[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 101 (Thursday, July 19, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7937-S7938]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           EXECUTIVE SESSION

                                 ______
                                 

NOMINATION OF JOHN D. GRAHAM, OF MASSACHUSETTS, TO BE ADMINISTRATOR OF 
            THE OFFICE OF INFORMATION AND REGULATORY AFFAIRS

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senate will now proceed to executive 
session. Under the previous order, the question occurs on agreeing to 
the nomination of John D. Graham of Massachusetts to be Administrator 
of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.
  Mr. THOMPSON. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second? There is a 
sufficient second.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, point of clarification. Under the 
unanimous consent request, Senator Thompson and I each have a minute 
before the vote; is that correct?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator is correct.
  The Senator from Tennessee is recognized.
  Mr. THOMPSON. Mr. President, John Graham has had a distinguished 
career. He has been head of the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis for 
the last 15 years and has been called the ``best-qualified person'' who 
has come down the road for this position by Bob Leiken of the Brookings 
Institution.
  Some people don't like scientific facts that don't comport with their 
ideology, even if it is supported in the scientific community. He has 
been criticized, he has had selected excerpts taken from his works, and 
he has been unfairly characterized.
  They have taken complex scientific issues and even though they might 
be

[[Page S7938]]

counterintuitive for many of us, they are supported by the scientific 
community.
  Mr. President, the merging of scientific analysis and the political 
process sometimes is not a pretty picture, and this one has not been 
either. But I suggest there have been a lot of people asleep on the job 
and very negligent if this gentleman is not qualified and has really 
adhered to some of the views attributed to him.
  Leaders of public policy in this country: scientists, academics, 
Democrats and Republicans, the last two Democrats who have held this 
position, support this man. I suggest a strong vote for him is merited, 
and I sincerely urge that. I yield the floor.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, if my colleagues followed the debate this 
evening, they know John Graham's views on science really are not in the 
mainstream by any stretch. He has made statements that pesticide 
residues on fruits and vegetables are not a public hazard. He has some 
theory described as irresponsible and inaccurate: Dioxin somehow cures 
cancer and does not cause cancer.
  He questions whether or not DDT should have been banned, and this is 
the man who will be in charge of the agency which has the last word on 
rules and regulations for public health and safety and environmental 
protection.
  We can do better in America. President Bush can do better. I urge my 
colleagues to join Senators Lieberman, Kerry, and myself in opposing 
this nomination.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. All time is yielded back. The question is, 
Will the Senate advise and consent to the nomination of John D. Graham, 
of Massachusetts, to be Administrator of the Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget?
  The yeas and nays have been ordered. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. NICKLES. I announce that the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. Frist) 
and the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Helms) are necessarily absent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Carper). Are there any other Senators in 
the Chamber desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 61, nays 37, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 242 Ex.]

                                YEAS--61

     Allard
     Allen
     Bayh
     Bennett
     Bond
     Breaux
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burns
     Byrd
     Campbell
     Carnahan
     Carper
     Chafee
     Cochran
     Collins
     Craig
     Crapo
     DeWine
     Domenici
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Feingold
     Fitzgerald
     Graham
     Gramm
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Hatch
     Hutchinson
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Jeffords
     Johnson
     Kyl
     Landrieu
     Levin
     Lincoln
     Lott
     Lugar
     McCain
     McConnell
     Miller
     Murkowski
     Nelson (NE)
     Nickles
     Roberts
     Santorum
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Smith (NH)
     Smith (OR)
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stevens
     Thomas
     Thompson
     Thurmond
     Voinovich
     Warner

                                NAYS--37

     Akaka
     Baucus
     Biden
     Bingaman
     Boxer
     Cantwell
     Cleland
     Clinton
     Conrad
     Corzine
     Daschle
     Dayton
     Dodd
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Edwards
     Feinstein
     Harkin
     Hollings
     Inouye
     Kennedy
     Kerry
     Kohl
     Leahy
     Lieberman
     Mikulski
     Murray
     Nelson (FL)
     Reed
     Reid
     Rockefeller
     Sarbanes
     Schumer
     Stabenow
     Torricelli
     Wellstone
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--2

     Frist
     Helms
       
  The nomination was confirmed.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, for the information of our colleagues, 
the next vote will be the last vote. There will be three votes on 
judicial nominations at 9:45 tomorrow morning. Those will be the last 
votes of the day. The next vote will occur, then, on Monday, at 5:45. 
This is the last vote for the day.

                          ____________________