy to have a debate anytime
that the my colleague from Ohio chooses
to stay long enough to have the
discussion about the foundations of our
engagement in the developing World um I
also frankly um take exception to his
characterization um of a talented long
serving member of the Foreign Service
who represented us as a confirmed
Ambassador in both G and the Democratic
Republic of the Congo let me make the
core point I intended to make earlier
but in order to accommodate my
colleagues need to
go be interviewed on television um I cut
my comments short in Sudan
today a newly emerged war is Raging
between two militaries thousands of
people are at risk in particular
Americans are at risk and it is the
African Union a continent-wide
organization headquartered in Odis in
Ethiopia's capital that could and should
be the entity that leads to peace in
Sudan to not have a confirmed Ambassador
is to weaken our ability to engage with
the Au and to engage with the leaders of
these two military factions in Sudan for
too much of the two years of the Biden
Administration we have struggled to get
confirmations here on the floor of the
Senate of talented nominees we have
worked closely together to make sure
that we've overcome some of the holds
and some of the blocks to nominees in
the past and I am disappointed and
frustrated by the spous arguments made
by my colleague as to why he is standing
in the way of this particularly capable
seasoned and experienced member of our
Foreign Service I had imagined based on
previous statements made by my colleague
that he might be objecting to something
she said on on the occasion of George
Floyd's murder and I came to the floor
today um with significant detailed
content from the previous administration
making it clear that she wasn't acting
simply on her own that she wasn't acting
on some leftist agenda that she was
acting in response to Direction um from
both the Africa Bureau and the deputy
secretary of state um I had thought he
might also be referencing um a posting
that was made on the occasion of a pride
event U of an
lgbtq Pride event something that happens
in embassies all over the world and that
reflects a shared commitment by the
American people to human rights that is
understandably part of diversity and
inclusion my hunch is that I'll have to
wait for another time for my colleague
to prioritize debate on the floor of the
Senate over making his way to a cable
television hit but I respect my
colleague he is someone who has written
a very compelling book who's been
elected by the people of Ohio and who I
expect expect to have the opportunity to
get to know we have only served together
now for several months and today was
literally the first time we have
exchanged words so I hope there will be
uh more reason and more substance to his
opposition to this nominee than what I
heard on the floor tonight and I look
forward to engaging with him in that
discussion and that debate with that
Madame
President my remarks on this particular
topic and once handed the closing
remarks we'll speak briefly and then
close CL the floor Madam president I ask
unanimous consent that when the Senate
completes its business today which I
think is now that it stand adjourned
until 10: a.m. on Thursday April 20th
that following the prayer and pledge the
morning hour be deemed expired the
Journal of proceedings be approved to
date the time for the two leaders be
reserved for their use later in the day
and morning business be closed following
the conclusion of morning business the
Senate resumed consideration of calendar
number 28 Senate Bill
870 with without objection so ordered
for the information of the Senate there
will be two roll call votes at
11:15 and 1 at 1:45 p.m. tomorrow if
there is no further business to come
before the Senate at this time I ask
that it stand adjourned under the
previous
order the Senate stands adjourned until
10: a.m.
tomorrow thank you Mr President I ask uh
unanimous consent that the Senate
proceed to Executive session to consider
the following nomination executive
calendar number 266 T Hy McGrath to be
United States Attorney for the southern
district of California that the Senate
vote on the nomination without
intervening action or debate that if
confirmed the motion to reconsider be
made and laid upon the table and the
president be immediately notified of the
Senate's action and the Senate resume
legislative
session is there an objection Mr
President the the senator from Ohio uh
reserving the right to object Mr
President uh my objection is not
specific to this nominee I think the
Biden Administration has sent a lot of
unqualified folks to the it's not
sending its best uh to the Department of
Justice many of the nominees are
unqualified some of them seem actively
corrupt and some I assume are good
people but the problem is not this
specific nominee the problem is the fact
that the Department of Justice has been
corrupted under the Biden Administration
and there needs to be some Reckoning
with the American people and with this
body and with the nominations process
before we allow these nominees to Glide
path to the confirmation process let's
just talk about a tale of two leaders in
this country right now one a Democrat
and one a republican of course the
president of the United States his son
Hunter Biden has a multiple federal
charges multiple Federal investigations
that implicate directly on the
president's business dealings may very
well implicate the president directly
and plausibly could lead to some sign
significant problems for the president
in the presidential election yesterday
the plea deal that the Department of
Justice cut with Hunter Biden fell apart
