Cruz And Murphy Clash In Late-Night Senate Floor Battle

thank you very much uh mr chairman uh i'm gonna continue to propound these unanimous consent requests in the same form uh as the chairman of the committee but before i do just a few brief remarks i know the hour is late first of all it is wonderful to hear this revisionist history about the trump administration's disposition towards russia everybody knows what was going on this was an administration that was practically sycophantish towards the russian regime refused over and over again to stand up in any meaningful way that's why the pipeline got so far along it was the 11th hour when the trump administration at the very last minute decided to move forward on sanctions and so we're not here to debate the merits of the trump administration's decision making on russia policy but suffice it to say russia did very well expanding its influence around the region during the four years that donald trump was in office second the effects of holding up all of these nominees is to kneecap american national security never ever before has a president had so few nominees confirmed to key national security posts than this president it's never happened before and it is true that there's a history in this body of individual senators placing a temporary hold on one or maybe two officials relevant to the policy over which they are having a disagreement with the administration probably many members of this body have done that but at least in the time that i have been here and from what i have heard never before has an individual senator held up this many nominees for key national security post over a disagreement on one specific policy and if every single senator did that because every senator here has a policy disagreement that they believe is significant with the secretary of state with the secretary of housing and urban development with the secretary of defense then the business of nominations and confirmations would grind to an absolute halt in this body i had deep disagreements with president trump but never did i endeavor to hold up every single nominee to state department posts because i came to the conclusion that that would do much much more harm to american national security than whatever concession i might get from the administration would provide a benefit to american national security and so i share this just really paralyzing fear that senator menendez expressed that something awful is going to happen without the kind of personnel that every president needs on post to do the job we could probably get by if this was a hold of one or two or three individuals we're talking about dozens of key national security posts that are left vacant because of the decision of one senator and so i will continue to propound these requests i imagine the decision will not be different i would ask that it be in order to make the same request as those that senator menendez was making with respect to executive calendar number 327 and a watkowski to be assistant secretary of state for conflict and stabilization operations is there objection mr president the senator from texas preserving the right to object you know the senator from connecticut spoke of revisionist history and perhaps it was fitting that he did so because we proceeded to hear quite a bit of revisionist history the unfortunate reality is the democratic party in this chamber has been reluctant to stand up to russia and reluctant to stand up to the soviet union before that for decades the democratic party consistently has embraced weakness on russia and the soviet union i'm old enough to remember president barack obama in a debate with republican nominee mitt romney when mitt romney said we need to stand up to russia and president obama turned to him and said mitt the 1980s called and they want their foreign policy back because the democratic party's position was weakness to russia i'm old enough to remember president obama leading over to medvedev caught on a hot mic saying tell vladimir that would be putin i'll have more flexibility after the election it was only when donald trump was elected that the democratic party suddenly discovered russia as a menace now i welcome that i welcome that sudden discovery i think russia was a menace before and after but for too many senate democrats it's purely political russia russia russia was a stick to beat up on donald trump and the substance of it didn't matter and so the senator from connecticut said well gosh donald trump he thinks was terrible on russia here is a simple fact under president trump we stopped the pipeline the day this sanctions legislation was signed into law under president biden putin began building the pipeline again those are facts you want to talk about who's weak on russia those are simple facts and those facts are dangerous because joe biden's giving a multi-billion dollar gift of vladimir putin was a generational geopolitical mistake because it strengthens russia and it weakens america because it endangers u.s national security interests i object objection is hurt mr president the senator from connecticut mr president because american national security is gravely compromised by the inability of a president to have his national security team in place at a time of crisis i would ask that it be in order to make the same request with respect to executive calendar number three to eight annie witkoski to be coordinator for reconstruction stabilization is there objection mr president the senator from texas reserving the right to object just a few moments ago the senator from connecticut bad is going to happen let me tell you right what he's right something bad is going to happen and there's a reason for it the biden foreign policy in just seven months has been the most disastrous foreign policy we have seen of any administration since jimmy carter to every enemy of america they have projected weakness on russia joe biden has given vladimir putin what he wanted most a multi-billion dollar pipeline to let him extort europe on china the biden administration has been projecting weakness over and over and over again including cowtowning to china and reversing the state department policy on taiwan prohibiting taiwan from displaying their flag or wearing military uniforms on u.s government property towing to the communist party in china on iran the biden administration has said as their top foreign policy objectives sending billions of dollars to the ayatollah khamenei even as he's the leading state sponsor of terrorism in the world and chants death to america and on hamas the biden administration has sent hundreds of millions of dollars to the palestinian authority much of which has