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Floor Speech
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Mr. SULLIVAN. ``Oorah.''
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Mr. SULLIVAN. It is good to see the Presiding Officer in the Chair. I appreciate his being here.
Mr. President, several of my nominations that I have been trying to get my colleague to agree with--again, he still hasn't answered the quote ``If they want to vote on these nominees one at a time, I am all for it. I will probably vote for them.'' He still hasn't answered that. We are doing it. We are doing it. This is not a joke either. We are watching the experience of America's greatest military generation probably since World War II just kind of being flushed down a river right now. Just listen to this.
Now, the one thing that is really disturbing to me is how many of these nominees are from the U.S. Navy. My dad was in the Navy. I love the U.S. Navy. But we know that the Navy right now is being stressed. The President sent two carrier strike groups over to the Middle East. We need carrier strike groups in the INDOPACOM.
President Biden--and I criticize him a lot for this--is shrinking the Navy. That is idiotic. But our Navy officers and enlisted are going through a really stressful period because they are needed all over the world, and they are ready or are trying to be ready for any kind of contingency. It is tough to do a 9-month deployment and then come around, do the maintenance, and get back at it.
But what I have been noticing is how many of these holds are impacting the Navy. I am going to go through like five more right now. I just did five. If we want to be a global, capable, powerful nation, especially today, you need a strong U.S. Navy.
And the idea of reading these military members' experiences and how there is this big jam-up now, that this is not impacting readiness is patently absurd--patently absurd--with all due respect to my colleague.
So let's just keep talking about the Navy and the men and women in the Navy and the great experience that they have. We need a lot of help from the Navy right now, and we have the Senate making leaders in the Navy sit on the bench. So let's talk about some of these leaders, and maybe my colleague will budge--maybe my colleague will budge.
Let's talk about James E. Pitts to be Vice Admiral and Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Warfighting Requirements and Capabilities, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. Rear Admiral Pitts, a 38-year career in the Navy--there you go, 38 years--let's sit him on the bench during this really difficult time. It includes extensive numerous deployments on nuclear attack submarines. Do you think we need that experience in the South China Sea right now? That is one of our great strategic advantages over the Chinese--notably, as the Commander of USS Tucson and the Submarine Squadron 7 and a number of shore assignments in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Naval Submarine School, and the Joint Staff.
So we have one of America's top naval submarine-experienced Admirals, which is exactly what Xi Jinping and the Chinese fear, and he is sitting on the bench over a dispute, which is a serious dispute. I don't deny that at all. Again, I am where the Senator from Alabama is on that. But these guys have nothing to do with it. All we are doing is hurting our own national security by keeping them on the bench.
So let's get him confirmed right now. 197, James E. Pitts, to be Vice Admiral and Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Warfighting Requirements and Capabilities, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations; that the Senate vote on the nomination without intervening action or debate; that if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.
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Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, here we go again, more Navy. Like I said, the Navy is stressed, but we do have a great Navy. God love the U.S. Navy. And our submarine force, like I said, keeps Xi Jinping and his communist dictator admirals up at night. And it should because we could crush them with our Navy, as long as it is ready--as long as it is ready.
Well, let's see whom we have next, whom we are holding up next. RADM Robert Gaucher, U.S. Navy, to be Vice Admiral and Commander, Naval Submarine Forces Commander, Submarine Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, Commander of Allied Submarine Command. It sounds like a pretty darn important bill, if you think subs are important, which they are critical.
Let's hear about Admiral Gaucher. He is currently Director of Strategic Integration, the N2, the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. Admiral Gaucher's prior operational assignments include service in both fast attack and ballistic missile subs. Who has that experience? No one else in the whole world but our Admirals. It includes service as a division officer, USS Flying Fish, SSN-673; navigator operations officer, USS Oklahoma City, SSN-723; executive officer, USS Maryland; commanding officer, USS City of Corpus Christi; and Commodore of Submarine Development Squadron 5.
