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Floor Speech

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Mr. KAINE. Madam President, in a moment, I am going to make a motion by unanimous consent to call up, and hopefully confirm, significant appointments in the Department of Defense.

We are in the midst of a war in Europe right now. It is hard to imagine that, and yet it is the case. Every day we see atrocities committed by Vladimir Putin's illegal invasion of Ukraine, but every day we also see the concerted effort of the United States and NATO allies and other nations to provide dramatic support for the Ukrainian defense force and the Ukrainian people.

We honor the Ukrainians' resolve and heroism, and we feel proud of the role that the United States and other nations are playing in providing defense. And I hope we will take additional defense support up on the floor in the days to come. However, this is not easy work to do.

One of the positions that I am going to be seeking a UC on is the DOD Assistant Secretary for Sustainment, Christopher Lowman, who is a Virginian. He and his family live in Fredericksburg.

Mr. Lowman is, according to the committee, completely noncontroversial and very much desired in this position.

He was born in Germany, in a military family, grew up in Virginia, went to college in New Jersey. He was a U.S. marine beginning in 1984, and then after his Active Marine service, entered the Army civil service as an Army maintenance management intern in 1989. And he has been with the Army ever since.

His specialty is logistics. So this Assistant Secretary of Sustainment is kind of the peak logistics officer in the Pentagon.

He previously was the Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology. OK. That is a title that is--you know, what does that actually mean? I will tell you what it means. When the United States is trying to get historic amounts of military aid across a contested border from allied countries into a war zone, we need people who know logistics. It may not be the sexiest part of the military mission, but it is part of the mission that is absolutely critical, and it is part of the mission where the U.S. military is second to none in the world.

If you wonder why the Russian military's grand plans to topple Ukraine in just a couple of days came to naught, you first say it is Ukrainian heroism, and you second say it is the support of our allies, but, third, you have to point out the Russian military has demonstrated that they haven't mastered logistics. The inability to maintain supply chains, the inability to do proper maintenance of tanks and other vehicles is one of the reasons that the Russians have not been able to accomplish their aims. So what this war in Europe is demonstrating is militaries that have the capacity to do logistics and provide supplies to people on the front end of the fight are critical to success.

Given the fact that the United States is the key to pulling together the international effort to provide support to the Ukrainian defense force, and given the fact that that mission depends upon having the best logistics in the world, why would we leave the chief logistics official at the Pentagon position vacant in the middle of a war when the United States is playing this heroic role?

477, 599, 777, 779, 780, 781, 861, and 886; that the Senate vote on the nominations en bloc without intervening action or debate; that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table; 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.

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Mr. KAINE. Madam President, will the Senator yield for a question?

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Mr. KAINE. Will the Senator yield for a question?

It strikes me that the Senator's objection is you do not want to have this candidate--the bloc of them advanced without a vote. If I can guarantee that you get a vote on these nominations, will you drop your objection?

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Mr. KAINE. Yeah. I mean, I know you will vote no. You have made it plain. But if I can guarantee you would get a vote, will you drop your objection?

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Mr. KAINE. Yeah.

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Mr. KAINE. Yes.

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Mr. KAINE. And that is what my point is. We are not fast-tracking these without a vote. This is a motion to allow a vote en bloc on the floor. So you will have an opportunity to vote against Mr. Chaudhary or all of these. This is not a motion to immediately approve them without a vote. It is just a motion to bring them up so that you and others can vote on these nominees. That is all I am seeking.

And so my request, basically, would guarantee you a vote on all of these nominations if you drop your objection.

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Mr. KAINE. It would be a--yes. It would be en bloc, but it is a recorded vote, is my understanding.

And, again, Madam President, just to clarify, my motion is only that the Senate be allowed to vote on these nominees: Alex Wagner for Assistant Secretary of the Air Force; Ashish Vazirani for Deputy Under Secretary of Defense; Christopher Lowman, Assistant Secretary of Defense; Lester Martinez-Lopez, Assistant Secretary of Defense; Agnes Schaefer, Assistant Secretary of the Army; Franklin Parker, Assistant Secretary of the Navy; Musetta Tia Johnson, Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces; and Ravi Chaudhary, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force.

I understand my colleague will vote no, but all I am moving is for the Senate to be able to have a vote on these nominees.

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Mr. KAINE. My motion is to consider them, yes, en bloc; but it would be a recorded vote, is my understanding.

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Mr. KAINE. I appreciate the objection being heard, and I would just say to my colleague, I hope we could work out a deal that would enable us to have a floor vote where my colleague could vote as he chooses on these nominees. This was not an attempt to bypass a vote; it was just an effort to have a vote where everybody can be recorded on the nominees. I hope we can work that out.

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