thank you so much again for joining us, to join or donate to the national action network, visit us at the website below or the number below. be sure to follow us on instagram, twitter and facebook to learn how to get involved. again, we wish you a safe, healthy, and happy 2021. [applause] >> you're watching c-span2, your unfiltered view of government. c-span2 was created by america's television companies and today brought to you by these television companies 0 who provide c-span2 to viewers as a public service. ♪♪ >> the u.s. senate is about to gavel in. in about a half hour they're going to vote on confirming retired general lloyd austin for defense secretary. he retired in 2016, and congress approved a waiver yesterday so he could take the

job before the required seven-year waiting period passed. other confirmation votes are possible today including janet yellen for treasury secretary and anthony blinken for secretary of state. live now to the senate floor. the president pro tempore: the senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead us in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. sovereign king, our hope for years to come, deliver us from the sin of running from the

truth. remind us often that truth brings freedom. thank you that you are our helper, sustaining our lives and keeping us strong. you guide us through the wilderness and protect us through life's storms. lord, inspire our lawmakers to place themselves into your hands, permitting you to fulfill your purposes through their faithful toil. fill them with reverential awe and give them a sanctified

audacity, even when facing trials and setbacks. we pray in your loving name. amen. the president pro tempore: please join me in the pledge of allegiance. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

mr. schumer: mr. president pro tem, the senator from vermont. the president pro tempore: the majority leader is recognized, the senator from new york. mr. schumer: now, mr. president, it came to our attention last night that members of the national guard, after standing on duty to

protect the capitol for inauguration day, keeping us safe, were sleeping in parking garages and cramped quarters without proper ventilation and spaces. it was utterly unacceptable. i have told those who run the security of the capitol that it can never happen again and i pledge to every national guard member that it will not happen again. the minute i heard about this outrage last night, we made sure it was fixed immediately. every member of the guard was found proper accommodations inside, and as of this morning, everyone was accounted for and taken care of. this morning i went over to the c.v.c. and i spoke to a number of guardsmen personally to make sure they were okay. i want to thank senators hassan, duckworth, kelly, and heinrich for their work on this matter last night, as well as senator lou lujan, who went around later

at night to make sure things were okay as well. i want to thank all the members who were concerned and reference a hand. i want to thank the acting secretary of sergeant at arms, jennifer hemming way, who when we told her about this situation, patrolled the floors of the capitol complex until past 3:00 a.m. to ensure that no one was left behind or not where they belonged and they were back at her desk first thing today to follow up. we owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the men and women who work to keep us safe on january 6 and days since, a situation like last night will never happen again. now, i've spoken about the senate's agenda for the next several weeks. we have three essential items on our plate. one, the confirmation of president biden's cabinet and other key officials. two, legislation to provide desperately needed covid relief.

three, a second impeachment trial of donald trump. the senate must and will do all three -- covid relief, confirmation of nominees, an impeachment trial. now, the first order of business is to fulfill our constitutional duty to advise and consent on the president's appointments to his cabinet. this morning the senate will vote to confirm president biden's nominee for secretary of defense, lloyd austin. mr. austin will be the first african american to have ever helmed the defense department in its history, a powerful symbol of the diversity and history of america's armed forces. mr. austin has a storied career in the army but those days are behind him. as secretary of defense, he promised to empower and lift up his civilian staff, and i believe he will be an outstanding secretary of defense for everyone at the pentagon.

service members and civilian employees alike. the secretary of defense, of course, has a hugely important task ahead of him. he must once again demonstrate to the world that the u.s. military will always support our friends, deter our adversaries and, if necessary, defeat them. lloyd austin is the right person for the job. he has the experience, the vision, and the competence to run the largest agency in our government. i look forward to confirming his nomination shortly. afterwards, the senate must continue to install president biden's team by confirming secretaries of state, homeland security, and treasury. we need republican cooperation to confirm these nominees, but we expect that cooperation to continue. the continuity of our national security, military, and intelligence policy, as well as our ability to effectively

respond to the current health and economic crises, depend on having these cabinet officials confirmed. now, as i mentioned, the senate will also conduct a second impeachment trial for donald trump. i've been speaking to the republican leader about the timing and duration of the trial. but, make no mistake, a trial will be held in the united states senate, and there will be a vote whether to convict the president. i've spoken to speaker pelosi, who informed me that the articles will be delivered to the senate on monday. now or, i've heard some of my republican colleagues argue that this trial would be unconstitutional because donald trump is no longer in office. an argument that has been roundly repudiated, debunked by hundreds of constitutional scholars -- left, right, and center -- and defies basic common sense. it makes no sense whatsoever that a president or any official

