Biden Administration (Cong. Rec., Feb. 1, 2022)
Summary
Congressional Record, Senate, February 1, 2022 (beginning at page S424). The page opens with the end of a speech calling for a commitment to democracy in Burma. Under the heading Biden Administration, Thune reviews the first year of the Presidency, calling it marked by a lack of leadership, and criticizes the Afghanistan withdrawal, inflation, the border and the President's speech in Georgia on election legislation. Thune describes joining more than 100 lawmakers in asking the Department of Homeland Security inspector general to investigate border failures, and cites more than half a million attempts to cross the southern border in the current fiscal year's first 3 months.
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“Biden Administration (Cong. Rec., Feb. 1, 2022).”
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S424 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE February 1, 2022
America and our partners need to Of course, President Biden hasn’t tion to a President who refers to his
pass this crucial test. We must leave no just been largely ignoring this crisis; political opponents as enemies.
room for doubt about our commitment he actually helped create it. The so- ‘‘We can see each other not as adver-
to democracy in Burma. called American Rescue Plan Act the saries but as neighbors,’’ the President
I suggest the absence of a quorum. Democrats passed and the President said in his inaugural address. ‘‘We can
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- signed into law in March of last year treat each other with dignity and re-
pore. The clerk will call the roll. helped produce the sky-high inflation spect.’’ In his Georgia speech, by con-
The senior assistant legislative clerk we are experiencing. But instead of ad- trast, the President’s political oppo-
proceeded to call the roll. dressing the resulting crisis, the Presi- nents became not only adversaries but
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask dent has been focused on passing an- enemies and racists, all for the crime
unanimous consent that the order for other massive government spending of disagreeing with the President’s vi-
the quorum call be rescinded. bill that would almost undoubtedly sion of election reform.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- The President’s complete condemna-
worsen our inflation problem. Yes, his
pore. Without objection, it is so or- tion of half the country was striking. I
solution to our inflation crisis is to
dered. lost track of the number of people he
double down on the strategy that
BIDEN ADMINISTRATION
helped produce so much inflation in the implied were racist. The President as-
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, we re- sumed bad faith on the part of those
first place.
cently passed the 1-year anniversary of Meanwhile, Americans are wondering who disagree with him. Missing from
President Biden’s inauguration. It is a his speech was any shred of recognition
if their paychecks will stretch to afford
natural time for taking stock of the that perhaps Americans of good will
the sharp increases at the grocery
first year of his Presidency. can disagree on election legislation.
In President Biden, we were supposed store and in gas prices, utility bills,
household commodities, and the list No, if you disagree with the President,
to get a leader—a leader at home and
goes on. you are a racist. Like Hillary Clinton
on the world stage. The grownups, we
On the world stage, of course, the de- before him, it is clear that President
were told, were back in the room. But
fining moment of President Biden’s Biden conceives of a large portion of
the truth of the matter is that Presi-
first year was his disastrous with- the American people as deplorables.
dent Biden’s first year in office has
drawal from Afghanistan. The Presi- The President repeatedly referred to
been marked by a lack of leadership
more than anything else. dent’s arbitrary, chaotic withdrawal justice in his Georgia speech. Perhaps
Again and again, President Biden has was a real low point for our country. he should consider the profound injus-
simply abdicated his responsibilities. Thirteen of our military men and tice of baselessly suggesting half the
Take perhaps the two defining domes- women died in a terrorist attack dur- country is racist.
tic crises of the Biden Presidency: our ing the evacuation from Kabul. We In his inaugural address, the Presi-
inflation crisis and our border crisis. In abandoned thousands of individuals dent said, ‘‘We must reject a culture in
both cases, the response of the Presi- who had worked with us in Afghanistan which facts themselves are manipu-
dent and his administration has by and and whom we had promised to protect lated and even manufactured.’’ I have
large been to stick their fingers in and left behind hundreds of American been profoundly disappointed to see the
their ears and pretend the crises don’t citizens. The President, who was sup- President and many of my Democrat
exist. Sure, the President or his people posed to restore our standing on the colleagues manipulate the facts about
make a gesture toward the problem world stage, left our allies wondering if State election bills to support their de-
every now and then, but mostly, you our word could be relied on, not to sire for a Federal takeover of elections.
would be forgiven for thinking that mention the fact that the disastrous Manipulated facts were a hallmark of
neither the border crisis nor the infla- withdrawal left our country in a more the President’s speech in Georgia, as he
tion crisis was even on the President’s precarious national security position. tried to twist a mainstream election
radar. Meanwhile, the President’s recent law into Jim Crow 2.0. His attempts
Migrants continue to pour across our press conference left serious questions were particularly ironic given that the
southern border in massive numbers, as to how well he is likely to handle State he was complaining about offers
creating a humanitarian, enforcement, another pressing national security, and greater opportunities to vote than are
and security nightmare. And the Presi- that is the issue in Ukraine. Casually offered by the President’s home State
dent? Well, he appears to believe that if dismissing a possible ‘‘minor incur- of Delaware.
