    [Senate Hearing 116-222]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

                                                            S. Hrg. 116-222

                                BUSINESS MEETING

    =======================================================================

                                    HEARING

                                   before the

                                  COMMITTEE ON
                          ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS

                              UNITED STATES SENATE

                         ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS

                                 FIRST SESSION

                                   __________

                               SEPTEMBER 25, 2019

                                   __________

      Printed for the use of the Committee on Environment and Public Works

    [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

            Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov

                                 _________

                     U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

    40-710 PDF               WASHINGTON : 2023

                   COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS

                         ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
                                 FIRST SESSION

                        JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming, Chairman
    JAMES M. INHOFE, Oklahoma            THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware,
    SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West Virginia      Ranking Member
    KEVIN CRAMER, North Dakota           BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland
    MIKE BRAUN, Indiana                  BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont
    MIKE ROUNDS, South Dakota            SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island
    DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska                 JEFF MERKLEY, Oregon
    JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas               KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND, New York
    ROGER WICKER, Mississippi            CORY A. BOOKER, New Jersey
    RICHARD SHELBY, Alabama              EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts
    JONI ERNST, Iowa                     TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois
                                         CHRIS VAN HOLLEN, Maryland

                  Richard M. Russell, Majority Staff Director
                  Mary Frances Repko, Minority Staff Director

                                C O N T E N T S

                                  ----------
                                                                       Page

                               SEPTEMBER 25, 2019
                               OPENING STATEMENTS

    Barrasso, Hon. John, U.S. Senator from the State of Wyoming......     1
    Carper, Hon. Thomas R., U.S. Senator from the State of Delaware..     2

                                  LEGISLATION

    Bill, S. 2099, A bill to redesignate the Sullys Hill National
      Game Preserve in the State of North Dakota as the White Horse
      Hill National Game Preserve....................................    58
    Committee Resolutions:
        Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Benefits
          Administration, San Diego, CA..............................    59
        Department of Health and Human Services, Department of
          Commerce Federal Housing Finance Agency, Chicago, IL.......    62
        Department of Transportation, Department of Veterans Affairs,
          Veterans Health Administration, Kanasas City, MO...........    64
    Nomination References and Reports:
        PN887, Katherine Andrea Lemos, of California to be a Member
          of the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board......    66
        PN964, Aurelia Skipwith, of Indiana, to be Director of the
          United States Fish and Wildlife Service....................    69
        PN971, Katherine Andrea Lemons, of California, to be
          Charirperson of the Chemical Safety and Hazard
          Investigation Board........................................    72
    Committee Resolutions:
        Social Security Administration, Albuquerque, NM..............    74
        Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Secret Service,
          Brooklyn, NY...............................................    77
        Department of Education New York, NY.........................    79
        Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health
          Administration, South Hamptons Road, VA....................    81
        Department of Veterans Affairs, Fredericksburg, VA...........    83
        Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Benefits
          Administration, San Diego, CA..............................    85
        Department of Health and Human Services, Department of
          Commerce, Federal Housing Finance Agency, Chicago, IL......    87
        Department of Transportation, Department of Veterans Affairs,
          Veterans Health Administration, Kansas City, MO............    89
        Social Security Administration, Albuquerque, NM..............    91
        Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Secret Servcie,
          Brooklyn, NY...............................................    93
        Department of Education, New York, NY........................    95
        Department of Veterans Affairs, South Hamptons Road, VA......    97
        Department of Veterans Affairs, Fredericksburg, VA...........    99
    Bills:
        S. 2099, To redesignate the Sullys Hill National Game
          Preserve in the State of North Dakota as the White Horse
          Hill National Game Preserve................................   101
        S. 2260, To provide for the improvement of domestic
          infrastructure in order to prevent marine debris, and for
          other purpose..............................................   103

                                BUSINESS MEETING

                                  ----------

                         WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2019

                                           U.S. Senate,
                     Committee on Environment and Public Works,
                                                        Washington, DC.
        The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:19 a.m. in room
    406, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. John Barrasso
    (chairman of the committee) presiding.
        Present: Senators Barrasso, Carper, Inhofe, Capito, Cramer,
    Braun, Rounds, Sullivan, Boozman, Wicker, Shelby, Ernst,
    Cardin, Whitehouse, Merkley, Gillibrand, Van Hollen.

               OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN BARRASSO,
                 U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF WYOMING

        Senator Barrasso. Good morning. I call this hearing to
    order.
        Today we are going to consider two nominees, two bills, and
    eight General Services Administration resolutions. Senator
    Carper and I have agreed that we will begin voting at 9:30. At
    that time, I will call up the items on the agenda. We won't
    debate the items on the agenda while we are voting. Instead, we
    will begin debating the items on the agenda before we begin
    voting, and I will be happy to recognize any member who still
    wishes to speak after voting concludes.
        We will consider two nominations: Aurelia Skipwith to be
    Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service; and
    Katherine Lemos to be a Member and the Chairperson of the
    Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board.
        The full committee held a hearing on both nominees earlier
    this month. Ms. Skipwith's nomination to be Director of the
    Fish and Wildlife Services has received bipartisan praise from
    more than 80 groups and individuals, including the Association
    of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, the Union Sportsmen's Alliance,
    the Boone and Crockett Club's Conservation Policy Committee,
    U.S. Chamber of Commerce, American Farm Bureau Federation,
    Presidents of Howard and Purdue Universities, President and CEO
    of the Martin Luther King, Jr., National Memorial, and a
    coalition of 28 sportsmen and conservation groups.
        Senator Carper and I have agreed that we will begin voting,
    as I have described. We also had Congressman William Lacy Clay,
    who represents Missouri's First congressional District, based
    in St. Louis, he was here to deliver a resounding endorsement
    of Ms. Skipwith when he introduced her at the nomination
    hearing. Congressman Clay testified to State the facts plainly:
    ``Ms. Skipwith is one of the most talented, hardest-working and
    driven persons I have ever known.'' He noted, ``If confirmed,
    Aurelia Skipwith will become the first African American to head
    the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This is a historical
    nomination.''
        Dr. Lemos' nomination to be Member and Chairperson of the
    Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board has been
    endorsed by the former Executive Director and current Deputy
    Executive Director of the Federal Aviation Administration's
    Accident Investigation and Prevention office, and Mark Chapman,
    a Boeing 787 pilot, who is a former chair of several aviation
    safety committees on the Airline Pilots Association. Professor
    Meshkati, an engineer and aviation safety professor at the
    University of Southern California, who has worked with the
    Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board since its
    inception, and wrote of Dr. Lemos, ``I strongly believe that
    Dr. Lemos is an embodiment of professional excellence in
    accident investigation, whose impeccable technical credentials
    and leadership experience are an invaluable asset to the U.S.
    Chemical Safety Board.''
        Confirming Dr. Lemos is a priority. In December of this
    year, the Chemical Safety Board will be down to one member. We
    called upon the Administration to fill both the current and
    future vacancies at the agency. We cannot allow the agency to
    lose its quorum.
        Today we will also consider two bills, S. 2260, Senator
    Sullivan's and Senate Whitehouse's Save Our Seas 2.0: Improving
    Domestic Infrastructure to Prevent Marine Debris Act, with a
    substitute amendment, and S. 2099, Senator Cramer's White Horse
    Hill National Game Preserve Designation Area.
        The Save Our Seas Act addresses the important issue of
    plastic pollution in our oceans. The bill supports increased
    scientific research to better understand and address the root
    causes of plastic pollution both here in the United States and
    around the world. It improves our waste management systems,
    particularly with regard to recycling infrastructure.
        The White Horse Hill National Game Preserve Designation Act
    redesignates Sullys Hill National Game Preserve as the White
    Horse Hill National Game Preserve. Administered by the U.S.
    Fish and Wildlife Service, the preserve is within the Spirit
    Lake Indian Reservation near Devil's Lake, North Dakota. The
    Spirit Lake Tribe has requested the preserve be renamed White
    Horse Hill, which is its traditional Dakota name.
        Last, we will also consider eight resolutions to approve
    prospectuses providing for GSA leases. I urge my colleagues to
    support passage of each of the nominees, bills, and resolutions
    we are considering today. I would now like to turn to Ranking
    Member Carper.

              OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. THOMAS R. CARPER,
                U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF DELAWARE

        Senator Carper. Thanks, Mr. Chairman. Good morning,
    everyone.
        As the Chairman said, on the agenda that we have before us
    today, two nominees, two pieces of legislation and eight
    General Services Administration lease prospectuses, including
    two prospectuses for Veterans Administration facilities.
        The two nominations being considered by the committee today
    are Ms. Aurelia Skipwith and Dr. Katherine Lemos. Ms. Skipwith
    has been nominated to lead the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
    an important agency responsible for enforcing Federal wildlife
    laws, and managing our Nation's treasured wildlife resources.
        On August 29th, nearly 2 weeks before the nomination
    hearing, I sent Ms. Skipwith a letter, asking her to provide
    answers concerning the nature of her activities on behalf of
    one longtime employer, long with an explanation of the extent
    to which she has tried to avoid potential conflicts of interest
    since assuming her current responsibilities at the Department
    of Interior.
        Less than 24 hours before our hearing, I still had not
    received a response. I then met personally with Ms. Skipwith on
    September 10th, and implored her to respond to my letter. Just
    hours before our nomination hearing, I finally did receive a
    response that, regrettably, was incomplete.
        As I promised repeatedly during her nomination hearing on
    September 11th, I subsequently provided Ms. Skipwith with
    another opportunity to shed light on her disclosures, this
    time, through her responses to questions in plain English, for
    the hearing record. Yet again, she failed to be completely
    forthright in her responses.
        In fact, in one of her responses, Ms. Skipwith actually
    suggested that I file a Freedom of Information Act request to
    obtain the information I was seeking, such as calendar records
    that would help paint a picture of the meetings she has taken
    since she joined the Department of Interior. Asking a Senator
    to FOIA for information that Ms. Skipwith can easily provide is
    a disappointing departure from how nominees typically handle
    such requests from lawmakers.
        I regret to say that in the case of Ms. Skipwith,
    unfortunately, my willingness to give her some benefit of the
    doubt really has not been reciprocated by a serious effort on
    her part to be fully responsive to a number of questions. This
    situation does not instill, at least to me, and a number of our
    colleagues, confidence in her nomination.
        If nominees before this committee do not choose to respond
    to legitimate and reasonable questions from any members of this
    committee during the confirmation process, it doesn't offer
    much in the way of assurance that they will prove to be more
    responsive after being confirmed. Even historical nominees have
    an obligation to fully respond to reasonable and appropriate
    questions that are asked of them by members of this committee
    during the nomination process.
        Given these concerns, I am unable to support her nomination
    today. Having said that, if Ms. Skipwith is willing and able to
    fully produce the records that I have requested, as well as to
    engage with our members on other questions that were not
    completely answered, it would demonstrate to me that she
    recognizes the importance of congressional oversight, and I
    would strongly consider supporting her nomination on the Senate
    floor.
        That leads me to the nomination of Dr. Katherine Lemos to
    serve on the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, an
    important, independent Federal agency that is charged with
    investigating industrial chemical accidents.
        As with Ms. Skipwith, a number of our colleagues in the
    minority initially shared serious concerns with the Lemos
    nomination. In this case, several questions arose during the
    confirmation with respect to her views on climate change and
    its effect on the safety of chemical facilities; and in turn,
    to her ability to be an objective, independent safety
    investigator.
        In the case of Dr. Lemos, however, the nominee clarified
    her responses in the questions for the hearing record and did
    assuage the concerns of the minority. Because she clarified her
    responses and did so in a timely manner, we are pleased to join
    our Republican colleagues in moving forward her nomination
    today.
        In addition to considering these two nominations, we are
    also set to consider the Save Our Seas Act 2.0. As co-chair of
    the Senate Recycling Caucus, along with our colleague John
    Boozman, I appreciate and applaud the bipartisan leadership of
    Senators Whitehouse and Sullivan to improve recycling and
    address widespread and worsening problems in marine debris in
    Planet Earth.
        As some of our colleagues know, prior to the markup,
    concerns were raised about one provision of the bill, a study
    on incineration, which has been removed from the substitute
