[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 11 (Tuesday, February 8, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[Congressional Record: February 8, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
EXECUTIVE SESSION
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NOMINATION OF M. LARRY LAWRENCE, OF CALIFORNIA TO BE AMBASSADOR
EXTRAORDINARY AND PLENIPOTENTIARY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TO
SWITZERLAND
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Feinstein). Under the previous order, the
hour of 5 o'clock having arrived, the Senate will proceed to executive
session to vote on the nomination of M. Larry Lawrence, of California,
to become Ambassador to Switzerland. The clerk will report the
nomination.
The legislative clerk read the nomination of M. Larry Lawrence, of
California, to be Ambassador to Switzerland.
Mr. SIMON. Madam President, I have known Larry Lawrence for many
years as a committed and involved member of the community. Larry
Lawrence is a highly successful businessman who has been an active
donor, sponsor, and fundraiser for a range of good causes. Some have
been political, but many have not.
Larry Lawrence's nomination has generated some controversy. I believe
that this controversy reflects honest debate about the nature of the
job of our bilateral ambassadors. It is true that Larry Lawrence is not
an expert on European affairs, and is not fluent in either of
Switzerland's two major languages. In my view, however, Larry Lawrence
has the character and necessary background--as a successful businessman
with some significant international experience--to perform well as
United States Ambassador to Switzerland.
Further, I would note that the post of Untied States Ambassador to
Switzerland has been vacant for more than a year. It is time to fill
the job and put the controversy behind us.
I will vote in favor of Larry Lawrence's confirmation, and I urge my
colleagues to do likewise.
Mr. HATFIELD. Madam President, it is the prerogative of the President
to choose his nominees and the responsibility of the Senate to consent
to these nominations. I wish to indicate my strong support for the
President's nomination of M. Larry Lawrence to be United States
Ambassador to Switzerland.
The President's confidence in Mr. Lawrence is well-placed. He has a
long history of public service and philanthropy in addition to a
successful private sector career. He has been actively interested and
involved in foreign affairs matters and served with distinction on the
Nobel Prize nominating commission.
Tradition has held that our ambassadorial corps be chosen from both
the career Foreign Service and from the Nation at large. It is my
belief that Mr. Lawrence will bring a unique and important perspective
to this post and I look forward to working with him after confirmation.
Mr. MATHEWS. Madam President, late last year President Clinton
nominated Mr. Larry Lawrence to serve as Ambassador to Switzerland.
Tonight, the Senate overcame the discreditable impulses that stalled
the confirmation process. As a result, the United States will have the
services of a superbly qualified ambassadorial appointment.
Larry Lawrence is a man of modest origins whose hard work built a
fortune and whose good works earned him wide admiration. He is a living
example of boot-strap accomplishment. Character an competence have
distinguished him all his life. During World War II he was a merchant
marine volunteer who received the Medal of Honor from our Russian
allies for his heroic rescue of drowning fellow crewmen after their
ship was torpedoed off Murmansk.
He has founded and managed more than 50 businesses in a proud career.
His enterprises have encompassed banking, commercial development,
travel, and tourism. These industries are central to the Swiss economy.
They are industries in which the Swiss have eminent expertise.
Mr. Lawrence's background is perfect preparation for the prime task
of the United States Ambassador to Switzerland: nurturing commercial,
trade, investment, and business relationships with Switzerland and
Swiss companies.
Mr. Lawrence's commitment to public service is as striking as his
success in business. His biography is virtually a phone book of
committees, organizations, councils, colleges, and advisory boards.
His civic contributions over the past 45 years are inspiring and
humbling to those of us who believe we are committed to public service.
They include service to the State of California as vice chairman of
tourism development. President Carter appointed him to the Federal Home
Loan Bank Board. President Clinton asked Mr. Lawrence to attend his
economic summit before taking office and to brief him on the eve of his
recent visit to Geneva. He was cochairman of California's finance
subcommittee on cost control in State government, chairman of the
economic advisory board of San Diego, founding member of the World
Affairs Council, and vice chairman of the Nobel Peace Prize nominating
committee. The list goes on and on.
Yet, despite his obvious credentials as a businessman and civic
servant, Mr. Lawrence was subjected to rebuke and vilification, mainly
by the bureaucracy in the State Department who thought one of their own
should have been nominated in his place. Testimony at his Senate
Foreign Relations hearing set a new low in acrimony. In the weeks
afterward, he was criticized publicly by figures in the Foreign Service
Association and in FSA publications as ``one of the last relics of the
19th century spoils system.''
