The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Thune mr. President , today is the first day of National Nurses week, an annual commemoration each may celebrating the contributions of nurses. So today seemed like a fitting day to come down to the floor and talk about the contributions of nurses and other essential workers over the past couple of months. Mr. President , we think about heroism, we tend to think of striking actions that take place in extreme circumstances. Running into burning buildings, jumping on to a grenade to save a fellow soldier. Racing out under fire to rescue a wounded comrade. And its right that when we think of heroes and we think such acts, acts of super human courage, generosity and selfsacrifice. But the past couple of months have also reminded us of another kind of heroism, the quiet heroism of doing ones duty, of getting up and going to work and doing your job day after day in difficult circumstances. Even when youre tired, even when youre scared, even when you know that doing your job could place you in danger. Weve seen a lot of that heroism over the past couple of months. A lot of americans have been able to telework during the coronavirus crisis. But many, many more have had to go out and do the work that cant be done from home. Police officers, first responders, pharmacists, grocery sore employees store employees, farmers and ranchers, food supply workers, cleaning personnel, bank employees, utility workers, delivery drivers, and most of all, doctors and nurses. Over the past few weeks weve come to realize how much we rely on these individuals. And that society couldnt operate without them. All the food in the world wont do us any good if it doesnt make it to Grocery Store shelves. That prescription from the doctor for lifesaving Blood Pressure medication is useless without a pharmacist to dispense the drug. We tend to take our utilities for granted, but what would we do during this crisis if no one was picking up our trash or making sure that the water keeps running and the electricity keeps flowing. Sometimes heroism looks like running into a burning building and sometimes it looks like putting on a mask and gloves and stocking the shelves with bread and pasta and cereal. Mr. President , i want to say a special word about medical personnel. Of all the essential workers who have gotten up and gotten on with their duty in these days of the pandemic, medical personnel have displayed a special courage. Theyve been on the front lines of this battle, the ones directly confronting the disease. Every day when they come to work, theyve come to work knowing that today could be the day that they catch the virus from a sick patient, but theyve come to work anyway. Theyve read about and sometimes seen colleagues die from the disease. At times theyve lacked adequate protective equipment. But theyve come to work anyway. Those nurses that were celebrating this week, theyve worked 12hour shifts providing medical care in a highstress environment and have still found time to sit with and comfort patients. Ive read more than one story about nurses making sure coronavirus patients separated from family and friends dont die alone. To our nations doctors and numberses and other medical personnel, thank you. We are so grateful for your courage and for your sacrifice. Mr. President , before i close i want to say a special thank you to the essential workers around the capitol complex ear in washington here in washington. While senators have been able to do aspects of our job remotely, weve also had to be here in the capitol to do the critical work of responding to the crisis. And we simply couldnt be here without the contributions of a number of individuals. The men and women of the capitol police, the cleaning staff, the food service workers, the Maintenance Technicians and other support staff, the staffers who have to be in the office for the senate to be able to operate, and the staffers right here on the floor. Door keepers and cloakroom staff and individuals from the offices of the secretary and the parliamentarian. I know these are stressful days to be coming to work. I know youve been asked to exceed your normal duties. And i am incredibly grateful and i know all of my colleagues are incredibly grateful for everything youve done to keep the senate operating safely. Its because of you that were able to keep getting our work done for the american people. Mr. President , sooner or later, were going to get through this pandemic and life will return to something reassembling normal. But i hope well still remember to be grateful for the people who have kept our society running during this crisis. Who have shown us in a difficult and challenging time how to get up every day and do our duty. Mr. President , i yield the floor. Mr. Wyden mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from oregon. Mr. Wyden mr. President , i rise to oppose the confirmation of William Evanina who we will be voting on shortly because of his failure to protect whistleblowers. Leaning leading whistleblower protection organizations support the 07 decision opposition to mr. Evaninas confirmation. And mr. President , i would now ask unanimous consent that the statements of four organizatio organizations, true advocates of whistleblower rights at this crucial time, be included in the record at this point. The presiding officer is there objection . Without objection. Mr. Wyden mr. President , it is currently open season on whistleblowers under the trump administration. Donald trump and those around him have made it clear that anyone who speaks up about waste, fraud, abuse, or law breaking can be punishedful you are a whistleblower under the trump administration. Donald trump himself and his echo chamber will publicly call you a liar. They will threaten to make your name public, even at the cost of your physical security. They will prevent your complaints from getting to the congress. And they will fire the inspectors general who investigate your complaints. Now more than ever courageous whistleblowers deserve leaders who are going to protect them, defend them, and vigorously advocate and work for them. They deserve leaders who are going to stand up to donald trump and anybody else who tries to punish those