Majority Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On The Senate Rules Committee Advancing A Resolution Allowing The Senate To Quickly Confirm Military Nominations and Confirmations Blocked By Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville’s Reckless Blanket Hold

Washington, D.C. – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the resolution advanced by the Rules Committee yesterday that will allow the Senate to confirm nominations and promotions blocked by Senator Tuberville’s blanket hold which affects our military readiness and hampers national security . Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

Yesterday, the Senate Rules Committee reported out our resolution to quickly confirm the military nominations being blocked by Senator Tuberville. I was proud to join the Rules Committee to vote in favor of this resolution.

Now that the Rules committee has acted, I will bring this resolution to the floor soon, so we can swiftly confirm the hundreds of military nominations being held by Senator Tuberville.

You know, there has been a lot of negativity and dysfunction in the Senate these days, but Senator Tuberville has singlehandedly brought the Senate to a new low. He should be ashamed of himself.

Patience is wearing thinner and thinner with Senator Tuberville on both sides of the aisle.

What Senator Tuberville is doing is an anomaly in the history of this chamber. Of course, every single one of us – not just Senator Tuberville – has issues we feel passionately about and we’re certain we are right, as he is in his anti-abortion stand. Every one of us could go and block all of our generals, all of our admirals, harm our military security, because we feel passionately and want to put our views above the views of the rest of the chamber and of the American people in this case. And what would happen? We'd have no military basically, none. Our national security would be at risk, severe risk, and our way of life would change.

If every one of us had the temerity and recklessness to do what Senator Tuberville has done – and thank God no one else has, of each party – it would not only bring the work of this chamber to a halt, it would risk our national security, it would risk our American way of life eventually. Current and former military officials have spoken out again and again to talk about the devastating impact these holds have on our readiness and our military families.

I wish we had not reached this point, I wish my Republican colleagues could importune Senator Tuberville to drop his reckless holds. But it has not happened. It has not happened. Although, there is still some ray of hope, particularly based on what Leader McConnell said in his statement in the Rules Committee, that maybe at the last minute my Republican colleagues, which is their responsibility, can persuade their colleague to back off, to find an off ramp, to aim, as Leader McConnell said in his speech at the Rules Committee, to aim his hold at a policy official who has real say on this issue, not at generals, admirals, flag officers who have worked so hard for our military and are now being held back and whose families are in difficulty because of what he has callously done.

So, we still hold out some small hope that in the next little, short while our Republican colleagues can persuade Senator Tuberville to back off, but if it does not happen we intend to move this resolution to the floor of the Senate to overcome Senator Tuberville's military holds.  

I thank Chair Klobuchar, I thank Chair Reed for their good work on moving this important resolution.

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