Yes, Mr. Lawrence has been and is active in supporting his chosen
political party. I wish every American followed his example and became
more active in the American political process. Two Presidents have
called on his counsel, as have Governors, Congressmen and women, and
State and local officials of both parties. And he always answered when
called. If that was a reason to criticize him, I say his critics had a
warped regard for the obligations of citizenship.
There are, indeed, career professionals in the Foreign Service who
merit consideration as ambassador. In fact, I received an illuminating
letter from one regarding Mr. Lawrence.
He said he was, in his words, ``taking the unusual step of writing to
you because I believe that Mr. Lawrence is well qualified to serve as
U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland.''
He cited not only Mr. Lawrence's apt and extensive background in
business as perfect qualifications, but also Mr. Lawrence's
contemplative and reflective personal disposition, which is so highly
valued in the Swiss approach to relationships.
He concluded with a comment about Mr. Lawrence's adversaries: ``* * *
those in AFSA who have attacked Mr. Lawrence have done the State
Department, and the United States, a major disservice.''
I add that they also made an unconscionable attempt to intrude on the
powers and responsibilities of the President, whose duty it is to
select the ambassadors who represent us. The Constitution gives to the
President and the Senate the sole and exclusive responsibility of
passing judgment on persons who will be our ambassadors to other
countries.
I find it ludicrous that an entrenched bureaucracy would attempt to
interject its judgment over that of the President of the United States,
particularly when it is well known that these same people coveted these
appointments.
A former Republican-appointed ambassador to both France and Ireland
made a telling case about that in his own letter of endorsement. He
argued that the tradition of Presidential appointments is older than
the Foreign Service itself. He disparaged the age-old objections from
Foreign Service officers as ``stale'' and ``blinkered to the reality.''
He emphasized that Presidential appointees have infinitely greater
access to the White House and the State Department than careerists in
the Foreign Service. Foreign government officials whom our ambassadors
deal with appreciate this access.
The issue driving the scurrilous and petulant censure of Mr. Lawrence
was not his qualifications. His political adversaries were bothered by
his advisory relationship with President Clinton--which an ambassador
should have with his President, by the way.
What we heard from his foreign service critics was pettier than
politics. It was an outburst of insecurity. Mr. Lawrence was simply the
highest profile nominee they could find over whom to make their ill-
taken point. They've got sour grape stains all over their self-
importance.
I thank and commend my colleagues who supported Mr. Lawrence--and
they are many in number. They did the right thing for Swiss-American
relations and did the right thing by a distinguished American.
At this moment, Mr. Lawrence is working with the State Department,
continuing to prepare himself for his post in Bern. He never stayed in
this fight to win a bitter but pointless Washington-style confrontation
by people who criticized him without knowing him. He put his good name
on the line because he wants to be of further service to his country--
as he's done all his life.
His is the highest impulse in public service. That's why I stood with
Mr. Lawrence and President Clinton. I want to commend the President for
nominating this worthy American. And again, I commend my colleagues in
the Senate for allowing Mr. Lawrence to assume his duties as an
effective advocate for American interests in Switzerland.
Mr. HELMS. Madam President, in just a few minutes, the Senate will be
voting on President Clinton's nominee to be ambassador to Switzerland.
As some of my colleagues may take note, it is not very often that the
entire Senate is assembled to vote on an ambassadorial nomination.
Well, it is not very often that the Senate is asked to vote on a
nominee that is so obviously qualified only by the amount he has
donated to political campaigns.
That, however, is not why I am here today. Before the Senate votes on
Mr. Larry Lawrence's nomination, his relationship with the Foreign
Relations Committee and with the Internal Revenue Service should be
made a matter of public record.
Since Mr. Lawrence submitted his original papers to the committee
last fall, he has amended his financial statement portion numerous
times in response to allegations.
Mr. Lawrence corresponded with Chairman Pell 3 times in 3 days after
it was brought to light in testimony during his confirmation hearing
that Mr. Lawrence had not completed, to the fullest extent possible or
to the extent required by law, his records of campaign contributions,
or his current status of claims with the IRS.
