Congressional Record, Senate — February 10, 2022, S631
Summary
This is S631 of the Congressional Record, Senate, February 10, 2022, with interleaved columns of floor remarks. One speaker criticizes a colleague's blocking of qualified Defense Department nominees, including Dr. Wallander, Dr. Honey, and Ms. Dalton, and lists recent confirmations such as Douglas Bush as Assistant Secretary of the Army by 95 to 2. Another speaker says the average American family faced an estimated $3,500 more in expenses last year because of inflation, and criticizes Democratic spending, border policy, and the Build Back Better plan. The views are attributed to the speakers, whose names are not printed in the section read.
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“Congressional Record, Senate — February 10, 2022, S631.”
Original at www.govinfo.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/crec-crec-2022-02-10-crec-2022-02-10-pt1-pgs631-b4c0a1722a/
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February 10, 2022 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S631
In 2018, Russian private military con- mated $3,500 more in expenses last year cans to pay for it? Of course, Demo-
tractor forces even assaulted an out- as a result of inflation—$3,500. Now, crats’ Build Back Better plan isn’t all
post of Americans in Syria. They were that may not sound like much to a tax hikes. Democrats did manage to in-
forced to defend themselves, and, of wealthy Democrat politician, but for clude a tax break in their tax-and-
course, they did, and they ultimately most American families, that is a lot of spending proposal—a tax break for blue
routed the Russian force. money. For a lot of families, $3,500 is State millionaires. If they succeed in
So my colleague’s stated sentiments the difference between putting some- passing it, I am sure wealthy Democrat
do just what Vladimir Putin wants. He thing in savings or living paycheck to donors will be grateful.
wants to divide the United States from paycheck. An additional $3,500 in ex- While an inflation crisis has raged,
our NATO allies and other democ- penses can mean having to forgo essen- Democrats have pushed for new ways
racies. He wants to diminish U.S. pres- tial home repairs or needed car work. to spend taxpayer dollars and expand
ence in Europe and to rewrite the Eu- It can mean putting off braces for a the reach of the Federal Government
ropean security order in a way that fa- child or forgoing needed medical care. into Americans’ lives: a huge expansion
vors his authoritarian interests. We Now, the White House Chief of Staff of government’s involvement in
simply cannot allow that to happen. may have the budget to regard infla- childcare that would disadvantage the
I could not disagree with my col- tion as a high-class problem, which is religious providers so many Americans
league any more on how he has chosen how she referred to it, described it, but choose for their children; a massive in-
to associate himself. Continuing to for ordinary Americans, inflation is a crease in the size of the IRS; a proposal
block qualified leaders such as Dr. very real problem—a problem that is to allow the IRS to examine the details
Wallander, Dr. Honey, and Ms. Dalton eating up their wage increases and low- of Americans’ banking transactions;
does not make us stronger, it does not ering their standard of living. energy policies that would drive up the
contribute to productive discourse over We are in the midst of an inflation cost of electricity and gasoline for
our national priorities, and it doesn’t crisis, a supply chain crisis, and as if American families; billions for prior-
accomplish what he is trying to accom- those weren’t enough, a border crisis. ities like tree equity and environ-
plish. Huge numbers of illegal immigrants mental justice programs at well-funded
If what he wants is answers on Af- are pouring across our southern border colleges and universities. The list goes
ghanistan, then work with us. Let’s and have been pouring across our on.
work together. Let’s make this Com- southern border for months, creating a But it would be unfair for me to sug-
mission that we passed in the NDAA— security, enforcement, and humani- gest that Democrats have expended all
let’s make it work. What he wants tarian nightmare. their energy on tax-and-spending
casts us an unreliable partner to our So there is a lot for our country’s sprees. The administration has also
allies, and it forces the Department of leadership in Washington to be focused found time to implement provisions of
Defense to operate with one hand tied on right now. What is the majority Democrats’ original spending spree, the
behind their back. party doing about these crises? Well, American Rescue Plan, including, ap-
So I am disappointed to hear my col- not much. In fact, most of the time, parently, until they got caught, free
league—and he talks about regular you can be forgiven for thinking that government crack pipes and other drug
order. Well, in the last 24 hours, we neither the President nor Democrat paraphernalia.
