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Congressional Record—Senate S2708 S2708 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE June 4, 2020 in 2011, the Space Shuttle Atlantis cifics of the Pack nomination, I need to mittee has operated pursuant to what looked pretty similar. say a few words about the moment we is known as comity. While that sounds What America saw on Saturday was a are in and how we got here. like a fancy word, it simply means that glimpse into the future. Astronauts We are facing two devastating crises. we have found a way to work together Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley were Over 100,000 Americans have died from to achieve a process that has worked outfitted in custom-designed and fitted COVID–19 in just a matter of months, for all members—the majority and mi- space suits, and they were seated in and that number continues to grow. nority alike—even if we haven’t always front of a sleek touchscreen. It looked The scale and the speed of the tragedy agreed on the substance. Had the chair- like the console of a Tesla, to me, but is almost impossible to comprehend. man engaged to our condition of com- I am sure it was more sophisticated We certainly stand with all of our fam- ity, we would have almost certainly than that. ilies who have lost loved ones, and we had a business meeting that would After the two astronauts arrived at cherish their memories. Unlike COVID– have focused on COVID, which is the the International Space Station, 19, the second crisis is one of our own crisis at hand, and not Mr. Pack—a Behnken referred to the Dragon as a making. blatantly flawed nominee. I know that slick vehicle. Yet things don’t just Over centuries of injustice, African ‘‘comity’’ sounds awfully quaint in the look like they were made for the fu- Americans and other people of color polarized times in which we live, but it ture, for they were designed to work have not been treated like human has worked. It has worked for the better, last longer, and be safer. The beings; they have not been treated like members, for the committee, and for Falcon 9 rocket was made with reus- every American deserves to be treated, the country. It has been the force that able parts to bring down the cost of like every person in the world has the has bound us together, the force by human spaceflight. As we return Amer- right to be treated. No. All too often, which we have found common ground ican astronauts to the Moon and even- they have been treated like George to advance the national interest. tually to Mars, this commercial launch Floyd, with a knee on the neck as they I am sad to report that the Michael will have marked a new era of space ex- gasp and choke ‘‘I can’t breathe.’’ As a Pack nomination was the nail in the ploration. It gives us hope and excite- result, our country has erupted with coffin for comity. The chairman ig- ment at a time when both of those are protests. In this moment, these griev- nored the requests of every member of desperately needed. ances have been met with the petty an- the committee’s minority—a simple re- I thank and commend the countless tics and deplorable, violent tactics of quest: Let’s not vote on Michael Pack men and women who have made this notorious dictators around the world. until we have collectively worked I am shaking in having to say this. I mission possible, especially my fellow through all of the serious background am shaken to the core that President Texans at Johnson Space Center—the problems that exist. The letter that Trump, with the assistance of his At- center of human spaceflight for was sent to the chairman did not even torney General, used violence against NASA—and then, of course, Elon Musk, get responded to prior to ramming who founded SpaceX. He said this peaceful protesters—people exercising their First Amendment rights—all for Pack through the committee. That si- launch was the result of, roughly, a photo op with a Bible. That is not lence and the actions that have been 100,000 people’s efforts when you added right. It is not acceptable, and that is taken have changed the committee up all of the suppliers and everybody not America. and, I believe, the Senate for the worse. involved. When you combine that with This body has to act. We have to act I don’t have the time or the inclina- the work of the brave and brilliant as- quickly and effectively to address tion to go through every violation of tronauts, physicists, engineers, mathe- these twin crises. The moment calls for the rules and norms that marred the maticians, and scientists of all stripes leadership at every level. We all know committee’s process on Michael Pack, who have helped us to have met our this, but we are not doing it. Why not? but there is one violation that I have space exploration goals over the years, The answer is that President Trump to speak to, one that is so serious and it is clear that America’s space pro- and the Republican majority of this so corrosive that it needs to be docu- gram’s best days are ahead. body are focused elsewhere while our mented and should never be repeated. I When the final NASA space shuttle country is suffering—perhaps like am speaking about the chairman’s re- crew departed the International Space never before. They are focused on do- fusal to allow a video stream live of the Station in 2011, it left behind a small mestic political errands. Yet, while committee’s debate and vote on Mr. American flag with instructions that it trivial, these errands are corrosive to Pack. Yes, the chairman intentionally be brought back to Earth by the next this body, to our country, and to the deprived the public of its opportunity crew to be launched from the United Constitution. to watch this unfortunate episode un- States. Finally, almost a decade later, I need to say a few words about what fold as it did. This was shameful. It it has been united with the astronauts is and what is not happening in the violated the rules. It sent the wrong who will carry it home. Committee on Foreign Relations, be- message to every American and every On behalf of a proud nation, con- cause it bears directly on how and why person around the world. gratulations to astronauts Bob Michael Pack is getting a vote on the This committee is a beacon of light Behnken and Doug Hurley, to everyone Senate floor today. to the world for those who are op- at the National Aeronautics and Space The Committee on Foreign Relations pressed, for transparency, for open gov- Administration, and SpaceX on suc- has helped to shape our collective re- ernment, for the rule of law, for a free cessfully capturing that flag. We wel- sponse to some of the country’s great- press. Well, we shut out the Nation and come you home in the coming months est challenges—from Vietnam to Sep- the world for the first time in my years so we can proudly say alongside of you: tember 11, to Afghanistan. We ought to of being on the committee. Since I got Mission finally accomplished. be rising to the challenges of our time to the Senate, I have been on the com- I yield the floor. and shaping the international response mittee. I am the longest serving mem- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- to COVID–19. Yet, tragically, we have ber of the committee from either side ator from New Jersey. not held one public hearing on COVID, of the aisle. Never have we done that. Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I ask and the committee has not debated or This is a message that we are weak, a unanimous consent that my remarks voted on a single COVID-related bill or message that we are ashamed, a mes- be allowed to be concluded in full be- amendment despite our being months sage that has no place in our democ- fore the vote. into the crisis. I know the Democratic racy. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without members of the Senate Committee on Now let me turn to Mr. Pack. objection, it is so ordered. Foreign Relations came together and If confirmed, Mr. Pack will oversee NOMINATION OF MICHAEL PACK offered a bill as part of an effort to be the Voice of America, Radio Free Eu- Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I bipartisan so as to begin to address the rope/Radio Liberty, Radio Television rise to oppose the nomination of Mi- crisis, because we understand that vi- Marti, Radio Free Asia, and the Middle chael Pack to be the Chief Executive ruses and diseases know no borders. East Broadcasting Networks. It is ab- Officer of the U.S. Agency for Global For as long as anyone can remember, solutely critical that any person in Media. Yet, before I get into the spe- until its current chairman, the com- this position maintain a strong firewall VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:51 Jun 05, 2020 Jkt 099060 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G04JN6.018 S04JNPT1 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE June 4, 2020 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S2709 between the work of its networks and yellow flags at the IRS as well and to this floor has been a disgrace.
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