who are going to speak truth. Truth especially to those in power. And im rising today taking this time of the senate to speak on behalf of whistleblowers who feel under siege right now. Im on the floor to oppose the confirmation of william evanin evaninas track record, his track record of inaction and why he should not be the director of the National Counterintelligence and security center. The fact is, mr. President , mr. Evanina has failed repeatedly the key test on protecting whistleblower rights. Specifically he failed to enact whistleblower protections that the congress required in 2014. Think about that. All those years to get the job done and he wouldnt do it. Thats a sixyear track record of letting down whistleblowers and failing to follow the law. Today congress ought to stand up for whistleblowers, protect our democracy and the rule of law. And when congress does act and pass whistleblowers protection legislation, the way this body did in 2014, the Congress Must not reward those who ignore the whistleblower protection laws. And here you have a case of exactly that, refusal to implement it for almost six years, and the person were discussing with that track record of not being there for whistleblowers at a crucial time is being considered for a job promotion in the senate. I want to unpack for a few minutes what the world looks like now to a potential whistleblower in todays intelligence community. One of the biggest threats faced by whistleblowers who work with classified information is that their bosses are going to retaliate against them by revoking their security clearances. Without clearances, they cant do their jobs. Their livelihoods are ruined. Their families suffer. That threat has a Chilling Effect on potential whistleblowers and makes it less likely that abuses are going to be investigated and brought to light. The congress has cared about this for years. Its why in 2014 the Congress Passed legislation specifically prohibiting the revocation of security clearances as a form of retaliation against whistleblowers. So heres what the question was. What happens if a whistleblowers boss simply sinces that they revoke the security clearance for some other reason . What if they say it wasnt for retaliation for being a whistleblower does the whistleblower have any recourse . Is there an appeals process . Or are whistleblowers who stick their neck out to report waste, fraud, and abuse, just out of luck . The congress then stood with whistleblowers. In that same 2014 law, congress required the director of National Intelligence, in consultation with the attorney general and secretary of defense, to develop and implement policies and practices to make that appeals process for whistleblowers a reality. In other words, the congress recognized that if whistleblowers were truly going to be protected from retaliation, there had to be a meaningful process for them to defend themselves against agencies that always have all the power and always have an obvious incentive to silence those who speak up about abuses. So this important law was passed by congress on july 2014, as of that day in 23014, the director of National Intelligence should have been drafting those policies. But they didnt do it in 2014, nor in 2015, nor in 2016, nor in 2017 or 2018 or 2019. All those years of inaction and certainly they havent done it in 2020, not because of the pandemic but despite the pandemic, because this is a crucial time when whistleblower protection is needed now more than ever because we need those folks to be speaking truth to policymakers. And i want to tell the senate who was at the helm every single one of those years of inaction, the person the senate is thinking about promoting today, William Evanina. Six years have passed. Mr. Evanina has not produced policies required by law. During that time, there have been five directors of National Intelligence. The congress made the director of the ncsc a senateconfirmed position. Mr. Evanina kept his job, becoming both acting director and the nominee. Meanwhile, Congress Reached out to ask, whats the story on these policies . Is anybody actually moving to protect the whistleblowers, as congress required in 2014 . And i want to say it again. On mr. Evaninas watch, Nothing Happened in 2014, Nothing Happened in 2015, Nothing Happened in 2016, Nothing Happened in 2017, 2018, 2019, and not in 2020. No policies. Lots of empty rhetoric. no policies. Without the actual policies, mr. President , whistleblowers are vulnerable. And when they tell the truth and push for accountability, they suffer. Every day donald trump steps up his attacks on, which on inspectors general, on the whole system of accountability that has traditionally been bipartisan. Congress has pushed back, passing laws to protect whistleblowers, but the laws have to mean something for the sake of whistleblowers and the rule of law. Congress should not reward those who ignore the law and leave whistleblowers vulnerable. That is what mr. Evanina has done for six years. Thats why i cannot support his confirmation. He has defied the law, failed to protect whistleblowers. Im going to state the obvious. When the Congress Passes a law, its got to be implemented. When Congress Directs the congress to protect whistleblowers, thats something that is priority business. In 2014 this body tried to protect whistleblowers. A law was passed. Mr. Evanina has ignored it all these years. Thats just not acceptable. Now, with donald trump and his administration feeling free to publicly attack whistleblowers again and again, conduct an unremitting assault on the entire whistleblower system, laws to protect them are especially important to our democracy. Day after day, we see the costs of campaign to silence people who speak up about abuses. We see it in his efforts to cover up his failed, p often corrupt responses to the covid19 crisis. We see it across the board. Now it when this country needs officials who are going to demonstrate leadership, who are going 0 stand up for the brave and the people who are willing to put their neck out to report misconduct. Whistleblowers deserve it. The country deserves it. Now, the last 00 point im going to make, mr. President , my colleagues probably have heard theyre going to hear it i