Transcripts For CSPAN2 U.S. Senate U.S. Senate 20240713

Quorum call a senator madam president . The presiding officer the senator from north carolina. Mr. Burr i ask unanimous consent to vitiate the quorum call and to initiate the presiding officer without objection. Mr. Burr and to initiate consideration of the 12 00 vote. Unanimous consent to start the 12 00 vote. Mr. Burr madam president , i ask for the yeas and nays. The presiding officer is there a sufficient second . There appears to be. The clerk will call the roll. Vote vote vote the presiding officer are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or wishing to change their vote . Seeing none, the yeas are 68. The nays are 21. And the nomination is confirmed. A senator madam president. The presiding officer the senator from texas. Order in the chamber, please. The senate will be in order. The senate will be in order. Please take your conversations out of the chamber. The senator from texas. Mr. Cornyn madam president , i ask unanimous consent that the lydon nomination, calendar number 489, be made pending. The presiding officer without objection, the clerk will report. The clerk the judiciary, sherri a. Lydon of South Carolina to be United States district judge for the district of South Carolina. The presiding officer the question is on the nomination. Is there a sufficient second . There appears to be. The clerk will call the roll. Vote vote the presiding officer are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or wishing to change their vote . Seeing none, the ayes are 76, the nays are 13. The nomination is confirmed. Under the previous order, the motions to reconsider are considered made and laid upon the table, and the president will be immediately notified of the senates actions. The clerk will report the duncan nomination. The clerk United States postal service, robert m. Duncan of kentucky to be a governor. A senator madam president. The presiding officer the senator from new jersey. Mr. Menendez madam president , i come to the floor again to seek unanimous consent for a resolution that commemorates the Armenian Genocide. In october, the house of representatives passed a version of this resolution by a vote of 40511. This vote was historic and i applaud the bipartisan courage of those in the house to stand up for what is right. For those here in the senate who would consider objecting to this request, i urge you to think long and hard about what that means for your reputation, what it means for history, what that means for the senate as an institution. History is watching, and it will not look kindly on those who object to recognizing genocide. In recent speeches before the senate, ive laid out the case for why we must forward on this resolution. The simple threshold question for this body comes to this, do we recognize a clear case of genocide when it happens or do we let a country like turkey determine our own views, determine our own sense of history, determine our own moral obligation, and to determine the Public Record . A turkey that today is committing atrocities against the kurds in syria, a turkey that has teamed up with russia and the kremlin in purchasing the s400 air Defense System and just recently used it against an american f16 to see if it works. A turkey that works to block Forward Movement in nato on Key National Security objectives of the United States. At what point, mr. President , do we say enough is enough . At what point do we simply move forward and acknowledge the truth . The truth is that the Armenian Genocide happened. It is a fact. To deny that is to deny one of the monsterus acts of history. This denial is a stain on the senate and our country. We have an opportunity to right that wrong and put the United States senate on the right side of history. Lets depend review some again review some of that history again today. More than 104 years ago the Ottoman Empire launched a campaign to exterminate the armenian population through starvation and other brutal matters. How do we know this . How do know this . Because United States diplomats were there. They were it down and send sent it back to the state department. One witness wrote when the Turkish Authority gave the orders for these deportations they were merelile giving the death warrant to a whole race and they made no attempt to conceal this fact. Im confident that the whole history of the human race contains no such horrible episode as this. This seems the great horrors of the past seem almost insignificant compared to the armenian race in 1915. On june 5, 1915, the United States council in aleppo, there was a letter saying that there is a stream of armenians pouring in into aleppo. The government has been appealed to by various prominent people and those in authority to put an end to these conditions under the representations that it can only lead to the greatest blame and reproach but all to no avail. It is, without a doubt, a carefully planned scheme to thoroughly extinguish the armenian race. On july 24, a letter to the council, Leslie Harvard stated, that any doubt as to previous reports as to the governments intention has been removed. It was no secret that the plan was to destroy the armenian race as a race. Everything was apparently planned months ago. Close quote. And there are continuing elements which i wont read. I ask unanimous consent that my full statement be included in the record. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Menendez that continues to verify that these diplomats saw the truth and communicated back to their superiors in washington. They did their job and the historical record proves it. Now its up to the individual United States senators to do our job. The turkish government has made excuses. They have advocated for laws on expression and against legislation that recognizes the Armenian Genocide. They will stop at nothing to bury the truth. And i hope the individual senators will not once again fall for it. Any apprehension or trepidation on the parts of senators who believe this resolution will do irreparable harm with our relationship with turkey is unfounded. 27 countries have recognized the genocide in one form or another. Some saw trade increases in turkey following their recognition. 