Josh Hawley

Mr. HAWLEY

Mr. HAWLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. HAWLEY

Mr. HAWLEY. Mr. President, I am here to talk today about a subject of urgency for our Nation but a subject that many Democrats in this body don't want to talk about. I mean Afghanistan. Thirteen American soldiers, dead; 169 civilians, dead; hundreds more American civilians left behind to the enemy; billions of dollars in military equipment abandoned to the enemy, like you see in the images right over my shoulder. Yet, nearly a month after this disastrous evacuation, the worst foreign policy disaster in this Nation's history since Vietnam, there has been no accountability. No one has been fired. No one has resigned. No one has been relieved of command. Instead, what we have heard is the most incredible and, frankly, insulting parade of excuses and evasions from the President of the United States and the rest of his leadership team. They have said the evacuation debacle was an ``extraordinary success.'' That is a quote. That is from the mouth of the President himself. Let that just sink in for a second. Thirteen American soldiers, including from my State of Missouri, lost--13--169 civilians dead; hundreds of Americans left behind enemy lines to fend for themselves, left to the Taliban, left to ISIS. Has an American President ever--ever--left behind American civilians on the field of battle--hundreds of them--and then called it an extraordinary success? I can't think of a time in American history. It was a disgrace, what the President said. It was untrue, what the President said. Yet he goes on and on and on. And now President Biden and his team say they didn't leave any Americans behind. They said, in fact, Americans weren't abandoned to the enemy. I mean, this is simply insultingly false. By their own estimates, hundreds of American civilians were left behind and are still there. Americans are still trapped in Afghanistan, trying to get out, trying to be rescued, left to their own devices. Yet the President of the United States insists that it never happened; it was all a success; all is well. The President said it had to be this way. Those soldiers--what?--had to die? I mean, what does that even mean--that the military had to abandon billions of dollars of equipment to the enemy; that civilians, hundreds of them, had to die; all those Americans had to be left behind? I mean, is he serious about that? Does anyone honestly believe that? Does anyone honestly believe that this was the only possible outcome, that the death of American soldiers and the loss of civilians was the only possible outcome, the only way to withdraw? It is absurd, and an honest leader would acknowledge it. In fact, an honest leader would never have said it. Yet President Biden and his team continue to say it day after day. Joe Biden has blamed other people. He has pointed the finger at the people of Afghanistan. That is remarkable. These people now suffering under the rule of the Taliban--they are at fault, apparently. He has blamed and his administration has blamed the intelligence Agencies. They cast aspersions at the commanders on the ground. And remarkably-- remarkably--many Democrats in Congress seem to be fine to go along with all of this, with these excuses and these evasions, this attempt to whitewash what has happened in Afghanistan and is happening as we speak, as Americans remain behind enemy lines. The Democrat leader has stood on this floor and praised Joe Biden's handling of this crisis, applauded it. Just yesterday, he said right here on the floor that my efforts to get accountability for this crisis in Afghanistan were a waste of the Senate's time. Those were his words: waste of the Senate's time. He also said it is something that only the far right is interested in. His words: ``the far right.'' What an insult to the American people. All I can say to that is: Why don't you come to Missouri? Why don't you talk to the families of soldiers who are serving? Why don't you talk to the families of those who have served in this 20-year war? Why don't you talk to veterans? Why don't you look the people in the face who are grieving and who are demoralized and who are shocked at what happened over the last few months in Afghanistan, shocked at the abandonment of American civilians? For that matter, why don't you just talk to this administration's own officials who rushed to tell reporters, off the record, that they were horrified that the President had left behind American civilians--horrified. To brush all of that aside, to pretend that none of that really matters--that is all a distraction; there is nothing to see here--that is insulting, and it is wrong. Until there is accountability, I will force the Senate to actually vote on Joe Biden's nominees for leadership positions in the State Department and the Department of Defense. In the face of this crisis, in the face of this debacle, the least the Senate can do is vote. But the Senate ought to be doing a lot more than that. While grieving families are still waiting for answers, while Americans are still left behind enemy lines, we should be getting the truth. That ought to be our focus. We should be demanding accountability, not sweeping it under the rug. So let me just pose a few--a few--of the questions that I think need answering: Why was the administration so unprepared for what transpired during its evacuation? Why didn't it plan for the potential fall of Kabul, for the potential surge of the Taliban, for the potential collapse of the Afghan Security Forces? Why weren't they prepared to withdraw while keeping Americans safe? Joe Biden and his team didn't coordinate the drawdown so American citizens could leave the country; they ignored them. They told us the Afghan Security Forces were 300,000 strong; they were never that large. They promised the security forces were well trained; they weren't. Has no one bothered to read the reports of the inspector general for Afghanistan? I commend them to you. They are harrowing. It is harrowing reading. The inspector general has been warning for literally years that the Afghan Security Forces were unprepared and unreliable. He has warned that our own Defense Department has, for years, concealed the true state of the Afghan Security Forces and their inability to carry out their mission. These aren't secrets. These are reports, many of them published in the Nation's leading newspapers. Yet the administration didn't factor them into their planning, didn't seem aware of the facts on the ground, didn't seem able to prepare to deal with the realities, even as Americans were put into harm's way. It really does make you wonder: What was the Biden administration actually focused on? I mean, what was it doing with its time? What was the President doing with his time for all of those months--or Secretary Blinken or Secretary Austin or the National Security Advisor? What were they doing while Afghanistan collapsed into chaos? I think the facts suggest an answer. Rather than focusing on protecting Americans from the enemy, rather than focusing on getting Americans safely out of Afghanistan, they were focused on fighting a phony culture war that they invented and that appears to be their top priority. Just consider: On June 11, when Secretary Austin was asked if he thought that the U.S. military was a fundamentally racist organization--this was at a hearing in the Armed Services Committee here in the Senate: Is the U.S. military a fundamentally racist organization?--he said: I can't give you an answer. And, instead, he talked about the military's urgent support for ``equity''--his words. One week later, 21 districts in 9 Provinces had fallen under Taliban control in Afghanistan, and the Afghan Security Forces began to abandon their posts. On June 21, Secretary Blinken announced the ``Progress flag'' would fly at the State Department, a special flag that celebrates, in Blinken's words, ``diversity and intersectionality''--that famous catchphrase of critical race theory. The very next day, the Taliban seized the main Afghan trade gateway as the enemy's advance began to pick up pace. On June 23, General Milley said in his testimony to the House Armed Services Committee: ``I want to understand white rage.'' That is his quote. And he defended the administration's recent focus on White extremism in the military. The very next day, U.S. intelligence assessed that the Afghan Government would collapse within 6 months of our withdrawal. On July 1, Secretary Blinken was busy changing U.S. passports to create new selections for nonbinary, intersex, and gender-nonconforming categories. The very next day, American troops withdrew from Bagram Air Base, what had been the hub of American power in Afghanistan, leaving it for the final time. On July 14, Secretary Blinken invited the United Nations to formally investigate ``the scourge of racism, racial discrimination, and xenophobia'' in the United States. He invited the United Nations, that frequently corrupt body, to investigate his own country for racism, xenophobia, and racial discrimination. Meanwhile, at the very same time, even as Blinken spoke, the Taliban offensive was surging across Afghanistan. On August 9, Secretary Austin was busy crafting a new, controversial COVID-19 vaccine mandate for all of our servicemembers. The very next day, U.S. intelligence officials warned that the Afghan Government would collapse within 90 days or sooner. On August 17, Jake Sullivan--that is the National Security Advisor-- said that the Taliban were helping to provide ``safe passage'' for Americans fleeing Afghanistan. Well, one week later, the terrorist attack at Kabul left 13 American soldiers dead, at least 169 civilians wounded, and, shortly thereafter, hundreds of Americans left behind as our last transport lifted off. Facts are facts. These are the facts, and they tell the story. Joe Biden and his team were more focused on their culture war than they were on protecting Americans. That is the long and the short of it. They were more interested in imposing a radical left social agenda than in getting Americans out of Afghanistan. They were interested in using the military as a social experiment rather than respecting it as the warfighting institution it was built to be. Rather than making decisions that were sound in tactics and sound in strategy, Joe Biden and his team were aiming to please their radical, woke, progressive base. And the American people paid the price. Now the American people deserve accountability for what has happened. They deserve accountability for the lives lost. They deserve accountability for the civilians killed, accountability for the Americans left behind. And that is what this body is for. That is this body's responsibility. It may be an inconvenience to the Democrat leader; it may be an unwanted responsibility for supporters of the President; but it is our job nonetheless. Americans have died. Americans have been abandoned. The Nation deserves an accounting, and it is not too much to ask the Senate to do its job. It is not too much to ask the Senate to get the truth, and it is not too much to ask the Senate to force accountability for this terrible crisis that this President has disgracefully led us into. I can say, for my part, I will do everything I can to get that accountability, to get that truth, and to give the American people the answers that they deserve. I yield the floor.