found its way to hamas and has been been materialized in rockets raining down on israel so is something bad going to happen yes because when you show weakness to our enemies it encourages our enemies and they get more and more aggressive where i differ with the senator from connecticut is i don't think the way to avoid something bad is to keep showing weakness and give putin what he wants the way to stand up to our enemies is to demonstrate strength not weakness i believe in peace through strength and i think appeasement invites conflict because joe biden's multi-billion dollar gift of vladimir putin is a generational geopolitical mistake because it spent strengthens russia at the expense of america and because it undermines u.s national security interests i object objection is heard mr president the senator from connecticut mr president because every single day that the president doesn't have his team in place to protect this nation our nation is under more serious threat i ask that it be in order to make the same request with respect to calendar number three to nine marry catherine fee a career member of the senior foreign service to be a member of the board of directors of the african development foundation for a term expiring september 27 2026. is there objection mr president the senator from texas reserving the right to object i would note one of the efforts that the state department has endeavored to do to try to force these nominations through is planning a whole series of articles and papers which they somehow believed would pressure me the most amusing of which was an article i believe in politico if i remember correctly that began ominously the mansions in europe where our ambassadors reside are sadly empty due to this one senator's objections i will confess my heart is not broken that some rich democratic donor is not whining and dining people in a grand ambassadorial mansion i'm sure that is enormous crisis in georgetown what i think is a crisis is making putin stronger and russia stronger and weakening europe weakening our allies and weakening america and because biden's multi-billion dollar gift to putin weakened america strengthened russia and undermined our u.s national security i object objection is heard mr president the senator from connecticut mr president because china is absolutely celebrating every single day that our core of diplomats is dramatically and dangerously understaffed because of these holds on the president's nominees i ask that it be in order to make the same request with respect to executive calendar number 330 mary catherine fee a career member of the senior foreign service to be a member of the board of directors of the african development foundation for a term expiring september 27 2021 is there objection mr president senator from texas reserving the right to object i would note there's some irony in the senator from connecticut expressing his deep concern about china just an hour or two after this chamber voted on an amendment i introduced that said that we should not be importing electric vehicles that were made in china using slave labor in concentration camps and the senator from connecticut and every single democratic senator save one voted to reject that amendment the consequences of that the biden administration is preparing to import millions of dollars of electric vehicles that were built or parts of them were built using slave labor in concentration camps in china you want to talk about what is encouraging empowering the chinese communist regime it is the willingness of the democratic party to overlook their murder torture and concentration camps because of their commitment to the green new deal because joe biden's giving a multi-billion dollar gift of vladimir putin strengthened russia at the expense of america and it undermined u.s national security interests i object objection is heard mr president senator from connecticut mr president similarly because without an ability to have u.s diplomats on post to have our most important leadership positions staffed we make ourselves intentionally and deliberately unable to be able to manage crises across the world i would ask that it be in order to make the same requests with respect to executive calendar 331 mary catherine fee career member of the senior foreign service to be assistant secretary of state for african affairs is there objection mr president senator from texas reserving the right to object because joe biden's multi-billion dollar gift of this pipeline in defiance of u.s law and contravention of the overwhelming bipartisan consensus of congress because it strengthens russia at the expense of america and it undermines u.s national security i object objection is heard mr president senator from connecticut mr president i would ask that it be in order to make the same request with respect to executive calendar number 332 lee satterfield to be assistant secretary of state for educational and cultural affairs is their objection mr president senator from texas reserving the right to object because joe biden's multi-billion dollar gift of vladimir putin is a generational geopolitical mistake that strengthens russia at the expense of america that undermines u.s national security i object objection is heard senator from connecticut thank you mr president i would ask it to be in order to make the same request with respect to executive calendar 333 karen donfried to be assistant secretary of state for european affairs and eurasian affairs is there objection mr president senator from texas reserving the right to object because joe biden's multi-billion dollar gift of vladimir putin is a generational geopolitical mistake because it strengthens russia at the expense of america and it undermines u.s national security i object objection is heard senator from connecticut thank you mr president i ask that it be in order to make the same request with respect to executive calendar 334 jessica lewis to be assistant secretary of state for political military affairs was there objection mr president senator from texas reserving the right to object because joe biden's multi-billion dollar gift of vladimir putin is a generational geopolitical mistake because it strengthens russia at the expense of america and it undermines u.s national security i object objection assert mr president senator from connecticut mr president i ask that it be in order to make the same request with respect to executive calendar 335 donald liu a career member of the senior foreign service to be assistant secretary of state for south asian affairs is there objection mr president senator from texas reserving the right to object because joe biden's multi-billion dollar gift