I certainly hope that this isn't one of these Admirals who is going to be like: You know what, 35 years, I have all of this experience, I am sick of this. I am leaving.
Could you imagine if this Admiral, with this submarine experience, walked out the door because of the games being played right now? That is a risk. That is a risk, and we don't seem to give a damn. I give a damn.
During these tours, he completed three strategic deterrent patrols in U.S. submarines, as well as deployments to the Arctic--my neighborhood--the Caribbean, North Atlantic, and the Mediterranean. This is incredible submarine experience.
By the way, Xi Jinping is watching us right now going: I can't believe they are not letting these guys command. I am scared to death of subs.
He is loving this, so is Putin. They are loving it. How dumb can we be, man?
But we can confirm this guy, if my colleague just has a change of heart, because we are going to bring them up individually.
204, Robert M. Gaucher, to be Vice Admiral and Commander of Naval Submarine Forces Commander, Submarine Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, and Commander of Allied Submarine Command; that the Senate vote on the nomination without intervening action or debate; that if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.
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Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, we are going to continue with the U.S. Navy. Again--I just thought of this--the Chinese admirals and their military, they are probably watching this debate right now, going: I can't believe my luck. I can't believe our luck. Maybe we should attack Taiwan tomorrow.
The whole Navy is being held up. Let's go to another Navy officer.
This is Daniel W. Dwyer to be Vice Admiral and Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Warfighting Development, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations.
OK. We have had a lot of good bios here tonight, with a lot of experience. When I saw Vice Admiral Dwyer's experience, I was like: Wow. This should scare the heck out of every Chinese admiral, every Chinese military official when they read this guy's bio.
So let me read it. I hope we can get him confirmed because he is sitting on the bench, and the Chinese are cheering.
Over Vice Admiral Dwyer's 35-year naval career--there we go; 35 years, 40 years--he has commanded Strike Fighter Squadron, VFA-27; Provincial Reconstruction Team, Kunar Province, Afghanistan; Fleet Replacement Squadron, VFA-106; Carrier Air Wing 8; Carrier Air Wing 17.
As a flag officer--that means as an Admiral--Admiral Dwyer commanded the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group, the big stick that every country in the world, including China, fears. He commanded the Teddy Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group. That is unbelievable experience. And he was the 36th Chief of Naval Air Training.
Vice Admiral Dwyer is a career F/A-18 naval aviator, a graduate of the Navy Fighter Weapons School, a.k.a. TOPGUN, in which he completed eight carrier deployments to the Western Pacific, North Atlantic, Mediterranean, and North Arabian Sea, supporting Operation Southern Watch, Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom, and New Dawn, flying over 75 combat missions.
Vice Admiral Dwyer was most recently the Commander of the Second Fleet and Joint Forces Command.
Xi Jinping reads about a guy like this, and he is scared to death, and we bench him over a dispute Vice Admiral Dwyer has nothing to do with. But maybe we can fix that right now.
180, Daniel W. Dwyer, to be Vice Admiral and Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Warfighting Development, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations--so dammed qualified; that the Senate vote on the nomination without intervening action or debate; that if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.
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Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, here we go, crushing the Navy. Here is another Navy Admiral that we are going to have him sit on the bench. This is kind of remarkable. I mean, we are going to get to about 60 of these tonight. The experience here is unbelievable, but the U.S. Navy is really being hurt by this, and we need a strong Navy.
Again, the Chinese are like--they are watching it, I guarantee you.
Hello, guys.
And they are like: Gosh. I can't believe how dumb these guys are.
So let's keep talking about whom we are going to bench now. This is Douglas G. Perry to be Vice Admiral and Commander of Second Fleet, Commander of Joint Forces Command Norfolk.
Let's look at Rear Admiral Perry's incredibly impressive career--over 30 years. He began his career serving as a sea division officer, Navy diver, aboard the USS Pittsburgh, SSN-720; executive officer, operations officer aboard Submarine NR-1; and executive officer of the USS Maine. These are all subs. This is another great Admiral with great submarine experience, just what keeps the Chinese up at night, and we are going to bench him. That is SSBN-741.