Mr. HAWLEY

Mr. HAWLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I, along with Senator Moran and Senator Murray, be permitted to complete our remarks before the scheduled rollcall vote.

Mr. HAWLEY

Mr. HAWLEY. Mr. President, I am here today to talk about the crisis in Afghanistan and to honor the distinguished service of those who gave the last full measure of their devotion protecting Americans there. For the last month, Americans have watched, horrified, at the scenes of chaos and terror and bloodshed: Americans trapped at the Kabul Airport, terrified as the enemy closed in; innocent civilians fleeing for their lives, abandoned by their government; a young man desperately clinging to a departing plane's landing gear, he was so desperate to escape, only to fall then to his tragic death; 13 marines, the pride of our Nation, cut down by terrorists, never to see home again; and, then, as American planes finally departed, hundreds of American civilians left behind to the enemy. Let me say that again: hundreds of American civilians left behind to the enemy. And after all of that, who can forget the image of the President of the United States, declaring this mission that he planned, that he executed, that he oversaw--this mission that left 13 marines dead, that left hundreds of American civilians behind enemy lines; this mission that resulted in chaos and terror and bloodshed--who can forget this President saying that this mission was, and I quote, ``extraordinarily successful''? An extraordinary success--really? Has a Commander in Chief in American history ever before uttered words like that? Has a Commander in Chief ever celebrated as ``successful''--``successful''--the abandonment of American civilians to an enemy, the death of American soldiers, terrorizing of American citizens and American allies? I hope I will not live to ever hear again in my lifetime such shameful and disgraceful words from a President of the United States. And make no mistake, this President is a disgrace. His behavior is disgraceful. He has dishonored this country with his shameful leadership in this crisis, and it is time for him to resign. And if he had the responsibility of leadership, he would resign for the crisis that he has himself led this Nation into and the responsibility he bears for the lives that have been lost and for the American citizens who are, even now as I speak, trapped in Afghanistan, left to the enemy because of his failures and his shameful, disgraceful leadership. Even the shameful performance of America's leaders cannot disguise or cover over the heroism of America's soldiers, and I want to talk about one of those soldiers now. He was Marine Corps LCpl Jared Schmitz. He was from Missouri. He was from Wentzville, in St. Charles County, to be exact, and he had wanted to be a marine since he was a teenager. Lance Corporal Schmitz was only 6 months old when terrorists attacked this country on September 11, 2001. He wasn't old enough to remember the beginnings of this long war in which he would go on to so valiantly serve. He had only graduated from high school, from Fort Zumwalt South High School, in 2019. Jared signed up to join the Marines shortly before his 18th birthday. He had dreamed of it since before his sophomore year. He began training with recruits even before he enlisted. He wanted to serve this Nation because he was a man who served others. His father said Jared was always smiling nonstop. He brought light and hope to every place he went, and he wanted to bring those gifts and service to his country-- and he did. He was a fine marine. He was sent on his first deployment to Jordan earlier this year and then received orders to Afghanistan. Jared Schmitz, Lance Corporal Schmitz, was there on August 26--there at the Kabul airport, doing his duty, serving his country, smiling nonstop when the enemy attacked. And it was there that Lance Corporal Schmitz, age 20, gave his life for the people he loved and for the Nation he served. He died so that others might live. I had the privilege of speaking to Lance Corporal Schmitz's family just hours after we learned of Jared's death. I said this to them, and I promised that I would say it for the whole Nation: that Jared Schmitz lived a life of honor, he lived a life worth living, and his sacrifice was not in vain. Jared didn't have to serve. He didn't have to deploy halfway around the world. He didn't have to stand protecting Americans and other innocent people as disaster unfolded. He didn't have to do any of it. He chose to do it. He chose to serve. He chose to give his life for others. That is a hero. That is an American. Lance Corporal Schmitz deserves this honor. He deserves this recognition. Frankly, it is the least of what he deserves. And so, today, I am introducing in this body a resolution to honor Lance Corporal Schmitz and all the Missourians who made the ultimate sacrifice during the war in Afghanistan. They will not be forgotten. Over the last 20 years, we have often heard numbers used to describe the costs of this long war: $2 trillion spent, over 20,000 soldiers wounded in action and thousands more who came home with invisible wounds, and 2,461 American personnel who gave their very lives. But each of these numbers was a son, a daughter, a husband, or wife, or father, or friend. They have names. They have lives. And they deserve to be honored. As this chapter of American history concludes, I want to recognize in the Congressional Record each of my fellow Missourians who, during the war in