of vladimir putin is a generational geopolitical mistake because it strengthens russia at the expense of america and it undermines u.s national security i object objection is heard mr president the senator from connecticut mr president i asked it be in order to make the same request with respect to executive calendar 336 paloma adams allen to be a deputy administrator of the united states agency for international development is there objection mr president the senator from texas reserving the right to object because joe biden's multi-billion dollar gift to vladimir putin is a generational geopolitical mistake because it strengthens russia at the expense of america and undermines u.s national security i object objection is heard president the senator from connecticut mr president i asked it to be in order to make the same request with respect to executive calendar 337 isabelle coleman to be a deputy administrator of the united states agency for international development is there objection mr president the senator from texas preserving the right to object because joe biden's multi-billion dollar gift of vladimir putin is a generational geopolitical mistake because it strengthens russia at the expense of america and it undermines u.s national security i object objection is heard mr president the senator from connecticut mr president i'm uh at the final unanimous consent request uh i'll make it in a moment just to note as we're wrapping up here this has taken a while and this list of pending nominees is going to grow it's going to get longer and longer they're going to be more key posts that are going to go unfilled and i understand senator cruz's desire to use his power to hold these nominees in order to get a change in policy from this administration i i doubt that the administration which has already set a clear direction has executed an agreement with the germans is going to abide my worry though is that this won't be the end that this is not going to be the last foreign policy decision that senator from texas or other republican senators disagree with nor will it likely be the last decision that any high profile cabinet member makes that finds disagreement from my republican colleagues and so i end where i began which is to say that senator cruz and i have a difference of opinion uh with respect to nordstrom and the gravity of the moment that we find ourselves in but this place just becomes unworkable if every single senator holds up this many nominees over one particular policy disagreement and this tactic will be utilized by democrats when there's a republican in the white house it might not be me because i find this objectionable but it will be copied and you will find the same thing happening to a republican president their administration grinding to a halt in whatever department finds itself the object of this tactic and so i continue to express this deep worry about what it means to not have individuals in place in somalia overseeing the western hemisphere to not have someone overseeing our counter-narcotics operations but this list will get longer and longer and longer and the risk to american security will be greater and again i will just suggest that the harm being done here to u.s security is much greater than the benefit that the senator believes will be gained through a negotiation over these posts with the administration and so at the risk of inspiring another very long speech from the senator from texas um i make those remarks and i ask finally that it be in order to make the same request as i have senator menendez has with respect to executive calendar 150 brett holmgren to be assistant secretary of state for intelligence and research is there objection mr president the senator from texas reserving the right to object you know the senator from connecticut is correct that if a senator were to halt a large number of nominations for an idiosyncratic concern for a concern unique to that senator that were not was not widely shared that could constitute an abuse of power and i'm going to suggest some aspects of this situation that make it quite different and that in a subsequent administration if there were a comparable situation would make these same levers appropriate number one the biden administration is defying three separate federal laws two different nordstrom two sanctions both of which i authored along with democratic senator jeanne shaheen both of which passed the senate and the house and were signed into law both of which enjoyed massive near unanimous bipartisan support in addition to that katsa strong russia sanctions that are mandatory that are designed to force a president to sanction russia even if they're reluctant to do so like joe biden is right now the administration is defying the law and so the message that i have conveyed to the administration repeatedly is follow the law i'm not asking for a change in the law i'm saying follow the law that's number one if you have an administration that is openly defying the law but number two that is openly defying an overwhelming bipartisan consensus of congress this is not a narrow partisan issue and i would note after joe biden waived the sanctions on nordstrom 2. in the senate foreign relations committee i introduced an amendment to reverse his decision every single senator but one on that committee voted in favor of my amendment the senator from connecticut voted in favor of my amendment the senator from new jersey voted in favor of my amendment the biden administration is telling all of congress jump in a lake we don't care that every democrat and virtually every republican has a dramatically different assessment of this situation than they do third the national security magnitude of this issue this was a major national security victory when i met with the biden administration with each of their successive national security officials i said look i understand the instinct of any new administration to say whatever the old guys did must be wrong i get the biden guys want to say whatever trump did must be wrong and by the way the trump guys by and large said whatever obama did must be wrong that's not a new thing whenever you have a change in administration that tends to be a default position but what i urge them to do is just because that's your knee-jerk instinct this was a massive bipartisan victory for america a national security victory that we won that joe biden is on the verge of throwing away and the secretary of state sat in my office and promised to fight to sanction nordstrom 2. the deputy secretary of state sat in my office and promised to fight to sanction nordstrom 2. the under secretary of state sat in my office and promised to fight sanctioned