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Floor Speech
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Mr. WICKER. Let me talk about an easy choice that the Senate will soon have to make, and that is the nomination of Mr. Stephen Feinberg, President Trump's choice to serve as Deputy Secretary of Defense.
Here is the reason it is going to be an easy choice for us in just a few moments. He was reported from the Armed Services Committee by an 18-to-9 vote--a bipartisan overwhelming vote--and he will do a good job.
The Secretary of Defense focuses on policy, on the overall policy. The Deputy Secretary of Defense--the position that Mr. Feinberg will hold if he is confirmed, as I am sure he will be--this person oversees the day-to-day operations of the vast Pentagon by leading its budget process, managing its people, and driving crucial internal reforms. Steve Feinberg is the exact person for this.
Now, under normal circumstances, the Deputy Secretary of Defense requires exemplary skills in management, budgeting, and problem- solving, but today's extraordinary environment requires even more than that--a manager of the highest caliber in that role. So let's look at just two or three items from Steve Feinberg's resume.
He has been founder and cochief executive officer and chief investment officer of Cerberus. He founded and cofounded other Cerberus affiliates and Cerberus funds. He managed separate pools of capital for Gruntal & Company, and he also had high responsibilities in Drexel Burnham Lambert. He knows how to manage huge, billion-dollar operations and to manage people.
He is also a perfect person for this role. He is well-spoken. He is calm. He is understated. He will be largely invisible. But he is the man to help us rebuild the military, reform the way the Pentagon does business, and turn this unaudited Pentagon bureaucracy around.
He will get a resounding bipartisan vote on the floor, I predict, as he did in the committee.
I congratulate the President on this nomination and on the bipartisan vote that we will soon get on a vote that is relatively easy compared to some of the harder votes later on today.
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