Nomination of Antony John Blinken

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, as we move through the first full week of the Biden administration, the Senate will continue the important work of confirming President Biden's Cabinet.

Today, the Senate will hold a confirmation vote for Tony Blinken to be the next Secretary of State. Mr. Blinken is just the right person to rebuild and reassert America's national security prerogatives on the global stage and reestablish the first instrument of American power: diplomacy.

For 4 years, the failed diplomacy of the Trump administration weakened our alliances, strengthened and emboldened our adversaries, and tarnished America's reputation abroad. We must reaffirm our commitment to NATO and other critical alliances around the world. We must hold Russia accountable for its malicious interference in democracies. We must confront China's economic, political, and human rights abuses. And we must work with the family of nations to combat the existential threat of climate change.

Once confirmed, Mr. Blinken will also inherit a State Department workforce in desperate need of a leader who knows that everyone on the team plays a critical role in advancing America's interests abroad. Under President Trump, our Nation's diplomats and State Department civilians were relegated to the sidelines, and too many positions in the State Department were left vacant or relegated to irrelevance.

None of this will be easy, but I am confident that Mr. Blinken is exactly the right person for the job. I look forward to seeing this Chamber confirm his nomination later today.

After that, both parties must keep working together to confirm the rest of President Biden's outstanding Cabinet. We are off to a decent pace with the confirmations of the President's Secretaries of Defense, Treasury, and Director of National Intelligence. I appreciate the Republican leader's cooperation and hope it will continue because our country needs that.

That pace must continue this week with the confirmation of the Secretaries of Homeland Security and Transportation. After that, we need a Health and Human Services Secretary installed to oversee the public health response to COVID; an Education Secretary to facilitate the safe reopening of the schools, guided by the science; and a Secretary of HUD to help America's struggling families stay in their homes during this horrible economic crisis. The Senate is working at an encouraging pace, and we will not let up.

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