[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 68 (Friday, May 26, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5319-S5322]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[[Page S5319]]
NOMINATION OF GENERAL MICHAEL V. HAYDEN TO THE POSITION OF GENERAL IN
THE U.S. AIR FORCE
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will
proceed to Executive Calendar No. 693, which the clerk will report.
The legislative clerk read the nomination of the following named
officer for appointment in the United States Air Force to the grade
indicated while assigned to a position of importance and responsibility
under title 10, U.S.C., section 601:
GEN Michael V. Hayden
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is, Will the Senate advise and
consent to the confirmation of the nomination of GEN Michael V. Hayden
to the position of general in the United States Air Force.
The nomination was confirmed.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The President will be immediately notified of
the Senate's action.
Senator Nelson is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, I rise today as a voice to
counter that of the giant multinational oil corporations. It has been
during three decades of my public service that I have held fast to a
promise to fight to keep big oil away from Florida's coastlines, to
keep that industry from soiling our homes and from ruining our economy.
In Florida, a clean, healthy environment is the infrastructure of our
tourism-driven economy, and it is the source of sustenance for millions
of residents and visitors alike. In America, where we have only 3
percent of the world's oil reserves, our addiction to ``black gold''
will not be broken just by more drilling but by mounting an aggressive
effort to fully exploit greater efficiencies in alternative fuels.
As part of my promise to Florida, I have said that I could not
support an Interior Secretary who would advance this administration's
willingness to acquiesce to the oil lobby and its ever-increasing
desire for greater profits beyond the recent record levels.
Mr. President, I know this nominee is a person deserving of our
respect. He is a gentleman. In fact, he will receive an overwhelming
vote of support from the Senate. But I must stand on my principles to
oppose this nomination. I do so for the future of Florida and for the
future of our country.
I thank the Chair.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. By unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum
call has been waived.
The question is, Is it the sense of the Senate that debate on
Executive Calendar No. 630, the nomination of Dirk Kempthorne, of
Idaho, to be Secretary of the Interior shall be brought to a close?
The yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule.
The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. McCONNELL. The following Senators were necessarily absent: the
Senator from North Carolina (Mrs. Dole) and the Senator from South
Dakota (Mr. Thune).
Further, if present and voting, the Senator from North Carolina (Mrs.
Dole) and the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Thune) would have voted
``yea.''
Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from California (Mrs. Boxer),
the Senator from North Dakota (Mr. Conrad), the Senator from Hawaii
(Mr. Inouye), the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Rockefeller), and the
Senator from Colorado (Mr. Salazar) are necessarily absent.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber
desiring to vote?
The result was announced--yeas 85, nays 8, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 161 Ex.]
YEAS--85
Akaka
Alexander
Allard
Allen
Baucus
Bayh
Bennett
Bingaman
Bond
Brownback
Bunning
Burns
Burr
Byrd
Cantwell
Carper
Chafee
Chambliss
Coburn
Cochran
Coleman
Collins
Cornyn
Craig
Crapo
DeMint
DeWine
Dodd
Domenici
Dorgan
Durbin
Ensign
Enzi
Feingold
Feinstein
Frist
Graham
Grassley
Gregg
Hagel
Hatch
Hutchison
Inhofe
Isakson
Jeffords
Johnson
Kennedy
Kohl
Kyl
Landrieu
Lautenberg
Leahy
Levin
Lieberman
Lincoln
Lott
Lugar
Martinez
McCain
McConnell
Menendez
Murkowski
Murray
Nelson (NE)
Obama
Pryor
Reed
Reid
Roberts
Santorum
Sarbanes
Sessions
Shelby
Smith
Snowe
Specter
Stabenow
Stevens
Sununu
Talent
Thomas
Vitter
Voinovich
Warner
Wyden
NAYS--8
Biden
Clinton
Dayton
Harkin
Kerry
Mikulski
Nelson (FL)
Schumer
NOT VOTING--7
Boxer
Conrad
Dole
Inouye
Rockefeller
Salazar
Thune
The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this vote, the yeas are 85, the nays are 8.
Three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn having voted in the
affirmative, the motion is agreed to.
Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I am not here to cast doubt on the
qualifications of Governor Kempthorne to be the next Secretary of the
Interior. In fact, I believe he is eminently qualified for the job.
Unfortunately, that is also the problem. I fear that the Governor is
all too qualified to take the helm of an agency that, in the past 5
years, has drastically shifted its mission from one of conservation and
protection, to one of exploitation and commercialism. Governor
Kempthorne's record as a Senator, where he cast one vote in favor of
the environment in six years, does not give me much hope that he will
be able to reverse the trend.