under minimal scrutiny from the federal
judge in that case that is how the
Department of Justice treats the
Democratic Leadership in this country
with kid gloves even in the face of very
serious corruption now let's ask
ourselves how they treat the former
Republican president in the face of a
classified document Scandal where
literally the claim is that the
president in the United States
mishandled the documents of his own
Administration now nobody doubts that
President Trump had the right to
declassify the documents at issuing this
case the argument is that he didn't and
therefore they want to throw him in jail
is that really what we're doing at the
height of a presidential campaign is
trying to throw the former president in
jail the likely leader of the opposition
in prison because he didn't cross the
te's and Dot the eyes on the
classification or declassification
process this is a ridiculous scandal in
our entire country and look whether
these nominees are qualified or not
qualified we should have the vote and
make that determination as a body it's
not at the end of the day as I've
learned in eight months all that
difficult and all that hard to vote but
we have to stop giving these nominees a
Glide path until Meritt Garland commits
to using the Department of Justice For
Justice and not for Politics as it's
being used today so Mr President I
object the objection is heard Mr
President let me just uh add the senator
from California Mr let me just add Mr
President that uh it it is beyond
disappointing and Beyond frustrating
that our colleague from Ohio continues
to uh hold the Senate process hostage
for political gain I won't get into the
uh credentials and and uh Stellar
qualifications that Miss McGrath has to
serve in this capacity we'll Reserve
that for a more constructive day
relative to her confirmation but I will
note this for a sense of urgency in the
southern district of California the
current acting us attorney is due to
step down on August
4th so there's an urgency to this
particular confirmation a confirmation
which was approved by Senate Judiciary
Committee by the way but has not been
voted on by the entire Senate uh and
it's not just this confirmation I'm not
going to talk about federal judges I'm
not going to talk about military
promotions that are on hold because of
politics being played on the other side
of the
aisle I believe the American people
deserve to
know that when even us
attorneys are being held up confirmation
of us attorneys are being held up it is
impeding the investigation of crimes it
is impeding the enforcement of our
nation's laws
it is impeding the cooperation and
coordination between various prosecutors
offices throughout the country that is
the job of a US attorney and it's
shameful that uh uh Republican
colleagues are holding these
confirmations up particularly of
candidates for these positions that are
far and
above the qualifications necessary to
serve in these capacities
um Mr President I ALS is heard Mr
President let me offer just a couple of
thoughts and response from Ohio I I
thank you Mr President I know we're on a
short timeline but let me just offer a
couple of points in response uh and then
I'll I'll let this body go on with its
business number one Senator Mary
mentioned uh the tragic number of
Americans over 1 million who lost their
lives due to co and I agree that it's a
tragedy and I wish that we hadn't lost
them but we lost them in spite of some
of the most aggressive masking policies
in the world if mandatory masking were
going to save our citizens it would have
already done so that's the first point
the second point is that this
legislation doesn't prevent any of our
citizens from wearing masks if you would
like to wear a mask of course you have
the right to do so but the senator
talked about Freedom what I would like
is for the freedom of a school child to
not be thrown out a classroom because he
doesn't wear want to wear a mask I would
like the freedom of airline passengers
to be able to go and visit their
families and not be thrown off an
airplane because they refuse to wear a
mask freedom is fundamentally about
respecting that you might have a
different view than I do respecting that
accepting it and not using government
mandates to force our fellow citizens to
do exactly what we want them to do but
to let us all figure this out together
the final point that I'll make here is I
I I heard some pretty alarming rhetoric
from my friend on the other side of the
aisle we are about to have some serious
respiratory problems we always do in the
fall and maybe it will be worse this
fall and this winter than before but I
think that what our children most of all
need and I'm the father of three kids
under the age of seven they need us to
not be chick and little about every
single respiratory pandemic and and
problem that confronts this country we
are going to have people who get sick
from viruses it has always been thus and
the way to respond to it is with
calmness resolve and strategic thinking
not by pretending the world is ending
because what has always happened is
going to happen once again we cannot
repeat the anxiety the stress and the
nonstop Panic of the last couple of
years that's what this legislation is
about in the mandates in the panic and
let's get back to some common sense Mr
President I yield Mr Mr President I rise
today to speak about the Senate's need
to swiftly confirm pinning us attorney
nominees two days ago I came to the
floor to request unanimous consent for
the Senate to take up and confirm four
pending us attorney nominations that
were being held up by one the United
States Senator the junior senator from