could commit a heinous crime against our country and then be permitted to resign so as to avoid accountability and a vote to disbar them from future office. it makes no sense. regardless, the purveyors of this unusually argument are trying to delay the inevitable. the fact is the house will deliver the article of impeachment to the senate. the senate will conduct a trial of the impeachment of donald trump. it will be a full trial. it will be a fair trial. but, make no mistake, there will be a trial, and when that trial ends, senators will have to decide if they believe donald john trump incited the insurrection against the united states. now, over the course of elections in november and january, the american people chose to retire four republican

senators and elect a democratic majority to the senate. the senate must now take the basic step of passing an organizing resolution and setting up the rules for a senate where there are 50 members of either party. luckily, we have a clear precedent for what to do in this situation. in 2001, then-majority leader lott and minority leader daschle came together and agreed on a set of rules to govern a 50-50 senate. we should follow that precedent. we have offered a bide by the same agreement the last time there was a 50-50 senate. what's fair is fair. that is precedent. we could organize the senate today, if both sides agreed to abide by the same rules as last time. the republican leader, however, has made an extraneous demand that would place additional constraints on the majority,

constraints that have never been in place before. in fact, his proposal would remove a tool that the republican leader himself used twice in just the last congress to accelerate the confirmation of republican nominees. leader mcconnell's proposal is unacceptable, and it won't be accepted. and the republican leader knew that when he first proposed it. only two days ago, mr. president, we celebrated the inauguration of a new president and the turning over of a new leaf. the american people want us to work together and move past the meaningless political fights and gridlock that have plagued us for too long. it's time to get to work. the first step is for the republican caucus to agree to follow the same precedent that governed the senate last time around. i yield the floor.

mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: yesterday evening we learned that some of the national guard forces who've been helping protect the capitol complex were being made to rest in park being garages between their shifts. i don't think a single senator feels that was acceptable. i'm glad the situation was resolved and i hope we learn exactly what happened. in that regard, i want to thank all the national guard, including more than 300 kentucky national guardsmen and local law enforcement who have helped supplement our very own capitol police in the wake of january 6. your congress and your country appreciate all you have done to secure the capitol and the inauguration. later today, i will have the honor of meeting a number of my kentuckians who have been helping out here at the capitol. it's going to be the highlight of my day.

in the near future, congress needs to smartly transition toward a more sustainable security presence. keeping the capitol safe cannot and will not require keeping huge numbers of uniformed troops and vast systems of fenceing to remain in place forever. with the inauguration behind us, we should find the right middle ground between the unacceptable lapses two weeks ago and the extraordinarily short-term measures that have been put in place since that time. in the meantime, we need to make darn sure that we look after the men and women who look after us. now, mr. president, on a totally different matter, while business proceeds on the floor, the democratic leader and i are continuing to flesh out the structure of this 50/50 senate. when leaders lott and daschle wrote a similar agreement 20 years ago, there wasn't a need at all to reaffirm the basic standing rules that govern legislation here in the senate.

it was safely assumed that no majority would break this rule for short-term gain. floor remarks surrounding those 2001 discussions specifically cite the legislative filibuster as an important and unquestioned part of the backdrop that lay beneath the negotiations on the finer details. it was assumed no one would ever take that step. after the fact, leader daschle, the democrat, praised the legislative filibuster as a crucial rule. president biden has praised this distinctive feature of the senate on many occasions. our current democratic colleagues used it liberally, liberally over the last several years when they were in the minority. more than two dozen signed a bipartisan letter in 2017 saying our republican majority should not break the rule by brute force. let me say that again.

two dozen democrats signed a bipartisan letter in 2017 saying our republican majority should not break this rule by brute force. i agree. i didn't do it. president trump was not happy with that. he tweeted against me numerous times because i didn't do it, put an end to the legislative filibuster. and so the democrats used it constantly, as they had every right to. they were happy to insist on a 60-vote threshold for practically every measure or bill i took up. so we'll continue to request that our democratic colleagues reaffirm this standing rule of the senate which they have been happy to use on many occasions, i can attest. if we're going to truly replicate the 2001 agreement, we need to reaffirm this crucial part of the foundation that lay