nordstream 2. they did in fact fight to sanction nordstrom 2 but unfortunately they were overruled by the white house which made a political decision to give in to putin in those circumstances when you are defying explicit u.s law when you are defying the overwhelming bipartisan consensus of congress and when you're endangering u.s national security and indeed turning a victory into a loss i think it's appropriate to use the tools we have in front of us that being said i have engaged in active negotiation with the biden administration in the past week i've had conversations on this topic with the secretary of the treasury with the deputy secretary of the treasury with the national security adviser i've had conversations with multiple democratic senators about a path forward but i'll tell you what the path forward is not going to be it's not going to be let's roll over give putin his pipeline and accept a massive national security loss for america if that's where joe biden and kamala harris want to go they can go there but they're not going to go there with my acquiescence and i'm going to use every tool i have as a senator elected by the people of texas to prevent that outcome accordingly because joe biden's decision to defy u.s law to defy the overwhelming bipartisan consensus of congress to surrender to vladimir putin to give him his number one priority a multi-billion dollar pipeline that will provide billions of dollars of rewards for russia for decades to come because that decision is a generational geopolitical mistake on the order of magnitude of jimmy carter's giving away the panama canal that even 50 years later the consequences of that geopolitical mistake still still reverberate 50 years from now russian dictators will benefit from joe biden's weakness on russia because that strengthens russia because it empowers russia to attack our enemies to extort our enemies to engage in economic blackmail against our enemies be against our allies rather because our allies are begging us not to do this i've met with senior officials of the ukraine ukraine ukrainians are begging us not to do this and the biden white house is threatening ukraine keep your mouth shut because we have a political objective here because that strengthens russia at the expense of the united states at the expense of europe at the expense of our allies because it destroys jobs in america and because it endangers u.s national security i emphatically object objection is hurt president senator from connecticut mr president i um i understand the senator believes he has such a serious objection to administration policy that it merits this exceptional tactic i would submit as i move into closing business that it is not the biggest disagreement that a senator has had with an administration is not the biggest disagreement that a group of senators has had with an administration to believe that i think would be to elevate this dispute beyond its merits not to suggest it isn't significant but it's not the most significant disagreement that an individual senator has ever had with an administration what is exceptional is this tactic never before as a united states senator used their power in this way to hold up this many nominees at such a critical moment that is what except that's what's exceptional that's what makes this moment so dangerous that's why senator menendez and i came down to the floor to try to unlock some of these nominees towards confirmation because it is the tactic not the disagreement that is the exception mr president i would ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations in block calendars 268 321 189 247 267 270 344 301 295 296 297 298 299 that the senate vote on the nominations end block without intervening action or debate the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate that any statements related to the nominations be printed in the record that the president be immediately notified of the senate's action and the senate resume legislative session is there objection without objection the question concerns on nomination on bloc all in favor say say aye aye all opposed no [Music] the eyes appear to have it the eyes do have it the nominations are confirmed mr president i would ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of s res 353 submitted earlier today the clerk will report srs 353 designating august 2021 as national catfish month is there objection to proceeding to the measure with without objection the senate will proceed mr president i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to the preamble be agreed to and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate will that objection uh mr president i'd ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to consideration of s res 354 submitted earlier today the clerk will report esres 354 celebrating the 100th anniversary of military aviation in indiana is there objection to proceeding to the measure well without objection the senate will proceed mr president i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to the preamble be agreed to that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate without objection mr president i'd ask now unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today it adjourn to then convene for pro forma sessions only with no business being conducted on the following dates and times and that following each pro forma session the senate adjourn until the next pro forma session friday august 13th at 9 30 am tuesday august 17th at 9 30 a.m friday august 20th at 9 00 a.m tuesday august 24th at 8 30 a.m friday august 27th at 9 00 a.m tuesday august 31st at 10 30 a.m friday september 3rd at 1 30 p.m tuesday september 7th at 1 pm and thursday september 9th at 12 noon i further ask that when the senate adjourns on thursday september 9th it next convene at 3 pm monday september 13th further that following the prayer and pledge the morning hour be deemed expired the journal 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 further that upon the conclusion of morning business the senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the caval nomination finally that the closure motions filed during today's session ripen at 5 30 p.m on monday september 13th is there objection without objection if there's no further business to come before the senate i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order the senate stands adjourned until friday the september 13th no friday the 13th at 9 30 a.m

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Keywords: Sen. Ted Cruz, Sen. Chris Murphy, Senate

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Length: 33min 50sec (2030 seconds)

Published: Wed Aug 11 2021