[Congressional Record: February 9, 2010 (Senate)]
[Page S540-S541]
EXECUTIVE SESSION
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EXECUTIVE CALENDAR
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous, consent that the Senate
proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 561, the
nomination of Clifford L. Stanley to be Under Secretary of Defense for
Personnel and Readiness and Calendar No. 614, the nomination of Philip
Goldberg to be an Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and
Research.
The legislative clerk read the nominations of Clifford L. Stanley, of
Pennsylvania, to be Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and
Readiness, and Philip S. Goldberg, of the District of Columbia, to be
an Assistant Secretary of State.
nomination of philip s. goldberg
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I support the nomination of Ambassador
Philip S. Goldberg to be the Assistant Secretary for Intelligence and
Research at the Department of State and urge my colleagues to support
this nomination. The Intelligence Committee unanimously approved
Ambassador Goldberg's nomination on December 10, 2009.
The Assistant Secretary for Intelligence and Research leads the
Bureau of Intelligence and Research at the Department of State, a well-
respected analytic agency within the Intelligence Community, known as
``INR.'' INR produces all-source intelligence analysis to advise the
Secretary of State and other senior policy officials. INR is as an
active participant in the Intelligence Community and contributes to
products published by the National Intelligence Council. Its analysts,
while far fewer in number than the analysts at the Central Intelligence
Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency, are highly expert in their
fields and often improve the quality of coordinated intelligence
assessments by challenging the views of other agencies and, if
necessary, dissenting from consensus judgments that they believe to be
incorrect or unsubstantiated.
One important example of INR's independent minded approach occurred
in 2002, when INR dissented from the official judgment of the
intelligence community regarding Iraq's weapons of mass destruction
program. INR analysts expressed less certainty regarding the claim that
Iraq was reconstituting nuclear weapons, taking a different view on the
purpose of Saddam Hussein's pursuit of aluminum tubing. History, of
course, proved the INR analysts to be correct, as Iraq was not
reconstituting a nuclear weapons program.
As an assistant secretary, Ambassador Goldberg will lead a talented,
experienced group of analysts, whose work offers invaluable insights to
policymakers at the Department of State and throughout the government.
INR analysts produce open source products as well, including reports
based on global public opinion polling and foreign media analysis.
INR also serves a critical coordinating function. It is the
intermediary between intelligence activities and the Intelligence
Community on one hand and foreign policy and U.S. embassies on the
other. INR represents the Department of State's perspective within the
intelligence community and ensures that the benefits of intelligence
activities outweigh any diplomatic risks. Ambassador Goldberg's
experience serving in and managing U.S. embassies abroad will be very
important as he helps to align intelligence and diplomatic priorities.
Ambassador Goldberg's distinguished 20-year career in the Foreign
Service prepares him well for his new position. He served as the charge
d'affairs and deputy chief of mission in Santiago, Chile, the chief of
mission in Pristina, Kosovo, and in the U.S. embassies in Bogota,
Colombia, and Pretoria, South Africa. Ambassador Goldberg is a graduate
of Boston University and before joining the Foreign Service he worked
for the city of New York.
From 2006 to 2008, Ambassador Goldberg served as the Ambassador to
Bolivia during a period of heightened tensions between our two
countries. In mid-September 2008, President Evo Morales accused
Ambassador Goldberg of supporting opposition forces, declared him
persona non grata, and expelled him from the country. The Intelligence
Committee carefully reviewed Ambassador Goldberg's conduct in Bolivia.
We have found that Ambassador Goldberg acted appropriately during his
tenure and followed the policies of the U.S. Government. In fact, an
inspector general report on the embassy published in September 2008
gave Ambassador Goldberg and his deputy high marks, stating that ``The
Ambassador and the deputy chief of mission (DCM) provide clear policy
guidance and leadership . . . [They gather] input and advice from their
staff, forging an excellent working relationship among all agencies and
sections at post.''
After Ambassador Goldberg's expulsion from Bolivia, the State
Department strongly defended Ambassador Goldberg, both in public press
remarks and in internal memoranda. In short, the Intelligence Committee
believes that Ambassador Goldberg acted professionally and bears no
blame for the Bolivian decision to expel him.
[[Page S541]]
Since June 2009, Ambassador Goldberg has served as the Coordinator
for the Implementation of United Nations Resolution 1874, which imposed
economic and commercial sanctions on North Korea. In this position,
Ambassador Goldberg has relied on sensitive intelligence reporting to
build a diplomatic consensus to search North Korean cargo.
President Obama nominated Ambassador Goldberg on October 23, 2009.