If we are to ensure that our grandchildren will be able to marvel at
the majestic grandeur of this country's untouched wide open spaces, or
learn of their Nation's heritage at our historic treasures, or observe
the beauty of the astounding array of wildlife that roams the
continent--it is essential that the next Secretary of the Interior
recommits the Department to being a good steward of the land for all
the people, and not a good server of it for the oil, mining, and timber
companies. Given his consistently held positions for drilling in
protected areas of the Arctic and off our coastlines, weakening the
Endangered Species Act, and opposing the protection of roadless areas
in National Forests, among others, I do not believe that Governor
Kempthorne will make a change in the direction of the Interior
Department.
I want it to be clear that the real problem is not with the nominee.
The real problem is with the policies of the administration, and the
willingness of the Secretary to carry them out without question. This
administration has certainly been no friend to the environment, and the
previous Secretary of the Interior was particularly adept at enabling
its primary impulses. Whether it is in the waters off our beaches, in
the sensitive lands of the Arctic, or the wild places of the West, the
administration has consistently appeared to be working for the
interests of the oil and gas companies first, and the interests of the
public second. They have consistently pushed for opening the Alaska
National Wildlife Refuge. They have proposed opening the Mid-Atlantic
to oil and gas drilling--barely 75 miles off the coast of New Jersey.
And, according to the Government Accountability Office, they more than
tripled the number of drilling permits approved for the West--to the
point where GAO found that the Bureau of Land Management was having
trouble meeting its environmental responsibilities.
The administration's disdain of public lands extends to the point
that they have now proposed selling it off to fund other programs or
reduce the deficit. To his credit, the Governor flatly stated that he
did not approve of reducing the deficit this way, but he was not nearly
as clear about whether he would use public land sales to fund other
programs. The Governor should not treat our public lands as if they
were an inventory that needed to be gotten rid of, but rather as an
asset that needs to be protected and nurtured for future generations.
In New Jersey, we don't have an overabundance of public land, which
makes us value what we do have a great deal. Even in the most densely
populated State in the Nation, we have a number of treasures valued by
all New Jerseyans--the Pinelands, the Highlands, the Delaware Water
Gap, our National Wildlife Refuges, our historic sites, and more. This
is where we take our children to show them the beauty of nature, where
we learn about our
[[Page S5320]]
past, where we take our vacations, and where we welcome visitors from
other States and other countries. But many of these would not exist
without the help of the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The Fund has
not only helped the Federal Government preserve these and other sites,
it has also helped the State create parks, ballfields, and other
recreation areas. Liberty State Park, a green oasis in the middle of
the New Jersey metropolitan area, less than a half mile from Ellis
Island and the Statue of Liberty, would still be a tangle of deserted
railroad tracks if it wasn't for the help of the Land and Water
Conservation Fund. Unfortunately, the administration has been carrying
on a multi-year assault on the fund, slicing it from $573 million in
2002 to $142 million this year, and proposing only $85 million for
2007. For the second straight year, they have proposed eliminating the
State grant program entirely. This is not the way to run a program that
is supposed to provide $900 million each year for land acquisition.
I am also very concerned about the overall direction that the
National Park Service has been moving in under this administration.
First, the administration has inexplicably proposed rewriting the
National Park Service's management policies to take away the clear
mandate to preserve the parks for future generations. We have not
gotten any satisfactory answers as to why they have proposed this, but
it is completely at odds with my view of why we have national parks,
which is to protect our natural treasures for our children and our
grandchildren. But even if the policies are not rewritten, our parks
are in danger of simply falling apart. The National Parks Service faces
a multibillion-dollar maintenance backlog, yet the administration has
proposed slashing the account to fund that maintenance by over 30
percent.
This does not bode well for Ellis Island, where a large number of
historic buildings are in danger of disappearing forever into crumbled
brick because the National Park Service has been stalling for years
instead of approving a redevelopment plan for the south side of the
island. This part of the island belongs to New Jersey, and a dedicated
nonprofit group has spent years raising millions of dollars to prepare
for the rehabilitation of these structures, only to be thwarted by the
National Park Service.
Right next door, the Statue of Liberty has been held hostage by fear
since 9/11. The pedestal has been reopened, but visitors are still
forbidden from making the unforgettable climb up to her crown to look
out onto the harbor. Just yesterday, the Senate passed the amendment,
offered by Senator Schumer and myself, that would require the Secretary
of the Interior to take the necessary security precautions and open the
stairway to Lady Liberty's crown once more. There is no reason it
should have taken this long to take the precautions necessary to ensure
that the statue is safe to climb, and there is no reason any longer for
it to be held hostage to fear.
