Executive Session
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. DURBIN. Thank you. Mr. President, I rise today to discuss the long list of nominees for the Obama administration who are being held up by the Republican Party of the Senate. The Republican Party has been characterized now as a ``party of no.'' It is a phrase we have been hearing a lot. Consistently, when President Obama has reached out in a bipartisan fashion to ask the Republicans to join him in changing the culture in Washington, in addressing the major issues of our day, in working with him to find compromise legislation, the answer has almost exclusively been ``no, not interested.''
Why? Because despite our best efforts to work together, we have been met at every turn by a Republican negative response. Now the party of no--the Republicans in the Senate--has decided to filibuster the nomination of David Hayes to be the No. 2 person in the Department of the Interior.
You must think that is a pretty controversial position, right? Senators on the Republican side, who have made long speeches against filibustering nominees, are breaking their word and now initiating these filibusters. This must be some red-hot controversial position that this man is clearly unqualified to fill. That is not the case.
The Deputy Secretary of the Interior manages the day-to-day operation of the Department of the Interior and works closely with the Secretary on key policy decisions.
David Hayes's previous 2-year tenure in the same position as Deputy Secretary of the Interior and his career of experience give him the knowledge and ability to immediately hit the ground running in this demanding position.
The Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, a former Member of this body, personally reached out to the Republican side of the aisle, telling them he needs to have David Hayes confirmed to make headway on the administration's and the Nation's priorities, including renewable energy production on Federal lands, the effects of climate change on the natural landscape, and reengagement in the resolution of challenging water issues.
David Hayes has a long track record of negotiating solutions to difficult natural resource issues and working cooperatively with Members of Congress.
When he was Deputy Secretary under the Clinton administration, he worked closely with the Republican whip, Senator John Kyl of Arizona, on a range of water and environmental interests to negotiate the framework for the Arizona Water Settlements Act.
He worked with Senator Feinstein, on the Democratic side, to negotiate
the acquisition and protection of old-growth redwood Headwaters Forest in northern California.
He partnered with Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana to secure Land and Water Conservation Fund monies to preserve bayou lands in Louisiana.
This man has experience. He has worked with both sides of the aisle. He has 30 years of experience in natural resources and environmental law, with special expertise in resolving complicated issues. Apparently, 30 years of experience, having held the same job, and having worked with both sides of the aisle is not good enough for the party of no.
On May 6, Senator Murkowski sent a letter to Secretary Salazar raising concerns about the decisions the administration has made in the last few months. The three issues are revisions that the administration has proposed to the Endangered Species Act, regulations relating to future leases in offshore drilling, and the administration's withdrawal of 77 oil and gas leases in Utah.
Senator Bennett, who is on the Senate floor, continues to object to the administration's withdrawal of 77 oil and gas leases. These leases were withdrawn as a result of a court-ordered injunction, and they are currently under review by the Department.
They are blaming David Hayes for this? Blame the court for this. Give this man a chance to serve our country.
Well, he is not the only nominee held up by the party of no in the Senate. This year, 17 nominees have had to wait and wait and wait for a rollcall vote to be confirmed. In most years, these nominees would have been approved by unanimous consent. Not this year.
Apparently, the Republicans in the Senate don't believe that President Obama has a mandate to lead this country. They are challenging his assemblage of a team of people to make this Federal Government run more efficiently and effectively. This year, the Republican minority demanded rollcall vote after rollcall vote on what were routine appointments by the Obama administration. They would threaten filibusters, force 2 and 3 days of delay, require a 60-vote margin, and then what happened?
Here is one of the controversial nominees. Listen to his vote. Gil Kerlikowske, nominated to be Director of National Drug Control Policy, was held up, debated, and threatened. His confirmation vote was 91 to 1. Thomas Strickland, nominated to be Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife, Department of the Interior, was confirmed 89 to 2. Kathleen Sebelius, nominated to be Secretary of Health and Human Services, was confirmed 65 to 31.
Christopher Hill, Ambassador to Iraq, confirmed 73 to 23; Tony West, Assistant Attorney General, confirmed 82 to 4; Lanny Breuer, Assistant Attorney General, confirmed 88 to 0; Christine Anne Varney, Assistant Attorney General, confirmed 87 to 1; David Kris, Assistant Attorney General, confirmed 97 to 0.
They made us wait for days and weeks and months to bring these names up before the Senate because of the controversy, and listen to the votes: 97 to 0, 87 to 1, 88 to 0. This isn't about the nominee. This isn't about controversy. This is about slowing down the assembly of President Obama's team to bring real change to Washington. That is what this resistance to David Hayes is about as well.