have confirmed three nominees by reg- leaders even realize there is an infla- Democrats spent a lot of time push-
ular order. We held up the Senate to tion crisis or a supply chain crisis or a ing election legislation that they hope
get cloture votes. Then we passed Alex- border crisis. The President, for one, will give them an advantage come No-
andra Baker, the Deputy Under Sec- seems to be hoping that if he ignores vember.
retary of Defense for Policy, 75 to 21. these crises for long enough, they will On the COVID front, the administra-
We passed Douglas Bush, Assistant just go away. tion struggled with testing, but it has
Secretary of the Army, 95 to 2. I don’t So what are the President and con- found time for vaccine and mask man-
know if Senator HAWLEY was one of gressional Democrats doing with their dates, some of which I believe have far
those two. I assume he was. We passed time if they are not addressing our bor- exceeded the administration’s author-
Patrick Coffey, general counsel for the der crisis or inflation crisis? Well, for ity. Fortunately, the courts have
Navy, 79 to 17. Then on February 2, by one thing, they are attempting to dou- stepped in to check some of the admin-
unanimous consent, we passed Gabriel ble down on the strategy that helped istration’s excesses, like the adminis-
Camarillo, Under Secretary of the get us into this mess in the first place. tration’s attempt to impose a vaccine
Army, and Andrew Hunter, Assistant That is right. The inflation crisis mandate on large private-sector em-
Secretary of the Air Force, by unani- Democrats would like to ignore is actu- ployers or the administration’s deci-
mous consent. ally something they helped create by sion to impose a mask mandate for 2-
So this is not about regular order; flooding the economy with excessive year-olds—yes, for 2-year-olds.
this is about trying to use the Senate government spending in their so-called Your Democratic government at
process for his own personal ambitions, American Rescue Plan last March. work, ladies and gentlemen.
and that is unfortunate. It is unfortu- For months, they have tried to dou- In November, the administration
nate because it doesn’t get us the indi- ble down on that bill with another issued a mask mandate for Head Start
viduals we need to get confirmed to massive spending spree that would programs requiring all children 2 years
make government run, and it is unfor- flood the economy with more govern- of age and up to be masked inside and
tunate because it doesn’t accomplish ment money and undoubtedly make outside—out on the playground. Now,
what he says he wants. the inflation crisis worse. is there scientific evidence to support
So I am disappointed to hear that we The President has attempted to jus- this? Not really. The World Health Or-
are not going to move these nominees tify this massive spending legislation ganization, in fact, recommends
forward, and I hope at some point my by claiming that it will help inflation. against masking for children aged 5
colleague will reconsider. Right. So the first massive spending and under, but that hasn’t stopped the
I yield the floor. spree helps push us into an inflation administration. Democrats seem deter-
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- crisis, but a second massive spending mined that nothing, including science,
ator from South Dakota. spree will fix it? I am pretty sure that will pry their masks from them—or
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask the definition of ‘‘insanity’’ is doing perhaps I should say pry our children’s
unanimous consent to speak for up to the same thing over and over again and masks from them—since Democratic
15-minutes prior to the scheduled roll- expecting different results. politicians have not always dem-
ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with SENATE
call vote. But massive inflation concerns onstrated the consistency of mask-
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without haven’t stopped Democrats. After all, wearing that they expect from our chil-
objection, it is so ordered. why deal with a boring inflation crisis dren.
ECONOMY when you could be thinking up new Democrats wonder why Republicans
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, the aver- ways to expand the Federal Govern- think we should be careful how much
age American household spent an esti- ment and new ways of taxing Ameri- power we give the Federal Government.
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S632 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE February 10, 2022
If Democrats really wanted to help Crapo Johnson Rounds ship. We openly and publicly call out the
Cruz Kennedy Rubio Party of War that has been formed within
American families, they would be fo- Daines Lankford Sasse
cusing on our inflation and supply the government.