beneath it. yesterday, i also shared a proposal for the pretrial steps in the senate impeachment process that appears to be headed our way. as i understand, it must be headed our way monday. by senate rules, if the article arrives, we have to start a trial right then. this impeachment began with an unprecedentedly fast and minimal process over in the house. the sequel cannot be an insufficient senate process that denies former president trump his due process or damages the senate or the presidency itself. senate republicans strongly believe we need a full and fair process where the former president can mount a defense and the senate can properly consider the factual, legal, and constitutional questions at stake. for that reason, we suggest the house transmit this article next thursday, but that's apparently

going to be next monday. that former president trump's answer and the house pretrial brief, i suggested, be due on february 4 and the former president's pretrial brief be due, i suggested, on february 11. that timeline would have provided the senate some more time before we step up fully into the unknown of a trial, which, by the way, would have been a substantial benefit to the incoming administration and allowed them to get more of their cabinet confirmed, which we are cooperating as best we can to expedite. so finally, mr. president, on one final matter. regarding those nominees. we're considering president biden's nominees for key cabinet posts. on wednesday, avril haines was confirmed as director of national intelligence on a big bipartisan vote, including my own. we hope to be able to consider

tony blinken to be the secretary of state early next week. today we're considering general lloyd austin, president biden's nominee to serve as secretary of defense. i voted to approve the waiver that would allow him to serve in this post yesterday notwithstanding the seven-year cooling-off period after military service, and i will be voting in favor of his confirmation. i'm voting yes because the nominee is clearly qualified and because presidents should get real latitude in filling terms with qualified, mainstream people of their choosing. at the same time, the senate should pause and reflect on the fact that we will have begun two consecutive presidential administrations by issuing a waiver to a four-star general and former centcom commander to lead the pentagon. the armed services committee held a hearing last week to examine the waiver and the current state of civil-military relations at the pentagon. i expect the committee will

continue to pay close attention to this important issue in the months ahead. and we'll investigate steps that congress can take to help restore balance over at the pentagon. the law that we keep waiving actually exists for good reason. civilian control of the military is a fundamental principle of our republic. we emphatically do not want high-ranking military service to become a tacit prerequisite for civilian leadership posts over at the department of defense. it's not just about a simplistic fear that the military will end up running itself. to the contrary, many experts worry that military leaders appropriate fixation on being nonpolitical may not prepare them for the job to forcefully fight for armed services amidst the political rough and tubl in the executive branch and here in congress. put another way, they are taught from the beginning to stay out of politics entirely, but you do

want a secretary of defense who is willing to engage in the issue-based discussions that we have related to the department. so nevertheless, i will vote today to confirm a clear patriot with an impressive career, but i will cast that vote with the understanding that our new secretary of defense specifically commits to balancing military and civil relations, empowering civil leaders at the pentagon and playing a role in the budget process to get our forces what they need. our intensifying competition with china and russia and all the other threats we face demand nothing less. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. morning business is closed. and under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to consider the following nomination, which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination,

department of defense, lloyd james austin of georgia to be secretary. the presiding officer: under the previous order, there will be ten minutes of debate equally divided in the usual form. mr. reed: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. reed: mr. president, it is my understanding that chairman inhofe is en route to provide his comments, and i want to begin by thanking him for his tremendous leadership. without his dedication to a bipartisan, thoughtful process, we would not be here today. it is the hallmark of his leadership throughout the year as we have served together. i anticipate his arrival, but -- the presiding officer: duly noted.

mr. reed: in order to expedite the vote, let me proceed. mr. president, i rise to express my support for the confirmation of lloyd austin to be the secretary of the senate of the united states. general austin is an exceptionally qualified leader with a long and distinguished career in the united states military. he has served at the highest echelons of the army, capped his service as the commander of u.s. central command. his character and integrity are unquestioned. he possesses the knowledge and skills to effectively lead the pentagon. the united states faces many complex security threats. if confirmed as the secretary of defense, general austin will lead the department during a time when u.s. strategic priorities have shifted the focus increasingly on nuclear competition with china and russia. the department must also transform how it operates with an increased focus on critical technologies like artificial intelligence, quantum computing, biotechnology, and cybersecurity. while also emphasizing rapid

delivery of advanced new weapons systems on timelines that keep place with technological change. in addition, president biden must address urgent and dying challenges that few of us would have anticipated four years ago. our country is in the midst of a pandemic that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, infected millions more, and resulted in billions in economic damage, and the virus is still not under control. recently, it was revealed that large segments of the federal government and major companies were hacked by russia. we are still trying to ascertain the extent of the breach, but it could be the most significant cyber intrusion in the history of our country or perhaps the world. this event, too, should prompt us to move promptly to fill cabinet positions that are critical to our national security. and unfortunately, the department of defense is adrift and in desperate need of steadfast leadership. over the course of the past four years, there has been repeated turnover at senior levels of the department and a concerted

