Source: United States Senator for Connecticut – Chris Murphy
Votes Will be Held Later Today to Confirm U.S. Ambassador to China, Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs, and Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom
December 16, 2021
WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near East, South Asia, Central Asia and Counterterrorism, on Thursday helped pave the way to confirm three State Department nominees that are critical to carrying out sound U.S.-China policy. Republicans in the Senate have been blocking dozens of President Biden’s national security nominees for months, holding back progress on key diplomatic concerns and risking national security. Murphy’s action today will help the U.S. get back to work on these critical issues.
On the U.S. Senate floor, Murphy applauded U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Senator Jeff Merkley’s (D-Ore.) work to ensure U.S. policy does not enable China’s genocide of the Uyghur people, arguing further that the State Department needs the right personnel in place to effectively implement America’s China policy. Rubio agreed to Murphy’s request to schedule up-or-down votes on three important nominees, paving the way for the immediate confirmation of President Biden’s nominees for U.S. Ambassador to China, Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs, and Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom—each of whom will be involved in executing the policies laid out in Sen. Rubio’s bill. These three critical diplomatic posts will bring attention to the plight of the Uyghurs, help ensure that any goods made with forced labor from the Uyghurs in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region do not enter the U.S. market, allow the Department to provide guidance to U.S. companies that work in China on how to ensure full compliance with this important new law, and help carry out a U.S.-China policy that best serves U.S. national security interests.
“We’re going to be able in a few moments to speak together, Republicans and Democrats, on our commitment to ending genocide in China. And I want to thank the Senator for working with me to make sure that as part of his unanimous consent request, we’re going to be able to make sure we have the personnel in place to properly implement this policy,” said Murphy.
“But at the very least, as we put forward this important new policy, it does make sense to accompany it, and its passage, with three key personnel who will be in charge of implementing it. So I believe we’re going to be able to modify this request in the following manner,” Murphy continued.
Murphy has been vocal about Senate Republicans’ unprecedented efforts to block State Department nominations, calling the obstruction a “growing national security crisis.”
A full transcript of Murphy’s exchange with Rubio can be found below:
MURPHY: “Mr. President, reserving the right to object. First let me thank the Senator from Florida for doing such great work along with Senator Merkley and others on this incredibly important piece of legislation. We’re going to be able in a few moments to speak together, Republicans and Democrats, on our commitment to ending genocide in China.
“And I want to thank the Senator for working with me to make sure that as part of his unanimous consent request, we’re going to be able to make sure we have the personnel in place to properly implement this policy. Listen, we have dozens of State Department and Department of Defense nominees pending on this floor and more so than we have ever had at the end of a first term, first year presidency.
“And we will hopefully, before we leave—we have to before we leave—make substantial progress on that list in order to adequately protect our country. But at the very least, as we put forward this important new policy, it does make sense to accompany it, and its passage, with three key personnel who will be in charge of implementing it. So I believe we’re going to be able to modify this request in the following manner.
“I formally ask Senator Rubio to modify this request that he has made to include the following request: I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule 22, if applicable, at 4:30pm today, the Senate proceeds with the following nominations, executive calendar number 525, Nicholas Burns of Massachusetts, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the People’s Republic of China; Calendar number 626, Ramin Toloui, of Iowa to be an Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs, and Calendar Number 619, Rashad Hussain of Virginia, to be Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom; that there be 10 minutes for debate, equally divided in the usual form of nominations, and block that upon the use of yielding back of that time the Senate vote without intervening action or debate on the nominations in the order listed. That if a nomination is confirmed the motion to reconsider be considered may and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate that no further motions be in order to the nominations that the President be immediately notified of the Senate’s action.”
U.S. SENATOR MARCO RUBIO: “No objection to the modification.”
PRESIDING OFFICER (U.S. SENATOR BRIAN SCHATZ): “Is there objection to the request as modified?”
RUBIO: “I have no objection.”
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