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“Nominations (Executive Session)” mentioning Tom Cotton was published in the Senate section on page S802 on Feb. 23.
Of the 100 senators in 117th Congress, 24 percent were women, and 76 percent were men, according to the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
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The publication is reproduced in full below:
Nominations
Mr. President, on another matter, the Senate will continue to evaluate President Biden's nominees for critical positions throughout the Federal Government. Yesterday and today the Senate Judiciary Committee, on which I am privileged to serve, heard from Judge Merrick Garland and others who have testified in connection with his nomination. Of course, Judge Garland has been nominated to serve as the next Attorney General.
I have said before publicly that Judge Garland is highly qualified for the job. He is a widely respected judge with the right experience and credentials and the right temperament to lead the Department and manage its many critical missions. I was struck by Judge Garland's humility and his humanity. I believe he is a good man and a good person for this job.
But I have to say that I am under no illusion that he is going to be able to stop the policies of this administration, some of which I am not going to agree with, some of which I will fight and try to oppose.
I am encouraged by Judge Garland's pledge to keep politics out of the Justice Department, which is a significant improvement over the past. I know our Democratic colleagues like to act like all of the concerns that we had about the Justice Department were just during the Trump administration, and so I did have to remind them that the Obama administration Justice Department had a few problems of their own.
Nevertheless, Judge Garland, while we don't agree on everything--and it is true of other nominees of the President that I have supported--I don't think that is the standard by which I should provide my consent as a Senator. But I do believe he has the right experience and character to serve.
Unfortunately I can't offer that sort of full-throated, enthusiastic support for the President's nominee to lead the Office of Management and Budget. The announcement of Neera Tanden's nomination managed to do something increasingly rare these days, and that is to put conservatives and progressives on the same side of the argument.
Ms. Tanden has repeatedly made combative, insulting, and flat-out false statements against both Democrats and Republicans. She has referred to Republicans as ``evil'' and ``monsters.'' She has villainized Leader McConnell and called Senator Cotton a ``fraud'' and Senator Collins ``the worst.'' She has gone toe-to-toe with Senator Bernie Sanders, who accused her and her progressive organization of
``maligning [his] staff and supporters and belittling progressive ideas.''
She has even peddled a completely false conspiracy theory that Russian hackers changed votes in 2016 to help President Trump. In short, Ms. Tanden has consistently made comments that stand in stark contrast to the Biden administration's top goals of promoting the facts and unifying our country.
Last Friday, the Senator from West Virginia, Senator Manchin, announced he will not support Ms. Tanden's nomination because of her inflammatory rhetoric that would, he said, have a ``toxic and detrimental impact'' on Congress's relationship with the Office of Management and Budget. Yesterday, Senator Collins, who is known for working across party lines, said she won't support this toxic nomination.
I agree with our friends from West Virginia and Maine, and I think these announcements create a nearly impossible path to confirmation for this nominee. In order to be confirmed, she would need the support of at least one Republican Senator--and more, if there are additional Democrats who share the views of Senator Manchin.
Based on her well-documented history of divisive and misleading comments, I think this nominee faces long odds, to say the least. My friendly advice to President Biden is to withdraw Neera Tanden's nomination and select someone who, at the very least, has not promoted wild conspiracy theories and openly bashed people on both sides of the aisle that she happens to disagree with.
If President Biden is truly interested in unifying our country, I would expect him to select an OMB nominee with mainstream views and a proven ability to work respectfully with those who have different views from his or hers.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
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