12 members of nato have recognized it. They still have embassies in turkey, their ription were not harmed. Belgian, canada, the czech republic, the netherlands, poland, the slavic republic, they all did the right thing. I say to my friends and colleagues, genocide is genocide. Senators in this body should have the simple courage to say it plainly, say it clearly, and say it without reservation. In every session of Congress Since 2006, i have introduced or cosponsored resolutions affirming the facts of the Armenian Genocide. When i was chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee i wags proud to preside over the passage of the legislation in the committee. If were not successful this afternoon, i know were not going to stop until we are. Im not going to stop until i go through every single senator who is willing to come to the floor and issue an objection on behalf of the administration because i think that armenian americans need to know who stands in support of recognizing the genocide, who opposes that. I want to thank senator cruz for joining me in this effort. Hes been stalwart with me in this regard in this bipartisan resolution. I want to thank the 27 additional senators who have been willing to stand up for a true cleareyed vision. Senators van hallen hollen, rubio, warren, remove any, peters, porter, reed, schumerer, white house, sanders, casey bennet, cortez masto. I thank them all. I yield to my colleague from texas. The presiding officer the senator for texas. Mr. Cruz mr. President , im proud to join with me colleague from new jersey in urging the senate to take up and pass the bipartisan menendezcruz resolution, affirming u. S. Recognition of the Armenian Genocide. From 1915 to 1923, the ot man Ottoman Empire carried out a forced deportation of nearly two million mawrms of whom armenians of whom 1. 5 million were killed. It was an atrocious genocide. That it happened is a fact and undeniable reality. In fact, the very word genocide, which literally means the killing of an entire people, was coined by ralph limbkin to describe the horrific nature of the Ottoman Empires ex termination of the armenians. We must never be silenced in response to atrocities. Over 100 years ago, the world was silent as the armenian people suffered and were murdered, and many people today are still unaware of what happened. With this resolution, we are saying that it is the policy of the United States of america to commemorate the Armenian Genocide through official recognition and remembrance. We have a moral duty to acknowledge what happened to 1. 5 million innocent souls. Its the right thing to do. And, mr. President , i certainly understand the concerns of some of my colleagues who worry that this resolution could irreversibly poison the u. S. Turkey relationship and push turkey into the arms of russia, but i dont believe those concerns have any counted basis. As my colleague from new jersey pointed out, 12 nato nations have similarly recognized the Armenian Genocide. Yes, turkey is a nato allies, but allies can speak the truth to each other. We should never be afraid to tell the truth, and alliances grounded in lies are themselves unsustainable. Additionally, the Foreign Relations committee in the coming days will be marking up an enormous package of sanctions on turkey. The horse has left the barn. Theres no good reason for the administration to object to this resolution and the effect of doing so is to deny recognition of this chilling moment of history. Let me close by echoing the optimism the senator from new jersey gave. We may well see an objection here today, as we did when senator menendez and i previously came to the senate floor and sought to pass this just a couple of weeks ago. But i believe in the coming days and weeks we will get this passed, that this objection, i hope, will be only temporary and i look forward to the day, hopefully very, very soon when all 100 senators, democrats and republicans, are united in simply speaking the truth, recognizing the genocide that occurred and making perfectly clear that america stands against genocide. I yield the floor. Mr. Menendez mr. President. The presiding officer the senator for new jersey. Mr. Menendez mr. President , i thank my colleague from texas for his eloquent statement, for his forthrightness on this issue. Mr. President , as as if in legislative session, i ask unanimous consent that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee be discharged from further consideration of s. Res. 150, i further ask that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. The presiding officer is there objection . A senator mr. President. The presiding officer the senator for north dakota. A senator mr. President , reserving the right to object. Mr. Crapo i dont think there is a single mr. Cramer i dont think there is a Single Member in fact, i support the spirit of this resolution. I suspect 99 of my colleagues do and at the right time we may pass it as senator cruz has stated. However i do not think this is the right time. If there is a right time, this isnt it. Largely because just hours ago our president returned from london, the nato summit with nato leaders where this was a topic of discussion with the leadership from turkey. This being the genocide resolution as well or the acknowledgment of genocide or the purchase of the s. 4 s400. And i want a clear readout of the president s discussion with president erdogan and our delegations with turkey before adopting this resolution. I dont think we can take the risk of undermining the complex and ongoing diplomatic efforts which are in our National Security interest as a country. I too want to be on the right side of history. I believe we will be on the right side of history, but these negotiations that the president is currently in are part of getting on the right side of history. I appreciate the ongoing conversations and still hope were able to overcome the challenges in the bilateral challenges with turkey. We know what the challenges are and we share the goal of seeing them appropriately addressed but theres no Good Alternative now. Adoption of this resolution today in my view is unnecessary and might very well undermine that diplomatic effort at a key time. I do not intend to continuously object to this resolution, but i believe it is appropriate for me to do so at this time, and so, mr. President , i object. The presiding