    that we will vote on today. In recent days, however, we have
    heard from several other critics of this legislation that
    suggests we may have some additional work to do on this
    legislation. I am committed to that effort before the measure
    is considered by the full Senate.
        Let me add one last brief comment before closing. That is
    just to say that I am happy that our committee is set to move
    legislation today that will change the name of Sullys Hill
    National Game Preserve in North Dakota to its Dakota name, the
    White Horse Hill National Game Preserve. This action by our
    committee will help to ensure that the Spirit Lake Tribe's
    story of the white stallion will be ingrained in our Nation's
    history for years to come. Quite simply, this is the right
    thing to do, and I want to thank Senator Cramer for his work.
        With that, Mr. Chairman, I look forward to our business
    meeting. Thank you, along with our colleagues, members of our
    staffs for all the work that has been done to make it possible
    for what I hope will be a productive and brief meeting. Thanks
    a lot.
        Senator Barrasso. Thank you very much, Senator Carper. We
    do have enough members who have arrived. I want to move to the
    votes on the items on today's agenda. The Ranking Member and I
    have agreed to bring up one nominee for a separate vote, and
    then the Ranking Member has requested that this nominee receive
    a roll call vote. The Ranking Member and I have agreed to vote
    on the one nominee, two bills and eight General Services
    Administration resolutions en bloc by voice. Members may choose
    to have their votes recorded for specific items in that bloc
    vote, and then there will be plenty of time after the voting
    for our members to speak on the various issues.
        So we will move at this point to the en bloc passage of the
    items other than Aurelia Skipwith, and that will be the roll
    call vote in a few seconds. Senators Sullivan and Whitehouse
    have revised the text of the substitute amendment to S. 2260 to
    reflect necessary modifications. The Ranking Member and I have
    agreed that the text of the revised Sullivan-Whitehouse
    substitute amendment to S. 2260, which was sent to all offices
    yesterday, replaces the text that was circulated with the
    notice last Friday.
        I would now like to call up Presidential Nomination 887,
    Katherine Lemos of California, to be a Member of the Chemical
    Safety and Hazard Investigation Board; President Nomination
    971, Katherine Lemos, again of California, to be Chairperson of
    the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board; the revised
    Sullivan-Whitehouse Substitute Amendment to S. 2260, the Save
    Our Seas 2.0: Improving Domestic Infrastructure to prevent
    Marine Debris Act; S. 2099, the White Horse Hill National Game
    Preserve Designation Act; and eight General Services
    Administration Resolutions en bloc.
        So I move to approve and report Presidential Nomination
    887, Presidential Nomination 971, and S. 2099, approve the
    revised Sullivan-Whitehouse substitute amendment to S. 2260,
    and report S. 2260 as amended, and approve eight GSA
    Resolutions en bloc. Is there a second?
        Senator Carper. Second.
        Senator Barrasso. All those in favor, please say aye.
        [Chorus of ayes.]
        Senator Barrasso. All those opposed, no.
        [No audible response.]
        Senator Barrasso. In the opinion of the Chair, the ayes
    have it. We have approved Presidential Nomination 887,
    Presidential Nomination 971, S. 2099, S. 2260 as amended, which
    will be reported favorably to the Senate. We have also approved
    eight GSA Resolutions.
        Senator Carper.
        Senator Carper. I don't know if this is the appropriate
    time. I would like to be recorded no on the Skipwith
    nomination. Are we going to do a roll call?
        Senator Barrasso. We are going to do a roll call. We are
    waiting for one member to arrive, and we will do a roll call,
    as you requested. We had agreed to, as we are waiting for the
    final member, Senator Cramer, would you like to make any
    comments at this point on the White Horse Hill?
        Senator Cramer. I would. First of all, thank you, Mr.
    Chairman, and thank you, Ranking Member Carper, for not only
    bringing this up, but for your support of it.
        As the Chairman said, Sullys Hill is a national game
    preserve that is located wholly within the Spirit Lake Nation
    near Devil's Lake, North Dakota. This bill simply changes the
    game preserve's name from Sullys Hill to the English
    translation of its traditional Dakota name, White Horse Hill. I
    introduced the bill at the request of the tribal leaders, but
    it has the full support of the Governor and the State of North
    Dakota, and certainly of the tourism industry throughout the
    State and the local governments.
        I think it is important to note that in 1931, the game
    preserve was named after General Alfred Sully. Unfortunately,
    Sully gained his recognition and his notoriety as someone who
    committed several massacres against Native Americans. The most
    notable massacre was on September 3d of 1863, in the Dakota
