Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2015
Floor Speech
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Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, I am here to join my colleagues because I share the concerns they have expressed so eloquently about the failure of this body to act on the nominees whom they have been talking about. But the other nominees, particularly the 27 national security nominees who are pending on the floor of the Senate--these nominees are not being held up due to concerns about their qualifications or their experience. As my colleagues have said, they are being held up for political reasons--political reasons that are often wholly unrelated to the nominee, and in most cases they are being held up by just one Member of this body.
I find it particularly ironic that, in many cases, they are being held up by a Member of this body who is out on the campaign trail, campaigning for President. He is not here dealing with the work of this country and not here fighting to address the national security of this country by making sure that we confirm these nominees. So I am disappointed that, once again, we see my colleague from Utah here on his behalf to object to our efforts to move forward with these unanimous consent requests for Tom Shannon, John Estrada, Azita Raji, and Samuel Heins.
As Senator Cardin noted, I want to begin with Ambassador Shannon, because Ambassador Shannon would fill one of the most senior positions at the State Department as the Under Secretary for Political Affairs. He would be responsible for working with the Europeans on implementation of the Iran agreement, on coordinating the G-7 to combat Russian aggression, as well as providing daily oversight and direction to all of the Department's regional bureaus.
We had a hearing this morning before the Foreign Relations Committee, talking about the strains on the European Union and the implications for American foreign policy. One of the things our witnesses who were testifying on behalf of the majority and the minority discussed was the challenges we are facing from Russian aggression. I am sure we all appreciate that in this body. The fact that we are holding up Ambassador Shannon, who would be responsible for coordinating the G-7 response to Russian aggression, is just hard to fathom. I don't get it. I don't understand why anybody in this body would want to hold up the appointment of one of the key leaders of the team to fight Russian aggression.
Ambassador Shannon is clearly qualified for the job. He is a career Foreign Service officer. He has served with distinction in five administrations--two Democratic and three Republican. He was nominated for this position in September. He had his confirmation hearing in October. He was unanimously approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and now he has been waiting 98 days for the full Senate to act on his nomination.
There isn't much I can add to the outrage and eloquence of my colleagues from Minnesota, Senator Klobuchar and Senator Franken, who talked about their frustration at the holdup in confirming Azita Raji, who has been waiting 398 days--over a year--to be Ambassador to Sweden; Samuel Heins, who has been waiting 265 days to be Ambassador to Norway.
Again, I would go back and point to the hearing we had this morning before the Foreign Relations Committee, where one of the issues that our witnesses testified to was the importance of working with our Scandinavian allies as we look to combat Russian aggression. Here we are. And I said: So, what does it mean to Sweden and Norway that we have been holding up the nominees to be Ambassadors to those two countries--one for over a year and one for almost a year? And they said: It sends a very bad message to Europe, at a time when Europe is challenged, that we don't care what is going on in Sweden and Norway.
In 1914, Norway, a NATO ally, scrambled their F-16 fighters 74 times to intercept Russian warplanes. They are there on the frontlines helping to fight Russian aggression. Where are we in the Senate? We can't even confirm the Ambassador to Norway because we have one person in this body who doesn't care enough about the national security of this country to be here to help make sure this person gets confirmed. That is not acceptable.
I also want to talk about two other nominees whose qualifications are unquestioned. Yet they remain unconfirmed. Brian Egan is the President's nominee to be a principal advisor to the State Department and the Secretary of State on all legal issues, domestic and international. This role includes assisting in the formulation and implementation of the foreign policies of the United States and promoting the development of law and institutions as elements of those policies. It is something that is very important, especially as we look at some of the countries that are being threatened now by Russian aggression--Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova.
Mr. Egan's qualifications to hold this position are clear. He began his career as a civil servant and government lawyer in the office of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. He subsequently worked at Treasury, at the National Security Council, and as a Deputy Assistant to the President.
He was nominated more than a year ago--384 days to be exact. He was unanimously approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in June. Yet he is still in this ``hold'' position because of one or two individuals in this body for reasons unrelated to his qualifications.
204, Brian James Egan to be Legal Advisor of the Department of State; that the Senate proceed to vote without intervening action or debate on the nomination; that if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.
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Mrs. SHAHEEN. Again, that is disappointing. Again, it is unfortunate that somebody who has served so honorably in both Republican and Democratic administrations is being held up for reasons totally unrelated to his qualifications and to the job he would do at the Department of State. Unanimous Consent Request--Presidential Nomination
I know that many Republicans in this body are as outraged as we are about the holdup. I hope they will act with us to move these nominees. One of those people is still being held up, this time by the Banking Committee, which has refused to schedule a vote on the nomination of Adam Szubin to be the Treasury Department's Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Crimes. This position leads to policy, enforcement, regulatory, and intelligence functions of the Treasury Department aimed at identifying and disrupting the lines of financial support to international terrorist organizations, proliferators of weapons of mass destruction, narcotics traffickers, and other actors who pose a threat to our national security or foreign policy. This position is critical, as we look at legislation that we are talking about taking up next week with respect to sanctions on North Korea, with respect to continued sanctions on Iran, on Russia, to other bad actors, to terrorists who are out there. Mr. Szubin is extremely well qualified for this position. He has served in both Republican and Democratic administrations.
He was nominated 294 days ago. Yet even Banking Committee Chairman Shelby called Szubin ``eminently qualified'' during his September confirmation hearing. The fact that the committee has not held a vote and the Senate has not confirmed him lessens his ability to influence our allies and to undermine our enemies around the world, which is what we want to happen. If we are worried about our ability to enforce sanctions, if we are worried about the national security of this country and one of the weapons that we have to use to protect this country, then we ought to be confirming Adam Szubin.
It is very disappointing that my Republican colleagues continue to object and that my colleague from Utah is here on behalf of Senator Cruz from Texas, objecting to moving forward. Even though I understand that he is going to object, I am going to put forward another unanimous consent motion because I think we need to come back here every day from now until the end of this session and ask unanimous consent to move forward on these nominees because it is unacceptable that we are still here at this time without confirming these people.
Szubin to be Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Crimes; that the Senate proceed to its consideration and vote without intervening action or debate; that if 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 to the nomination; that any statements related to the nomination be printed in the Record; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action and the Senate then resume legislative session.
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Mrs. SHAHEEN. Again, it is very disappointing that the objection has been made, this time on behalf of the Senator from Alabama, who is here, so it is disappointing that he is not on the floor to talk about what his objections to Adam Szubin are. I believe that refusing to move these nominations does a profound disservice not only to these Americans who have sacrificed to serve this country but to the national security of the United States.
I call on the majority leader to schedule votes on these nominees and other pending national security nominees to let the Senate do its job at a time when the world is facing national security challenges on a number of fronts. When nations are looking to the United States for leadership, we cannot afford to sideline ourselves by failing to confirm these important nominees.
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