The National Park Service is not the only agency in the Interior
Department facing crippling budget cuts that threaten its very mission.
Wildlife refuges throughout New Jersey are going to be losing staff in
the upcoming fiscal year; at least one refuge will be left without any
staff at all. The largest of our refuges, Edwin B. Forsythe, is going
to have to close one of its offices, and make due with only one law
enforcement officer for its 47,000 acres. This doesn't just detract
from the experience for visitors. It also makes it tougher to protect
against vandalism, littering, and other activities that harm the tens
of thousands of birds and mammals that depend on the refuge as a
sanctuary in a highly urbanized region.
This last point is extremely important. Making sure that wildlife has
access to the habitat it needs to thrive is absolutely essential,
particularly if endangered species are to survive. But right now the
endangered species act is under attack. Last year, the other chamber
passed a bill that would severely weaken a number of crucial
protections under that Act, including the elimination of critical
habitat. The Governor has a long record on endangered species issues,
and much of it gives me great cause for concern. I hope that he will
take a careful look at this issue and not simply endorse policies
designed to protect developers first and endangered species second.
I have just scratched the surface of the antienvironmental policies
of the current administration. As I have limited myself to discussing
the Department of the Interior, I have not mentioned the misguided
policies designed to rollback the progress we have made in cleaning our
air, our lakes, and our rivers, or the refusal of the administration to
face the facts on global warming. We quite simply might never have the
time to completely cover that ground. But Governor Kempthorne has
demonstrated himself in the past to be aligned with the environmental
philosophy of this administration, and therefore I cannot support his
nomination as Secretary of Interior. I have no illusions, however. I am
fully aware that he will be confirmed, and I hope that he proves me
wrong. Because we are in danger of making mistakes that we can not
easily correct. And we need to reaffirm our commitment to being good
stewards of the land for future generations. As Theodore Roosevelt
said: ``I recognize the right and duty of this generation to develop
and use the natural resources of our land; but I do not recognize the
right to waste them, or to rob, by wasteful use, the generations that
come after us.'' I hope that the administration will take these words
to heart.
Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, I am pleased to be able to recognize the
distinguished achievement of my friend and fellow Idahoan Dirk
Kempthorne, who will be sworn in today as the 49th Secretary of the
Interior of the United States. Throughout years of public service from
mayor of Idaho's capitol, United States Senator, Governor, and now
Interior Secretary, Dirk is a man of many accomplishments and is of the
highest character and integrity.
I have known Dirk since the 1980s when we both served the public in
Idaho. As a matter of fact, I kind of owe my current job to him, as I
won his seat when he left the Senate to go back to Idaho to become
Governor.
Dirk has dedicated his life to public service. From his time in the
Idaho Department of Lands, as mayor, as Senator, and as Governor, he
has always been recognized by those from both sides of the aisle for
his tremendous leadership skills. He utilizes his thorough
understanding of policy together with cultured consensus-building
abilities to see the most effective policies carried out through
legislation and governance. These qualities will serve the nation well
as he takes on the many challenges facing the Department of the
Interior in the 21st century.
Through the diversity of his public service, especially as mayor and
Governor, Dirk understands the real value of federalism, one that
recognizes that the Government closest to the people is asked to do the
most, often with fewest resources. His service as mayor taught him the
lessons that ultimately led to his leadership in many relevant and
important issues during his time in the Senate.
A further reflection of that approach is his pioneering work on
Endangered Species Act issues. In addition to taking his seat in the
Senate, Dirk preceded me as chairman of the Environment Subcommittee
with jurisdiction over species conservation. In that capacity, he led a
bipartisan effort to update and improve our Nation's laws to better
protect and promote the recovery of endangered and threatened species
while recognizing the funding challenges. As Governor, Dirk kept up
this beacon call and launched a successful public education initiative
through the National Governors Association and Western Governors
Association on the importance of ESA issues. Dirk is a respected
national authority on resource issues and a promoter of collaborative
decisionmaking to solve environmental conflicts.
As Governor, he has also forged a strong working relationship with
the five nationally recognized Native American tribes that reside in
Idaho. Dirk recognizes the complexity of our trustee relationship with
our tribes and has continuously sought to work cooperatively on matters
that affect both the State and Native Americans.
As chief steward of Idaho for the past 8 years, Dirk has vigorously
championed innovation in environmental and natural resource sciences.
Under
[[Page S5321]]
his guidance, the State has taken a leadership role in applying
scientific and technological innovation and research to the complex
world of environmental and natural resource management. Dirk has also
worked to advance the environmental mission of the Department of
Energy's Idaho National Laboratory. He understands that Idaho's
diversifying economy and unique resources require a dynamic mix of
natural resource protection, appropriate rural economic development,
and smooth integration of scientific advancements, educational
research, and business know-how.
