[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



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               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

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                           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 

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                     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:]

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    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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