Ohio Senate advance and two days ago he
said and I quote my position is we
should have a full Senate vote on each
of these justice department
nominations he also said quote if it's
so important to confirm these folks
bring them to a floor for a
vote but now that's exactly what he is
attempting to prevent today
for decades the Senate confirmed us
attorney nominees of both political
parties by Voice vote or what is called
unanimous consent in the Senate after
they had been reported by the Judiciary
Committee before the beginning of the
Biden Administration the senate had not
required a roll call vote in
confirmation of a US attorney since
1975 almost 50 years in fact during the
Trump
Administration Senate Democrats allowed
owed every one of Trump's us attorney
nominees all
85 to move through the committee and be
confirmed by a Voice vote unanimous
consent let me tell you as a democrat in
those days I knew what I was getting
with these us attorneys working for Jeff
sessions attorney general Jeff sessions
and William bar I knew what was going to
happen but I respected the tradition of
the
Senate now Senate Republicans have
decided to change the rules and are
blocking the cont information of these
critical Law Enforcement
Officers I've faced this before
Republicans have said they're going to
object to us attorneys but fortunately
had better thoughts on the subject as
time progressed now this year the
senator from Ohio has proudly announced
that he will I want to quote him exactly
here I will hold all doj nominations we
will grind the justice department to a
halt
grind the justice department to a
halt us attorne attorneys are too
important to be used as political Pawns
in a national debate they lead our
nation's effort to prosecute violent
criminals don't tell me that you're for
Law and Order but you want to stop
criminal prosecutors from being
appointed to the job they lead our
nation's effort to protect our
communities from drug trafficking I
quoted some numbers the other day about
drug trafficking and fentel deaths in
the state of Ohio the state where one of
these us attorneys would be going to
work in the Cleveland
area Ohio ranks fourth in the nation in
Narcotics deaths and for the Senate to
respond by one senator from Ohio
stopping the appointment of a criminal
prosecutor to go after these cartels and
Drug gangs is not
explainable so I offered Senator Vance
the opportunity to allow us to schedule
confirmation votes on all pending us
attorneys I want to read exactly what he
said from the Congressional Record which
of course is the permanent record of the
Senate and will be read by Future
Generations this is on September 27th
two days
ago here is what Senator Vance said I'm
the new guy and I recognize I'm a little
naive when it comes to matters of the
procedures of the United States Senate
but I've had a lot of jobs in my life
and yesterday we passed one vote and
today we have passed zero votes the time
that we have spent debating whether we
should have unanimous consent over these
nominations we could actually use to
vote on these nominations and end the
charade and call it up for what it is if
we believe that these nominees must go
forward let's just have a vote on it
allow me to scrutinize them allow my
colleagues to vote them up or down that
is totally reasonable thing to do to ask
of this chamber and to ask of this
leadership and because of that I
object well I accepted his challenge I
took his words to be heartfelt and
truthful that he wanted votes and so
today we had two votes on two of the US
attorneys considered by the Senate
exactly what the senator from Ohio asked
for but there are two more on the
calendar that he held up initially he
set on the floor during our debate these
weren't people he was necessarily
objecting
to but somebody else in the Senate might
be objecting to them I didn't know what
that meant but I wanted to give him the
time to find out who that might be it
turns out there is no one else he's the
only objector even though he said on the
record in the Congressional Record that
all he wanted was a roll call vote on
these nominees well he's going to get a
chance to give keep his word that he put
in the Congressional Record and he's
going to get a chance to have the vote
that he asked for only fair we done it
for the two first two would do it for
the others
let me repeat again Senator Vance has
not only refused to move these nominees
by Voice vote as the Senate has done for
decades he is now backtracking on his
own words from two days ago and refusing
even to allow roll calls on these
nominees this kind of obstructionism is
becoming commonplace I'm afraid if you
take a look at this executive calendar
that we have here there are pages and
pages of Military Officers who have
served this country nobly
and honorably who are asking for a
simple promotion they're entitled to
they're being held up by another
Republican senator who doesn't want to
move forward on this holding them for
six months from
promotion is this the new way of doing
business under the magga at regime I
hope
not Rebecca letco was nominated to be us
attorney for the Northern District of
Ohio she's a longtime Federal prosecutor
who has served as assistant us attorney
in the US attorney's office for the of
the Northern District of Ohio for nearly
18 years as a federal prosecutor she
handles cases involving prescription
drug trafficking gun crimes and
Corruption important you bet it is April
Perry nominated to be us attorney for
the northern district of Illinois
significant experience in the private
sector and as a federal prosecutor she
served the US attorney's office for the