believe again that mr. Evanina is going to promise once more, after six years of empty promises, mr. Evanina is going to promise once more to complete these critical whistleblower protection policies. What id ask senators is, enough is enough, right . After six years, six years of unfulfilled promises, the senate ought to say, the country deserves better, the country deserves action, the country deserves real protection for whistleblowers. Mr. Evanina remains the acting director. I want him, even after he hasnt done it for six years, i want him to complete those whistleblower protection policies. When they are completed and the law Congress Passed is implemented, it seems to me thats the time for the senate to discuss again whether mr. Evanina should get a promotion. Now, last, i just want to come back to how i started, mr. President. Im not the only one who feels this way. The countrys leading whistleblower organizations have made it clear they oppose mr. Evaninas confirmation due to his failure to produce policies. They include such organizations as the Government Accountability project, the project on government oversight, whistleblower aid, National Security counselors. Its not just one member of the United States senate whos here to say that it is time to finally ensure that these courageous americans, these patriots who are willing to come forward when all the incentives in American Government are to stay quiet, not put yourself at risk, dont put your career in jeopardy, when all the incentives are for them to stay quiet, in this country right now we need them speaking truth more than ever before. I oppose this nomination because there is a long, long track record of not being willing to stand up for these courageous whistleblowers, and i intend to vote against the nominee. Mr. President , i yield the floor. The presiding officer the senator from virginia. Mr. Warner mr. President , i rise today in strong support of William Evanina to be the first senateconfirmed director of the National Counterintelligence and security center, or ncsc. I believe the bill is an American Patriot and an american success story. Raised in peakville, pennsylvania, with very modest means, he was the first in his family to go to college. Prior to join the f. B. I. In 1996, his first job was with the General Services administration in philadelphia. Over his 24yearlong career with the f. B. I. , bill investigated organized crime and violent crimes. He investigated the 9 11 terrorist attacks, the anthrax attacks, the daniel perle kidnapping. Bill also led the counterespionage group. He earn add reputation as the consummate counterintelligence and security professional, fiercely dedicated to the mission with unquestionable honor. Then in june 2014, thendirector of National Intelligence jim clapper, someone who i know and respect very much, appointed bill to serve as the director of the ncsc. Many technical and complex activities fall under ncscings including pennell security policy, Information Technology protection standards, c. I. Cyber operation risk, and damage assessments from spies and unauthorized disclosures. And ive partnered in my role as vice children of the committee with bill on many topics to include educating industry about the threats posed by china and reforming an antiquated vetting system. The intelligence authorization act for fiscal year 2016 recognized the vital work that ncsc does and made the position subject to president ial nomination and senate confirmation. In february 2018, President Trump nominated bill to be the first senateconfirmed director. The Senate Intelligence committee considered the nomination in may of 2018 and unanimously unanimously with some concerns from my colleague from oregon, but unanimous lay recommended his confirmation to the full senate. Did the nomination get taken up because a member on the opposite side had a concern. We considered his nomination again in february 2019 in the new congress. And again our Committee Voted Unanimously in favor of his nomination. Unfortunately, over the last two years, despite universal recognition of bills qualifications for the position, his nomination became entangled in unrelated matters. Despite the delay and i think bill had plenty of opportunities to leave the government bill stayed the course. Committed to the mission above all else. Now, i share my colleague from oregons concerns about whistleblowers. I have seen this administration and this white houses disregard for whistleblowers. I tell you this i believe i have bills commitment that the matters of processing the procedures on whistleblower protections will be dealt with. I also feel extraordinarily strongly that at this moment in time when there is not a single senateconfirmed appointee in the whole office of director of National Intelligence, now more than ever we need at least one career intelligence professional with a good record, confirmed by this senate, standing guard over an operation that right now unfortunately seems to be directed too often by political appointees that both disregard protection for whistleblowers and, in my mind, too often disregard protections for our whole intelligence community. So the fact that weve now gotten rid of the unrelated matters that were precluding bills confirmation by my colleague on the majority, i think we deserve to give this nominee what he and the country deserve a vote, and my hope will be a very strong vote of confirmation so we can send someone that is a career professional, a commitment to holding truth first and foremost above political interference. We need bill evanina confirmed in this position, so i look forward to mr. Evaninas confirmation today so that he can continue addressing the many important counterintelligence and security challenges facing our nation. Mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from colorado. Mr. Gardner thank you, mr. President. Early last december or at least sometime later last year, people in wuhan, china, began showing symptoms of what was at that time an unidentifiable respiratory disease in increasing numbers. We now know the virus as covid19 and it has completely uphelded our life in the United States and around the globe. This virus has infected over 3. 5 Million People around