    territory as reprisal for the Dakota conflict of 1862. His
    troops destroyed a village of some 500 tipis, killing several
    hundred Indians. Many of the victims, descendants of the
    victims of that massacre, live on this very reservation where
    this hill is named after this general.
        So with the issues that our Federal Government faces,
    changing the name of this preserve in North Dakota can seem
    like a small thing. But I assure you, it is no small thing to
    the people of the Spirit Lake Nation.
        It has taken us 85 years to correct this mistake. I am
    sorry that it has taken so long, but I am grateful that we are
    correcting it now, and I hope that I can count on everyone's
    support. Thank you.
        Senator Barrasso. Well, thank you very much, Senator
    Cramer. I know Senator Whitehouse, as well as Senator Sullivan,
    would like to comment on their piece of legislation as we are
    waiting for Senator Capito. I call on you, Senator Sullivan.
        Senator Sullivan. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank
    you and the Ranking Member for your work on this. I certainly
    want to thank my friend and colleague, Senator Whitehouse, for
    his leadership on this issue. This issue is addressing of ocean
    pollution and ocean plastics. We had a bill last year that the
    President signed called the Save Our Seas Act. This is the Save
    Our Seas Act 2.0.
        I just want to mention, this committee has a real tradition
    of getting big things done, whether it is the Highway Bill or
    the TSCA legislation. I am certainly hopeful that this is
    another example of really important legislation that we are
    going to be able to move here.
        The good news on this legislation is this is an
    environmental issue that is actually solvable. The estimates
    are that 10 rivers in Asia constitute almost 70 percent of all
    the ocean plastic pollution in the world, in all the oceans. So
    we can actually address this. We are doing it in a bipartisan
    manner, and this is a comprehensive bill. It has jurisdiction
    in Commerce here, and in the Foreign Relations Committee.
        I want to thank the cosponsors of the Save Our Seas 2.0
    legislation, who are EPW members, because there many: Senators
    Whitehouse, Booker, Carper, Van Hollen, Merkley, Cardin. I want
    to encourage all my colleagues to join us because we think this
    is going to move the President in support of this, his
    administration in support of this.
        All the ocean and environmental groups are in support of
    this. Industry is in support of this. We have stakeholders who
    are going to hopefully make this move and get it done and it
    will really have an impact on cleaning up our oceans, which I
    think everybody here wants to do, whether you are a State like
    mine with a lot of coastline, or you are a State like Indiana
    that doesn't have any, but you still care.
        Senator Barrasso. Lake Michigan.
        Senator Sullivan. Oh, Lake Michigan, sorry.
        [Laughter.]
        Senator Sullivan. Well, it is not an ocean, last time I
    checked, but it is a big body of water. Sorry. Who else?
    Senator Rounds--you know what I mean.
        [Laughter.]
        Senator Sullivan. So hopefully we can get this done soon.
    Again, I want to thank the Chairman and Senator Carper, in
    particular, on working hard on this, and of course, Senator
    Whitehouse. Thank you.
        Senator Barrasso. Senator Whitehouse.
        Senator Whitehouse. Thank you, Chairman.
        Let me join my friend, Dan Sullivan, in thanking both you
    and the Ranking Member for helping us work our way through to
    this day, where we have passed this bill by unanimous consent,
    effectively, by voice vote here in the committee.
        Another section of the bill is in the Foreign Relations
    Committee for a vote today. We expect it is going to clear
    that, as well.
        That gives us a lot of momentum to move forward. As Dan has
    pointed out, this is a very important issue. I just got back
    from the Save the Bay Run ocean cleanup in Rhode Island over
    the weekend. We do it with trash bags. Dan's State is on the
    Pacific, so they have a different scale to their problem. When
    we had our first hearing, his Alaska witnesses talked about
    having to clean up the shores with dumpsters and front-end
    loaders, and by the ton per mile rather than by the trash bags.
        So this is an area where I think we can get a lot of good
    work done. There is a very clear focus, there are five Asian
    nations that have lousy upland waste management that causes the
    majority of this ocean plastic to be dumped into the Pacific.
    There are ten rivers around the world, most in Asia, that flow
    most of this out to sea.
        So we have a lot of enthusiasm from the Administration,
    with the President, Secretary Pompeo, Trade Representative
    Lighthizer, all having made very strong public statements. So I
    think it is important to keep our momentum going, and I hope we
    can move quickly to a very positive vote, perhaps even a voice
    vote, unanimous consent on the Senate floor to move this along.
        We have similar progress in the House, great bipartisanship