His deployment experiences span the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, the Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic, and Pacific--essentially, the whole world. As commanding officer of the USS Pasadena, SSN-752, he led the ship on highly successful deployments to the Eastern and Western Pacific. Again, that is a sub.
Perry has served as Commander of the Submarine Development Squadron 5, where he led Submarine Force Development of Unmanned Systems and Tactics and Employment and commanded the Navy squadron of Seawolf-class fast-attack subs. These guys are all submariners. The Chinese are scared to death of them, and we are benching them. What are we doing?
Most recently, Perry served as Director of Undersea Warfare Division of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. He is another great submariner to keep Xi Jinping up at night, and we are not going to allow him to get confirmed. But maybe we will.
So, Mr. President, as my colleague had asked, we are bringing individual votes. He still hasn't answered the question why he is not doing what he said he was going to do. 205, Douglas G. Perry, to be Vice Admiral and Commander of Second Fleet and Commander of Joint Forces Command Norfolk; that the Senate vote on the nomination without intervening action or debate; that if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.
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Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, I have one more before I turn it over to my colleague from Iowa. It is a joint operation here. The only reason I am doing one more is because, guess what, another Navy officer--another Navy officer. The Chinese are like: Man, I can't believe it. We have been wanting to take out the U.S. Navy for decades, and the U.S. Senate is doing it right now.
So what do we have here, another Vice Admiral, VADM Craig Clapperton, U.S. Navy, to be Vice Admiral and Commander of Fleet Cyber Command, 10th Fleet Commander, Navy Space Command--boy, oh boy.
He has had almost 35 years in the U.S. Navy. He has commanded the Shadowhawks of VAQ-141, the U.S. 6th Fleet, and the NATO command ship, USS Mount Whitney, the USS Theodore Roosevelt. That is a carrier, Carrier Strike Group 12.
These guys are incredible. As an American, it makes you almost want to weep, how great they are.
Listen to this career: During his command tours and his ship and squadron tours, he supported Operation Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom, New Dawn, Inherent Resolve, and operated in the Baltic, Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, and Pacific Ocean.
Some of the best naval officers in America, certainly, right here, tonight. And the Chinese are scared to death of Vice Admirals like this, and we are going to let them sit on the bench. But maybe not. So we can confirm him right now by voice vote, individual voice vote, which is what our colleague has asked for.
138, Craig A. Clapperton to be Vice Admiral and Commander, Fleet Cyber Command; Commander, Tenth Fleet; and Commander, Navy Space Command; that the Senate vote on the nomination without intervening action or debate; and that if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.
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Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, I just want to comment on my colleague here--Joint Forces, Marine Corps-Army operation--but Senator Ernst was talking; she is being very humble. She is such a strong leader on pro- life issues in the Senate and such a strong voice. And I just wanted to really commend her on that. We have had Senator Graham here before. I am proud of my strong record on pro-life issues. I care deeply about it.
Ironically--I mean, of course, we don't know, but I guarantee you-- both of us know in the military so well--that these 380 officers and their families--I am sure not all but probably many, many--have very similar strong views on that important issue. And it is ironic that, somehow, they are being caught up in this, when you think about it. I am sure it is really bitter for them.
It is not just pro-life; it is pro-military views that we have here. And it is not just words. A lot of people just say: I support the troops. No. We have lived it. That is why we are here. It is 10 at night. That is why we have been on the floor for 4 hours. We have lived it, and we have seen the heroes we are talking about today. And we have seen their families.