officer objection heard. Mr. Menendez mr. President. The presiding officer the senator for new jersey. Mr. Menendez im deeply disappointed once again. This is the third time that a republican senator has come to the floor to object to the genocide resolution, the recognition of the genocide resolution, and theres never a good time. Theres never a good time. In my view theres always the right time, however, to recognize genocide as genocide. My colleague from north dakota actually sponsored h. Res. 220, the Armenian Genocide resolution, affirming the proper commemoration and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide will strengthen our International Standing in preventing modern day genocides when he was in the house of representatives. He was right then. He was right then, and the time was right then and the time is right now. You know, president erdogan was here in the United States a couple weeks ago. There was a meeting. A few of my white house had the privilege of joining the president expressing their discontent. Erdogan was given options, a way out of the dilemma that turkey has put themselves in with the s400. Basically they were told, either return it to russia, destroy it in our presence and or give it to us, which russia will never allow that to happen, to give us their technology. I waited until today to make sure that we wouldnt intercede in any way with the possibility. But turkey, in the interim, they used the s400 to fire at an f16, to see if they could take it down. Really . Really . So this premise that there was a meeting in nato well, there was a meeting in washington, then there was a meeting in nato. They still havent done anything on the s400. They still havent exercised any of the options that have been given to them. I intend to come once a week to the senate floor and all those who want to be listed on the wrong side of history, they have the option of doing so. Im not going to cease until we do what is morally and principally right, and that is recognize the Armenian Genocide as a host of other nations have done as well. With that, mr. President , i yield the floor. A senator mr. President . The presiding officer the senator for delaware. Mr. Coons mr. President , i serve on the Senate Judiciary committee. As a member of the Bar Association of delaware and a member of the United States senate, i am concerned about the transformation of our federal judiciary under this current administration. Im particularly concerned about rising issues around qualification and competence. So let me speak to that, if i might, for a few minutes. This senate is doing precious little in terms of legislating, but we are moving at a breakneck pace to confirm president trumps judicial nominees, roughly 150 so far. During the entire eight years of the previous administration, 55 Circuit Court judges were confirmed, nearly that same number have been confirmed in just three years of the Trump Administration 48. And nearly one in seven of all United States District Court judges currently serving have been appointed by president trump. I am deeply concerned about the quality of some of these nominations. Some have never taken a deposition, argue add motion, let alone tried a case in court. And the american Bar Association, the professional association of slurs, have ranked lawyers, have ranked nine of president trumps lawyers as unqualified. This is not about whether the president s nominees are conservative or not. I understand that exwills have consequences and that a republican president will more than not nominate conservative judges. And i have in some cases joined my democratic colleagues in supporting qualified nominees put forward by the administration who have won support from their home state senators and advanced through a bipartisan judicial nomination and confirmation process in our committee. But lets be clear. I wont stand by while this administration rams through nominees who are not just republican, not just conservative but demonstrably unqualified. I cant support senators from with deeply concerning records about their commitment to justice and to advancing a commonsense jurisprudence. Im not going to set a standard any lower than whats been required in previous administrations to serve on the federal bench, and for many, many years weve heard in this chamber and around this country that the quality of the federal bench, the capabilities and the experience and the values and the judgment of those who serve on federal benches across this country is an absolutely essential piece of our constitution and our ordered liberty. The cases that come before federal courts are too important to tolerate incompetence, inexperience, or bias on the federal judiciary. So why does this matter both in terms of the process and the substance . The president has put Forward Nominees who, in my view, would take us backwards on civil rights, voting rights, womens access to health care, laws that protect consumers and workers and the environment. Their decisions impact every american. And to me equally concerning is that trumps nominees dont reflect the diversity of our nation. We want litigants to go into a court and be able to have their day in court and be confident that the judge before them represents the breadth and range of america. So far of the 55 Circuit Court nominees confirmed, only 11 have been women, and theyve been even less racially diverse. Of all of president trumps nominees, 87 are white, 78 are men. I think our judiciary should reflect the diversity of the American People and have strong records and a wealth of experience. Sadly, thats not the case. For several weve considered, let me briefly speak to two. President trumps nominee to serve on the ninth Circuit Court of appeals who was recently confirmed, lawrence vandyke, raised serious concerns about his work ethic and his temperament. He was rated not qualified by the a. B. A. , based on concerns about his lack of knowledge of basic procedural rules and his commitment to being truthful. Six retired justices of the Montana Supreme Court questioned his fitness when he ran for the Supreme Court in montana and expressed concerns about his partisanship and the possibility of corporate influence. He has opposed basic civil rights and Civil Liberties for the Lgbtq Community and made a range