After completing the pre-hearing procedures, the Intelligence Committee
held a confirmation hearing on the nomination on December 1, 2009. As
part of the confirmation process, Ambassador Goldberg was asked to
complete a Committee questionnaire, pre-hearing questions, and post-
hearing questions for the record. The answers he provided have all been
posted to the intelligence committee's website. The Senate Foreign
Relations Committee also held a hearing on Ambassador Goldberg's
nomination on November 19, 2009.
In sum, Ambassador Goldberg will be an asset to INR and to the
intelligence community. His management experience leading foreign
embassies will serve him well as he takes the helm of INR. His
background--particularly his service as a diplomat on four continents--
prepares him to address the range of global intelligence questions INR
analysts address.
I look forward to working with Ambassador Goldberg as he leads a
highly respected and important agency within the intelligence
community. I urge the Senate to approve Ambassador Goldberg's
nomination.
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the nominations
be confirmed en bloc; that the motions to reconsider be laid upon the
table en bloc; that the President be immediately notified of the
Senate's action; that any statements relating to the nominations be
printed in the Record; and that the Senate resume legislative session.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The nominations were confirmed.
Mr. REID. Mr. President, it is hard to comprehend we have been
working for weeks to get a couple people confirmed--actually four. One
is the No. 3 person in the Pentagon. We just got that done, Clifford
Stanley. The Secretary of Defense has been waiting for this person, as
I have indicated, for weeks and weeks. This man is responsible for
making sure the right troops go to Afghanistan and come back from Iraq.
We finally got that done.
The nomination of Philip Goldberg I talked about before. He is
Secretary Clinton's person to deal with intelligence matters coming
before the Department of State. We finally got that done.
The sad part is we have two others on which we have been working.
They were held up, we were told, by one Senator, but that is not the
way it is. We have, for example, a woman, Caryn Wagner to be Under
Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis with the Department of Homeland
Security. That is being held up by the Republicans. No. Again,
Secretary Napolitano will have to wait to have, in this vast Department
of Homeland Security, someone in charge of intelligence.
What is that about? It is about people trying to destroy our
country--homeland security. The most evil people in the world are
trying to do harm to Americans in our homeland, but yet we cannot get a
person confirmed who has come out of the committee overwhelmingly. They
are holding him up because of something no one knows. But we know every
day that goes by, the security of this Nation is in jeopardy because of
this.
I might note, this person being held up in the Department of Homeland
Security, the Senator holding this up, it is my understanding, the
junior Senator from Oklahoma, voted for this nomination out of
committee. But he is holding it up now because of other matters. He was
nice enough to call me and tell me--I did not talk with him, but he
called my office to indicate he was going to hold this nomination.
Laura Kennedy, a career member of the senior Foreign Service--her job
is going to be to deal with disarmament. It is too bad the United
States of America, a nuclear power in the world, does not have a
representative of ambassadorial rank to represent the United States at
disarmament conferences. How is that one? Why it is being held up has
nothing to do with her qualifications or background. It is some other
reason.
I have told the President enough is enough. He has the right, as
President of the United States, to do recess appointments. It should be
done. What is being done to this President is unfair. It has never been
done before. We have had to file cloture on many Presidential
nominations that President Bush never had to do.
It is very unfortunate that because of the storms that have hit our
Nation's Capital, it has been very difficult to get things done. We are
not going to be able to bring this up now until next week. Well, we
can't do it next week because it is a recess, the Presidents Day
recess, and we are out for the week. So we can come back in 10 days or
a week and try again. In the meantime, we don't have anyone dealing
with disarmament for our country; we don't have someone helping one of
the most important offices in the country, which is homeland security,
dealing with the intelligence office.
What is that about? Telephone conversations that are picked up about
someone trying to come and blow up the Capitol or one of the buildings
in New York or Los Angeles or Salt Lake City or Portland or Denver. We
have agents who have infiltrated some of these gangs--I will use that
term very loosely--these clandestine operations that are trying to do
evil to the people in this country, and we don't have anyone heading
that department. It is disgraceful.
The Republicans are holding up these people for reasons that have
nothing to do with the background, morality, and competence of these
people. They are just holding them up because they want to hold them
up. We have had them held up for a number of weeks because they do not
like a decision that has been made as to where a building is to be
built. The Republicans have backed up the person who has been doing
this because he wanted the building built in his State.
I would hope the American people understand what is going on here
with this party of no. I have been a person who has gotten along very
well in my career, Mr. President, being a very moderate person, trying
to be someone who gets along with Democrats and Republicans, but I am
obligated to speak out as to what is going on here, and I have only
picked two of the numerous people being held up. There are scores of
them being held up for reasons that have nothing to do with anything
dealing with these people or how they will function once in office.
Frankly, I think the President should recess all of them--all of
them. He has been given very little recognition for the importance of
the job that he has been doing in trying to find the best people in
America to fill these positions. No one can say Democrats did this when
we were in the minority. We didn't do this. There were people held up,
but this is something that is beyond the pale.
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