When you join the military--I always tell my wife and three daughters--you know, whether you are wearing a uniform or not, you are serving. And sometimes--in my view, a lot of times--it is harder for the spouse and the kids who are home when you have deployments and they are caught up in all of this. We haven't even talked about them. They are caught up, thousands of them--thousands of them. And there is polling out right now that is showing that the kids of military families, who are really the big pipeline in the continuing recruiting and people wanting to join the service, that the numbers are declining dramatically, where they are saying: You know what? I don't think I want to do what mom and dad did. I think I am going to not do that. Those numbers are declining. And this isn't helping. This isn't helping.
And I will say another thing in terms of, you know, officers who are dealing--I have talked--again, my grade, I am a senior Colonel. I talked to some Brigadier Generals very recently who are in the Middle East, some of whom are caught up in this. Guess what they are doing right now. They are putting on flacks. They are putting on helmets. They are taking incoming. Right? Just read the paper. And they literally said to me: We can't believe that we are, like, taking incoming again for our country and this is happening.
There is real bitterness. We better wake up. There is a recruiting retention problem. And we better wake up to the fact that this is not helping.
Again, my colleague--oh, no readiness problem. That is such baloney. Baloney. And everybody knows it. Spend one day in the military, and you know it. It really makes me frustrated. Really frustrated. Yeah, guys taking incoming right now caught up in this. I have talked to them. This is just not right. It is not right. We all know it. We all know it.
Mr. President, let's continue on. Another important promotion: a Major General in the U.S. Army, David Isaacson, to be Lieutenant General and Director for Command, Control, Coms and Computers and Cyber Chief Information Officer, J-6, for the U.S. Army.
By the way, that is another theme: subs, Navy, and a lot of cyber--a lot of cyber, which is the new gray area of warfare as Senator Ernst mentioned. And we are keeping our cyber leaders on the bench.
So let's hear about Major General Isaacson's 35-year career in the U.S. Army. He has served as Deputy Commanding General of Army Network Enterprise Technology Command--thank God for smart officers like that-- the Deputy Chief of Staff of the G-6 of the Army; Director of Network Services and Strategy for the Department of the Army. Major General Isaacson has multiple operational deployments, including Operation Just Cause in Panama, Desert Shield, Desert Storm in Saudi Arabia and Iraq, Uphold Democracy in Haiti, several tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, supporting the Global War On Terrorism and overseas contingencies.
Major General Isaacson most recently served as the Director of Manpower Personnel For Joint Chiefs.
Incredible experience right here. So let's move him. Let's move him. We can do a voice vote. My colleague wanted voice votes on individuals. He still hasn't answered the question why he is objecting to everything.
391, David T. Isaacson, to be Lieutenant General and Director for Command, Control, Communications, and Computer/Cyber and Chief Information Officer, J-6, Joint Staff--I misstated it earlier. That is not just for the Army. That is for the J-6. That is for the Joint Staff of the U.S. Military. Wow. Really important--that the Senate vote on the nomination without intervening action or debate; that if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's actions.
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Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, we haven't had a marine in a while. I love the Marine Corps. It is not the big service, though, so we haven't had as many marines. I will tell you this: This Colonel, Kelvin Gallman, to be Brigadier General in the U.S. Marine Corps, he certainly is not a paper pusher. He is not some woke guy. He is a warrior. He is a warrior.
Let's read about Colonel Gallman: 29 years in the U.S. Marine Corps. He served as the Commanding Officer of the Marine Corps Marine Air Group 26--MAG-26--personnel support detachment. Marine Tilt Rotor Squadron, VMM-261. Those are Ospreys. Marine Aviation and Weapons Tactics Squadron, MAWTS-1. Colonel Gallman has several deployments in support of combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Here we go, another Marine hero--another Marine hero. By the way, he has nothing to do with this--nothing. He sacrificed--I am going to read what he did. And we are saying: Oh, these guys aren't the warriors. What? Who the hell is saying that?