northern district of Illinois for over a
decade where she handled narcotics gang
violence public corrupt coruption and
fraud important you bet it is Miss Perry
specialized in child exploitation
prosecutions spent six years as the
offices Project SAFE childhood
coordinator are you concerned as I am
about the exploitation of children the
trafficking of children the terrible
sexual abuse that's taking place on the
internet do you think we ought to have
the Department of Justice on that case
of course we should one week
ago Senator Vance was quoted as saying
my objection is not to the specific
qualifications of these particular
individuals that have been nominated so
here he is not complaining about any of
their resumés or C capacity to do the
job and do it effectively his concern
and he said it publicly so I think I'm
going to accurately quote him his
concern that his former president of the
United States was indicted and he's very
concerned about a department of justice
that would even let that happen for
goodness sakes things happened during
the depart dep of Justice activity under
the B under the administration of Donald
Trump that I objected to but I didn't
stop the appointment of us attorneys
under Trump I didn't stop the people in
law enforcement who were keeping us safe
in our communities these are imminently
qualified individuals and clearly I'm
asking Senator Vance in good faith keep
your word what you said in the
Congressional Record is a matter of
record and you should Stand by Your Word
and for that that reason I make the
following uh motion I ask unanimous
consent that the Senate proceed to
Executive session to consider the
following nominations on block calendar
314 and
315 that the Senate vote on the
nominations on block without intervening
action or debate that if confirmed the
Motions to reconsider be considered made
and laid upon the table and the
president be immediately notified of the
Senate's action and the Senate resume
legislative
session is there objection I
president senator from Ohio M president
reserving the right to object uh let me
address a few of uh my my distinguished
colleague from Illinois comments first
of all while it is true that my hold
policy regarding the Department of
Justice is not focused on any particular
nominee I do think this particular
nominee is particularly Troublesome and
let me just talk about why Miss Perry is
a figure who served as Chief ethics
officer in the Cook County state
attorney's office dur during the Jesse
smallet hate crime hoax we may remember
that from a few years ago this is when a
person accused people of engaging in a
false hate crime took a ton of State
resources to investigate it and it
turned out the entire thing was
fraudulent meant to Jin up publicity for
Mr Mr Smet now everyone pretty much
agrees that Miss Fox who was the State
Attorney at the time engaged in some
pretty unethical behavior and Mrs Perry
effectively rubber stamped it is this
the sort of person who could be trusted
to impartially administer Justice in the
uh Biden Garland Department of Justice I
don't think that she is so I'll be
voting against her nomination and I also
object to giving a streamlined
confirmation process for her now the
senator from Illinois is apparently
hellbent on coming before the chamber
every single week to litigate what I
think and believe is a corrupt and
politicized Department of Justice he
makes much and he makes much much every
single time we engage in this exercise
about the fact that the Department of
Justice has never had this kind of whole
policy placed on it before I agree this
is a new and unique circumstance what is
much different about the Trump
administration department of justice and
the and the Amic Garland Joe Biden
Department of Justice is Donald Trump
never tried to throw his political
opponents in prison this is crazy Banana
Republic stuff and I will not stand for
it I will continue to hold these N
inations I will continue to push back
against the politicization of justice
and finally let me just say what I have
asked for and what I will continue to
ask for is that these nominees go
through regular order the senator knows
well what everybody else knows that as
one Senator I cannot prevent the
confirmation of these nominees however
much I might like to what I can do is
force us to go through regular order I
ask for a vote Senator Durban you can
invoke cloer we can vote on on closure
we can then do a recorded vote that is
what we have done with many many
nominees and because of the corruption
of meric Garland's Department of Justice
it's what I ask with this nominee and
with any in the future because of that
Madam president I
object objection is heard Madam
president it is interesting now we've
got a new argument previously he said I
have no objection to these nominees I
just don't like the process I want to
vote I said fine you can have a vote
now when we ask for a vote on the two
remaining nominees for us attorney he's
finding fault with them as individuals I
hope he'll take the time and I know he's
a fair person to read the record about
what Miss Perry did when she worked for
State's Attorney Kim Fox it is true
there was a controversial case before
her uh office and that she was the chief
ethics officer in the Cook County
State's Attorney's office she served in
that office at the time the juste Jesse
Smet matter was being investigated but
Miss Perry role as Chief ethics officer
was limited to recommending that the
attorne the state's attorney Fox recuse
herself and the office seek appointment
of a special prosecutor notably Miss
Perry resigned from that office a few
weeks after the prosecutors initially
