Nomination of Tracy Stone-Manning

Floor Speech

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Mr. MARSHALL. Madam President, I rise today to join my colleagues in opposing the motion to discharge President Biden's nominee to lead the Bureau of Land Management, Tracy Stone-Manning.

Since Ms. Stone-Manning's first hearing in the beginning of June, members of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee have gathered copious amounts of information regarding a number of controversies that disqualify her for this important role within our Federal Government.

As has been highlighted today, Ms. Stone-Manning was involved in a tree-spiking plot as a member of the ecoterrorist group Earth First!--a tree-spiking plot.

I have to tell you, I didn't know what tree spiking was until a couple of weeks ago.

Could you imagine taking this nail and driving it into a tree with the hopes it would deter that tree from ever being cut down

And the concern is, someone that would take a chain saw, cutting through that tree, when they would hit this spike, what would happen?

I, unfortunately, had to take care of more than one chain saw situation in the emergency room. Let me tell you about a chain saw accident. The chain doesn't cut the flesh; it tears the flesh apart. It tears the skin apart, the muscles apart. It grabs the tendon and literally wraps them around the chain saw, usually permanently maiming people.

So could you imagine, if a chain saw hit this spike, what would happen?

Again, I have ran a chain saw before, and I know, as you are running the chain saw and you hit something solid, something hard--a knot-- sometimes that chain saw bounces. It bounces back into your body. And that is where most of the accidents occur.

So could you imagine, if that chain saw hit this spike, the chain saw is going to bounce back, going to recoil into the person's body, and turns this spike into a piece of shrapnel?

This Earth First! Ms. Stone was a member of is a radical organization that spanned the late 1980s and early 1990s, during the peak years of what is often referred to as ``the wilderness wars.'' As described by the Wall Street Journal, Earth First! had, at the time, ``defined itself''--and I should quote here, ``defined itself as the tip of the fanatical spear,'' and Ms. Stone-Manning was referred to as ``an Earth First! spokesperson.''

Debuting in 1985, the group engaged in a number of protests over the expansion of certain campgrounds and street theater asking people to take oaths to protect the Earth. However, they graduated into violence and ecoterrorist activities, including arson, equipment destruction, and the dangerous practice of tree spiking, which mangles saws and can easily result in the death of loggers.

In 1989, Ms. Stone-Manning was involved in an incident of tree spiking herself. Despite her denial, she was aware of the act being carried out, aided those who were involved, and helped cover it up. She obstructed the investigation and, finally, traded testimony for immunity.

At a time when the Biden administration has declared domestic extremism as one of the biggest threats the United States faces today, how can the President nominate someone with a record like this to lead the Agency that governs one-eighth of the country's landmass? How can this body bring her confirmation vote to the floor?

It is reckless and dripping with hypocrisy.

Republican Members who have come to the floor today are not the only individuals who believe she is unfit for this role. President Obama's first Bureau of Land Management Director, Bobby Abbey, who led the Agency from 2009 to 2012, said last month that Ms. Stone-Manning should withdraw her nomination due to her involvement in the tree-spiking case.

Steve Ellis, who served as Deputy Director of BLM under President Obama, joined Mr. Abbey last week in expressing his concern about Ms. Stone-Manning's nomination, stating the leader of the BLM must--again, I quote--``be respected by career employees and across the landscape, in both blue and red states'' in order to be effective.

In addition to her involvement with Earth First! and this horrific tree-spiking incident, Ms. Stone-Manning had a questionable financial history during her time serving in government. During the lengthy hearing process, I was alarmed to learn that Ms. Stone-Manning received a $100,000 loan from a Montana land developer and Democratic donor when she worked as a congressional staffer. Senate Ethics rules and Federal statute prohibit Senate staff from accepting gifts greater than $250, including a loan, unless a waiver is granted.

By Ms. Stone-Manning's own admission, she did not consult with Senate Ethics about the loan, she did not disclose the loan to the Senate Ethics Committee, she did not seek a written determination that the personal friendship exemption applied, and she did not receive a written determination that the personal friendship exemption applied.

Unfortunately, Ms. Stone-Manning has also been unable to provide any written documentation of the terms of the loan, the schedule of payments, the actual payments, or any other relevant documents. We can only rely on contradictory statements from the hearing and her vague responses to our questions submitted for the record. Many of her answers only lead to further questions about the legality and morality of accepting such a large loan.

Due to the radical nature of many of President Biden's nominees, the majority leader has been forced to bring six motions to discharge to the floor in order to clear them from the committee.

Under the previous power-sharing arrangements, which lasted for 5 months during the 107th Congress, there were no instances where Majority Leader Trent Lott had to utilize a motion to discharge. With at least four other nominees having received a tie in committee and their nomination failing to be reported favorably, this practice is becoming commonplace under this administration. Ms. Stone-Manning's record of dishonesty should be unacceptable and is one of my many issues that should make rational people question her integrity in a position of power. I encourage all Members of this body to reject this motion to discharge and this radical nominee.

I yield back.

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