effort to purposefully leave multiple civilian offices unfilled, necessitating the installment of career or mid-level officials into positions of an acting capacity. unlike the nominees of the cabinet positions, congress must make an exception for general austin to serve as secretary of defense. under the current statutes, individuals are prohibited from appointment if they are within seven years of military service. congress found itself in a similar situation four years ago when president trump nominated jeffrey james mattis to be the secretary of defense. now, prior to general austin's confirmation hearing, the senate armed services committee held a hearing on civilian control of the armed forces that focused on the erosion of civil-military relations. at the hearing, valid concerns were raised about providing another waiver so soon after secretary mattis. however, at his nomination hearing earlier this week, general austin pledged his commitment to reaping

civil-military relations while also empowering military personnel within the department of defense. these are critical comments by general austin and ones i support. therefore yesterday i voted in favor of the legislation to provide general austin with an exception to serve as secretary of defense and i was pleased the legislation received strong bipartisan support. general austin is an outstanding choice to serve as secretary of defense. i'm proud to support his nomination. given the unique challenge we face. and, mr. president, i think from now on, in a few moments, we can refer to him as secretary austin, which is the appropriate title for his role. with that, mr. president, i yield the floor to my colleague, the chairman, mr. inhofe. the presiding officer: the senior senator from oklahoma. mr. inhofe: mr. president, yesterday, i had the opportunity to respond to the majority on my support for tony blanken to be secretary of state. he is one i have known for a

long period of time. i think we will see with the new administration here, myself being a conservative republican, there will be some of the appointments that he will not -- that i was not really excited about and agree with, in which case i will state it. but in the case of the secretary of state, i expressed myself yesterday, and i want to do it again today for what i consider to be the really critical first appointment -- second appointment that the new administration makes, and that would be for general be austin to be the person in charge at a time that's very unique. and i agree with the senator who just spoke about the qualities of this general. we know that he has been -- he rose through the ranks of the army to become the first four-star commander of the central command from 2013 to 2016. he has done everything right. we right now -- and i know the

chair is aware of this and certainly the ranking member of the committee is aware of this. we are in the most threatened times that we have been in. we have china and russia out there with capabilities that we didn't really believe we would find ourselves with, so that's going to be the primary concern of this new administration. and i can't think of a better person to take the helm than general austin to provide the leadership. and it's true that we had to have a waiver yesterday. that waiver was overwhelmingly supported in a bipartisan way, and so everyone knows that we gave a lot of thought to it and this is a time when we really needed someone with a background of general austin to take that position and i strongly support it and look forward to serving with him. i yield back.

the presiding officer: under the previous order, the question of the nomination occurs on the nomination. is there -- is it affirmative, yeas and nays? yeas and nays have been -- it appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: are there any senators wishing to vote or change their vote? if not, the yeas are 93, the nays are 2, and the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table, and the president will be immediately notified of the senate's actions. the senator from oregon is recognized. mr. wyden: madam president, i'm having a little trouble hearing.

the presiding officer: please take your conversations outside. the senate will come to order. the senator from oregon is recognized. mr. wyden: thank you, madam president. first i ask unanimous consent that the senate be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. madam president, i have one request for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of the majority and the minority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted. mr. wyden: madam president, a few minutes ago, chair janet yellen was approved by the senate finance committee to be the secretary of treasury by an extraordinary 26-0 vote. i have seen times around here in

the senate where you come away convinced you couldn't get 26-0 among senators to buy a soda. and i want to thank senators grassley and crapo for working very closely -- the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. mr. wyden: thank you, madam president. i want to thank senators grassley and crapo for working very closely with me and senate democrats to achieve this remarkable vote this morning. the fact is janet yellen has been confirmed by this body four times. she really belongs in the senate confirmation hall of fame. and the reason that she has been confirmed all of these times is

because of what we saw at her confirmation hearing on tuesday. she did a superb job. after the hearing, she responded to hundreds of questions in a substantive way that came from colleagues and has made a real commitment to transparency. now, i know that senators are working on a variety of issues now, but i would like to say that i think given the urgency of the economic challenge our country faces in a truly perilous economic time, i would very much like to work with all of my colleagues, particularly senators crapo and grassley. senator crapo is on the floor. to find a way to today bring up