Afghanistan, made the ultimate sacrifice serving this Nation. I ask that each of us reflect together and pray together for each one of the fallen, and also their families who have sacrificed so much, who have sacrificed all they have to sacrifice. These men and women will live in our hearts and in the memory of this Nation. They are Christopher Michael Allgaier; Michael Chad Bailey; Michael Joe Beckerman; Brian J. Bradbury; Paul Douglas Carron; Jacob Russell Carver; Joseph Brian Cemper; Robert Keith Charlton; Richard Michael Crane; Robert Wade Crow, Jr.; Justin Eric Culbreth; Robert G. Davis; Edward Fred Dixon III; Jason David Fingar; James Matthew Finley; Zachary Michael Fisher; Jacob Rudeloff Fleischer; Blake Wade Hall; Nicholas Joel Hand; James Warren Harrison, Jr.; Jonathon Michael Dean Hostetter; James Roger Ide V; Issac Brandon Jackson; Christopher M. Katzenberger; Jeremy Andrew Katzenberger; William Jo Kerwood; Daniel Leon Kisling, Jr.; Donald Matthew Marler; Matthew David Mason; Richard Lewis McNulty III; Bradley Louis Melton; James Douglas Mowris; Michael Robert Patton; Joseph Michael Peters; Robert Wayne Pharris; Ricky Linn Richardson, Jr.; Charles Montague Sadell; Charles Ray Sanders, Jr.; Ronald Wayne Sawyer; Patrick Wayne Schimmel; Jared Marcus Schmitz; Roslyn Littman Schulte; Billy Joe Siercks; Adam Olin Smith; Tyler James Smith; Christopher Glenn Stark; Sean Patrick Sullivan; Philip James Svitak; Phillip David Vinnedge; Matthew Herbert Walker; Jeffrey Lee White, Jr.; Matthew Willard Wilson; Vincent Cortez Winston, Jr.; Sterling William Wyatt; and Gunnar William Zwilling. Mr. President, the sacrifices of so many brave men and women demand that we in Congress bring all the facts of this long war to light. These sacrifices demand that we in Congress prioritize transparency and full accountability. And these sacrifices demand that we hold responsible those who bear the blame for the failure of the last month and of all the months that preceded it. For 20 years, our soldiers who fought in Afghanistan did what we sent them there to do. They went after al-Qaida, killed Osama bin Laden, and prevented terrorists from using Afghanistan as a base for attacking our homeland. They did their duty, and they did it honorably. But by now it is abundantly clear President Biden has not done his. President Biden turned an orderly evacuation into a disaster; that much is painfully clear. First, Joe Biden pulled our troops out; then he sent thousands back in. He failed to protect Americans still in the country. He failed to account for lethal American military equipment he left behind. He failed to anticipate worsening conditions on the ground. He failed in his judgment that the Afghan security forces would hold their own when our own intelligence estimates said that they wouldn't. He failed to anticipate a new offensive by the Taliban. He failed again and again and again until American blood at the Kabul airport paid the price for that failure. Then he celebrated it as an ``extraordinary success.'' Joe Biden's team is responsible too. Men like Secretary Austin; Secretary Blinken; Jake Sullivan, the National Security Adviser, they overestimated the Afghan security forces' willingness to hold the line; and instead of planning for the worst, they planned for the best. Because of them, we have Americans stranded behind enemy lines and over 100,000 Afghan refugees arriving now to this country at this eleventh hour without vetting or precautions. This was never necessary. It did not have to be this way and it shouldn't have been. Joe Biden is responsible for today's failure and now there must be accountability. Instead, the President's team is even now coming to Capitol Hill and blaming others, shirking responsibility. That is cowardly. I, for one, am not willing to look the other way. Let me be clear. I will not consent to the nomination of any nominee for the Department of Defense or for the Department of State until Secretary Austin and Secretary Blinken and Jake Sullivan resign. Leaders take responsibility for their failures. And the failure of these individuals, the failure of this administration has cost Americans their lives and has left American civilians to the enemy. There must be accountability and there must be a new start. I believe that a century from now, when the history of this long war is written by our children's children, they will note the heroism and the honor of our soldiers and veterans who, in the aftermath of the worst attacks on our Nation's soil in a century, stood steadfast and resolute in unity; and who, despite the grave mistakes of their leaders over many years, served their country with bravery and distinction and defense of our freedom. The great Winston Churchill, who was himself the veteran of one war and leader of another, said this almost 70 years ago: We have surmounted all the perils and endured all the agonies of the past. We shall provide against and thus prevail over the dangers and the problems of the future, withhold no sacrifice, grudge no toil, seek no sordid gain, fear no foe. All will be well. We have, I believe, within us the life-strength and guiding light by which the tormented world around us may find the harbour of safety, after a storm-beaten voyage. Mr. President, I believe, as Americans, we have that life-strength. I believe we have in us the light and the hope to survive this troubled time and to provide the world around us the harbor of safety after a storm-beaten voyage. God bless our troops. I yield floor.