agreed to drop the charges against Mr
Smet she has never been implicated and
to throw her name into this situation is
unfair I'm sure the senator from Ohio
does not want to do that so listen to
what He suggests I'm glad that Senator
Reed's on the floor chairman of the
armed services committee sound familiar
here we have a group of people nominees
that have come before us have been
considered throughout history in a
routine unanimous consent way and now
the senator from Ohio says we're going
to go one by one and have a closure
motion on each one of them you and I
both know having been here a few years
with that means it's physically
impossible whether we're talking about
officers in the military or us attorney
nominees to say we'll just stack them up
on the calendar and go through closure
votes and it's
unnecessary if we we didn't single out a
single us attorney nominee in the Trump
Administration but gave voice votes to
all 85 it's an indication of an effort
at Goodwill and bipartisanship even when
we're suspicious of what the political
agenda may be of that department to hold
some of these people the the US attorney
for his own home state on the city of
Cleveland to hold this person to this
kind of scrutiny that goes Way Beyond
anything that we usually have been
involved in is unfair to her and it's
unfair to the process and the system I
am going to return to the floor senator
from Ohio and I are going to be pretty
familiar fixtures on this floor because
if you say something in the
Congressional Record as he did all we
wants a roll call and we offer a roll
call just as I did and he denies it over
and over he has some explaining to do
and if he thinks that standing up for
the Mega uh order of process here is
something the American people people
admire I beg you differ with him we
understand that the Department of
Justice has an important job to do to
keep us safe in our communities and for
someone to say a senator from the United
States Senate to say I will hold all doj
nominations we will grind the justice
department to a halt really that's your
agenda that's why you came to the Senate
if the Department of Defense is being
ground to a halt because of the
promotion of officers and to do the same
thing in the Department of Justice and
we're fa faing a government shutdown
over Mega members of the House of
Representatives the American people have
a good picture a good photograph of the
future if we go senator from Illinois is
apparently hellbent on coming before the
chamber every single week to litigate
what I think and believe is a corrupt
and politicized Department of Justice he
makes much and he makes much every
single time we engage in this exercise
about the fact that the Department of
Justice has never had this kind of hold
policy placed on it before I agree this
is a new and unique circumstance what is
much different about the Trump
administration department of justice and
the in the Meritt Garland Joe Biden
Department of Justice is Donald Trump
never tried to throw his political
opponents in prison this is crazy Banana
Republic stuff and I will not stand for
it I will continue to hold these
nominations I will continue to push back
against the politicization of justice
and finally let me just say what I have
asked for for and what I will continue
to ask for is that these nominees go
through regular order the senator knows
well what everybody else knows that as
one Senator I cannot prevent the
confirmation of these nominees however
much I might like to what I can do is
force us to go through regular order I
ask for a vote Senator Durban you can
invoke clure we can vote on clure we can
then do a recorded vote that is what we
have done with many many nominees and
because of the corrupt of Mer Garland's
Department of Justice it's what I ask
with this nominee and with any in the
future because of that Madam president I
object problems and challenges from
federal
law whether we're fighting fentel
epidemics whether we're fighting those
who would undermine this
country many who would cheat and steal
at the expense of others we count on
professional prosecutors to make those
decisions we go through a process here
where a president will name a potential
us attorney that's not the end of the
story the attorney's name is then
submitted to the Senate Judiciary
Committee which I chair and then it goes
through a rigorous bipartisan process
and investigation of each one of these
nominees until they clear both sides of
the table Democrats and Republicans the
nominees don't move once having cleared
they are then put up for approval before
the Senate judici
committee traditionally that was
virtually the end of the story the name
would hit the calendar the calendar name
would be called approved and the person
would move into
action under the previous president
Donald Trump there was a lot of
controversy political controversy
associated with all sorts of issues so
you have to wonder out of the 85 us
attorney nominees proposed by President
Donald Trump how many of them ran into
an obstacle or being stopped on the
senate floor by democrats for partisan
reason the answer none not one despite
all the controversy of the Trump
Administration the feeling was that it
was only fair to these men and women
asking to serve our nation as
representatives of the Department of
Justice to give them that chance if they
cleared the bipartisan background
process they did we gave our approval
they served Across the Nation but
unfortunately we've come into a new
era us attorneys law enforcement
officers who lead our nation to
prosecute violent criminals and protect
our communities from drug traffickers