chair yellen for confirmation to be our secretary of treasury, and i want to say i very much appreciate the conciliatory way this was discussed today. and i really hope that the senate can vote on her nomination today. madam president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from arkansas is recognized. mr. cotton: i ask unanimous consent that at the end of my remarks, the senator from oklahoma, senator inhofe, be recognized. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. inhofe: i ask consent that at the conclusion of the remarks of the senator from arkansas that i be recognized. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cotton: madam president. on wednesday, just moments after joe biden took office, china's ministry of foreign affairs sanctioned 28 members of the

outgoing administration, including secretary of state mike pompeo, national security advisor robert o'brien and u.n. ambassador kelly craft. according to chinese state media, these trump administration officials were guilty of, quote, crazy moves which grateful interfered in china's internal affairs. those crazy moves include, presumably, condemning the chinese communist party's genocidal campaign against religious minorities in the xinjiang province or its atheistic crackdown on chinese christians. in addition to interfering, these officials allegedly offended the chinese people and seriously disrupted u.s.-china relations. i guess that refers to some such as secretary of health and human services alex azar who traveled to taiwan. under the new sanctions, these officials are now barred from entering china, but more important and more ominous,

institutions associated with them are also restricted from doing business with china. now, it's tempting to laugh off these sanctions, as i did last summer when china sanctioned me. you know you won't have a second honeymoon in wuhan or you will have to vacation in a nongenocidal country. but these sanctions are no laughing mart. they are part of china's campaign to coerce americans at every level of government and business. they are a direct attack on the u.s. policy on china and an attempt to blackmail the biden administration with personal financial ruin in the future if they dare to stand up to the chinese communist party. some may start to think about the potential damage to their future, and they may start to sweat a little bit. now, you may say good, i'm glad that former government officials can't cash in on their service and go to influence-peddling firms like west exec or albright

stoneridge and sell access to the chinese. i might even agree with that point. but consider a few other hypotheticals. the chinese state media singled out book publishers as just one example of who could pay the price. many public officials like to write memoirs, and these memoirs often add a lot to our understanding of current events. but chinese state media singled out book publishers as an example of companies that would be banned from china if they associated with sanctioned individuals. and in fact, china has already used american books as pawns in the trade war with the united states. so will major publishing houses really risk losing access to the chinese market for all their other titles to strike a book deal with, say, a former biden cabinet official who was tough on china and ended up getting sanctioned?

it's unclear, but i would say doubtful. other public officials practice at big law firms. and i know that we all make jokes about lawyers, but it's an honorable profession, and there's nothing wrong with practicing at a big law firm. and they may plan to return to their firms after the administration is over. a lot of those firms have close close -- clients with close ties to china. and even if a former public official has no client with any business in china, will those law firms really take back their old employees if it means potentially losing valuable clients who are afraid of angering the chinese communist party? again, i'd say it's unclear but perhaps doubtful. once you consider these hypotheticals and others that don't involve influence peddling or anything untoward, you can begin to see the insidious consequences of these new sanctions. beijing wants to scare the biden

administration into doing its bidding. they will scare u.s. businesses into blacklisting any official who irritates the chinese communist party. therefore, i call on the biden administration to treat these sanctions as a day one assault on the independence of its foreign policy by denouncing this intimidation in the strongest possible terms. but as the chinese communist party is determined to prove actions speak louder than words. so i also call upon president biden to act reciprocally by sanctioning chinese officials who are responsible for this blackmail campaign against his administration. those officials shouldn't be able to ferret away their fortunes in the u.s. banking system the way so many corrupt chinese oligarchs do nor should their princeling children get degrees from our top universities.

president biden also should refuse to nominate for positions individuals who are professionally or financially entangled with china who could be compromised by the mere threat of sanctions. finally, president biden should determine whether the chinese ambassador was involved in these sanctions, and if so, he should be expelled immediately for this egregious effort to subvert american foreign policy. and that's just for the short term. america must also begin to disentangle our economy from china, to decouple our economies. the chinese communist party sanctions only pose a threat because american society is so deeply compromised by chinese influence. american corporations, the big banks, think tanks, universities, film studios, even our sports leagues, even lebron james, are all addicted to chinese cash. they are all part of a new china lobby that's deeply invested in

the status quo and thus hostile to any efforts to redefine u.s.-china relations and america's interest. this lobby makes their money in china. they make their products in china. they've made their bed in china. and now they are all vulnerable to pressure from the chinese government. america hasn't been in a bind since our earliest days when our young country was encircled by other powers. even in the cold war, the u.s. was unlike it is today. we competed in separate lanes like runners in a race. the new cold war with china isn't so orderly. communist china is wealthier and has more people than did soviet russia. and their economies have been -- our economies have become deeply enhangled. -- entangled.