of statements that i think would be disqualifying under any circumstance. Sarah pitlyk, whom this senate just confirmed this week to a lifetime seat on the United States District Court in the Eastern District of missouri, has never tried a case, neither criminal nor civil, has never taken a deposition, has never examined a witness, has never argued a motion in federal or state court. The a. B. A. Unanimously rated her as unqualified for a lifetime seat in the federal judiciary. Mr. President , we can and we should do better than this. Of the entire bar of the state of missouri, i am concern there are qualified, capable, seasoned conservatives who could have been nominated for that seat. In the entire ninth circuit and in particular the state for which mr. Vandyke was nominated, there are certainly abundant opportunities to choose qualified nominees. We can and we should do better than this. In my state of delaware, my senior senator, tom carper, and i worked together to help form a bipartisan Judicial Nominating Committee to fill two vacancies on our District Court. We felt strongly we had to reach out to the white house and work with them to identify consensus nominees who would be the best candidates whom we could both support and whom the president could nominate. Ultimately, we had a very productive process and the president nominate maryellen nature yeaio who we both returned positive blue slips for and have ultimately been confirmed by this body and now seated. This is how the process should work. We should be able to consult back and forth between the executive and legislative until we find competent, capable, qualified judges of whom we can all be proud. The senate should not be a rubber stamp regardless of the quality of nominees that get sent over. And i will continue to oppose president trumps nominees who are undeserving of a seat on the federal bench and unqualified to serve. It is, in my view, our responsibility to guard against the politicization of the federal judiciary, and we should Work Together not to tear down and destroy the traditions and rules of this senate but to find ways to strengthen and sustain them. Thats how we will move qualified and consensus nominees forward and protect the independent judiciary on which our very democracy rests. Thank you, mr. President. With that, i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a he recall q of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call mr. Whitehouse plop . The presiding officer senator for rhode island. Mr. Whitehouse i ask that any pending quorum call be vitiated. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Whitehouse thank you. Mr. President , i come up to the floor today because i missed an important occasion in the senate. We had a celebration recently of one of our more beloved members, senator Johnny Isakson of georgia. There wasnt much that could keep me away from that, but there was no senator going to ma trid for the Conference Madrid for the conference of the parties to consider the paris climate agreement, and Speaker Pelosi asked me to come on her house delegation so that it was bicameral, and as i think most people in this body know, im pretty animated on that subject and couldnt say no. There are not many other things that could have kept me away. So i want to come now and make up a little bit for being absent that day and express my gratitude for johnnys friendship to me over the years. I had the pleasure of going with him to the dday anniversary on a codel that he led with his usual graciousness and patriotism. He was kind enough to join quite early on the Bipartisan Senate oceans caucus that i started and has been a very helpful part of that endeavor. We have worked together on ways to improve Planning Health Care Planning for people who are in the late stage of illnesses to make sure that they get the chair they want and dont the care that they want and dont get a lot of care they dont want and get to be home and have their dignity respected. Weve long been adherences of a biennial budget and im delighted that the bipartisan bill that senator enzi and i have put together will create a biennial budget. Im not sure well be able to get that down before senator isakson leaves about you one way or another, his interest in biennial budget will live on successfully when we pass that. We had a parity question about Mental Health hospitals, childrens Mental Health hospitals that werent getting counted and therefore werent getting access to funding for the medical interns who come. And johnny helped me fix that. It helped, im sure, hospitals in georgia but it was particularly helpful to me for a Childrens Hospital in rhode island. We have a lot of Rhode Islanders who were killed in the lebanon Marine Barracks bombing, and there has been litigation against iran for its responsibility for those deaths. Its not easy to collect a judgment on a Foreign Government and johnny has been very helpful to me in our joint efforts on iran terror victims judgments, helping us let the lawyers collect against assets of the government of iran. And then weve regularly done National Mentoring month together, that resolution. But for all the things that weve done together, that is not what im going to miss about senator Johnny Isakson. Hes just one of the most decent, kind, good people that ive come across anywhere in my life and certainly one of the most decent and kind members of the senate. So with my very sincere apologies, johnny, for missing the correct day, i hope you understand how much it mattered to me to be elsewhere and why i had to be there. I come to the floor now belatedly to wish you all my very best with great affection and great respect. Thank you. I yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call mr. Whitehouse mr. President . The presiding officer the senator for rhode island. Mr. Whitehouse may i ask first that the pending quorum call be vitiated. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Whitehouse second, that the vote on the pending nomination be called u up or the soon to be pending nomination. The presiding officer the nomination is pending. Mr. Whitehouse that the vote be called on that and ask for the yeas and nays. The presiding officer is there a sufficient second . There appears to be. The clerk will call the roll. Vote vote vote