Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. Mr. President, yesterday, by a wide bipartisan margin, the Senate began considering this year's National Defense Authorization Act. The Senate has…
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
Mr. President, yesterday, by a wide bipartisan margin, the Senate began considering this year's National Defense Authorization Act.
The Senate has passed an NDAA each of the last 58 years. We authorize the resources, the equipment, the support systems, and the pay that keep our All-Volunteer Force the strongest in the world.
From the outside, this process may look routine, but as our colleagues on the Armed Services Committee know best, keeping America safe takes constant hard work and innovation.
We have all seen the recent headlines: ``Russia `successfully tests' hypersonic intercept missile that can shoot down Western weapons,'' ``China's Military Technology Now Close to Parity With U.S.''
In just the last few hours, Iran shot down an American surveillance aircraft in international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz. Fortunately, the aircraft was unmanned.
Let me say that again. Last night, the Iranians shot down a U.S. aircraft in international airspace.
It could certainly not be clearer that we need to keep modernizing our national defense, continue rebuilding our readiness, and persist with our new national defense strategy.
Fortunately, this legislation includes billions of dollars for modernizing our capabilities, restoring the Navy's fleet strength, and investing in the latest generation of combat aircraft. There are billions more for critical research weapons aimed at keeping U.S. weapons systems on the cutting edge and ensuring American servicemembers never enter a fair fight. It prioritizes greater efficiency and transparency at the Pentagon so we can better support military families through the sacrifices of service.
Again, I would like to thank Chairman Inhofe and Ranking Member Jack Reed for guiding the committee process. I hope the Senate can work through this legislation swiftly and give it the overwhelming bipartisan vote it deserves.
Arms Sales
Mr. President, on a related matter, in addition to completing the NDAA, the Senate will today have to dispense with several more privileged resolutions concerning arms sales to close American partners in a troubled but important region.
These close partners deserve our support. I am glad we secured a bipartisan understanding yesterday to expedite their consideration so the 22 separate resolutions which Members have introduced will not jeopardize the Defense bill or the emergency border funding we must also consider next week.
Today this body, yet again, will debate and cast votes concerning our relationship with Saudi Arabia, just like we did in March and December and the previous March.
I think the vast majority of Senators share serious concerns over some of the policies and actions of our Saudi partners, but rejecting long-planned arms sales strikes me as an overly blunt tool with several unintended consequences.
For example, the arms sales affected by this vote are not just for Saudi Arabia but also for the United Arab Emirates, and they include sales that affect Israel, India, Korea, and Jordan.
Last December, the Senate passed a nuanced resolution that delivered exactly the message we wanted to deliver: our fury over the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, our concerns about the war in Yemen, and our desire for more accountability. That was the right approach.
There is no shortage of tools available to the United States that are more appropriate to communicate frustrations and urge better behavior, whether from the administration or our partners.
Senators could meet with Saudi officials to directly express their concerns. They could travel to the region to see firsthand complicated, fluid situations.
Rapid societal and economic change is providing Saudi citizens with unprecedented political openness but also troubling human rights concerns and erratic policy decisions. The dynamics at play are not black and white.
We can best shape these dynamics by working closely with our partners to encourage them in the right direction, rather than turning our back.
Concerned Members might also begin giving fairer treatment and more prompt consideration to the well-qualified experts who are waiting to contribute to our diplomacy. Recall that the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Near Eastern Affairs just started his job last Monday after he had been held up for more than a year. The top State Department job in the Middle East was held open for more than a year.
The nominees for Ambassador to the UAE, Egypt, and Libya are having hearings today. I hope their confirmations will move more quickly than those of other senior diplomats who languished for months.
So there is no shortage of productive steps at Members' disposal, but recklessly canceling U.S. arms sales to key regional partners is not on the list.
So the question the Senate will soon consider is really this: whether we will lash out at an imperfect partner and undercut our own efforts to build cooperation, check Iran, and achieve other important goals or whether we will keep our imperfect partners close and use our influence; whether we will push Riyadh and Abu Dhabi away from the United States and push them closer to Moscow and Beijing or whether we will stay engaged and help our partners course-correct where we can; whether to signal at this hour of tension that we cannot be relied upon to stand with our friends, sending a message that will embolden Tehran, or whether to find more private, effective ways of encouraging better behavior while sending a message of solidarity in troubled times.