this threatens our security and prosperity. here's how the united states can beat china in this strategic competition. the united states should impose restrictions on inbound and outbound investment with china. wall street has financed china's technological development for more than four decades and has become compromised for the bargain. that has to end of the united states should move supply chains for critical goods for semiconductors and pharmaceuticals out of china and back to american soil. china today may be the so-called factory of the world but it was corporate america with its army of bankers and lawyers and consultants who built that factory. that's got to end as well. third, the united states must restrict the flow of knowledge and advanced technology between our country and china. american colleges, universities and research laboratories are the finest in the world but they

allow chinese nationals to participate even in cutting-edge research with military applications and this research has an alarming tendency to end up in china and the weapons fielded by the people's liberation army against our own troops. that information pipeline needs to be shut off and many of those chinese nationals need to go. none much these steps will be easy but the chinese communist party's punitive sanctions against trump administration officials and its blackmail campaign against biden administration officials demonstrate that decoupling our economies is both necessary and urt. the communist in beijing have lulled too many americans into come placancey and dispensecy. they intend to blackmail even our government into inaction. so our intention must be

different. the united states must break free of chinese communist suffocating grasp, fight back and win. madam president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma is recognized. mr. inhofe: thank you, madam president. first of all let me compliment my friend from arkansas on his great remarks. people are not aware of the threats we face in this country and i want to join him in encouraging the new administration to understand and address these threats. but, madam chair, i -- since last week there have been over 20,000 members of the national guard stationed here at the capitol. they are here and have been here and are still here to keep us safe, keep the members safe, senators safe, staff and press

and all of us. we see some people speculating this is overkill. maybe we didn't really need this many people here. they are wrong because this is a nice, successful inauguration, a successful, peaceful transfer of power because they were there. i made that very clear to the ones i've listen talking to in the field in the last three days. i know first hand they are really outstanding professionals, these guards. we have about 400 guard here from the oklahoma national guard. i visited with them, i guess it was on wednesday in five different groups. i went around and talked to them because they weren't all in the same location and we thanked them for their service and the sacrifices they are making. long hours. these guys are having long hours that they have to -- and they are the best of the best. many i saw did the -- the deployments in afghanistan. when i was talking to them, they would remember, say, well,

senator inhofe, i remember when we were together in afghanistan, we were together in ukraine. these guys that was ten years ago and they are still on the job working and i don't know what we could have done without them. i asked several, how many of you in this group from oklahoma in the guard have never been to washington before, that this is your first trip? more than half of them have never been to washington before, so that was a great opportunity for them too. but i'm really humbled and grateful for what they are doing for us and i'm sure all of our colleagues are. and that's why i was so shocked and really angry last night and i picked ■itupontv i didn't know anything about it when i heard that a -- that the guard were being made to feel like they were unwelcomed by some person in the capitol police and they were to take their rest breaks someplace else and actually sent to the parking

garage, of all places. our guard members are being lodged in hotels and they are working shifts, 12 shifts a day, long shifts on their feet, so they need to have rest breaks and they need to do the things, and they can't do that lying in the -- in the senate garage. so they have two hours and one hour off plus time for eating and that type of thing. we can all agree they should be comfortable on their breaks, a place to sit and lie down, eat, and charge their batteries, things they have to do, talk to their families at home. that's what they are supposed to be doing and that's precisely where they were. they are using the buildings in the capitol before made to feel unwelcomed and pushed to the garage. i understand and i'm glad they are moved back in and they are now well taken care of and that's a good thing, but they should never have had to go through this in the first place.

what they did, you have to find out, get to the bottom of it, and that's what we're doing now. we're getting answers. i called the acting chief of the capitol police this morning, i called the general -- general mcconville, is the chief of the staff of the army and they are all working to find out how this happened. the acting chief pittman said the guard were never asked to leave yesterday. now, i know that she believed that but several multiple members of the military said, no, they were told to leave. so we know one thing, that whether it's confusion from the fog and fiction and the environment or whatever it was that troops didn't move on their own so they were asked by somebody. this isn't a blame game. i don't want to -- but i do want to know what happened to make sure it doesn't happen again. so this is what happened. there was one uniformed police offer who issued -- officer who

issued authority without -- without authority or going through the chain of command. i'm glad the capitol police are trying to figure who it was. we will identify who that person was and make it public. ultimately one message for our national guard, you are appreciated, you are welcomed, we are very, very grateful for the sacrifices you have made. if you're ever point you need to vacate, go to russell 205, and i will make sure that you will be comfortable in my office. i know there is bipartisan outrage on this. there will be plenty of places for you to rest. you will be returning home soon and you will be able to a job well done. thank you. i yield the floor.

