the clerk: nomination, department of defense, colin hackett kahl of california to be under secretary of defense to be policy. mr. schumer: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: cloture motion: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination off executive calendar 68, colin hackett kahl of california to be under secretary of defense for policy, signed by 18 senatorsals follows -- the presiding mr. schumer: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: question is on the motion. all those in favor, say aye. those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar 58. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor, say aye. those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the a

mr. kahl is different. mr. kahl is different because his toxic statements and reputation would inhibit the workings of the department of defense. every time that secretary austin and senior pentagon personnel testified before the senate, members of this body will wonder the policies they are presented with are the product of hard-headed serious planning or the workings of a political hack. a man of mr. kahl's judgment and temperament and his record of disastrous policy judgments is unfit to be the under secretary of defense for policy, and i will oppose his nomination as every senator should. mr. president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from alabama. mr. tuberville: thank you, mr. president. the under secretary for defense for policy serves as national security advisor to the secretary of defense. this position requires even temperament, sound judgment, and a willingness to work with both sides of the aisle to protect and advance our national security. as many of my colleagues have noted,

mr. cruz: i ask unanimous consent to speak for up to seven minutes prior to the vote on the kahl nomination. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. cruz: mr. president, i rise today to speak about colin kahl, the president's nominee to be under secretary of defense for policy. the most basic responsibility of our government and our military is to protect the national security of the american people, which requires helping our allies and constraining our enemies. the pentagon's policy chief is responsible for those evaluations. unfortunately, i have come to believe that colin kahl's judgment is irreparably marred by obsessive animosity towards israel. i can think of no other way to explain his years of consistently wrong views regarding the middle east. and not just wrong, but impulsive and reckless. he has repeatedly skilled out his conspiracy theories and attacks on twitter and other public venues. he views the world through a cracked lens. and i challenge my democratic colleagues to explain one simple thing -- what other explanation other than animosity to the world's o

mr. president. now, today the senate will take up a series of votes to confirm three highly qualified nominees to the biden administration, jason miller for deputy o.m.b. director and colin kahl for under secretary of defense for policy. later this afternoon the senate will move forward with the process to take up the bipartisan water infrastructure bill. i expect the senate will do so with significant bipartisan support. the water infrastructure bill is as noncontroversial as it gets. it was approved by the environment and public works committee on a unanimous vote. every single democrat, every single republican. thanks to the good work of chairman carper and ranking member capito. this water infrastructure bill is also a core component of the republican infrastructure proposal released last week. so i hope this legislation will serve as a starting point for our for parties to collaborate on infrastructure when and where we can. at the moment, senators carper, duckworth and cardin continue discussions with republican senators about possible amendments. but let me be very clear. the senate must conclude its work on the water infrastructure bill before the end of the week. thi