[Pages S452-S453]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                      Nomination of Kashyap Patel

  Mr. President, on an unrelated issue, tomorrow the Senate Judiciary 
Committee will hold a confirmation hearing for Kash Patel, President 
Trump's nominee for FBI Director.
  What is the Federal Bureau of Investigation? We all have an image of 
it from television and from life experience. But it is 38,000 men and 
women, some of the best law enforcement professionals in not just in 
the United States but in the world, who are charged with keeping 
America safe.
  I witnessed 9/11 in this building, looking down the Mall, watching 
billowing smoke coming in from the plane that crashed into the 
Pentagon. And we thought to ourselves immediately: Who is doing this to 
the United States? Whom should we ask? The Federal Bureau of 
Investigation. And that is what we did.
  Time and again, we have gone to the FBI when the most serious law 
enforcement issues came up, and we still do. It is a critical Agency--
38,000 employees and investigators, 400 offices all around the world. 
The person who heads the FBI has an awesome responsibility and an 
awesome authority.
  Kash Patel is the nominee of President Trump to head up this Agency. 
Let me tell you about him.
  I met with him, and I reviewed his record. I am deeply concerned 
about his fitness to serve as FBI Director. He has neither the 
experience, the judgment, nor the temperament to head this critical 
Agency.
  As the lead investigative Agency of the Federal Government, the FBI 
plays a crucial role in keeping America safe from terrorism, violent 
crime, and other major threats. Our Nation needs a Director of the FBI 
who is ready on day one and who understands the importance of 
maintaining the integrity and independence of the Agency.
  Unfortunately, Mr. Patel's record of service to the government 
demonstrates the opposite. He has pledged his loyalty to President 
Trump and promised to weaponize the FBI on President Trump's behalf. 
Mr. Patel has published an enemy's list of 60 people whom he called 
``government gangsters.'' He told far-right extremist Steve Bannon that 
``these people need to go to prison.'' I am not going to go through all 
the names, but Mr. Patel has published it in his book, which I had an 
opportunity to read, not once but twice.
  ``Government Gangsters,'' it is called. It spells out in detail his 
enemies list--his hit list--that he would have. This list includes many 
distinguished public servants who dedicated their lives to our Nation. 
Among them are Democrats and Republicans, including former Trump 
administration officials like Secretary of Defense Esper.
  And then there is Mr. Patel's plan to ``shut down the FBI Hoover 
Building on day one and reopen it the next day as a museum of the `deep 
state.' '' This man wants to head the FBI and calls for closing down 
its headquarters the day after he would have that authority--for 
goodness' sakes.
  Mr. Patel has peddled debunked conspiracy theories throughout his 
adult life that benefit President Trump. Patel claims that January 6 
was ``never an insurrection'' and the FBI--get this now; this is what 
Patel says: The FBI ``was planning January 6 for a year.''
  Can you imagine that? He has even coproduced and sold recordings of a 
song performed by January 6 rioters who violently assaulted our police 
officers.
  During tomorrow's confirmation hearing, I will continue to press Mr. 
Patel on his many statements and positions. Will he focus on keeping 
the public safe from terrorism, drug trafficking, and violent crime, or 
will he focus on his trail of grievances and President Trump's agenda?
  I fear Mr. Patel's record demonstrates the latter.
  President Trump came into office promising to shake up the 
government. What he has done is wreak havoc.
  Late Monday, President Trump, through a bureaucrat I never heard of, 
Matthew Vaeth, the Acting Director of the Office of Budget Management, 
ordered a freeze of Federal funding, which was set to begin at 5 p.m. 
last night. Thankfully, a Federal judge stepped in and temporarily 
blocked the sweeping, unconstitutional order until February 3.
  Should this order be allowed to take effect, it will have devastating 
consequences, ranging from preventing communities from accessing 
natural disaster relief to halting food assistance.
  Today, I want to speak specifically about how this action would harm 
the National Institutes of Health and medical research.
  The National Institutes of Health is the premiere medical research 
Agency in the world--the premiere medical research Agency in the world. 
The $38 billion they spend each year makes America and the world better 
by finding new drugs and cures for serious diseases. They support more 
than 400,000 jobs nationwide in medical research--jobs focused on 
conducting that research that leads to these cures and treatments that 
save lives.

  Can you think of any more important Federal responsibility other than 
perhaps national defense?
  Because of the work funded by NIH with taxpayer dollars, people with 
cancer are living longer and even being cured. HIV/AIDS is no longer a 
death sentence, and groundbreaking treatments exist to slow the 
progression of neurological disorders such as ALS and dementia.
  Chances are, if you or a loved one takes any medication, you have NIH 
to thank, because 99 percent of the drugs approved over the past decade 
benefited from NIH research--99 percent. Chances are, if you or a loved 
one ever get sick and wonder what options exist to save your life, the 
doctors will suggest a treatment developed by NIH.
  Late last week, President Trump ordered NIH to stop all grant reviews 
and advisory council meetings, which allow researchers to decide what 
are the new research proposals we are funding.
  Monday night, President Trump went a step further with his order 
coming down from the Office of Management and Budget--an order to stop 
all Federal grant funding, including at the National Institutes of 
Health.
  I know this happened because the major universities in the 
Chicagoland area, which I respect so much, called me in a panic and 
said: We are supposed to stop all of our research. We are in the middle 
of some critical things.
  I had to say: That is exactly what this temporary pause or temporary 
freeze would do.
  Each year, NIH awards nearly $38 billion in research grants to all 50 
States and the District of Columbia. They support hundreds of thousands 
of jobs, generate $92 billion in economic activity, and facilitate 
lifesaving medical research.
  Do you know what the leading cause of death is in the United States? 
The No. 1 cause of death is heart disease, but there are others--
cancer, unintentional injury, drug overdose, stroke, respiratory 
disease, Alzheimer's, and diabetes. NIH researchers work every day to 
find breakthroughs to save lives in America from these leading causes 
of death.
  So when you freeze this Agency's work, when you tell their 
researchers to stay home, when you tell them not to spend a penny 
because they can't be compensated, it means you are putting a stop to 
the research that critically is trying to keep us alive. You handicap 
our Nation's efforts to develop new cures and treatments that address 
the top causes of death.
  NIH is considered the world's leader in biomedical research, 
providing treatments and cures that other people in the world just 
dream of. President Trump's proposed freeze on NIH work is cruel and 
will have life-or-death consequences.
  If your parent has dementia, you want the NIH work to continue. If 
your husband or wife has been diagnosed with glioblastoma, ALS, or 
Parkinson's, you need NIH work to continue. If you have a child 
diagnosed with a rare childhood cancer or heart condition, you are 
desperate for NIH work to continue.
  This should not be a partisan issue. Over the past decade, Congress 
has, on a bipartisan basis, increased the NIH budget by 60 percent. We 
believe in their work.
  A Federal freeze must not be allowed to take effect. I would hope my 
Republican colleagues would join me in calling President Trump to 
reconsider this harmful policy. Lives depend on it.

[[Page S453]]

  I yield the floor.