Mr. HAWLEY

Mr. HAWLEY. Mr. President, I ask that my amendment be called up, No. 2734, and that it be reported by number.

Mr. HAWLEY. Mr. President, I rise today in support of hiring more law enforcement officers across this country--100,000 more, to be precise. And here is why. We are in the midst of an unprecedented crime wave in this country, a crime wave of violent crime, and our families and our children are in the crosshairs. This past year, the murder rate in this country rose, year over year, higher than anytime in six decades. This past year, the FBI reports that fatal felony attacks on law enforcement officers spiked by over 50 percent. In St. Louis, MO, my home State, 262 residents were killed in 2020. That is the highest number in over half a century. Cops are being targeted. Families are being targeted. Children aren't safe on the streets. We need to take action now to put more law enforcement officers on our streets to protect our families. Now, I recognize that my friends across the aisle say they don't want to defund the police. That is outstanding. Let's go a step further. Let's fund them. Let's put 100,000 new cops on the streets right now to protect our families, to protect our children. I urge a ``yes'' vote on this amendment, and I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. HAWLEY. I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. HAWLEY

Mr. HAWLEY. Mr. President, had there been a recorded vote, I would have voted no on the confirmation of Executive Calendar No. 158, Robert Peter Silvers, of the District of Columbia, to be Under Secretary for Strategy, Policy, and Plans, Department of Homeland Security.

Mr. HAWLEY

Mr. HAWLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. HAWLEY. I rise today, Mr. President, to talk about the challenges facing the cattle ranchers in my State and across the country, challenges not just to their day-to-day operations but to their very livelihoods, and I rise today to talk about what we can do about it. I have a simple message: We can take action today that will work and we can take action that will make a difference and we should take it now. The situation that faces our cattle ranchers in Missouri and around the country, and, for that matter, many other livestock producers, is very, very serious, and the situation is, frankly, untenable. Let me tell you what I am talking about. Just in the last year, the cost to consumers for beef has increased by double digits. That is year-on-year, from 2019 to 2020, a double- digit increase. What has happened, though, to cattle ranchers, to those who actually raise the beef, who raise the cattle, and then sell it to market? The price for them, has it gone up? No, it has gone down. In fact, over the last decade, cattle ranchers have seen their share of profits decline by double digits. So what is happening here? Cattle ranchers are getting less, much less, in some instances--and, by the way, so are other producers of livestock--and yet the cost to consumers is going up. Somebody is getting wealthy in this transaction, and that ``somebody'' is the packers, the processing companies. In America today, our meat processing supply chain, equipment--the entire apparatus--is owned by just a small handful of companies. Here is what I am talking about: Four companies--four--together control over 80 percent of this country's beef processing operations, 80 percent. Even more remarkably, three of the giant meatpacking companies control 63 percent of pork producing, 46 of beef packing, 38 of poultry producing. That is just three of them. And two--two--are based in Brazil and China. So you have got four major packers that control 80 percent of the market, two of them based overseas. This market concentration is squeezing out the farmers and the ranchers. It is enriching the packers, and it is ultimately hurting consumers. So I say, again, in this system, the only people who seem to win are the monopolists. We have got to do something about it. It is made even worse--the situation--by the fact that these same monopoly packers have been found guilty or otherwise pled to criminal violations, criminal uses of their monopoly status. For example, Pilgrim's Pride, a subsidiary of a Brazilian-owned company called JBS, received $107 million in criminal fines for price- fixing in chicken markets. JBS separately paid out at least three multimillion-dollar settlements over the past year, while Smithfield, which is owned by China, has paid $83 million to settle pork price- fixing allegations. So here we have these monopoly companies, two of them foreign owned, that are controlling the meat processing industry, controlling the entire supply chain, squeezing American farmers and ranchers, raising prices on consumers, and committing criminal violations while they do it. Now, many have called, including me, for antitrust investigations. Some have called, including me, for antitrust prosecution. And I stand behind those positions. But I am here today to say that we must do more. And, specifically, it is time for this administration, the Biden administration, to do more because they have the tools to do so at their disposal. Under Federal law, the Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, has the authority to refuse to provide or to withdraw inspection services from any of these monopoly packers or anyone who is reasonably connected to them who has been convicted of a felony or any other act or circumstance that indicates a lack of integrity as it concerns public health. That is a broad grant of authority. What it means is that USDA could, right now, begin to suspend the inspection services for these monopoly companies, to say to these companies: We are not going to allow inspections to go forward; we are not going to allow your production to go forward until you come to the table and agree to resolve and desist any criminal misconduct and to get a better deal to ranchers and farmers across this country. This authority is already existing under Federal law. I want to be clear. It is already on the books. It is already provided for by Federal statute. And our ranchers and our farmers need it to be used, and they need it to be used now. So, today, I am calling on the Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, to invoke these authorities, say to the major monopoly companies that USDA will suspend inspection services until they come to the table, until they open their books, until our cattle ranchers and our farmers in Missouri and across this country get relief. I am making that request to the Secretary of Agriculture today. I hope that he will act today because our farmers and our ranchers deserve relief today, and they deserve our help and our support as they work to protect the life that they lead, the life that is the backbone, in many ways, of this country, and as they continue their noble work of feeding the world. Thank you. I yield the floor.

Mr. HAWLEY

Mr. HAWLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Senators Rubio, Peters, and I be allowed to complete our remarks before the scheduled rollcall vote.