the presiding officer: the senator from alaska is recognized. the presiding officer: -- mr. sullivan: madam president, i want to congratulate now

secretary of defense lloyd austin on his confirmation to be secretary of defense. i spoke yesterday about his confirmation, the two votes that had to happen. i had the honor of introducing this great american at his confirmation hearing on the armed services committee. i served with him in the military many years ago, and i think he's going to be an important addition to president biden's team. one of the things that we've been working on over the last several years is rebuilding our military, after drastic cuts by the obama-biden administration. hopefully we're not going to see that again. one of the reasons i was strongly supporting now secretary austin, because i believe and i got commitments from him, he won't agree with that, although i'm sure some in this body and in the biden

administration will disagree with -- will agree to cuts in the military. one of the reasons is he will be a good secretary is not just his exceptional character, military leadership, he knows what will happen if there are cuts like there were in the obama-biden administration. one thing that has been a huge, positive for america over the last decade for so many reasons is that we become the world's energy super power again like during world war ii. what do i mean by that? prior to the pandemic, we were the number one producer of oil. yes, people still need to use oil. i know some of my colleagues in this body don't believe that but it's true. number one producer of clean-burning natural gas. we're starting to export it all around the world.

number one producer of renewables. so all around the world america is the super power of economic. it is good. it's great for the national security of our nation, for a whole host of reasons, secretary austin understands that. it's great for jobs. and the 2008-2009 recession, the number one sector of the economy in a got us out of the great recession was the energy sector in terms of g.d.p. growth and jobs. it's great for the environment. why do you say that? some people tilt their heads. it's great for the environment because in america, certainly in my state, alaska, we have the highest standards on the environment of any place in the world by far. it's not even close. so if you need energy, which you do, you should do it and produce it in a place that respects the environment the most, not russia, not saudi arabia. america, alaska. it's good for energy security.

it's good for manufacturing, low-cost natural gas throughout the country. and like i said, madam president, it's really good for jobs. these are really good jobs. resource development jobs are really good jobs. they support working families and the middle class. everybody knows that. so that's a good thing that's happening in the united states of america. there's some fringe groups that don't like energy. unfortunately, some of my colleagues in the senate don't like hydrocarbons. but by the way, as we became the world's energy super power of greenhouse gas emissions declined, probably more than any other industrialized economy in the world. why? because natural gas is clean burning. so this is a win-win-win-win-win on so many fronts. so here's what i'm speaking right now. because it's all at risk.

it's all at risk. the first few days of the new biden administration has seen an unprecedented assault on resource development and energy jobs. an attack on the men and women, working men and women, good wages, produce really important resources for this great nation, and now for other countries because we export a lot of these resources, an assault on good energy jobs, good resource development jobs that have been the bedrock of millions of middle-class americans for decades. for decades. let me just given an example. just in my state, everybody knows about anwar, right? this body moved in terms of

legislation for leases. we did it the right way. a law passed by the senate and the house, signed by the president to move forward on leases. first day on the job, new president decides he's going to suspend everything with regard to anwar. okay. that wasn't a surprise, to be honest. but, of course, it was a huge disappointment. not sure it was legal. like i said, we did it the legal way. he's doing the old-fashioned obama pen and phone way. probably a lot of quest of legalities there. that's one. here's the other one, madam president. we have another part of alaska called the national petroleum reserve of alaska set aside for oil and gas development, not controversial. we've been doing it for decades. it was originally called the naval petroleum reserve for america. this is not controversial.

and we have a lot of energy projects in the npr a that are ongoing. even the obama-biden administration allowed us to drill there because that's what congress said for decades. and it's good for the country. we need energy. we need energy. so if we need it, shouldn't we get it from america? shouldn't we get it from american workers? better than getting it from russia so the npra is a really important area of america's energy production, in my state, the national petroleum reserve of alaska. it's been that way for decades. so there's a moratorium on any more permits for energy production in the npra yesterday. i woke up to text messages from

alaskans saying senator, help us. my little company is going to go out of business. i'm -- i'm going to lay off a bunch of workers, workers who are doing what? producing energy. since when was that bad, mr. president? since when was that bad? one more thing. they say, well, it's only a 60-day moratorium. in alaska because we have the highest standards in the world on producing energy, exploring for energy, we only do exploration in the winter. costs more for energy companies. why do we do that? because it's the high standards that we have. highest standards of any place on the planet earth. what do i mean by that? we build what are called ice roads and ice pads on the tundra when we explore and when we drill. so that means we just do it in the winter.

