Executive Session

Floor Speech

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Mr. CASSIDY. Mr. President, I rise to speak to the nomination of and the vote we are about to have on Kyle Duncan. Kyle Duncan is from Louisiana. He has been nominated to be on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Let me speak a little bit about his qualifications and why I think we should support his nomination and vote yes.

First, I have a little bit of pride in this; he is a graduate of LSU, my alma mater, and graduated from LSU's law school, the Paul M. Hebert Law School. He graduated in the Order of the Coif and subsequently got a master of law degree from Columbia University. He has the training, experience, and institutional knowledge to be a successful judge.

I have discussed his academics; let's speak about his experience. His breadth of experience makes him a great choice. He was certified as ``well qualified'' by the American Bar Association. He has extensive courtroom experience on the Tenth and Fifth Circuit Courts of Appeals, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, the Texas and Louisiana Supreme Courts, and he has twice argued in the U.S. Supreme Court. He has experience working in the public and private sectors and in academia. He pulls from diverse legal backgrounds, including criminal law, American Disabilities Act regulations, section 1983 claims, healthcare law, adoptions, and contract law. He understands the Fifth Circuit.

After law school, Mr. Duncan clerked on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals under the Honorable John M. Duhe, Jr. He was the assistant solicitor general at the Texas attorney general's office and a professor at the University of Mississippi Law School. He is the appellate chief of the Louisiana Department of Justice. All of these are States included in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Again, this is the experience and background we should look for when selecting a judicial nominee.

I will also add that he is of high character. Even those who are going to vote no have been impressed once they have met him. They consider him a genuinely nice man whose body of work is reflective of someone who is decent. His body of work also demonstrates his high respect for legal precedent. He understands that a judge is not an advocate for a particular case but, instead, an adjudicator upholding the law, applying the law to the facts. He is a man of high integrity, high character--something sorely needed in this world but especially to be demonstrable in the Federal judiciary.

Clearly, Mr. Duncan is a qualified nominee, having that which it takes to be a successful judge. I recommend Mr. Duncan without reservation, and I urge my colleagues to join in supporting his nomination. Nomination of Mike Pompeo

Mr. President, this relates to Mike Pompeo, who is the nominee for Secretary of State. If there is one thing everyone in Washington seems to agree on these days--indeed, in our country--it is that we face very serious threats around the globe. From Russian aggression in Eastern Europe and Syria to China's expansion in the South China Sea, to Iran's increased threats against Israel, to a North Korean dictator who likes to fire off missiles and test nuclear weapons, to the collapse of Venezuela, to transnational criminal organizations contributing to the opioid epidemic at home, to trade issues, our country is facing big challenges. As we face these global threats, we need a well-qualified Secretary of State who understands diplomacy and is working to keep our country safe.

It is hard to think of someone more qualified than Mike Pompeo. As Director of the CIA, a former Member of Congress, a top graduate of West Point, and editor of the Harvard Law Review, there are zero--I say zero--questions about his ability. That is what is troubling about our colleagues across the aisle who appear ready to oppose his nomination en masse for no other reason than that he is a Republican nominated by President Trump. It seems to be the latest example of Washington Democrats kowtowing to the so-called resistance movement, opposing anything and everything because they can't accept that Donald Trump was elected President of the United States.

It used to be said that our partisan differences ended at the shoreline; that we presented a united face to the rest of the world. An extension of that is whom we select as Secretary of State. It is worth noting that the previous Secretaries of State appointed under President Obama had overwhelming support, both from Democrats and Republicans, precisely because of the importance of having a Secretary of State in place in this challenging world but also, again, because partisan differences should not be reflected to the outside. In this case, that has been lost in the name of the resistance.

When it comes to the critical position of Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, in particular, would be the man for the job as we deal with Russia, Iran, North Korea, Syria, and other challenges. I urge my Democratic colleagues to do the right thing for our country instead of catering to the most extreme elements of their party.

Most of my Senate colleagues supported Mike Pompeo when he was nominated to serve as CIA Director. They should support him now as Secretary of State so we can show the world that while we may have our political differences at home about any number of issues, we stand united as Americans when it comes to facing threats to our security abroad.
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