Mr. HAWLEY

Mr. HAWLEY. Mr. President, I am here today to talk about those things that unite us as Americans, and I am here to talk about those things that divide us. For centuries, public service has been something that unites Americans, drawing us together. Citizens from all walks of life serve in our military. They serve in Federal and State and local governments. They serve in police units and in fire departments across our country. They serve as teachers and coaches. And we as a nation are better off for their service and for their sacrifice. Those who serve our Nation do it not because they have to but because they want to. They do it because they believe this Nation is worth serving. They do it because they believe this Nation is worth defending. They believe it is worth celebrating. And they are right to think all of those things. Service to this country is an act of selflessness that affirms our Nation is a place worth believing in. But I am concerned that the present administration and this President, President Joe Biden, do not share this point of view. I am worried that President Biden is nominating for Federal office individuals who do not share a view of America as a good and decent place, who do not believe that the history of this Nation is worth celebrating; nominating, instead, people who believe that this is a country founded in racism and shot through with corruption. Many of these nominees are partisans of a viewpoint that goes by different names but shares several features in common--a view that America is a systemically racist place and systemically unjust; a view of America as corrupt; a view of American society as one that needs to be deconstructed, that needs to be pulled apart, torn down, and then rebuilt in a fundamentally different way. Now, this broad ideology has become known in public as critical race theory or sometimes just critical theory. And let me tell you, as someone who has taught in our Nation's universities, someone who has seen our institutions of higher learning up close, I would say to those in the media and elsewhere who now deny that there is any such thing as critical theory, that critical theory is, in fact, very real, it is very influential, and it appears to have become the animating ideology of this administration. That is cause for great concern. Critical theory is an ideology that says the United States is rotten to its core. The leaders of this movement think our society is defined by White supremacy. They think our leaders are complicit, at best. They think that all Americans are either oppressors or oppressed. In our world-class military, these critics see a vehicle for discrimination. In our American flag, they see propaganda. In our family businesses, they see White supremacy. In our police officers, they see agents of racial oppression. These critics allow no room for merit, for experience, or for grace in our life together. They pit Whiteness and Blackness against each other in a manner that reduces every American, no matter their character or their creed, to their racial identity alone. One of these critics, Dr. Ibram Kendi wrote this: The only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination. The only remedy to present discrimination is future discrimination. That is right. That is what he said. Think about that for a moment. He is saying he is opposed to equality under the law. He is opposing our merit-based system for Federal employment. Dr. Kendi and his followers are in no uncertain terms advocating for State-sanctioned racism in the United States of America. Now, it is a free country. Dr. Kendi and these other authors can write their books and debate their views and put them out in public. It is absolutely their right to do so. They are welcome to do so. But what we cannot allow--what we must not allow--is our Federal Government to affirm and sanction and advocate this critical race theory. We cannot allow the United States of America, the greatest Nation on Earth, to legitimize a new era of racial engineering. In the past few years, critical race theory has gained new prominence in the giant corporations, in the media, in the military, and even in our children's schools. We are seeing this across the country. We have seen too many of our children exposed to a curriculum like the 1619 Project and its derivatives that encourage division rather than unity, that rewrites our history in the service of an ideological agenda rather than in the service of truth. Young children set off to school with eyes full of hope and hearts, full of pride in our country, only to be taught that White privilege defines the Nation, that subjects like mathematics are inherently racist, that the Christian faith is oppressive. They are taught that the nuclear family perpetuates racism. Now, imagine for a moment if you were taught the same. Imagine if you were taught that your dreams were unjust or unfair, that your family were oppressors, that you were at fault for the problems of our society today. These are just children. We should be nurturing their dreams. We should be nurturing their hopes. We should be giving them a great hope for the future, for the future of this great Nation known as the United States of America, a hope for the future of the greatest Nation in the history of the world, rather than teaching them to mistrust their classmates and to distrust their own history. It doesn't end there. Last year, we discovered that Federal agencies and other organizations funded by taxpayers were holding workplace training sessions where Federal employees were told that ``virtually all White people contribute to racism''--that is a quote--or where civil servants were required to say that they ``benefit from racism.'' Now, President Trump put an end to this divisive curriculum, and he was right to do so. Workplace diversity training should focus on bringing people together, not on driving them apart. But under this new administration, I fear that critical theory is making a comeback. In March, President Biden rescinded the former President's ban on this divisive curriculum, and now, he has nominated Kiran Ahuja to be Director of the Office of Personnel Management. That is a key position that runs human resources for the entire Federal Government and millions of its employees. Ms. Ahuja's nomination is before the Senate today. I am concerned that Ms. Ahuja is a disciple of radical theorists. She has frequently promoted Dr. Kendi. She called him a ``thought leader'' at her confirmation hearing back in April. Just last year, Ms. Ahuja wrote that we must free the Nation from the ``daily trials of White supremacy.'' Those are her words. She appeared to endorse Dr. Kendi's claim that the election of President Trump in 2016 was an example of ``racist progress'' in this country, and she declared that we must do everything in our collective power to realize Dr. Kendi's vision for America. I am concerned that, as the Federal Government's HR director, Ms. Ahuja could use her platform to promote radical ideologies that seek to divide rather than unite people. She could bring critical race theory back into Federal Government training and to every level of Federal personnel, stronger than ever. And I am not alone in this concern. All of my Republican colleagues on the Homeland Security Committee opposed Ms. Ahuja in a vote back in April Two weeks ago, the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association--they represent 100,000 Federal police officers that protect and defend our Nation every day--they announced that they were also concerned about Ms. Ahuja's nomination because of her advocacy of critical theory. I have to say, I agree with Federal law enforcement. I agree with what they said in their letter. We should nominate candidates for public office that are committed to ideological neutrality, to fairness, and to impartiality under the law. I want to be clear, I do not for a moment question Ms. Ahuja's sincerity or integrity. In fact, I thank her for her willingness to serve the Nation; but I cannot agree with what appears to be her fundamental ideology. At the end of the day, this is not about politics or personalities; this is about ensuring that the Federal Government stands for unity, not division, harmony, not hate. As the Reverend Dr. King famously said, and he was right, we should judge our fellow citizens by the content of their character, not by the color of their skin. We need a strong nation with strong citizens who see each other as Americans, not as oppressors or oppressed. Now, I have heard a lot of criticism about my position here today. I have heard the corporate media and those on the left say that I misunderstand critical theory or that it is not real or that it is not a real problem. I have heard many say the United States is indeed built on oppression and remains a systemically racist place. All I can say is that is not the America I see, that is not the America I know. The working people of this country who have rallied to this Nation's flag in every hour of danger, who are the first to help a neighbor in need, who coach our Little Leagues and volunteer at our churches, who go to work day in and day out to provide for their families and protect the place they call home, these are not oppressors; these are liberators. These are not oppressors; these are great people. They live with a spirit of liberty that has made this country the greatest country in the history of the world, and they want to see that liberty extended to every member of the American family. That is who the American people are. That is what makes them great. That is what they believe--because they are a great people. Our future is a cause for hope and not despair. The advocates of critical theory tell us we have to dismantle our culture, our history, our families, our Jewish and Christian heritage and beliefs because they are all oppressive. They say the future of this Nation will be defined by racial division and racial strife. I reject that prophecy of our future, and I take my stand on the goodness of the American people and the God who guides us. I take my stand on hope. It is not oppression that defines the American story. It is hope. From the minutemen at Lexington and Concord, to the pioneers who found a new life in the West, to the heroes of the Underground Railroad, to the Union soldiers at Little Round Top, to the workers who fought the old monopolies for fair pay, to the women who fought for suffrage, to the young men who twice liberated Europe, to the civil rights demonstrators likes of Bull Connor, to the firemen and police officers who rebuilt New York and gave this country confidence again in the years after 9/11, it is love for one another and love for our country that we call home that has defined our story and given us hope; and that love and that hope will define our future once again. I am confident of it. In this Nation, we are not united by ethnic creed or race or religion--and proudly so. We are united by our shared history. We are united by what we love together. We are united by the radical belief that those who liberate others, those who practice grace and mercy, those who call forth the best in those around them, they are the ones who changed the world; and that principle, that truth, that hope, is what drives our history. And we are not done building that history yet. The greatest Nation in the history of the world is not done yet. Critical theory in all of its guises distorts our history, it destroys our common love, and it would leave us hopelessly divided, at enmity with one another and alone. To this dark vision, we must say no. To radical hope, we must say yes. For these reasons, I urge my colleagues to vote no on Ms. Ahuja's nomination. I yield the floor.