    in the House as well. So I think this is kind of a happy moment
    for the committee to be in strong agreement on strong
    environmental legislation that will hit an important problem
    for our planet. Thank you.
        Let me also thank the former chairman, Senator Inhofe, who
    played such an important role in helping us get the original
    Save Our Seas Act into unanimous consent on the Senate floor as
    well. That is really what helped launch it. I was not expecting
    somebody from a square State to be so enthusiastic, and I
    appreciate it.
        [Laughter.]
        Senator Inhofe. It's not a square State?
        Senator Barrasso. Wyoming's the square State.
        Senator Whitehouse. OK, you two are going to debate about
    who's square, OK.
        Senator Inhofe. I will share your comments with the people
    of the panhandle of Oklahoma.
        [Laughter.]
        Senator Barrasso. At this happy moment, I would like to
    call up the Presidential nomination 964, Aurelia Skipwith of
    Indiana to be Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. I
    move to approve and report the nomination favorably to the
    Senate. Is there a second?
        Senator Inhofe. Second.
        Senator Barrasso. The Clerk will call the roll.
        Senator Cardin. Mr. Chairman, before you call the roll, I
    will speak for one moment, if I might. I believe we do need a
    confirmed leader for this agency.
        I am disappointed that the information requested by the
    Ranking Member has not been provided. I think the request of
    the Ranking Member is extremely reasonable. I hope that that
    information will be made available before the nomination is
    brought to the floor. For the reasons that the Ranking Member
    said, I am not prepared today to support the nominee.
        Senator Barrasso. All right. The Clerk will call the roll.
        Senator Van Hollen. Mr. Chairman?
        Senator Barrasso. Senator Van Hollen.
        Senator Van Hollen. Senator Cardin and I have talked about
    this. Obviously, we have a strong interest in protecting the
    Chesapeake Bay, and all of us have an interest in environmental
    issues and fish and wildlife. For the same reasons that Senator
    Cardin indicated, I will be voting no here in this committee.
        Senator Barrasso. The Clerk will call the roll.
        The Clerk. Senator Booker.
        Senator Cardin. No, by proxy.
        The Clerk. Mr. Boozman.
        Senator Boozman. Yes.
        The Clerk. Mr. Braun.
        Senator Braun. Yes.
        The Clerk. Mrs. Capito.
        Senator Capito. Yes.
        The Clerk. Mr. Cardin.
        Senator Cardin. No.
        The Clerk. Mr. Carper.
        Senator Carper. No.
        The Clerk. Mr. Cramer.
        Senator Cramer. Yes.
        The Clerk. Ms. Duckworth.
        Senator Carper. No, by proxy.
        The Clerk. Ms. Ernst.
        Senator Ernst. Yes.
        The Clerk. Mrs. Gillibrand.
        Senator Gillibrand. No.
        The Clerk. Mr. Inhofe.
        Senator Inhofe. Aye.
        The Clerk. Mr. Markey.
        Senator Carper. No, by proxy.
        The Clerk. Mr. Merkley.
        Senator Merkley. No.
        The Clerk. Mr. Rounds.
        Senator Rounds. Aye.
        The Clerk. Mr. Sanders.
        Senator Carper. No, by proxy.
        The Clerk. Mr. Shelby.
        Mr. Shelby. Aye.
        The Clerk. Mr. Sullivan.
        Senator Sullivan. Aye.
        The Clerk. Mr. Van Hollen.
        Senator Van Hollen. No.
        The Clerk. Mr. Whitehouse.
        Senator Carper. No, by proxy.
        The Clerk. Mr. Wicker.
        Senator Wicker. Aye.
        The Clerk. Mr. Chairman.
        Senator Barrasso. Aye. The Clerk will report.
        The Clerk. Mr. Chairman, the ayes are 11 and the nays are
    10.
        Senator Barrasso. The ayes are 11, the nays are 10, we have
    approved Nomination 964, which will be favorably reported to
    the U.S. Senate.
        Senator Carper. I have a unanimous consent request. I ask
    unanimous consent that we enter into the record a statement
    from Golden Gate Salmon Association, opposing Ms. Skipwith's
    nomination, as well as other letters and materials.
        Senator Barrasso. Without objection.
        [The referenced material follows:]

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        Senator Barrasso. I have a number of letters of
    recommendation, over 80 stakeholders who have signed letters in
    support of Ms. Skipwith's nomination to serve as the Director.
    I ask unanimous consent to enter these endorsements into the
    record as well.
        [The referenced information follows:]

    [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Senator Barrasso. With that, the voting part of the
    business meeting has finished. I appreciate the comments by
    Senator Cramer as well as Senator Sullivan and Senator
    Whitehouse. Are there any other members who would like to be
    recognized?
        If not, I ask unanimous consent that the staff have the
    authority to make technical and conforming changes to each of
    the matters approved today. With that, the business meeting is
    concluded.
        [Whereupon, at 9:42 a.m., the hearing was concluded.]
        [Additional material submitted for the record follows:]

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