It should be noted that the committee reported Mr. Lawrence's
nomination on a 10-10 vote with Senators Sarbanes, Moynihan, Feingold,
Helms, Lugar, Kassebaum, Pressler, Murkowski, Jeffords, and Gregg
voting in the negative. It should also be noted that Mr. Lawrence made
donations to at least six of the Senators who signed the cloture
petition, not to mention at least ten other sitting members of the
Senate.
Most importantly--just last Thursday, the committee received, and
then distributed a detailed document regarding a tax case in which
allegations of tax fraud were raised against Mr. Lawrence.
Incidentally, Mr. Lawrence's attorneys did not choose to note this case
or the allegation of fraud in his papers because they deemed him to be
innocent.
I remind my colleagues that in carrying out its duty to advise and
give its consent to a nomination, the Senate is obligated and expected
to investigate fully the ethical, financial, moral and professional
background of every nominee. The committee has only just compiled what
is believed to be all the information Mr. Lawrence can supply; but
there has obviously not been enough time to wade through the enormous
amount of paperwork submitted.
The distinguished majority leader has rejected suggestions that a
vote on this nomination be delayed pending a review of all documents
relating to Mr. Lawrence and his various activities. I regret Senator
Mitchell's decision.
Mr. GLENN. Madam President, I rise today to speak on behalf of the
nomination of M. Larry Lawrence to be U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland. I
have known Larry Lawrence for over a decade. I know him to be an
individual of personal integrity and I respect him for his considerable
business development and management skills. I also know that Larry has
had a life-long interest in foreign policy, as evidenced by his 25 year
association with the San Diego World Affairs Council, of which he is a
founding member. In addition, these days business experience such as
Larry's will be a considerable asset, as U.S. posts abroad are taking a
more active role in promoting U.S. commercial interests.
But most importantly, because of his long association with President
Clinton, he enjoys the full and complete confidence of the President, a
very important plus for any high level appointee. In the absence of any
disqualifying factors, I believe the President should have his choice.
And given my long acquaintance with Larry Lawrence, I am confident
there are no such factors. With every expectation that Larry Lawrence
will bring all of his considerable talents and energy to representing
our country's interest in Switzerland, I recommend Larry Lawrence's
confirmation without reservation.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is, Will the Senate advise and
consent to the nomination of Mr. Larry Lawrence, of California, to be
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of
America to Switzerland?
The yeas and nays have been ordered. The clerk will call the roll.
The bill clerk called the roll.
Mr. FORD. I announce that the Senator from Louisiana [Mr. Breaux],
the Senator from Louisiana [Mr. Johnson], and the Senator from Illinois
[Mrs. Moseley-Braun] are necessarily absent.
Mr. SIMPSON. I announce that the Senator from Texas [Mr. Gramm] and
the Senator from Texas [Mrs. Hutchison] are necessarily absent.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber
desiring to vote?
The result was announced--yeas 79, nays 16, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 33 Ex.]
YEAS--79
Akaka
Baucus
Bennett
Biden
Bingaman
Bond
Boren
Boxer
Bradley
Brown
Bryan
Bumpers
Burns
Campbell
Chafee
Coats
Cochran
Cohen
Conrad
Coverdell
D'Amato
Danforth
Daschle
DeConcini
Dodd
Domenici
Dorgan
Durenberger
Exon
Faircloth
Feinstein
Ford
Glenn
Gorton
Graham
Grassley
Gregg
Harkin
Hatch
Hatfield
Heflin
Hollings
Inouye
Jeffords
Kennedy
Kerrey
Kerry
Kohl
Lautenberg
Leahy
Levin
Lieberman
Lott
Mack
Mathews
McCain
McConnell
Mikulski
Mitchell
Murray
Nickles
Nunn
Packwood
Pell
Pressler
Pryor
Reid
Riegle
Robb
Rockefeller
Roth
Sasser
Shelby
Simon
Simpson
Stevens
Thurmond
Warner
Wofford
NAYS--16
Byrd
Craig
Dole
Feingold
Helms
Kassebaum
Kempthorne
Lugar
Metzenbaum
Moynihan
Murkowski
Sarbanes
Smith
Specter
Wallop
Wellstone
NOT VOTING--5
Breaux
Gramm
Hutchison
Johnston
Moseley-Braun
So the nomination was confirmed.
Mr. MATHEWS. Madam President, I move to reconsider the vote.
Mr. MITCHELL. I move to lay that motion on the table.
The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The President will be immediately notified of
the Senate's action.
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