Nominations

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, on an entirely different matter, yesterday the Senate passed broad, bipartisan legislation to maintain our Nation's waterways and drinking water systems. Now we are turning back to the personnel business and confirming more of the President's qualified nominees to important executive branch positions.

We voted yesterday to advance the nomination of Jeffrey Clark to serve as Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division.

Mr. Clark's qualifications include several years of prior service as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in that same position. He has also built a strong reputation in the private sector as a leading litigator with subject-matter expertise in administrative law. Mr. Clark's legal colleagues describe him as ``one of the most capable lawyers with whom [they] have ever worked.'' No fewer than seven former Assistant Attorneys General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division tell the Senate that his well-rounded background and prior experience in the division make him an excellent choice for this position.

After we confirm Mr. Clark, we will consider another Assistant Attorney General nominee, Eric Dreiband, for the Civil Rights Division. Mr. Dreiband is also well prepared to serve. His resume includes several stints of public service, including as general counsel of the EEOC, in addition to private sector experience. Others have praised his service at the EEOC as ``widely respected,'' ``in the highest rung of the Agency's general counsels,'' and a ``record of superlative performance.'' Those who have worked with Mr. Dreiband emphasize his strong commitment to protecting all Americans' civil rights.

In the words of one leader who is known and worked hard with the nominee for 15 years, ``his commitment to fairly enforcing the law is without question.''

After Dreiband will come James Stewart, the President's choice to serve as Secretary of Defense for Manpower and Reserve Affairs. Mr. Stewart's experience managing military manpower runs deep through his distinguished career at the U.S. Air Force, from which he retired as a major general.

He has most recently served on the North Carolina Military Affairs Commission and on the Secretary of Defense's Reserve Forces Policy Board.

Each of these nominees deserves confirmation, and I would urge our colleagues to approve all of them.

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