Mr. HAWLEY

Mr. HAWLEY. Madam President, had there been a recorded vote, I would have voted ``No'' on the nomination of Anton George Hajjar, of Maryland, to be a Governor of the United States Postal Service. Madam President, had there been a recorded vote, I would have voted ``No'' on the nomination of Eric S. Lander, of Massachusetts, to be Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy.

Mr. HAWLEY

Mr. HAWLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. HAWLEY

Mr. HAWLEY. Mr. President, we are here tonight for a very simple reason with a very simple proposition--that the American people deserve to know about the origins of COVID-19. They deserve to know how this terrible pandemic that has ravaged the globe and our country, how it got started and what China's role was in starting it. Now, we have seen a parade of government officials speculate about the origins in one place or another. And there is increasing speculation and, indeed, increasing numbers of statements from government officials saying that perhaps this virus originated in a Chinese lab, in the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Well, I think it is time that the American people got to decide for themselves. It is time that they actually got to see the evidence that the U.S. Government has collected on this issue, and that is exactly what the measure that we are introducing here tonight would do. It would make available to the American people the evidence that the U.S. Government has about the origins of this terrible virus and this terrible pandemic. I am proud to be joined in this effort by Senator Braun, and I know that he would like to make a few remarks.

Mr. HAWLEY. Mr. President, the American people can be trusted with the truth. More than that, the American people deserve the truth. They deserve to know the true origins of this virus. They deserve to be able to evaluate the evidence for themselves. They deserve it. Their government owes it to them, and it is time to act. And the American people deserve something else. They deserve to have this government hold accountable that nation which started this virus, whose lies about this virus turned it into a global pandemic, whose lies about this virus prevented our country and many others from being able to address it effectively in time. Of course, I am talking about China. The American people deserve to have all of the evidence and deserve to have this government's full effort and the effort of our allies and partners in holding accountable China for what it has done, not just to this country but to the world, and to make sure that something like this never happens again. So, Mr. President, I ask now unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 1867, which is at desk.

Mr. HAWLEY. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. HAWLEY. Mr. President, I thank the Senate for this action tonight. This is, as Senator Braun said, an important first step. It is only a first step, but the truth is always the right step, and that is the action that we have taken tonight. I yield the floor. Order of Business

Mr. HAWLEY

Mr. HAWLEY. Mr. President, had there been a recorded vote, I would have voted no on the confirmation of Executive Calendar No. 30, Adewale O. Adeyemo, of California, to be Deputy Secretary of the Treasury.

Mr. HAWLEY

Mr. HAWLEY. Mr. President, on my behalf and the behalf of Senator Cramer, I send a question to the desk.

Mr. HAWLEY

Mr. HAWLEY. Mr. President, I want to begin this evening by saying thank you to the men and women of the Capitol Police, the National Guardsmen, the Metropolitan Police, and others who came to this Capitol and put their lives on the line to protect everybody here who was working inside. I want to thank law enforcement all across this country--in my home State of Missouri and everywhere else--who do that day in and day out. I just want to acknowledge that, when it comes to violence, it was a terrible year in America this last year. We have seen a lot of violence against law enforcement, and today, we saw it here in the Capitol of the United States. In this country, in the United States of America, we cannot say emphatically enough: Violence is not how you achieve change. Violence is not how you achieve something better. Our Constitution was built and put into place so that there would be, in the words of Abraham Lincoln, no appeal from ballots to bullets, which is what we saw, unfortunately, attempted tonight. There is no place for that in the United States of America, and that is why I submit to my colleagues that what we are doing here tonight is, actually, very important because, for those who have concerns about the integrity of our elections and for those who have concerns about what happened in November, this is the appropriate means. This is the lawful place where those objections and concerns should be heard. This is the forum that the law provides for--that our laws provide for--for those concerns to be registered, not through violence--not by appealing from ballots to bullets--but here, in this lawful process. So to those who say that this is just a formality today--an antique ceremony that we have engaged in for a couple of hundred years--I can't say that I agree. I can't say that our precedent suggests that. I actually think it is very vital, what we do. The opportunity to be heard and to register objections is very vital because this is the place where those objections are to be heard and dealt with, debated, and finally resolved--in this lawful means, peacefully, without violence, without attacks, without bullets. Let me just say now, briefly--in lieu of speaking about it later--a word about Pennsylvania, which is a State that I have been focused on and have objected to, as an example of why people are concerned--why millions of Americans are concerned--about our election integrity. I say to Pennsylvania, quite apart from allegations of any fraud, you have a State constitution that has been interpreted for over a century to say that there is no mail-in balloting permitted except for in very narrow circumstances, which is also provided for in the law. Yet, last year, Pennsylvania's elected officials passed a whole new law that allowed for universal mail-in balloting, and they did it, irregardless of what the Pennsylvania Constitution said. Then, when Pennsylvania's citizens tried to be heard on this subject before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, they were dismissed on grounds of procedure and timeliness, in violation of that supreme court's own precedent. So the merits of the case have never been heard. The constitutionality of the statute, actually, has never been defended. I am not aware of any court that has passed on its constitutionality. I actually am not aware of anybody who has defended the constitutionality, and this was the statute that governed this last election in which there were over 2.5 million mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania. This is my point, that this is the forum. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court hasn't heard the case, and there is no other court to go to, to hear the case in the State, so this is the appropriate place for these concerns to be raised, which is why I have raised them here today. I hope that this body will not miss the opportunity to take affirmative action to address the concerns of so many millions of Americans--to say to millions of Americans tonight that violence is never warranted, that violence will not be tolerated, that those who engage in it will be prosecuted, but that this body will act to address the concerns of all Americans across the country. We do need an investigation into irregularities, fraud. We do need a way forward together. We need election security reforms. I bet my friends on the other side of the aisle don't disagree with that. We need to find a way to move forward on that together so that the American people from both parties and all walks of life can have confidence in their elections and so that we can arrange ourselves under the rule of law that we share together. I yield the floor.