This list goes on. I won't read them all. I will put them in the Record. But to put this in historical context, at the start of 2001, when the Senate was controlled by the President's party until May 24, there wasn't a single filibuster of a nomination. The Democratic minority didn't filibuster a single Bush nominee at the start of 2001. This time, we have had to file cloture six times because of threatened filibusters. The following nominees were at least initially filibustered and required a cloture motion: David Ogden, Austan Goolsbee, Cecilia Rouse, and Hilda Solis, for the sole and exclusive purpose of slowing down the assembly of President Obama's administration so there could be an effective and efficient handing over of power.
These Senate Republicans are still negotiating the last election. They want another chance at it. Well, the American people had their day. On November 4 of last year, they elected a new President and asked him to do his best to lead our Nation in troubled times. Sadly, the Republican Party that lost that election will not face the reality that this President needs a team of skilled professionals to stand by him and deal with the real challenges we face in this country. They are slowing down and stopping nominations of well-qualified people who, when they are ultimately called to the floor for a vote, get overwhelming rollcall support.
We have surpassed the number of cloture motions filed on nominations during President Bush's entire first term--four. When President Reagan was elected, in a landslide, a Democratically controlled Senate worked with him to confirm his nominees. So far, the Senate has confirmed 104 Obama nominations. At the same point in 1981, with President Reagan and a Democratic Congress, it confirmed 125 Reagan nominations. The largest gap between nominations and confirmations during this point in the Reagan administration was 71. The largest gap between nominations and confirmations during the Obama administration is 124, a number reached last week.
Unfortunately, this Republican delay is not likely to end soon. There are currently 18 nominees sitting on the Executive Calendar. By our count, there are almost 12 holds on the Republican side of the aisle. A couple of them are worth noting. Senator John Kerry's brother, Cam Kerry, a well-qualified man, has been nominated to be general counsel of the Department of Commerce, but the Republicans have refused to move his nomination, with no stated reason, no objection to this good man. Regina McCarthy, to be Assistant Administrator of the EPA for Air and Radiation, has been held up because two Senators want her to repudiate the administration's position on climate change.
Once again, they want to renegotiate the November 4 election. Many of the holdups are the result of Republicans asking for policy changes to reinstate George W. Bush policies. Didn't we have an election to decide that?
The nomination of David Hayes is an example. The holds have nothing to do with him. The Republicans holding up his nomination simply want to reinstate George W. Bush-era policies. They long for those good old days under President George W. Bush. They are going to resist change, resist this President, and hold up as many people as they can that he needs to be a success.
Well, elections have consequences. Americans voted for change. But the party of no is holding up the President's agents of change. I urge my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to change their approach and to work with us to confirm a well-qualified man and much-needed person, David Hayes, and the rest of the Obama administration's nominations.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I acknowledge what my colleague said, and I don't dispute it. I don't recall those particular deputies or their names, but I certainly don't question the facts he has given.
How can you look at David Hayes for this spot, after 30 years of experience, after having held the job before, after actively working with Republicans and Democrats to resolve contentious issues, and say this man is not qualified for the job? I don't get it. I am waiting for the smoking gun to come out. What is this explosive issue that the Republicans know that would hold up this nomination, and they can't come up with it?
Unfortunately, it is part of a pattern. This isn't just about David Hayes, it is about another 18 names sitting on our calendar here--18 names of individuals who are willing to give up their private careers, willing to come to work here in Washington, sometimes for a cut in pay, under difficult circumstances, to serve this new administration and try to change this country. They make the commitment, they get the decision by the family, they come forward, they go through the nomination process, they fill out reams of paper, they sit through the committees and finally get approved by the committees, they get on the calendar, and what happens, usually? Not in this case because Senator Bennett has been very public about his opposition. Usually it is an anonymous hold by some Republican Senator, fearful of using his name publicly, who will hold up the nomination indefinitely. These poor people languish on this calendar. I commend Senator Bennett for standing up and stating his opposition. Although I don't agree with it, at least he has had the courage to come forward. That is not the case on many of these.
This is the pattern that is emerging: Slow things down, force us to a vote, and when the vote finally comes, it is an overwhelming vote in favor of the nominee. The sole purpose is to try to stop the new Obama administration from putting in place the team they need to bring real change to America. President Obama said repeatedly during his campaign that real change is hard to come by, that it takes time and there will be people who will fight it every step of the way. We are seeing one of those battles on the floor of the Senate today when it comes to David Hayes.
For goodness' sake, give President Obama and Secretary Salazar the people they need to be successful in the Department of the Interior. I urge my colleagues to support the cloture motion and to move this nomination forward.
I yield the floor.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source