he ignores the problem long enough, it sion’’ into Ukraine’s sovereign terri- Days later, at a press conference
will go away. When he does talk about tory did not inspire confidence in the marking his first year in office, the
immigration, it amounts to a green President’s ability to stand up to Rus- President laid the groundwork for fu-
light to the cartels and traffickers to sia. ture division and disunity by sug-
keep leading migrants to our borders. We can’t afford missteps and walk gesting that the 2022 elections could be
That is why I recently joined more backs. Putin is looking to test America illegitimate if Democrats’ election leg-
than 100 lawmakers in requesting that and NATO’s resolve, looking for any islation doesn’t get passed; that is, I
the Department of Homeland Secu- hesitation or division. I hope the Presi- assume, if Democrats don’t win. It was
rity’s inspector general investigate the dent and the majority party will take yet another profoundly disappointing
Biden administration’s border failures. seriously the threat to Ukraine, utilize remark from a President who was sup-
Between the President’s rhetoric and any remaining levers of American in- posed to take the lead in bringing this
his failure to take any meaningful ac- fluence to deter a renewed attack, and, country together.
tion to address the influx of illegal im- if Putin proceeds, make him imme- One year into the Biden Presidency,
migration, it is no surprise that we saw diately realize it was a miscalculation. it has become clear that the President
more than half a million attempts to Perhaps the biggest thing the Presi- of the inaugural address—the President
cross our southern border illegally in dent was going to do—the most impor- whose whole soul was committed to
the current fiscal year’s first 3 months tant way he was going to be a leader— uniting our Nation—has long ago dis-
alone—half a million. was to pull our country together. That appeared. The President has not only
Meanwhile, American families are was the defining theme of President failed to unite the country, but, as his
struggling with the worst inflation in Biden’s inaugural address. ugly and divisive speech in Georgia
40 years—40 years. The last time infla- I quote: made clear, he has come to regard any-
tion was this bad, ‘‘E.T.’’ was just Today, on this January day, my whole soul one who opposes his policies with ac-
premiering, and ‘‘Return of the Jedi’’ is in this: Bringing America together. Unit- tive hostility and contempt.
ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with SENATE
hadn’t even come out yet. American ing our people. And uniting our nation. Just 1 year—1 year—after dedicating
families are struggling with huge in- Contrast that speech with the speech himself to uniting our country, the
creases in the price of the most basic that book-ended the other end of his President is dividing Americans into
necessities, from food to fuel. And the first year, his speech in Georgia on supporters and enemies. ‘‘We must end
administration’s response? Mostly election legislation. We went from a this uncivil war that pits red against
crickets. President who wanted to unite our Na- blue, rural versus urban, conservative
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February 1, 2022 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S425
versus liberal,’’ the President said in but will we and the other members Britain during its hour of need, when it
his inaugural address. It is too bad the allow Putin to dictate membership in was literally hanging on by a thread,
President’s actions have not matched the multilateral, rules-based order rep- because it lacked the resources it need-
his words. resented by NATO by threats and ed to protect its people and fend off
I yield the floor. force? Will we aid a democracy like German forces. So President Roosevelt
I suggest the absence of a quorum. Ukraine in its self-defense? These are vowed to transform the United States
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- questions that lie before us, and so far, into what he called the arsenal of de-
pore. The clerk will call the roll. the Biden administration’s response mocracy and worked with Congress to
The senior assistant legislative clerk has been less than reassuring. devise a creative solution that later be-
proceeded to call the roll. Last year, the administration waived came known as the Lend-Lease Act.
Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 Pipe- This legislation, signed into law in
unanimous consent that the order for line, giving Russia the green light to March of 1941, allowed the United
the quorum call be rescinded. continue its monopoly on the energy States to supply our allies with weap-
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. supply to Europe along with its ability, ons, ships, aircraft—any materiel they
PADILLA). Without objection, it is so because of that monopoly, to needed in order to mount their defense
ordered. weaponize energy to an even greater at a critical time in the war in Europe.
UKRAINE DEMOCRACY DEFENSE LEND-LEASE ACT extent. Later that year, Winston Churchill,
OF 2022 The administration’s response led to the Prime Minister, said the bill ‘‘must
Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, the a poorly planned and even more poorly be regarded without question as the
former leader of the Soviet Union, executed exodus from Afghanistan, most unsordid act in the whole of re-
Vladimir Lenin, once said: leaving Afghans vulnerable and at the corded history.’’ Now, Winston Church-
You probe with bayonets: If you find mush, mercy of the Taliban and leaving our ill certainly had a way with words, and
you push. If you find steel, you withdraw. friends and allies around the world when he calls it an unsordid act, I
Well, apparently, the current Russian aghast at the manner in which that guess today we would say it was the
President subscribes to this same point exit occurred. most selfless and unselfish act in the
of view. President Putin has made no Then, a couple of weeks ago, Presi- whole of recorded history by the
secret of his desire to restore the dent Biden suggested that minor incur- United States of America.
