Sen. King Issues Statement on Secretary of State Nominee Pompeo
"Director Pompeo would not be my choice for this position,"
The Senator's full statement regarding his decision to vote yes on the nomination of Pompeo to be Secretary of State is available below:
"Since entering the
"I start with the premise that the president - any president - should have the right to name his or her team, except in unusual circumstances, and that the standard is not whether I would have chosen a given individual or whether I agree with the nominee's political positions or ideology. This does not mean, however, that the
"The standard I have followed, therefore, is that the president is entitled to their nominee, unless that nominee is manifestly unqualified or has a record that is inconsistent with the mission of the agency they have been called upon to lead. It was for this latter reason that I voted against
"Director Pompeo would not be my choice for this position; I strongly disagree with many of his positions on foreign and domestic policy, and certainly do not agree with some of his past statements on LGBT issues, reproductive rights, climate change, or Islam, among others. Perhaps most importantly, I'm worried about his previously stated opposition to the international agreement aimed at curbing Iranian production of nuclear weapons - especially as the President continues to threaten to leave the agreement even though many top Administration officials have agreed that remaining in the deal is in our national interest. On the other hand, he has conveyed to me a clear-eyed appreciation of the threat posed by
"But agreement with him on all issues cannot be the standard; if it were, every cabinet vote would be a partisan exercise with the party opposing the president voting "no" on each nominee.
"In confronting this decision, I have interviewed Director Pompeo at length, attended a substantial portion of his hearing before the
"By any recent standard,
"Although significantly more hawkish than most
"The simple fact is that we need a Secretary of State, especially as
"This has been a very difficult decision for me; the easier course would be to simply vote 'no' and move on, but I am convinced that this would not be consistent with my responsibility to
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