gun violence terrorism and so many other
things are still Central to our system
of
justice I've emphasized that the US
attorney's offices in the Northern
District of Ohio that would be Cleveland
and the northern district of Illinois
that would be Chicago undertake
important investigations and
prosecutions that keep our community
safe the state of Ohio like many others
suffers from a scourge of fentanyl
trafficking we know about this deadly
narcotic it's a killer it is it is a
fourth in a nation for drug overdose
deaths us attorney for the Northern
District of Ohio oversees the area's
response to fatal overdoses from fentel
through the US attorney's heroin and
opioid task force I would guess many
Ohioans would want to know why that task
force now is waiting for Senate
confirmed leadership
in my home state of Illinois over the
last two years the Chicago Police
Department has recovered more than
10,000
Firearms 10,000 a year from various
criminal
investigations the US attorney for the
northern district of Illinois is
responsible for coordinating the efforts
with all the law enforcement agencies
and the Chicago Firearms trafficking
strike force my constituents can't
understand why one senator from another
state is block BL in the confirmation of
one US attorney candidate in Illinois
April Perry who's been found to be
highly qualified not only by the White
House but by a bipartisan investigative
Committee of the Senate Judiciary
Committee April Perry is well qualified
for this job she would like to be on the
job and should have been weeks ago
making it safer to live in my state
another Point I've made before is the
irony that the senator who is blocking
these two nominees is is considering
this a tough on crime position tough on
crime when you refuse to put a person in
the role of prosecutor who's supposed to
put these criminals behind the bars when
he ran for the Senate my colleague from
Ohio pledged to quote fight the
criminals not the cops that's his quote
he argued that Americans will not be
safe if quote politicians keep attacking
police officers instead of violent
criminals I just have to tell him his
strategy of stopping two two leading us
attorneys one in his State and the state
of Illinois is the best news the
criminals have had in a long time the
same man who pledged to fight the cops
now proudly brags that he wants to quote
grind the Department of Justice to a
halt I'm not making that up and he's not
denied it he said his goal is to grind
the US Department of Justice to a halt
listen to this headline from a recent
article in Newsmax quote Senator Vance
to Newsmax blocking dog nominees makes
AG's job harder we want to make the
Attorney General's job harder when it
comes to Prosecuting drug criminals is
that what this is all about I've said it
before and say it again Senator Vance
needs to read a resolution he propos in
this body earlier this year and take his
own advice he should give Law
Enforcement Officers the support and
resources they need rather than trying
to score political points by making
their jobs harder unlike me Senator
Vance doesn't need to worry about
sounding like a broken record each time
I come to the floor to ask for unanimous
consent he offers a different
explanation for why he's blocking the
confirmation of these high qu highly
qualified nominees first he claimed he
was punishing the justice department for
what he falsely called quote
unprecedented political prosecution of
former president
Trump as I pointed out this is a weak
excuse for hamstringing law enforcement
considering the former president has now
been indicted four separate times on 90
different counts and continues to
threaten judges prosecutors jurors and
Witnesses Senator Vance also previously
stated here on the senate floor quote
and I quote it's in the Congressional
Record my objection is not specific to
the qualifications of the particular n
individuals that have been nominated he
said I want to make it clear that this
in reference to both Miss lutzco in Ohio
and Miss Perry in Illinois in response I
offer the sen Junior senator from Ohio
the opportunity to keep his promise to
support law forcement by allowing us to
schedule confirmation votes on these
pending us attorneys exactly what he
said he wanted on the record in the
Senate he looked me in the eye and
agreed with me he released his objection
to both M ludco and Miss Perry on the
condition that he we hold roll call
votes on them which I agreed to and then
seemingly overnight he decided that he
actually does object to even holding
confirmation votes on these nominees he
first he then claimed that quote
expecting us to vote on clure is not too
much to ask I was surprised to hear that
it was a new Wrinkle In His argument
considering that just last month the
junior senator from Ohio was on the
senate floor attempting to force the
Senate to force to skip a closure vote
on one of his bills I look forward to
hearing what his new argument may be
today if he is trying to punish those
who are in a process of Prosecuting
former president of the United States
what is his retribution when it comes to
the state of Georgia we now have so many
counts naming the former president for
wrongdoing and we have four of people
who've been accused who have pled guilty
so far in that process does he have a
special agenda now when it comes to the
state of Georgia in ter to determine
whether or not there's going to be some
retribution going to grind to Hall just
system of justice in that
state so we reached a point where it's
hard to explain senator tuberville of
Alabama is stopping military promotions
of deserving women and men who have
risked their lives in Service to America
