SUPERCUT: JD Vance Delivers Remarks On Senate Floor His First Year In Office | 2023 Rewind

Summary

The 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

00:00

😴 Long speech about appointing a US ambassador to the African Union

05:00

😤 Objection raised regarding nominee's comments and ideology

10:03

🗣 Back and forth debate over the nomination

15:04

😤 Objection to Department of Justice nominations

20:04

😤 Debate over ending mask mandates

25:05

😤 Objection to confirming US Attorney nominees

30:07

😤 Request for vote on pending US Attorney nominations

35:08

😤 Defense of Department of Justice holds despite tradition

40:10

🗣 Urging confirmation of US attorneys facing security threats

45:12

😤 Accusation of politicization regarding Trump prosecution

50:13

😠 Denouncement of holds preventing law enforcement nominations

Keywords

💡us attorney

A US attorney is a federal prosecutor who represents the United States federal government in legal cases. They are responsible for prosecuting federal crimes and representing the government's interests in court. The video script discusses the nomination and confirmation of US attorneys, with senators debating whether to confirm two nominees. The US attorneys would lead efforts to prosecute violent criminals, drug trafficking, and other federal crimes. Senator Vance is blocking their confirmation to protest the politicization of the Department of Justice under the Biden administration.

💡Department of Justice

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is the agency of the US federal government responsible for law enforcement and administering justice. It includes agencies like the FBI and US attorneys. Multiple senators in the video accuse the DOJ under Biden and Attorney General Garland of being overly politicized by investigating former President Trump. Senator Vance pledges to stall DOJ activities in protest until it returns to simply enforcing laws.

💡confirmation process

The confirmation process refers to the constitutional requirement for the US Senate to review and approve presidential nominations to certain federal positions. The video focuses on the nomination and confirmation process for US attorneys. Traditionally most US attorney candidates are easily confirmed, but Senator Vance is blocking quick confirmation of two nominees to protest DOJ politicization.

💡closure vote

A closure vote in the Senate is a vote to end debate and move forward with a final vote. Senator Durbin offers Senator Vance closure votes on the US attorney candidates he is blocking, but Vance objects to even allowing the closure votes, going back on his own stated wishes.

💡Hunter Biden investigation

The video references the federal investigation and potential corruption charges against Hunter Biden, President Biden's son. His plea deal recently fell apart. Senator Vance contrasts the gentle treatment Hunter receives compared to aggressive investigation of former President Trump, which he calls politically biased.

💡Jesse Smollett controversy

Jesse Smollett is an actor who staged a fake racist and homophobic attack against himself and falsely reported it as a real hate crime. The video references nominee April Perry's role in the Smollett case while she worked under a controversial State Attorney in Chicago, which Senator Vance sees as disqualifying.

💡Ukraine aid package

The $40 billion Ukraine aid package is referenced as Senator Paul argues foreign policy issues like Israel and Ukraine should be debated separately. He criticizes bipartisan consensus on overseas aid and thinks there should be more debate on objectives and oversight regarding aid to Ukraine specifically.

💡Israeli security assistance

Senator Moran advocates approval of $1 billion in emergency security assistance for Israel, which is fighting threats from Iran and other militant groups. He contrasts the swift aid in their standalone bill compared to Biden's larger Ukraine supplemental request that is facing delays.

💡ambassador confirmation delays

Senator Durbin criticizes Republican senators who are holding up the confirmation of various ambassadors. With conflict looming around the world, not having ambassadors confirmed threatens US diplomacy and security interests.

💡government shutdown

Senator Durbin warns that opposition by some Republican congressmen to electing a House Speaker could lead to a government shutdown. This demonstrates broader Republican obstruction that is also occurring in the Senate per Durbin.

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