Colonel Gallman received the Air Medal with a Combat Distinguishing Device for heroic achievement in connection with operations against the enemy as a pilot of a CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter while attached to Marine Air Group 16, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, I Marine Expeditionary Force, on 1 April, 2003, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, while providing assault support under direct enemy fire for the U.S. Army 1st Ranger Battalion, in a daunting quest to rescue a U.S. Army prisoner of war from the Saddam Hussein hospital in Nasiriyah, Iraq, and the recovery of nine U.S. casualties, previously killed in action. This mission served as one of history's most daring and successful prisoner- of-war rescues.
Do I need to read that again for anybody? Pure courage. Pure heroism. And what is happening here? This Colonel needs to be promoted to Brigadier General in the Marine Corps.
By the way, that is really hard to do in the Marines. There are not many Brigadier Generals.
Heroic actions. Combat Distinguishing Device flying a helicopter--I guarantee it was at night. He recovered nine U.S. casualties previously killed in action. He went and got dead Americans so they wouldn't be left in the desert of Iraq. And this body is holding him. Come on.
Whatever you think about this issue--and we all agree with the Senator from Alabama--this is not the guy to make a point with. Flying at night recovering POWs and dead Americans--heroic actions--and the U.S. Senate response is ``Thank you very much. You are not going to go anywhere. We are going to punish you. Why? Because we can. Because we feel like it.'' What a bunch of baloney.
Let's try to at least get this guy promoted. Let's try to get this hero, Col. Kevin Gallman, U.S. Marine Corps, to be a Brigadier General because he is not no woke paper-pusher, I guarantee you that.
Kelvin W. Gallman to be Brigadier General in the U.S. Marine Corps under Executive Calendar No. 95; that the Senate vote on the nomination without intervening action or debate; and that if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.
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Mr. SULLIVAN. Let's move to the Air Force. Let's move for Scott L. Pleus to be Lieutenant General and Director of Staff at the U.S. Air Force. As you know, Mr. President, being an Army man, West Point grad, Director of Staff of your service is one of the most important positions in your service.
Let's look at Lt. Gen. Scott Pleus's remarkable career. He has 34 years in the Air Force. Lt. Gen. Pleus's time in the Air Force has included serving as Director of Air and Cyber Space Operations and as Executive Officer to the Air Force Chief of Staff. Lieutenant General Pleus is also a command pilot with more than 2,500 flying hours, with combat hours earned during Operations Desert Fox and Southern Watch. Most recently, Lieutenant General Pleus served as Deputy Commander for U.S. Forces Korea--all forces, not just Air Forces--and Commander for the Air Component in United Nations Command in Korea.
Again, phenomenal--phenomenal--American patriot. Thirty-four years. And he is being benched at one of the most dangerous times since World War II. This isn't hurting readiness? Come on. Mr. President, maybe we can get him confirmed.
184, Scott L. Pleus to be Lieutenant General and Director of Staff, U.S. Air Force; that the Senate vote on the nomination without intervening action or debate; and that if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.
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Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, let's go back to our great U.S. Navy.
CAPT Craig Mattingly to be Rear Admiral (lower half) in the U.S. Navy. Let's look at Captain Mattingly's 28-year career. He has led Squadrons on deployments supporting EUCOM, AFRICOM, and CENTCOM; areas of responsibility as commander of multitask force groups. His major command was Commodore of Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing 11. During his tenure as Commodore of CPRW-11, supported global initiatives include the inaugural INDOPACOM deployments of the MQ-4 Charlie Triton unmanned aerial systems in the PA Poseidon Advanced Airborne Sensor--that is a sub hunter--as well as the P-3C radar system.
Captain Mattingly's most recent assignment was serving as Senior Military Advisor to the Secretary of the Navy. He is a naval aviator. He hunts subs, Russian and Chinese subs. How long has he been doing that? He has a little bit of experience here. Captain Mattingly--3,900 flight hours in P-3C Orions and P-8 Poseidon aircraft.
If you are a sub and you are an enemy of America, this guy has tracked you. Again, subs. The Chinese are scared to death of P-8s, and we have one of the best P-8 pilots in America, and he is on the bench, and Xi Jinping and his communist dictator buddies are smiling.
