WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), today spoke on the Senate floor in support of CIA Director Mike Pompeo’s nomination for secretary of state and urged Senate Democrats to put aside partisan politics and vote for his confirmation.
A transcript of Cassidy’s remarks on the floor is below.
Download high-quality video of Cassidy’s remarks here.
CASSIDY: Mr. President, if there’s one thing everyone in Washington seems to agree on these days and indeed in our country, is that we face very serious threats across the globe.
From Russian aggression in Eastern Europe and Syria, to China’s expansion in the South China Sea, Iran’s increased threats against Israel, to a North Korean dictator who likes to fire off missiles and test nuclear weapons, collapsing Venezuela, transnational criminal organizations contributing to an opioid epidemic here at home, trade issues—our country faces big challenges.
And, as we face these global threats, we need a well-qualified Secretary of State who understands diplomacy and is working to our country straight—safe.
It’s hard to think of someone more qualified than Mike Pompeo. A Director of the CIA, a former member of Congress, a top graduate of West Point, and editor of the Harvard Law Review, there are zero, I say zero, questions about his ability.
And that’s what’s troubling about our colleagues across the aisle who appear ready to oppose his nomination en masse, for no other reason than that he is a Republican nominated by President Trump.
It seems to be the latest example of Washington Democrats kowtowing to the so-called resistance movement, opposing anything and everything because they can’t accept that Donald Trump was elected President of the United States.
It used to be said that our partisan differences ended at the shoreline. That we presented a united face to the rest of the world. Well, kind of an extension of that is who we select as Secretary of State.
And it’s worth noting that the previous Secretaries of State appointed under President Obama had overwhelming support, both from Democrats and Republicans, precisely because we know it’s important to have a Secretary of State in place in this challenging world but also, again, that partisan differences should not be reflected to the outside. In this case, that has been lost in the name of the resistance.
And when it comes to the critical position of Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo in particular would be the man for the job as we deal with Russia, Iran, North Korea, Syria, and other challenges.
So, I urge my Democratic colleagues to do the right thing for our country, instead of catering to the most extreme elements of their party.
Most of my Senate colleagues supported Mike Pompeo when he was nominated to serve as CIA director.
They should support him now for Secretary of State, so that we can show the world while we may have our political differences here at home about any number of issues, we stand united as Americans when it comes to facing threats to our security abroad.
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