The situation in the Middle East, as we speak, could hardly be more fraught. The timing could not be worse for the Senate to send the wrong signal.
In just the last several hours, we have seen reports that a missile from inside Yemen has struck a utility plant in Saudi Arabia. This is after other attacks--almost certainly from the Iran-backed Houthi forces--on Saudi Arabia and the UAE, including attacks on civilian vessels and on a civilian airport.
Again, just last night, Iran shot down a U.S. intelligence aircraft that was flying in international airspace. So the Senate could hardly pick a worse time for clumsy and ill-considered resolutions that would hurt key relationships in the Middle East.
Let's not cut ourselves off from our partners. Let's not undercut the administration at a time of such delicate diplomacy and tension with Iran. So I ask my colleagues to vote down these resolutions.
Nomination of Kelly Knight Craft
Mr. President, on another matter, I had the opportunity to introduce a skillful leader and fellow Kentuckian before the Foreign Relations Committee only just yesterday. Kelly Knight Craft was confirmed by voice vote in 2017 to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to Canada. Now she is the President's choice to serve as Ambassador to the United Nations.
Ambassador Craft's success in representing American interests in Canada certainly rewarded the Senate's vote of confidence. During a dynamic and sometimes challenging period in the U.S.-Canada friendship, she has navigated it with care. She has helped to shepherd the USMCA. She has helped to secure cooperation on sanctioning Russia for its aggression against Ukraine and on pursuing democracy for Venezuela. She has spoken out forcefully, when necessary, against China.
Not surprisingly, this talented diplomat has earned great respect both at home and abroad.
The Premier of Ontario has said:
Every premier I know thinks the world of her. . . . She
really proved herself over some tough times.
The former Deputy to Ambassador Nikki Haley has described Ambassador Craft as a worthy successor--``smart, capable, and knowledgeable about the foreign policy challenges facing our country.''
This body confirmed Ambassador Craft to her current post by voice vote. Since then, she has only gained even more experience, further refined her expertise, and demonstrated her talent even more clearly. Her testimony yesterday reinforced these things even further.
President Trump has made an excellent selection to serve our Nation in this critical role at the U.N. She deserves bipartisan support from the Foreign Relations Committee and, when the time comes, a swift confirmation here on the Senate floor.
Border Security
Mr. President, on a final matter, for nearly 2 months, my Republican colleagues and I have come to the floor constantly to raise the alarm on the humanitarian crisis down at the border. Record numbers of migrants have pressed upon the U.S.-Mexico border, including never- before-seen numbers of families and unaccompanied children. The agencies that care for these individuals and the facilities that house them have been stretched dangerously thin.
We all know this. That is why the administration requested supplemental funds 7 weeks ago. It is why agency heads and law enforcement officials have literally begged Congress to act. Yet, until yesterday, we had not seen progress, which leads one to ask why. It is because--stop me if this sounds familiar--the Democratic House of Representatives has been more interested in denying this White House whatever it asks for, however necessary it might be, simply because it has been this White House that has been asking for it.
My friend the Democratic leader has acknowledged publicly it has been the Democratic-controlled House that has been the hurdle. One House Democrat from a border State has likewise admitted that it has been the left flank of his own conference that has been the stumbling block.
As the press has noted, some leading Democrats have let partisanship so cloud their judgment that they have actually called the humanitarian problem a manufactured crisis or an artificial crisis. Really?
Well, these 7 weeks of wasted time have made two things abundantly clear--that partisanship doesn't change the facts and that ``the resistance'' doesn't pay the bills. The House Democrats have failed to get their act together, so now the Senate is going to move forward.
Yesterday, thanks to the leadership of Chairman Shelby and Senator Leahy, the Appropriations Committee approved a significant funding measure by an overwhelming vote of 30 to 1--just the kind of big, bipartisan vote we ought to see in this particular situation for noncontroversial funding for necessary programs to mitigate a national crisis.
The Republicans have been urging this kind of consensus literally for weeks, and now the Senate is finally rising to the occasion. We need to vote on this legislation before we recess at the end of the month.
The Senate should not let even more time slip by without addressing this crisis head-on, and if we receive the same kind of bipartisan cooperation that was signaled in the committee vote yesterday, we will not have to.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.