Mr. HAWLEY

Mr. HAWLEY. Mr. President, reserving the right to object.

Mr. HAWLEY. Mr. President, I want to say that I can't, for the life of me, figure out why it is so difficult to get a vote on the bills that Senator Sanders has just referenced, when, by my count, the President of the United States, the Speaker of the House, a large majority of the House of Representatives, and I think a supermajority of this body are all in favor--all in favor--of $2,000 COVID relief payments to working Americans. Now, we have had some back-and-forth on the floor today about how we got to the level of $2,000. We all know how we got to that level. The President of the United States said that is the level he supported. The number originates with him. This is the number that he has asked for and the House adopted it and a majority of Senators have said already publicly that they support it. And yet we can't seem to even get a vote on it. We can't even seem to have debate on it. I mean, with all due respect, this doesn't seem, to me, to be a Republicans versus Democrats issue; this seems to be the Senate versus the United States of America and I just don't understand it and I am willing to bet--I am willing to bet that the American people don't understand it either. I mean, here we are, in the throes of the worst pandemic in a century, that working people have borne the brunt of, and all that we are asking is that those working people be first in line for relief and that they be given meaningful relief that is only approximately commensurate with the hardships that they and their families have borne. Now, I hear a lot of talk about how we can't afford it. I do notice, however, that we seem to be able to afford all kinds of other stuff. We can afford to send lots of money to other governments. We can afford to send all kinds of tax breaks and bailouts to big corporations. We can afford to spend enormous sums of money on pork--hundreds of billions of dollars in that last bill on pork--hundreds of billions. But we can't seem to find the money for relief for working people that the President and the House and the Senate all support, and yet we can't seem to get it onto the floor. Let me just share three stories that I have heard just this week alone--this week alone--from my home State, from Missouri. Danielle, from St. Louis County, called my office. She said her utilities are about to be shut off. She is desperate for help. She said a $2,000 payment would go a long way to help keep the lights on and her house warm. I heard from a mother in Southeast Missouri. That is the bootheel of my State. She wrote that her son had lost pay because of his company's cutting back hours because of COVID and that he himself had contracted the virus and so he had to be home and he was missing work, missing shifts. His family can't make it paycheck to paycheck. Her daughter-in- law is donating plasma in order to help earn some extra grocery money-- donating plasma in order to get some money to pay for groceries to feed their family. Richard from St. Louis wrote to me and said any extra help that he could get would go directly to paying his rent and his utilities. He had a job that he lost, in the retail business, the retail sector, and he is desperately struggling. I would state to the Presiding Officer that these people are not ne'er-do-wells. These are working people. These are strong people. These are proud people. And all they ask for, as I have said many times on this floor before, is a chance to get back on their feet and to be able to provide for their families. And I can't for the life of me understand why we cannot get so much as a vote on these bills. For that reason, Mr. President, I do not object. In fact, I enthusiastically support the measures that Senator Sanders is trying to bring to the floor, and I would vote for both if we were given the opportunity.

