Floor Statements

Mr. President, I have seven requests for committees to meet during today's session of the Senate. They have the approval of the Majority and Minority Leaders.

Pursuant to rule XXVI, paragraph 5(a), of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the following committees are authorized to meet during today's session of the Senate:

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of S. 32 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, February 13; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, morning business be closed, and the Senate proceed to executive session to resume Executive Calendar No. 17 under the previous order; finally, that if any nominations are confirmed during Thursday's session, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the

Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order, following the remarks of my colleagues.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, this week, the Senate will consider the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., to be Secretary of Health and Human Services. President Trump has tapped Mr. Kennedy to lead the charge in making America healthy again--something that has been a concern of Mr. Kennedy's throughout his career.

Mr. Kennedy promises to make HHS a collaborative, transparent, and science-driven Agency under his leadership. I will say that is good to hear. Many Americans' trust in health authorities has eroded in recent years, with the pandemic being a factor. A lot of Americans feel frustrated with confusing and sometimes contradictory guidance from government Agencies. And measures like requiring toddlers as young as 2 years old to wear masks indefinitely not only defy common sense, there was no scientific research to back it up.

Our public health Agencies do critical work. I am a supporter of the research, and I am proud of the contributions they make to American leadership in medicine and innovation. But if we are going to make America healthy again, the Agencies doing this important work have to rebuild some trust with Americans.

I was pleased to hear Mr. Kennedy pledge to increase transparency and accountability, including an unprecedented level of collaboration with Congress that allows for regular and robust oversight of his Agency's activities.

I was also pleased that Mr. Kennedy acknowledged the importance of vaccines and the concerning reality that vaccine uptake in this country is decreasing. Mr. Kennedy has pledged that he will maintain the best vaccine standards, and he has committed to work within existing vaccine approval and monitoring systems and maintain the FDA's review standards.

I look forward to Mr. Kennedy being a partner with Congress on some very important issues. He has brought attention to America's chronic disease epidemic. I am pleased that he wants to put a focus on chronic diseases that affect too many Americans and cost far too much in lives lost and dollars spent.

I am also encouraged that he is committed to implementing President Trump's pro-life policies at HHS. President Trump has been one of the most pro-life Presidents we have ever had. Mr. Kennedy's Agency will be critical in protecting life and supporting mothers and babies.

Mr. Kennedy is also committed to working with farmers and ranchers on policies that affect our food supply. America's farmers and ranchers are a valuable resource, and I look forward to working with him to ensure that the voice of South Dakota's agriculture producers is heard.

I believe that Mr. Kennedy's collaborative approach to this job will help restore some of the trust in our public health Agencies that has been lost in recent years. I look forward to working with him on a number of issues as we restore that trust and work to make America healthy again.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Madam President, this week the Senate will be considering its 14th nominee for President Trump's Cabinet, Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence.

Ms. Gabbard is a patriot. She is someone who is motivated by service, and she has been serving her country and community since she was 21 years old, when she was elected to the Hawaii State Legislature.

Like many Americans of her generation, she felt called to serve her country after the attacks of September 11.

After her first session in the Hawaii Legislature, she enlisted in the Army National Guard. The following year, she dropped her reelection campaign to volunteer to deploy to Iraq--the first of three deployments that she has made. It was after her second deployment--

now as an officer and platoon commander--that she set her sights on making an impact on national and global issues, eventually being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Tulsi Gabbard has worn the uniform of our country for the last 22 years, leading American soldiers in some of the most dangerous parts of the world. She also served 8 years in Congress, including service on the Homeland Security, Foreign Affairs, and Armed Services Committees. By her own count, she has taken the oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States at least eight times.

As both a military officer and policymaker, Ms. Gabbard has been a consumer of intelligence. She knows that good decisions depend on having the best information, and she knows that the cost of bad information is measured in lives lost.

In recent years, there have been some significant intelligence failures, and these failures aren't confined to one Agency or one part of the world. The intelligence community needs to refocus on its core mission: collecting intelligence and providing unbiased analysis of that information. That is what Tulsi Gabbard is committed to ensuring. If she is confirmed to be DNI, I believe she has the knowledge and leadership capabilities to get it done.

I am also grateful that Ms. Gabbard has expressed a willingness to rightsize the Office of the DNI. When this position was created by Congress in the wake of 9/11, it was designed to be a sort of quarterback, if you will, for the intelligence community. It was designed to be a lean organization focused on coordination and ensuring all the elements of the intelligence community are communicating and working together toward a common purpose. But it quickly became much larger than intended, and it has become a bureaucracy unto itself. So I am glad that Ms. Gabbard plans to focus on identifying and eliminating redundancies and inefficiencies to restore the Office to what it was originally designed to be.

I was also very pleased to hear Ms. Gabbard say at her hearing that section 702 is ``essential for our national security.'' This foreign intelligence collection program is the key tool used to identify threats to Americans at home and abroad. I was glad to hear Ms. Gabbard acknowledge its importance.

I was also pleased that Ms. Gabbard intends to prosecute leakers to the full extent of the law. In a day and age when anything and everything ends up on the internet, it is essential that we have zero tolerance for those who deliberately compromise classified information, and we must safeguard our sensitive sources and intelligence collection methods.

Madam President, Tulsi Gabbard is a patriotic American. She believes strongly in the mission with which she will be tasked: keeping America safe. And you don't have to take my word for it; take it from Americans who have served alongside Ms. Gabbard during her 22 years in uniform, from the people who have put their lives in her hands.

One wrote:

Her exceptional qualifications, coupled with a proven track

record of leadership and unwavering commitment to

safeguarding our national interests, render her the

unequivocal choice for this critical position.

From another:

I know Tulsi will be fully committed to protecting ALL

Americans during this pivotal moment in American history.

Madam President, it sounds like what we need in a Director of National Intelligence. I look forward to confirming Ms. Gabbard this week.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate be in a period of morning business for debate only, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. President, I understand the Chair has an announcement for the Senate.

Mr. President, I understand there is a bill at the desk due a second reading.

In order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I would object to further proceeding.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 10 a.m. on Tuesday, February 11; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, morning

business be closed, the Senate proceed to executive session and resume Executive Calendar No. 18; that all time during morning business, recess, adjournment, and leader remarks count postcloture; further, that the Senate recess from 12:30 p.m. until 2:15 p.m. to allow for weekly conference meetings.

Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order, following the remarks of Senator Welch.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.