Ernst Lee Scott (FL)
We represent the viewpoint of those in
chain crises and addressing the secu- Fischer Lummis Scott (SC)
Russian society who reject war, who consider
rity nightmare posed by our border cri- Graham Marshall Shelby
Grassley McConnell Thune unlawful the use of military threats and the
sis. Instead, they are busy focusing on Hagerty Moran Tillis deployment of a blackmailing style in for-
ways to secure their hold on power and Hawley Paul Toomey eign policy.
vastly expand the reach of the Federal Hoeven Portman Tuberville We reject war, whereas you, the Party of
Hyde-Smith Risch Wicker War, consider it acceptable. We stand for
Government into Americans’ lives. I Inhofe Romney Young
guess we will have to see how that peace and prosperity for all Russian citizens,
NOT VOTING—3 whereas you put our lives on the line for the
strategy works out for them. sake of political games. You deceive and ma-
I yield the floor. Barrasso Blunt Luján
nipulate people, whereas we tell them the
CLOTURE MOTION ThePRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. truth. You do not speak in the name of the
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Pursuant SCHATZ). On this vote, the yeas are 52, Russian population—we do. For decades, the
to rule XXII, the Chair lays before the the nays are 45. Russian people, who lost millions of lives in
Senate the pending cloture motion, The motion is agreed to. past wars, have lived by the saying: ‘‘if only
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- there were no war.’’ Have you forgotten this?
which the clerk will state. Our position is quite simple. Russia does
The legislative clerk read as follows: ator from Vermont.
not need a war with Ukraine and the West.
CLOTURE MOTION UKRAINE No one is threatening us, no one is attacking
We, the undersigned Senators, in accord- Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, before us. Policies based on the idea of such a war
ance with the provisions of rule XXII of the I begin, I would like to ask unanimous are immoral and irresponsible and must not
Standing Rules of the Senate, do hereby consent to put into the CONGRESSIONAL be conducted in the name of the Russian peo-
move to bring to a close debate on the nomi- RECORD an open letter to the Russian ple. Such a war is devoid of legitimacy and
nation of Executive Calendar No. 705, Max has no moral basis. Russian diplomacy
leadership from the Russian Congress
Vekich, of Washington, to be a Federal Mari- should take no other position than a cat-
of Intellectuals, who state: egorical rejection of such a war.
time Commissioner for a term expiring June
Our position is simple: Russia does not Not only does such a war not reflect Rus-
30, 2026.
need a war with Ukraine and the West. Such sia’s interests, but it also threatens the
Charles E. Schumer, Christopher Mur-
a war is devoid of legitimacy and has no country’s very existence. The senseless ac-
phy, Edward J. Markey, Robert P.
moral basis. tions of the country’s political leadership,
Casey, Jr., Maria Cantwell, Kirsten E.
Gillibrand, Debbie Stabenow, Benjamin This is a very brave statement made which is pushing us in this direction, will in-
L. Cardin, John W. Hickenlooper, Tim by Russian intellectuals. evitably lead to a mass anti-war movement
in Russia. Each of us will naturally play a
Kaine, Gary C. Peters, Christopher A. There being no objection, the mate-
Coons, Brian Schatz, Richard part in it.
rial was ordered to be printed in the We will do everything in our power to pre-
Blumenthal, Jacky Rosen, Jack Reed, RECORD, as follows: vent this war, and if it begins, to stop it.
Thomas R. Carper, Cory A. Booker.
[From the New York Review of Books, Feb. Signed,
The PRESIDING OFFICER. By unan- 4, 2022] Lev Ponomaryov, human rights activist;
imous consent, the mandatory quorum AN OPEN LETTER TO THE RUSSIAN LEADERSHIP Valery Borshchev, human rights activist;
call has been waived. Svetlana Gannushkina, human rights activ-
RUSSIAN CONGRESS OF INTELLECTUALS
The question is, Is it the sense of the ist; Leonid Gozman, politician; Liya
Our position is simple: Russia does not Akhedzhakova, actress and People’s Artist of
Senate that debate on the nomination need a war with Ukraine and the West. Such the Russian Federation; Andrey Makarevich,
of Max Vekich, of Washington, to be a a war is devoid of legitimacy and has no musician; Garri Bardin, director; Viktor
Federal Maritime Commissioner for a moral basis. Shenderovich, writer; Tatiana Lazareva, TV
term expiring June 30, 2026, shall be There is an ever-increasing flow of alarm- presenter; Andrey Zubov, historian and poli-
brought to a close? ing news about a possible Russian invasion tician; Andrey Nechaev, politician; Alina
The yeas and nays are mandatory of Ukraine. Reports are emerging about Vitukhnovskaya, writer; Alexander Belavin,
stepped-up recruitment of mercenaries with- physicist; Nikolai Rozanov, corresponding
under the rule.