Maybe we can get him done with a voice vote because our colleague asked for individual votes. I think we are almost at 60 individual votes right now--great Americans.
Mattingly to be Rear Admiral (lower half) of the U.S. Navy under Executive Calendar No. 97; that the Senate vote on the nomination without intervening action or debate; and that if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.
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Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, let's go back to the importance--you are seeing some themes here. Navy, certainly. Boy, are we decimating the U.S. Navy. Decimating. Unbelievable. I am just shocked at how many Navy Admirals we are putting on the bench right now. The Chinese are smiling. Whoa, are they smiling.
But this is another theme tonight, and, again, we didn't really plan it, Senator Ernst and I; it is just what is happening. We have a big military. Space ops. Cyber and space ops. That is another theme tonight. It is a really, really important area of warfare. The Chinese and Russians are gaining on us. We have the best, though. Here is another one.
David N. Miller to be Lieutenant General and Commander, Space Operations Command, U.S. Space Force. That is a really big, important billet.
Maj Gen David Miller has an over 30-year career where he has commanded at the squadron group and wing levels, including the 2nd Range Operations Squadron, 21st Operations Group in the 46 Space Unit.
Most recently, Maj Gen Miller served as a Special Assistant to the Vice Chief of Space Operations. This is a hugely important billet to protect our entire country. He has incredible background in this area.
Space, cyber, missile defense--those have all been brought up tonight, and all were shut down--without explanation, by the way. We are bringing up individual votes. We still haven't heard why we are not going to allow those to move.
But anyway, Mr. President, we can confirm this nomination right now by a voice vote. 351, David N. Miller, Jr., to be Lieutenant General and Commander, Space Operations Command, U.S. Space Force; that the Senate vote on the nomination without intervening action or debate; and that if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.
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Mr. SULLIVAN. I have three more.
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Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, we have three more that we are going to do. That will be 61 tonight. And Senator Ernst and I--and I know a lot of our other colleagues want to join us--we are going to keep coming down here. So let me get through these, and then I will have a few words to conclude. And I want to thank the Presiding Officer for staying late. I know you care about this issue as well.
This is Brig. Gen. Robert M. Blake, and he is being considered to be promoted to Major General in the U.S. Air Force--again, incredible, incredible background. He most recently served as the Mobilization Assistant to the Commander Air Force Global Strike Command, Barksdale Air Force Base, LA.
He has flown the C-130 H2 Hercules. He has amassed more than 4,500 hours in military aircraft, including combat sorties and tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Brig. Gen. Blake flew 16 total missions, including 12 air refueling sorties supporting C-5s and C-17s in Operation Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. And he flew 10 missions in support of humanitarian relief for operations for Operation Southern Watch and Enduring Freedom.
Again, a transport aviation pilot, incredible. Just, I mean, we look at these numbers like oh, no big deal--4,500 flying hours in military aircraft. That is incredible experience for our military. So let's get him confirmed. Let's get him confirmed by voice vote, right here, individual, as our colleague requested.
Gen. Robert M. Blake to be Major General in the U.S. Air Force under Executive Calendar No. 88; that the Senate vote on the nomination without intervening action or debate; that, if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.
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Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, another heroic Air Force pilot with incredible experience. Let's just move on to Brig. Gen. Mitchell Hanson. We are trying to get him confirmed to be Major General.
By the way, Senator Graham made this point at the beginning: All of these military members went through their promotion board process. As we all know, the military is kind of an up-or-out organization, right? So for Brigadier General Hanson to go from Brigadier General to Major General--a two-star General--that is really hard to do. These guys are the best, right? We just kind of take it for granted. That is all done by the military, in the military selection boards. They are picking their own, but we have to confirm it.
So, again, think about the frustration--let me read about his background--that they have done all this, the boards have met, they said these are our top people, and we are going to keep promoting them.