you build these ice roads and ice pads. it costs a lot of money. and when you move equipment across the tundra on ice, you drill for three months and when the winter is over, you move it off. the ice melts and there's not one tiny impact. it's called zero impact drilling and exploration. i used to be in charge of this in alaska. i'm very familiar with it. highest standards on the planet. so if you put a 60-day moratorium on drilling on the npra, guess what? you lose the whole season. you lose the whole season. so that's what the biden administration did yesterday. and i literally have people back home in my great state calling frantically saying hundreds if nothousands of jobs are at risk. that was day to of the biden administration. let's crush every single energy

job in america. why? i don't know why? i don't know why? since when is it bad to produce energy for your fellow americans? we need it. we have the highest standards in the world. these are great middle-class jobs. but day one of this administration they're attacking. the men and women who produce energy for this great nation. shameful. now, it's not just me, madam president, who is a little bit upset. you can tell i'm a little bit upset. the keystone pipeline was canceled again. again, no idea why they would do that. there's nothing about climate change. as a matter of fact, that pipeline was going to be all union jobs and they had -- they had it developed and worked on

in a way that was going to be emission neutral. so here's the head of the labors international union of america. liunai, terry o sullivan, a great american, i know him well. his father was a marine who served in the chosen reservoir during the korean war. i'd like to submit this for the word, madam president. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sullivan: this is a statement by terry o' sullivan. the biden administration's decision to cancel the keystone xl pipeline on di one of his presidency is both insulting and disappointing to the thousands of hardworking liunai members who will lose good-paying jobs, middle-class supporting jobs. liunai is the largest labor

union in the construction -- largest labor construction union in america. 500,000 members. blocking this hundred percent union project and pandering to environmental extremists, a thousand union jobs will immediately vanish and 10,000 additional jobs will be gone forever. that's day one. this isn't me talking. the senator from alaska. this is the head of liunai. we support the:'s campaign to, quote, build back better but for union members affected by this decision, there are no renewable energy jobs that come even close to replacing the wages and benefits the keystone xl project would have provided. killing good union jobs on day one with nothing to replace them is not building back better. this is, again, terry o'

sullivan, head of linuai. this is mark mcmanus, president of the united association of union plumbers and pipe fitters. they were going to build the keystone pipeline too just like the members. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sullivan: in revoking this permit, the biden administration has chosen to listen to the voices of fringe activists instead of union members and the americans consume other on day one. let me be clear. when built with union labor by the men and women of the united association, mr. mcmanus' union, pipeline like keystone remained the most sufficient modes of transportation in the world. sadlied biden administration has now put thousands of union workers out of work. madam president, let me close

with this. there are a number of senators who want to meet directly with the president on this issue. by the way, when they made these announcements about alaska, no one from the biden administration reached out. no one called me. no one called senator murkowski. no one called congressman young. you think if they were going to kill hundreds of thousands of jobs in your state, that somebody would have reached out to us. i just spent the last week working hard to make sure the biden administration's secretary of defense got confirmed. i probably worked harder than any other senator in this body on that issue. i did that because i think it's going to be good for the military and good for america. but we're trying. we're trying. i haven't heard from one person on the biden administration. so a number of them are going to try to request a meeting with the president. the president talks a lot about

his blue collar background. great. but guess what? the president is killing blue-collar jobs right now. right now. by the thousands. and a lot of them are in my state. i hope somebody in the new administration is listening to this. i hope he realizes what he's doing. we're in this pandemic. our economy needs to grow. we have high unemployment. and the idea that you would start your administration by targeting the men and women who have built this great nation, who have good-paying jobs is astounding to me. mr. president, and i'm not

talking about the president of the senate, madam president, i'm talking about the president of the united states, you need to listen to us. this is not a good start. you talked in your inauguration about putting yourself and other people -- in other people's shoes, i hope you put yourself in the shoes of the energy workers in america who you are crushing right now. put yourself in their shoes and maybe rethink these crazy, crazy policies that are only harming americans throughout the country. i yield the floor.

mr. sullivan: madam president, i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call:

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