in Russia and the transfer of fuel and mili- member of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
The clerk will call the roll. tary equipment to Ukraine’s Donetsk and Natalia Evdokimova, executive secretary
The bill clerk called the roll. Luhansk regions. In response, Ukraine is of the Human Rights Council of St. Peters-
Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the arming itself and NA TO is sending addi- burg; Efim Khazanov, academician of the
Senator from New Mexico (Mr. LUJÁN) tional forces into Eastern Europe. The ten- Russian Academy of Sciences; Hya Ginzburg,
is necessarily absent. sion is not abating, but rather mounting. physicist and professor; Zoya Svetova, jour-
Mr. THUNE. The following Senators Russian citizens are becoming de facto hos- nalist; Grigory Yavlinsky, politician; Lev
are necessarily absent: the Senator tages of a reckless adventurism that has Shlosberg, politician; Boris Vishnevsky, pol-
come to typify Russia’s foreign policy. Not itician; Lev Gudkov, sociologist and pro-
from Wyoming (Mr. BARRASSO) and the
only must Russians live with the uncer- fessor; Igor Chubais, philosopher; Tatyana
Senator from Missouri (Mr. BLUNT). tainty of whether a large-scale war will Voltskaya, poet and journalist; Boris
The yeas and nays resulted—yeas 52, begin, but they are also experiencing a sharp Sokolov, historian and writer; Mikhail
nays 45, as follows: rise in prices and a devaluation of their cur- Krieger, civic activist; Veronika Dolina,
[Rollcall Vote No. 52 Ex.] rency. Is this the sort of policy Russians poet; Vladimir Mirzoev, director; Ksenia
YEAS—52 need? Do they want war—and are they ready Larina, journalist.
to bear the brunt of it? Have they authorized Andrey Piontkovsky, publicist; Mark
Baldwin Hickenlooper Rosen
the authorities to play with their lives in Urnov, professor, National Research Univer-
Bennet Hirono Sanders
Blumenthal Kaine this way? sity Higher School of Economics; Mikhail
Schatz
Booker Kelly Schumer
But no one asks Russian citizens for their Lavrenov, writer; Nikolai Prokudin, writer;
Brown King Shaheen opinion. There is no public debate. State tel- Elena Fanailova, poet and journalist;
Cantwell Klobuchar Sinema evision presents only a single viewpoint— Grigory Mikhnov-Vaytenko, clergyman; Lev
Cardin Leahy Smith that of the warmongers. Direct military Levinson, human rights activist; Sergei
Carper Manchin Stabenow threats, aggression and hatred are aimed at Germann, member of the Writer’s Union of
Casey Markey
Sullivan Ukraine, the US, and the West. But the most Russia; Vladimir Alex, civil activist; Yuri
Collins Menendez
Coons Merkley
Tester dangerous thing is that the war is being de- Gimmelfarb, journalist; Yuri Samodurov,
Cortez Masto Van Hollen picted not only as permissible, but as inevi- human rights activist; Evgeniy Tsymbal,
Murkowski
Duckworth Murphy Warner table. This is an attempt to deceive the pop- civil activist; Vitaly Dixon, writer; Natalya
Durbin Murray Warnock ulation, to impose upon them the idea of Mavlevich, translator; Ashraf Fattakhov,
Feinstein Ossoff Warren waging a crusade against the West, rather lawyer.
ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with SENATE
Gillibrand Padilla Whitehouse
than investing in the country’s development Viktor Yunak, writer; Valeria
Hassan Peters Wyden
and improving living standards. The cost of Prikhodkina, human rights activist; Elena
Heinrich Reed
the conflict is never discussed, but the Grigorieva, children’s poet; Vera
NAYS—45 price—the huge, bloody price—will be paid Shabelnikova, editor; Mair Makhaev, philos-
Blackburn Burr Cornyn by the common Russian people. opher and linguist; Grigory Amnuel, pro-
Boozman Capito Cotton We, responsible citizens and patriots of ducer, director, publicist, and politician.
Braun Cassidy Cramer Russia, appeal to Russia’s political leader- Sergei Krivenko, human rights activist;
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