Congressional Record, Senate — December 18, 2020, S7701
Summary
This is S7701 of the Congressional Record, Senate, December 18, 2020, with interleaved columns. The page opens with the end of remarks, by a Senator whose name is not printed in the text read, criticizing the Trump administration's response to a far-reaching cyber security breach by a foreign adversary. Under the heading Executive Calendar, Mr. Roberts asks that the Senate proceed to the nomination of Charles A. Stones, of Kansas, to be a Member of the Board of Directors of the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation, and the nomination is confirmed. Under the heading Coronavirus, Mr. McConnell says no final agreement on a major relief bill has been reached and that the Senate will take up a stopgap continuing resolution that passed the House.
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“Congressional Record, Senate — December 18, 2020, S7701.”
Original at www.govinfo.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/crec-crec-2020-12-18-crec-2020-12-18-pt1-pgs7702-4-4701b0999f/
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December 18, 2020 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S7701
We have heard literally not a word make matters worse, our top Depart- EXECUTIVE CALENDAR
from the White House about this, not a ment of Homeland Security official for Mr. ROBERTS. Mr. President, I ask
single word from the President about domestic cyber security—the very per- unanimous consent that the cloture
this. I suppose this should come as no son who would be leading our response motion with respect to Calendar No.
surprise. After all, this is the same to the hacks right now. 836 be withdrawn and the Senate pro-
President who, to this day, refuses to But he is gone. He is gone not be- ceed to the consideration of the nomi-
acknowledge that the Russians inter- cause he did a bad job but because he nation.
fered in our 2016 election even though refused to repeat the President’s base- PRESIDING OFFICER. Without ob-
our intelligence agencies unanimously less claims about fraud in the election, jection, it is so ordered.
agree that Russia meddled. claims the President is still making as The cloture motion was withdrawn.
This is the same President who went we meet here tonight more than 6 The PRESIDING OFFICER. The
to Helsinki and, on foreign soil, sided weeks after the election and 4 days clerk will report the nomination.
with Russian President Vladimir after the electoral college confirmed The senior assistant legislative clerk
Putin, a former KGB officer, over the Joe Biden’s election. read the nomination of Charles A.
CIA, the FBI, the NSA, and all of our In the last few days alone, the Presi-
Stones, of Kansas, to be a Member of
other intelligence organizations. dent has tweeted at least 25 times
the Board of Directors of the Federal
The same President who spends the about fraud in the 2020 election, some-
Agricultural Mortgage Corporation.
lion’s share of almost every day criti- thing he has completely invented in his
Mr. ROBERTS. I ask unanimous con-
cizing everyone from the National mind, but he hasn’t said one word
sent that the Senate vote on the nomi-
Football League to Greta Thunberg, about the most far-reaching breach of
nation with no intervening action or
who is 17 years old, to the Secretary of cyber security in our history by a for-
debate; that if confirmed, the motion
State in Georgia for upholding the rule eign adversary.
to reconsider be made and laid upon
of law can’t bring himself to utter one As we meet here again tonight in the
the table; and that the President be
word of criticism for Vladimir Putin— land of flickering lights, uncertain
immediately notified of the Senate’s
the same President who, instead of whether we will pass a budget to keep
action.
challenging Putin, proposed creating a the lights on in our exercise of self-gov-
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
joint cyber unit between the United ernment for the weekend, all across the
objection, it is so ordered.
States and Russia. That would be like globe there are public servants, the
The question, Will the Senate advise
asking a burglar to design the locks on men and women of our intelligence
and consent to the Stones nomination?
the front door of your house. services, who are working to repair the
The nomination was confirmed.
The Trump administration is not damage that has been done and to keep
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The ma-
known for its consistency, but here is us safe. They deserve and the American
jority leader.
the one place they have been resolute people deserve a President who makes
CORONAVIRUS
and consistently weak, coddling dic- clear that we won’t tolerate intrusions
tators and abandoning our democratic like this, a President who rallies our Mr. MCCONNELL. I think that all of
allies. allies to our common cause. our colleagues understand our present
As a member of the Intelligence If we have learned anything this situation.
Committee, I can’t say for sure today year, it is that our government has Both sides of the aisle are firmly
whether this weakness emboldened or proven itself woefully unprepared to committed to finalizing another major
enabled our adversaries. We are going deal with emerging threats, not only a pandemic rescue package for the Amer-
to have to study the facts. But the ad- cyber attack but also a global pan- ican people. Constant discussions have
ministration’s abject fecklessness cer- demic. This year has also taught us been underway for several days now.
tainly hasn’t helped. that the cost of ignoring these threats As of right now, we have not yet
To understand how weak the Trump is much, much greater than the cost of reached a final agreement, regretfully.
administration has left us, it is impor- addressing them head-on. I believe all sides feel we are making
tant to appreciate the wreckage of But to do that we need a President good progress on a major relief bill
their total war on the Federal Govern- who doesn’t bury his head in the sand that would travel with a full-year ap-
ment. They came into office with a or his face in Twitter, a democracy propriations measure.
promise to dismantle ‘‘the administra- that can think beyond the next com- But, alas, we are not there yet.
tive state,’’ but what they ended up mercial break on cable news, that can Given that, our urgent task is to pass
doing was dismantling our national de- put aside festering partisanship and a stopgap government funding meas-
fenses. forge an enduring national security ure. There is no reason the Federal
Over the past 4 years, the adminis- policy for the 21st century. Government funding should lapse while
tration drove thousands of qualified And Russia is not our only concern. I we hammer out our remaining dif-
public servants to the exit, including can assure you that China is not chas- ferences. We are going to take up the
cyber security experts in agency after ing the latest controversy on Twitter continuing resolution, which just
agency critical to our national secu- or cable news. They are building roads passed the House a few minutes ago on
rity. and bridges and airports across the an overwhelming bipartisan basis.
Back in March, I asked the Depart- globe. They are laying fiber-optic ca- I hope this body will pass it easily
ment of Homeland Security to detail bles beneath the ocean. They are com- and get this measure on the President’s
its plans to shore up our cyber secu- peting with us in space. They are forg- desk so Congress can complete our ne-
rity. They responded by telling me that ing new alliances and pioneering new gotiations with no pointless lapse in
they still had hundreds of vacancies for technologies every month. They are normal government operations.
cyber security. making considered choices to shape the
f
President Trump eliminated the top 21st century while we are struggling
coordinator for cyber security at the here to keep the lights on. LEGISLATIVE SESSION
National Security Council. There is no This lack of concern from the White
one, therefore, coordinating our cyber House about this breach is a dark mo-
defenses across the Federal Govern- ment, but soon we will have the chance
ment or engaging the private sector to to take another approach. I hope every- MORNING BUSINESS
make sure we are working together to one in this Chamber will seize the op- Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, I
shore up those vulnerabilities. portunity to work with one another to ask unanimous consent that the Sen-
dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE
If you put it all together, we have secure the promise of our great coun- ate proceed to legislative session and
been left with a gutted bureaucracy try for the next generation and Amer- be in a period of morning business,
without the necessary leadership to re- ica’s role in the world. with Senators permitted to speak
spond to cyber threats and espionage in I yield the floor. therein for up to 10 minutes each.
a coherent way. And a few weeks ago, The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
the President fired Chris Krebs, just to ator from Kansas. objection, it is so ordered.
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