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Floor Speech
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Mr. COONS. Madam President, I come to the floor at a time when, I believe, as of today, there are 72 nominees for State Department and USAID positions here in Washington and overseas pending on the Senate floor.
I am going to make a series of unanimous consent requests. I am first going to proceed to one to which there will likely be one objection. Then I will give a few minutes of remarks and then give additional ones.
239, Michele Jeanne Sison, of Maryland, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Career Ambassador, to be an Assistant Secretary of State (International Organization Affairs); that there be 10 minutes for debate, equally divided in the usual form on the nomination; that upon the use or yielding back of time, the Senate proceed to vote without intervening action or debate; and that if the nomination is confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and no further motions be in order on the nomination; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action and the Senate then resume legislative session.
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Mr. COONS. Madam President, at a time when we need senior people to help our country deter adversaries, advance our interests, and secure our values, it is important that all the nominees currently waiting on this floor be confirmed.
They are well qualified. Eight of them would serve under the jurisdiction of my Subcommittee on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in various multilateral organizations and in economic and energy policy.
I understand and I respect the right of colleagues on both sides of the aisle to seek amendments on votes like the Nord Stream 2 issue. I, for one, would be happy to vote on additional subjects around foreign policy and national security, and I pushed for additional votes during the National Defense Authorization Act floor process.
These national security issues are important, and this Chamber owes to the American people robust debate, but we also need to provide advice and consent on any President's nominees in a purposeful and timely manner.
With that in mind, in a few moments, I will officially ask unanimous consent to confirm the following nominees: Jack A. Markell, of Delaware, to be Representative of the United States of America to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, with the rank of Ambassador; R. Nicholas Burns, of Massachusetts, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the People's Republic of China; Rahm Emanuel, of Illinois, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Japan; Steven C. Bondy, of New Jersey, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Kingdom of Bahrain; Cynthia Ann Telles, of California, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Costa Rica; Bathsheba Nell Crocker, of the District of Columbia, to be Representative of the United States of America to the Office of the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva, with the rank of Ambassador; Christopher P. Lu, of Virginia, to be Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations for U.N. Management and Reform, with the rank of Ambassador; Christopher P. Lu, of Virginia, to be an Alternate Representative of the United States of America to the Sessions of the General Assembly of the United Nations, during his tenure of service as Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations for U.N. Management and Reform; Lisa A. Carty, of Maryland, to be Representative of the United States of America on the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, with the rank of Ambassador; Lisa A. Carty, of Maryland, to be an Alternate Representative of the United States of America to the Sessions of the General Assembly of the United Nations, during her tenure of service as Representative of the United States of America on the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations; Laura S. H. Holgate, of Virginia, to be Representative of the United States of America to the Vienna Office of the United Nations, with the rank of Ambassador; Laura S. H. Holgate, of Virginia, to be Representative of the United States of America to the International Atomic Energy Agency, with the rank of Ambassador; C.S. Eliot Kang, of New Jersey, to be an Assistant Secretary of State (International Security and Non-Proliferation); Adam Scheinman, of Virginia, to be Special Representative of the President for Nuclear Nonproliferation, with the rank of Ambassador.
I am going to ask unanimous consent for all of these because they are critical to our foreign policy and our national security.
And I must say at the outset, I have appreciated the opportunity to dialogue with my colleagues about a possible path forward, but as of right now, we don't have one, so I am seeking this unanimous consent.
Principal among the many nominees I just spoke about is my dear friend, Jack Markell. I would like to turn to my colleague, also from the State of Delaware, for a few minutes of remarks about this wonderful public servant we have both known for decades.
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Mr. COONS. I want to thank my colleague, the senior Senator from Delaware. I, too, have known Governor Markell for decades, and I, too, was prepared to make long and fulsome comments about his remarkable record of achievement both as a leader in the private sector, as someone who actually did help create jobs by launching Nextel and by growing it to a remarkable, world-class telecom company, and his leadership as State treasurer, to his leadership as Governor, but that has been covered in wonderful detail.
His Pathways to Prosperity Program in Delaware I have recommended to colleagues of both parties as a model for how we might move forward on apprenticeships and on skilling for the 21st century and his current service as the President's special adviser to lead Operation Allies Welcome. Senator Carper and I just visited Fort Dix on Friday with Governor Markell to see the tremendous work of our Armed Forces and to visit with Afghan families who have just been relocated to the United States. It is just a reminder of his great heart and his dedication to service. I am confident that he has the experience, intelligence, and character to serve admirably as our Ambassador to the OECD.
All the individuals for whom I will call a unanimous consent request here in just a moment--I am confident that these are individuals nominated for positions critical to our national security interest and our ability to maintain our standing in key international organizations.
Four of these nominees will be responsible for representing the United States at various U.N. bodies and three of them for leading work on nuclear energy nonproliferation, to promote energy security while protecting the American people from the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. These are diplomats who will help the United States bolster and reform institutions so they can effectively withstand the steady march, the pressures of authoritarianism, and uphold our core values of human rights, labor rights, democracy, and transparent economic practices.
In conclusion, I ask that we confirm these nominees today so they can move forward with representing our Nation, Governor Markell and many others. Several have been pending since April, more than 220 days; others, for 130 days--since July. It is December.
While I am hopeful that we can yet find a path forward towards a resolution of this impasse, today I was committed to coming to the floor and asking unanimous consent. We need to get these folks into their positions as soon as humanly possible.
318, 319, 442, 446, 460, and 514; that there be 10 minutes for debate equally divided in the usual form on the nominations en bloc; that upon the use or yielding back of time, the Senate proceed to vote without intervening action or debate on the nominations in the order listed; that if a nomination is confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate; that no further motions be in order on these nominations; and that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.
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Mr. COONS. Madam President, if I might, just in concluding this particular exchange, several things are also important to make clear.
First, I think every Member of this Congress is concerned about the security, the independence, the safety of Ukraine and about aggressive actions by Putin's Russia.
Second, earlier today, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and the Senate majority leader urged that all holds on ambassadorial nominees be waived. In the interest of America's security, our place in the world, our ability to do the job that we have to do here in this body of advocating for and representing the interests of the United States by confirming qualified and competent nominees, they have urged that every hold be lifted. That is the current position of the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and the majority leader.
Hearing the objection of my colleague from Texas, I understand there is a significant gap. I commit to working to trying to resolve this in a responsible way, but, in my view, the right lies on the side of those who are saying we should not have holds on Ambassadors.
I also agree that there should be consideration of the issue of whether or not sanctions appropriately should be imposed on the Nord Stream pipeline going forward.
It is my hope that, working together and listening to each other, we can yet find a way forward.
One last comment and concern: At the end of this calendar year, every nominee will return to the White House and need to be renominated. It is my hope that we will also come to an understanding that every nominee for an ambassadorship who has already been heard by the Foreign Relations Committee and advanced to this floor will not be returned and there be a requirement that they be reheard in front of our committee.
We can find a fast path forward. I dedicate myself to finding it and working with any colleague interested in working with me to close this gap in the days that remain.
With that, Madam President, I would like to thank you and my colleagues.
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