Mr. HAWLEY

Mr. HAWLEY. Mr. President, I rise today to discuss the COVID relief bill that I understand is soon to be brought before the House and then to this floor. I understand that we have finally, at long last, a deal that hopefully will result in real relief for the American people. And there is a piece of good news that I want to be sure to note, and that is that this COVID relief package will contain direct assistance to working people. For every working family in this country that needs it, they will be, under this deal, getting a direct check just like they did in March. Now, that is a victory. There are no two ways about it, and we should celebrate that victory not on our own behalf but for the many people in this Nation who desperately need it and who, until just a few days ago, could expect nothing at all in the way of direct assistance from this body. I want to thank those who worked so hard to make sure that this relief was available and is going to the working people of this country--not least the President of the United States, who has been very clear, over and over again, that he wants to see direct relief to working families, that it should be the cornerstone of the bill. Of course, I thank Senator Sanders for his strong stand on this issue, and it has been a privilege to work with him on it. So this is good news--good news for working families, good news for working people just before Christmas, when they need the help the most. But I have to say that the levels of support that I understand will be offered to working people are hardly adequate, and we should not pretend otherwise: $600 per person, $600 per child. This is a fraction of what was offered to working people in the CARES legislation just a few months ago--legislation, I might add, that every Member of this body voted for--every Member voted for. Now they will be getting only a portion of that. It all adds up to about $100 billion. And we are told that there just wasn't enough left over, that there just wasn't any more available for working people. Yet I notice that in the spending bill that we are also going to vote on as part of this package, a bill that costs over $1 trillion, we managed to have found $65 million for salmon recovery in the Pacific, $643 million to carry out international communication activities in the Middle East, $116 million for the Export-Import Bank, and $118 million for that sterling example of international leadership, the World Health Organization, which has done more to undermine world health in the last year than I think any international organization in the history of the world. Then there is the so-called bipartisan proposal, which is the basis for the present deal--the bipartisan proposal which included, I might point out, not a cent--not a cent--in direct relief for working people--almost $1 trillion in costs, not one penny in direct relief for working people, until it was added recently. That proposal included $20 billion for higher education--$20 billion. This is going to many universities that have massive endowments worth billions and billions of dollars, most of that built on the backs of taxpayers, I might add. Yet we cannot find any further funds to help working people in this country. I cannot help but note that working people were the last consideration in the draconian shutdowns earlier this year that sent so many of them home, that cost them their jobs, that cost them their wages, that cost them their healthcare on the job, and they have consistently been the last consideration in COVID relief in this body ever since. Frankly, it is disgraceful and, frankly, it is unacceptable. So the work that we are going to do today--and I hope to see a vote on this floor yet today on this relief--is a step--a step--in the right direction, but it is only a step. And I hope that it will be the beginning of a better approach, the beginning of actually putting working Americans first, putting their needs, putting their independence, putting their strength, their families, their communities first. That ought to be the economic policy of this Nation. That ought to be the economic policy of this body. And I can assure you, that is the foundation on which economic recovery will be built because it is the working people of this Nation who power the American economy. Don't believe anything else. We hear a lot about global capital. We hear about the need to secure the financial markets--oh, and, by the way, the Federal Reserve. We are taking back $430 billion from the Federal Reserve in this piece of legislation--$430 billion from the Federal Reserve--funded to the max. Wall Street--funded to the max. But I say again: Wall Street, capital, the financial markets--they are not the foundation of this economy. The working people of this Nation, the working people of Missouri, the working people of our other States--they are the foundation of this economy, and it is time that they were put first--first for COVID relief, first in our economic policy, first in all that we do. So I hope that this effort to get them direct assistance will be the beginning of a larger effort to orient our economic policy and the policy of this Nation around the strength and the independence and the needs of our great working Americans. I want to end by saying thank you to them, thank you to the working people of Missouri who have endured through this crisis day in and day out, who have gone to work as essential workers, who have taken care of children at home, who have missed shifts at work in order to care for loved ones, who have contributed food to others in need even when they didn't have enough food for themselves, who have gone without in order to see that their children could eat. The people of this country, the working people who have sacrificed again and again and again and have borne the brunt of this pandemic and have continued to show up for their families, for their communities, and for this country--thank you. Thank you for making this country work. Thank you for building this country as we know it. Help is on the way. Help is on the way in this bill, which I hope will become law tonight. But there is much more to do, and I, for one, stand ready to work to do it. I yield the floor.

Mr. HAWLEY

Mr. HAWLEY. Mr. President, I am here on behalf of the millions of working people in this country who are out of time, who are out of luck, and who are just about out of hope. I am here on behalf of the millions of working people who have borne the worst of this pandemic, the people who got sent home back in March and April and May, when other businesses got to stay open, and when companies like Amazon and Facebook were making billions of dollars. These are the workers who lost their jobs, the workers who lost their pay, the workers who were told: Too bad for you. These are people who right now are missing shifts at work to try to care for kids who are distance learning because of COVID, who are trying to care for a relative who may be sick. These are the people who are always asked to make it work, who are always asked to hold it together and, you know what, they do. These are proud people, the working people of our Nation. These are strong people. These are the people who have rallied to this Nation's defense in every hour of need, in every moment of danger, who have sent their sons and daughters to go fight our wars, who have given their time and their talents and their treasure at every opportunity for this Nation. And now they are in need. They are the backbone of this Nation, and they are in crisis. I am talking about the 8 million Americans who have fallen into poverty since this summer; 12 million families--working families--who are now behind on their rent; the 35 percent of working families in America who have had to go ask for food assistance in the last couple of months because of this pandemic. Those are the people I am talking about. I am talking about people like Susan, who is a single mother, a working mother, from my State in Northeast Missouri, where she lives. She wrote to me the other day, and she is trying to home school her kids who are home because of COVID. She doesn't have internet because she is in a rural part of the State. She doesn't have broadband. She is trying to feed her family. She is trying to stay up with her job, but she has to miss shifts at work because she has got kids at home whom she is trying to home school and supervise. Now she has fallen behind on her rent. She told me, and these are her words: I am not asking for handouts. I am just asking for a chance to get back on my feet. Earlier this week, a friend of mine down in Southeast Missouri, the boot heel of Missouri, in a town called Charleston, was helping to distribute food to families in need. He said that there were 30 church groups--30--who lined up to come get food for their congregations, and over 60 families--this is a small town--there were over 60 families who stood in line, and as they were loading food into the trunks of people's cars, many of them were crying. What these people ask for, what these Americans ask for is not for government to solve all their problems. It is not for government to give them a handout. It is a chance to get back on their feet, a chance to provide for themselves, a chance to recover when they have been asked, again, to sacrifice so much. That is why the least this body can do is to provide direct relief to every working American who needs it. That is what we did back in March that every Senator voted for: $1,200 for every working individual, $2,400 for working couples, 500 bucks for kids and dependents. It is the least that we can do. It should be the first thing that we could do. As these negotiations drag on and on, fixated and focused and hung up on who knows what issues, let's start with this. Let's send a message to working families that they are first, not last; that they are the most important consideration, not some afterthought. Let's send that message today. Surely, we can agree that the working people of this country deserve relief, and if we are going to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on bailing out this, that, and the other, surely, surely, we could start with reasonable, modest relief to the working people in need in this Nation. What I am proposing is what every Senator has supported already this year. What I am proposing is modest compared to the scope of the need. What I am proposing will give working folks in my State and across this country a shot--a shot--here before Christmas at getting back up on their feet, getting back to work, and getting back in a position to be able to provide for themselves, these folks who are the backbone of this Nation. I am here today to ask that this body take up and pass this relief measure: $1,200 for individuals, $2,400 for couples, $500 for kids. Mr. President, as in legislative session, I now ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of my bill at the desk; I further ask that the bill be considered read a third time and passed, and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.