Normally, for the last 200 years--by the way, as stated earlier, there are a lot of holds. I have put holds on. No one has ever done a blanket hold on every flag officer promotion for this long in the history of America. Let me repeat that. There has never been one-, two-, three-, four-star Generals and Admirals, a blanket hold on all of them.
People have threatened it. They have done it for a couple of weeks, but it has never been done for almost a year in the history of the United States of America. That is a fact. Contemplate that one.
So let's look at Brigadier General Hanson's background. He most recently served as Mobilization Assistant to the Director of Operations, Air Combat Command. Brigadier General Hanson has served in numerous positions at the squadron group wing in numbered Air Force. That is getting bigger in each unit. You know that, Mr. Chairman, but some people watching might not know.
Brigadier General Hanson has served as a reservist, an individual mobilization augmentee member on the Reserve side of the military. He has flown the A-10 and the F-16 in a variety of operational assignments and as a command pilot, with more than 3,400 hours--again, just enormous experience, flying over 200 combat hours.
He has deployed in support of Operations Desert Storm, Southern Watch, Noble Eagle, Willing Spirit, Enduring Freedom. Brigadier General Hanson executed 20 close air support combat missions supporting NATO and international security assistance forces battling Taliban insurgent fighters in Afghanistan.
He provided armed overwatch for dismounted infantry patrols--the grunts on the ground looking up: Oh, my God, I got air cover. Thank God.
He conducted convoy and helicopter escorts and responded to U.S. infantry platoons on the ground receiving effective fire from an insurgent machinegun team. He employed 160 rounds of 30 mike-mikes against the insurgents and killed them all--killed them all. He saved American grunt lives on the ground. Another hero. Another hero. So we are going to put him on a bench.
By the way, it is a great way to say thanks for your service, Brigadier General Hanson. We will just keep you on the icebox. Thanks for your service. Very heroic.
But maybe my colleague will relent here. We are down to one more. So maybe, maybe it will work.
Gen. Mitchell A. Hanson to be Major General, U.S. Air Force, under Executive Calendar No. 88; that the Senate vote on the nomination without intervening action or debate; that if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President immediately be notified of the Senate's action.
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Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, the final one. It is so ironic. I didn't mean it to be this way, but I am so proud of it. It is a U.S. Marine Colonel--I am a U.S. Marine Colonel; these are my peer groups--to be Brigadier General of the U.S. Marine Corps.
Let's read about Col. Richard Joyce to be Assistant Deputy Commandant for Aviation, U.S. Marine Corps--again, another heroic American.
Colonel Joyce has deployed numerous times to Iraq and Afghanistan and served as the Commanding Officer of an attack squadron. He is a Cobra pilot. That is an attack helicopter, the AH-1. He was Director of the staff group for Gen. Robert Neller when he was the 37th Commandant of the Marine Corps.
Colonel Joyce received the Air Medal with the combat distinguishing device--that means heroism in combat--for heroic achievement while participating in aerial flight as an attack helicopter pilot of an AH- 1--that is a Cobra helicopter--assigned to Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 169, deployed with Marine Air Group 40 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom on 22 May 2009. He was under direct fire from three different directions, with enemy forces effectively engaging his aircraft--incoming from three different directions. He placed precision fires on each of these enemy positions, destroying them and providing direct relief to outnumbered friendly forces on the ground.
Not a paper pusher. Not a woke warrior. A real, true American hero right here, and we are going to tell him: Stay on the bench.
Maybe not. This is the last one, Mr. President, No. 61 for the night--a Marine Colonel to be promoted to Brigadier General, who has nothing to do with this damn dispute on the floor here--nothing--and, somehow, he is going to get caught up in this.
By the way, these are the kinds of guys I am hearing about. These are my peer group. They are saying: You know what? Seven deployments, tough on the wife and kids. I am getting stuck in an issue that I have nothing to do with. I can't--you know what, I am punching out. I am punching out.