another Republican senator is stopping
ambassadorial positions being filled and
now this Senator has decided we have
enough criminal prosecutors in America
to take care of crime we don't need more
well we certainly need these two and
many more doing a professional job and
so Mr President I ask unanimous consent
that at time to be determined by the
majority leader in consultation with the
Republican leader the Senate proceed to
Executive session to consider the
following nominations calendar number
314 and 315 the there be two minutes of
debate equally divided than usual for on
each nomination that upon the use or
yielding back of time the Senate proceed
to vote without intervening action
debate on the nominations in the order
listed the Motions to reconsider be
considered made and laid upon the table
with no intervening action or debate
that no further motions be in order that
the president be immediately notified of
the Senate's action and the Senate then
resume legislative session is there
objection Mr President senator from Ohio
reserving the right to object uh Mr
President with respect to my colleague
from Illinois um you know I I've heard a
number of arguments that I've somehow
changed my tune and what I would say is
I haven't changed my tune the senator
from Illinois keeps making different
arguments and I keep needing to respond
to each one of them but to restate my
fundamental problem here I will note
that one of the the consistent
criticisms of my hold on Department of
Justice nominees is that this is
unprecedented that when Donald Trump was
President we let these nominees sail
through and now I'm holding up these
nominations to the Department of Justice
I would counter that what is
unprecedented is not the hold policy but
the Department of Justice attempting to
throw its political opponents in jail
now much is made about the political
prosecution of Donald Trump I think that
is unjustified and it is frankly uh
scary in the world's greatest democracy
to have the political opposition leader
prosecuted by the sitting president
that's pretty weird not something that's
happens a whole lot in the United States
of America America and thank God for
that but you don't even need to make it
about the current president you can run
down any number of everyday
conservatives people who have been
prosecuted investigated harassed by this
Department of Justice it should be
enforcing the law it should leave the
politics to this chamber and to the
electoral process Mr President I will
continue to object so long as the
Department of Justice conducts its
business in a highly politicized way if
mer Garland or anyone else is listening
please get back to the business of
enforcing the law get out of politics
and then and only then will I release my
hold policy because of that I object
objection is heard Mr President senator
from Illinois last week in my home area
of Chicago a six-year-old Palestinian
boy answered the door and was stabbed
over and over again until he
died and then the as salent went into
another room and tried to kill his
mother the question is whether is this a
hate crime because of his Palestinian
origin does it deserve an investigation
does it sound in America like this is
the sort of thing we want an answer to
who would we turn to for that
investigation the US attorney's office
in the northern district of Illinois but
the senator from Ohio because of his
hurt feelings over the indictment of
former president Trump by many others
has decided to say in my region of the
country we will have no us attorney
we'll leave the position vacant not
because the person isn't qualified to
take it over but because he is hurt and
believes he wants to protest over the
the uh idea of holding a former
president accountable obviously in his
mind former presidents are above the law
not in mine and not in any democracy I
don't know if former president Trump is
guilty of any charges we have a system
of laws and law enforcement to reach
that conclusion but in the meantime
whether it's a hate crime in a suburb of
Chicago are drug crimes that are
claiming lives every single night in
every single neighborhood in our nation
how can we stand here in good conscience
and say we want to grind the Department
of Justice to a halt that is exactly
what he said over and over again grind
the Department of Justice to a halt to
prove what to prove what about this
nation we deserve the opportunity to be
protected by the agencies of government
we've appointed and the men and women
who are willing to sacrifice their time
their skills to serve that purpose and
keep us safer deserve better treatment
than what's happening on the senate
floor I wish I could say this as a
unique experience it has become a
pattern a House of Representatives which
goes for 21 22 days trying to find a
leader on the Republican side of the
aisle military appointments hundreds of
them of men and women qualified serving
our military risking their lives whose
nominations are being held up on the
senate floor by one Republican senator
the idea that we're holding back the
possibility of appointing ambassadors in
parts of the world where war is imminent
and underway and could drag the United
States into conflict if we're not
careful to take that position that we
want to stop government whether it's in
the Department of Defense in their
promotion policy whether it's in the
Department of State and the
representatives around the world or
whether it's in the Department of
Justice is shameful this is not public
service this is a political errand I
wish it would come to an end soon and I
wish the senator who is new to this body
