Tommy Tuberville: “reserving the right to object, the Senate has a lot of very important work to do. We have been out a couple of weeks…”

“reserving the right to object, the Senate has a lot of very important work to do. We have been out a couple of weeks, and it is time to get back to work. Senator Schumer, yesterday--or this past week--sent the Democratic caucus a long to-do list that includes keeping the government open, which is very important; our annual Defense bill, which is very important; addressing prescription drugs, which we are all very concerned about; the farm bill. There are a lot of other things that we have got to address in this caucus, in this room. Missing from that list was military nominations. This is my 11th time standing up here and continuing to harp on the fact that we need to do something about this new policy that the Secretary of Defense has passed down and passed to the military. So far this year, dozens of lower level military nominations have passed through unanimous consent, but a number of important nominations are pending or will soon be pending. General Smith's, as the Senator just brought up, is one of the most important. I have got a great deal of admiration for General Smith. Earlier today, General Smith became the acting head of the Marine Corps. He is doing the same exact job which he has been doing for several years. The only difference is that today he is an acting official. This has minimal effect on his ability to lead. There may be a delay in his planning guidance, and he cannot yet move into the Commandant's residence.…”