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Floor Speech
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Mr. SCHATZ. Mr. President, I am here today to speak in support of the nomination and confirmation of Christopher Lowman to be the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment. We are in a fight for the free world and that requires maintaining a robust military presence of our allies, including and especially NATO countries.
Any U.S. mission also needs a strong logistics chain. That means being able to move troops, medical supplies, fuel, tents, anything else throughout the world at any given time. And this is no longer an abstraction. We have seen what happens when it isn't in place. We are seeing it in real time with Russia's equipment and training problems in Ukraine.
And that is why we have an Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment to lead on logistics. As we are watching the Ukrainians bravely push back this unprovoked Russian war, part of the reason that they are having success is that the Russian logistics chain is absolutely broken. We, in the United States, and our Armed Forces take logistics extraordinarily seriously. But we don't have the person in charge of that confirmed to lead the Department on logistics.
This position is left unfilled because Josh Hawley is blocking Mr. Lowman's nomination. Senator Hawley apparently disagrees with the Biden administration policy on Afghanistan, and so he is punishing our servicemembers and our NATO allies while a war in Europe is raging. It is worth repeating. Senator Hawley is mad about what happened 6 months ago in a different part of the world, and in response, he is harming the Department of Defense and our national security.
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Mr. SCHATZ. I will not yield.
Mr. Lowman is well-qualified for this job, and no one is disputing that. He is a Marine Corps veteran who spent nearly four decades working for the Army. He has the exact expertise necessary to help support our logistics chain and help to make sure that our military remains the best fighting force on the planet. It is time for Senator Hawley to release this hold and move the nomination forward.
This is preposterous. You can do a hold. Members do a hold. The Presiding Officer has done a hold. I have done a hold. I voted no on nominees. I retaliated against Democratic and Republican administrations when I disagreed with policy. But a blanket hold on the Department of Defense and holding the person in charge of our logistics chain is absolutely inexcusable.
777, Christopher Joseph Lowman, of Virginia, to be an Assistant Secretary of Defense, and that the Senate vote on the nomination without intervening action or debate; that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, and statements related to the nomination be printed in the Record.
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Mr. SCHATZ. Is there an objection? Does he object or not?
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Mr. SCHATZ. Will the Senator yield to a question?
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Mr. SCHATZ. Will the Senator yield?
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Mr. SCHATZ. I am asking, will the Senator yield.
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Mr. SCHATZ. What Senator Hawley wants is an excuse to go through his litany of criticisms of the Biden administration. And the truth is that every Senator has that right without blocking the logistics guy from the Department of Defense.
He could have brought his floor charts out here and given a withering speech about all of the things that he thought went wrong. But he is doing a very specific thing: He is damaging the Department of Defense. We have senior DOD leaders, we have the Armed Services Committee coming to us and saying: I don't know what to tell him. I don't know how to satisfy him, but he is blocking the staffing of the senior leadership at the Department of Defense.
This comes from a guy who raised his fist in solidarity with the insurrectionists. This comes from a guy who, before the Russian invasion, suggested that maybe it would be wise for Zelenskyy to make a few concessions about Ukraine and their willingness to join NATO. This comes from a guy who, just about a month ago, voted against Ukraine aid. He is saying it is going too slow. He voted no. He voted no on Ukraine aid, and now, he has the gall to say it is going too slow.
And this final insult is that until--what--Secretary Austin resigns? That is not a serious request. People used to come to me during the Trump administration all the time: Do you think Trump should resign? Do you think Tillerson should resign? That is stupid. Of course, I think all the people I disagree with should quit their jobs and be replaced with people I love; of course, I think they should all resign. That is not how this world works. That is not a reasonable request from a U.S. Senator: Until the Secretary of Defense quits his job, I am going to block all his nominees. That is preposterous--and coming from a person who exonerated Donald Trump for extorting Zelenskyy for withholding lethal aid.
They withheld lethal aid until--unless--Zelenskyy would release false smears against Joe Biden's son, and then he voted to exonerate President Trump for this. So spare me the new solidarity with the Ukrainians and with the free world, because this man's record is exactly the opposite.
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