So we are going to lose guys like this. We are going to lose guys like this.
The Chinese, Putin, Xi Jinping--they are going to be like: Oh, my God, I am so scared of a marine like this. He would come over and kick the you know what out of the Chinese and Russians.
We are going to drive him out of the Marine Corps--drive him out of the Marine Corps.
But maybe not--maybe my colleague will relent on this just last one, just out of good grace. He still hasn't explained why, all that he said about not blocking a single vote if you bring up nominees one at a time. I am all for it. I will probably vote for them. We just brought up 61, one at a time, in regular order. Come on.
Richard D. Joyce to be Brigadier General of the U.S. Marine Corps on Executive Calendar No. 95; that the Senate vote on the nomination without intervening action or debate; that if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.
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Mr. SULLIVAN. I am just going to conclude. I am disappointed. We are done here. We don't have any more for tonight, but I think this has been enlightening. I think this has been enlightening because what we have been able to do--hopefully, some people are watching in our great Nation--is to distill to the people of the country: Look at how blessed we are to have these incredible Americans. Look at how blessed we are, how heroic they are.
So my message to our Generals and Admirals who are being held up: Hang in there. Hang in there. Some of us have your back. We have your back. We will be coming here every night to try and get you guys confirmed.
I have been very honored to be here with Senator Ernst on the floor. And I will tell you that I think she and I both have a feeling that I think a lot of people have--but people who served, mostly--just the love for our military, military families.
I am coming up, just at 30 years in the Marine Corps. The INDOPACOM theater has been the bookends of my career. My first deployment was the INDOPACOM, a Marine amphibious ready group, in the Taiwan Strait.
When the Chinese were threatening to invade Taiwan, we sent a Marine amphibious ready group. I was on that as a young infantry officer, in two carrier strike groups. And we went in the Taiwan Strait and looked at the Chinese and said: Not today, guys. Not today. Not today. The U.S. Marine Corps is here. The U.S. Navy is here. Don't even think about it.
That was almost 27 year ago, and I am out at the Marine Force's Pacific Command. In between, I have deployed as a staff officer in the Middle East, in Afghanistan.
But I think, like Senator Ernst, the biggest honor of my life has been serving and leading marines. I have a lot of good friends in the Senate. I have met a lot of good people in the U.S. Senate. The best people I have ever met in my life by far--not even close--are U.S. marines. They are the best.
And I think what is happening right now--you know, the Marine Corps' motto is Semper Fi, always faithful. And this body is not keeping faith with our military right now. It is not, and the military knows it, and they are frustrated.
So many of these officers had 30 years or more of experience, thousands of years of experience we are putting on hold. The distinct comparative advantages we have say, for example, in submarine forces in the Indo-Pacific theater that the Chinese fear--they fear it--we are putting that on hold.
So I am hopeful that my colleague who left, Senator Tuberville, can work with us. I have been working with him for months. This is just kind of a frustration moment, right? Enough. But I am hopeful we can still work together. I am hopeful we can find a way forward. The idea that I have been pitching to him: Hey, let's lift the hold on the men and women who have nothing to do with this and put a hold on the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, who is in charge of the abortion issue, and he is a civilian. That is the way to use the hold, not to take out a Marine Corps Brigadier General who is a war hero.
So I am hopeful that we are going to make progress on that. We are facing a really dangerous period right now, as you know, as Senator Ernst knows, and we are impacting readiness. We are definitely impacting morale, and that is readiness.
So, again, to my colleague saying, ``Don't worry; there is no problem, no readiness problems,'' no offense, but that is just ridiculous, and he knows it. We all know it.
So we are going to keep working this. I am honored to be on the floor with Senator Ernst. I appreciate, Mr. President, your sticking around.
We are not done. If you are a flag officer--one-star, two-star, three-star, or four-star General--we have got your back. We are going to work this. We are going to work it. You deserve it, and our Nation has to have it.
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