Bob Menendez: “I rise to speak to the 42 very well- qualified and very patient nominees who, through no fault of their own and…”

“I rise to speak to the 42 very well- qualified and very patient nominees who, through no fault of their own and certainly no fault of the Foreign Relations Committee and no fault of their records of service to this Nation that have been established, are trapped on the executive calendar, unable to assume their appointed posts because the Republican leadership has chosen obstructionism as a political tool. They have consciously chosen the strategy to do nothing, pass nothing, approve nothing, and leave, most importantly in my view, key diplomatic posts unfilled for months, threatening in many cases national security and our ability to conduct foreign policy. Those who say that Congress is broken are wrong. The Congress isn't broken, but if the Republican leadership wants you to believe it is, they use every parliamentary tool to make certain, among other posts, we cannot fill key foreign policy positions. And the world waits, American foreign policy waits, diplomacy waits, and our allies wait to let these nominees and their families have some closure and get to work. The blame for these posts being left vacant with these people being in political limbo rests squarely on the shoulders of the Republican leadership. It is not a problem with Congress or the Democrats or the President or with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.…”