former Soviet Union. In 2005, he de- sions—minor incursions—by Russia The circumstances today are not
clared: into Ukraine may be tolerated—a line those of March of 1941. There is no mis-
The [demise] of the Soviet Union was the that he would later, thankfully, walk take about that. Yet, if you look back
greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the cen- back. at the historical parallels—at the cir-
tury. President Biden has given our allies cumstances in 1939, when Hitler in-
‘‘The [demise] of the Soviet Union multiple reasons to doubt the resolve vaded Czechoslovakia for similar rea-
was the greatest geopolitical catas- and credibility of the United States as sons for which Putin is claiming he has
trophe of the century,’’ he said in 2005. that leader of the free world. Whether a right to invade Ukraine—they are
He went on to say: out of naivete or idealism or just error chilling. If we had stood up to Germany
As for the Russian people, it became a gen- of judgment, it doesn’t change the fact then, we might have avoided a global
uine tragedy. Tens of millions of our fellow that President Biden has repeatedly calamity and prevented the loss of mil-
citizens and countrymen found themselves projected a lack of decisiveness and lions of innocent lives.
beyond the fringes of Russian territory. weakness, and Putin, you had better So what best to inform our actions
So perhaps we should not have been believe, has taken notice. today but the experience of the past, to
surprised when, in 2008, Russia invaded As it stands today, the international correct our mistakes, and to duplicate
Georgia—that is, the country of Geor- response to Russian aggression is dis- the successful efforts in World War II
gia. Then, when it came to a global re- jointed and disorganized at best. or at other times in our history. The
sponse, the Russian President found France is all in on diplomacy. The lessons of the past must inform the
mush, so he pushed. In 2014, Russia in- United Kingdom is offering clear but present, and I believe we still have a
vaded Ukraine for the first time since limited military assistance. Germany, duty to lead when it comes to pro-
the end of the Cold War, taking its Cri- unfortunately, seems to support ap- tecting democracies and freedom-lov-
mea region. Once again, President peasement. The United States and the ing countries around the world.
Putin found mush, so he pushed. rest of the world are waiting for Presi- Once again, America can now become
Today, more than 100,000 Russian dent Biden to step up to the challenge. that arsenal of democracy for Ukraine.
troops are massed along the Ukrainian I believe we have a responsibility to To that end, I have introduced bipar-
border. An invasion could happen at stand with Ukraine and help its people tisan legislation called the Ukraine De-
any moment. This impending crisis defend its sovereignty and its democ- mocracy Defense Lend-Lease Act to en-
raises a fundamental question for the racy. Now, that doesn’t mean having sure that Ukrainian forces have the re-
freedom-loving countries of the world: American troops on the ground, but sources they need to deter and defend
Will President Putin be met with mush there are other ways we can help against Russian aggression.
or steel? Will the anticipated cost of an Ukraine defend itself and raise the I am proud to have worked with sen-
invasion in terms of blood, treasure, costs of a threatened Russian invasion ior members of the Armed Services
and reputation become so high that he into their country. Forceful language Committee and Senate Foreign Rela-
backs down or will a muted global re- and threats of sanctions may be impor- tions Committee—people like Senators
sponse encourage his lust for empire? tant, but they are clearly not enough. CARDIN, WICKER, SHAHEEN, GRAHAM,
In times like these, the civilized We need to take concrete steps to mini- BLUMENTHAL, SULLIVAN, and HASSAN—
world looks to the United States for mize the likelihood of a Russian attack on this legislation, which will give the
leadership. Ours may no longer be a and ensure that Ukraine, as I said, has administration and give President
unipolar world, with the rise of China the resources they need in order to de- Biden more flexibility and more effi-
and the dreams of empire of the Rus- fend themselves in the event of an in- ciency when it comes to being that ar-
sian Federation, but our country re- vasion. senal of democracy for Ukraine.
mains a beacon of freedom, strength, There is a historical parallel. During As it stands today, the President of
and democracy that serves as an exam- World War II, President Roosevelt rec- the United States has a menu of op-
ple for the rest of the world. ognized how critical it was for the tions to support our friends and allies
So the question the world is asking United States to support Great Britain in times of conflict. In some cases, like
ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with SENATE
is, Will America still lead? Will we ac- even at a time when the American peo- the loan of equipment, the United
cept our responsibilities under treaties ple were isolationists and when Amer- States could eventually retain end use.
like that of the North Atlantic Treaty, ica’s official policy was neutrality to- In others, this would make clear we
which formed NATO, the North Atlan- ward the war in Europe. President Roo- would support grants or emergency aid
tic Treaty Organization? To be sure, sevelt recognized it was important to where we would not recover the fund-
Ukraine is not yet a member of NATO, do what we could to support Great ing or assets sent to our allies. This
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