would think twice about whether this is
how he wants to write his record in the
United States Senate I yield the
floor thank you Mr President I
appreciate my colleague from Kansas
making a forceful case for why this
package is necessary we have been told
by the president we have been told by
our Israeli allies we have been told by
a number of National Security Experts
that Israel is in a fight for its life
and it's in a fight for its life against
not just an enemy in Israel but an is an
enemy radical islamist terrorism that
very often has and is planning as we
speak to come to our Shores and to
attack us uh this is a common sense
package as the senator from Kansas
mentioned it gives the president the
exact amount of money that he asked for
to support our Israeli allies what is
different about our bill what is
different about The house's bill that it
already passed is from from what the
president requested is twofold first of
all this is ready to go it is ready to
go today if we pass this package today a
would flow to our Israeli allies
immediately that is reason number one to
support it the other difference from the
president's 106 billion doll Behemoth of
a supplemental is that this is about a
single problem because we should be
debating single problems in this country
the world is complicated of course the
world has intertwined complexities but
we should have enough respect for the
American people to debate these issues
distinctly because they raise separate
questions many of my colleagues may
forget that a matter of weeks ago a
matter of months ago there were people
in this chamber there were people in the
United States of America demanding that
the state of Israel give money and
weapons to the ukrainians money and
weapons that the Israelis are now using
this very moment to defend themselves
the idea that these policies are not in
ttention with one another the idea that
what happens in Russia and Ukraine is
separate from what happens in Israel is
not just obvious it is common since and
it has been borne out by the reality of
the last couple of weeks now my
colleagues would like to collapse these
packages too many of my colleagues would
like to collapse these packages because
they would like to use Israel as a
political fig leaf for the president's
Ukraine policy but the president's
Ukraine policy just like the Israeli
policy should be debated we should talk
about it we should discuss it we should
separate the costs and benefits and
analyze them as distinct policies
because that is what the American people
deserve serve of their legislature now
there are many questions we could ask
about the Ukraine policy many issues
that have gone completely unanswered
number one what is our end goal in
Ukraine you hear commonly that the goal
is to throw the Russians out of every
ounce of Ukrainian territory and yet
when you talk to the president's own
Administration in private they admit
that it is that is a strategic
impossibility let me repeat that no
rational human being in the president's
Administration believes that it is
possible to throw the Russians out of
every inch of Ukrainian territory so why
is that the public justification offered
by many Advocates of indefinite
unlimited Ukrainian Aid because this
debate is fundamentally dishonest we are
not telling the American people the
truth because we know that if we did
tell them the truth they would not
support an indefinite flow of money to
Ukraine what are we doing ladies and
gentlemen how long is this supposed to
go on how much money are we expected to
spend what is the Strategic objective
what are we trying to do are we
monitoring the fact that we have spent
nearly $200 billion if the supplemental
passage passes $200 billion dollars to
one of the most corrupt countries in the
world do we have proper assurances that
all that money is being spent on the
things that we say say tell ourselves
that it's being spent on the answer of
course is no because we have not had a
real debate in this chamber the American
people I think should be ashamed of us
for that fact let me offer just one one
final uh observation
here you've heard in this chamber you've
heard even today that the Ukraine policy
was born of a spirit of bipartisan
agreement that we had this moment where
Democrats and Republicans recognized
that it was very very important to help
the Russ or help the ukrainians push
back against the Russian attack back and
of course we support and praise our
Ukrainian friends they've done a lot
more than many people gave them credit
for but let's also be honest that for 30
years Washington DC has run on
bipartisan foreign policy wisdom and it
has run this country to the ground with
$1.7 trillion deficits war after war
after war that has killed thousands of
Americans millions of other people and
has not led to the Strategic strength of
this country it was great bipartisan
agreement after September the 11th that
threw Saddam out of Iraq and of course a
lot of people celebrated it until we
right now realize that Iraq is a client
state of Iran we empowered one of the
worst regimes in the world with our
bipartisan wisdom maybe what we should
have is some bipartisan wisdom that the
foreign policy of consensus of this
country for the last three decades has
been a disaster it's been a disaster for
this country it's been a disaster for
our dead Marines army soldiers Navy
sailors and Air Force Airmen it has been
a disaster for this country's finances
and it has been a disaster for the
entire world let's have a real debate we
haven't had one in 30 years Mr President
I yield to my distinguished colleague
from Florida
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