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Floor Speech
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Mr. LANKFORD. Madam President, let me clarify what this motion is. This motion today is to ask for a unanimous consent of all 100 Senators to be able to move a nominee through the process, a nominee that, when she came through the Foreign Relations Committee, every single Republican opposed--every one of them.
It seems the frustration here doesn't seem to be with Republicans; it seems to be with the Democratic leader, quite frankly. This nominee was brought to the committee last year and then was voted out of the committee in July of this year but has never been brought to the floor for a vote--never. Instead, it has been to try to do a unanimous consent when my colleagues full well know that every single Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee opposes this nominee. And now the request is: Now that you opposed her in committee, now consent on the floor to be able to support her. That is not going to happen, obviously.
Now, we have not blocked a vote. If the Democratic leader wants to be able to bring this nominee to a vote, he has had plenty of opportunity to be able to do that and still has plenty of opportunity to be able to do that. No one is inhibiting a vote on the floor.
What we oppose is what is being pushed onto us to say: Now unanimously consent to someone you know you don't agree to in the first place. It has often been interesting in this conversation to say this nominee has nothing to do with reproductive rights, has nothing to do with that. I have heard that from my colleagues.
It is fascinating to me that Planned Parenthood put out a statement in strong support of this nominee and specifically stated in their release: because she will speak out on reproductive rights for women globally.
So either Planned Parenthood is not telling the truth or something else. So it is interesting, when we get into this dialogue, to say: OK, let's just have the vote on it and allow everyone to be able to speak out.
We have a disagreement on this nominee, but it is the right of the Democratic leader to be able to bring who he chooses to the floor for a vote at any time. But I would say, as one Republican of many, please don't ask me to unanimously consent to someone that we have a philosophical difference with.
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Mr. LANKFORD. Madam President, I would say to my colleague that, obviously, I am not in the position to be able to make a decision for all of my colleagues at this moment whether that is acceptable. That is something we should discuss with the ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee and with the Republican leader and allow our conference to be able to have that dialogue if that is an acceptable thing.
So at this point, I would object just saying I am not in a position because I am not going to speak for the ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee, who voted unanimously in opposition to this nomination.
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Mr. LANKFORD. Absolutely.
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Mr. LANKFORD. If I may respond to my colleague as well.
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Mr. LANKFORD. Have I engaged in a colloquy, in a conversation? Actually, I have not. The members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as you serve faithfully in that role--that is not a committee I serve on, but I do know that all the Republican members of the committee have had the opportunity to be able to sit down with her personally and to be able to go through all of those notes.
I know how she came through the committee without any Republican support at all, and I know the different statements that have been put up--one by Planned Parenthood, a very strong statement in support of her specifically on the issue of women's reproductive rights.
That seems to say, at least somebody is saying this role is going to take on that issue. But that is not a committee that I currently serve on, but I do know those well who do.
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Mr. LANKFORD. Madam President, I would affirm, again, as a husband and as a dad of two daughters and as someone who is very passionate about global women's issues as well, I am fully aware that women do a lot more than have babies--regardless of Health and Human Services currently using the term ``birthing people'' and ``menstruating persons,'' which, again, I find offensive in the process as well--that this is a group of people, half the population of the Earth, that has made tremendous contributions, including my own wife and my own family.
I would just simply ask the question: This is not a nominee that we are going to give unanimous support to, but I am unsure why the Democratic leader has not scheduled this vote now for months on the floor when there have been months that we have been in session but it has yet to be scheduled for a vote.
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