Following the wildfires of 2000, Dirk worked with his fellow
Governors and Federal officials to help bring a new approach to forest
health and wildfire management. Under his leadership, Idaho has
established effective and well-received wolf and grizzly bear
management plans aimed at enhancing the State's responsibilities as
Federal management is removed.
There is no question in my mind that Dirk Kempthorne will make a
superlative Secretary and establish a proud and esteemed legacy, and I
congratulate him on this remarkable achievement and high honor.
Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, the position we are voting on,
Secretary of the Interior Department, holds great importance for our
country. The Department determines the fate of many of our public
lands, including national parks and wildlife refuges. Of great
importance to New Jersey, the Secretary of Interior determines what
activities can take place on the Outer Continental Shelf. The Secretary
of Interior implements critical laws like the Endangered Species Act,
and administers some of our most important conservation programs like
the Land and Water Conservation Fund. It should be a job for somebody
who believes in protecting our nation's great natural heritage, not
selling it off to the highest bidder.
I served in the Senate with Governor Kempthorne, and we were members
of the Environment and Public Works Committee at the same time. He is a
skilled legislator and a congenial person, and I will vote to invoke
cloture on his nomination, and for his confirmation. But I do want to
take this opportunity to express some concerns about Governor
Kempthorne's record on the environment, and about the Bush
administration's record, as well.
The League of Conservation Voters has given Governor Kempthorne a
lifetime score of 1 percent, meaning he voted against the environment
as judged by LCV 99 percent of the time. That does not give me great
confidence on how he will address issues of preserving wilderness,
protecting wildlife, or defending our coastal waters. Of course, these
are areas where the administration has already compiled a poor record.
I am also concerned about whether Governor Kempthorne will continue
the pattern of pressuring scientists to alter their views to suit ill-
advised Bush administration policies.
Last year, we learned that an administration official named Philip
Cooney--an oil lobbyist before and after his White House stint--had
altered scientific documents to change their conclusions about global
warming. This year, we have seen numerous reports of Bush
administration political appointees trying to intimidate and muzzle
climate scientists at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Similar concerns have been raised at Interior-based agencies. Twenty
percent of Interior scientists who answered a survey by the Union of
Concerned Scientists responded that they had been ``directed to
inappropriately exclude or alter technical information from a
scientific document.'' Moreover, 44 percent of the respondents said
that they have been ``directed, for non-scientific reasons, to refrain
from making findings that are protective of species.''
The Fish & Wildlife Service fired a whistleblower who exposed the
Bush administration's use of flawed science to favor development
projects over protecting habitat for the Florida Panther.
This administration's contempt for science is deeply disturbing, and
it would be a great disappointment if Governor Kempthorne were to
continue to pursue policies based on ignoring, suppressing, or
intimidating scientists.
Our country is blessed with countless national treasures from coast
to coast and, in my view, the Interior Secretary's most important job
is to restore and preserve those treasures. Despite the serious
reservations I have raised here, I will support this nomination in the
hope that Governor Kempthorne will shift this administration's unwise
policy emphasis on development over preservation, and I urge him to
respect unfettered scientific inquiry in the agencies he will oversee.
Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I am mindful of Wisconsin's historic
dedication to conservation and am keenly aware of the legacy of Gaylord
Nelson, John Muir, Aldo Leopold, and Sigurd Olson. My constituents
regularly remind me of Wisconsin's environmental heritage and they
expect their leaders to help build a positive environmental future.
As the Secretary of the Interior, Governor Kempthorne will have the
opportunity to chart a responsible course for managing our Nation's
public lands--a course very different from the one that the American
people have endured over the past 5 years. I am encouraged by Governor
Kempthorne's reputation for collaboration and consensus. While Governor
Kempthorne's environmental record does give me cause for concern, it
has been my practice to defer to presidents in considering nominees for
Cabinet positions. Consistent with that practice, I will vote to
confirm this nominee.
In his testimony before the Energy and Natural Resources Committee,
Governor Kempthorne stated his belief that ``there is a no more
beautiful cathedral than the outdoors.'' I will take Governor
Kempthorne at his word and hope that he will lead the Department of the
Interior in a manner consistent with those words.
Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate
proceed to the vote on the nomination of Dirk Kempthorne, and following
that vote that Senator Landrieu be recognized for 10 minutes, Senator
Stevens for 10 minutes, Senator Reed for 10 minutes, to be followed by
Senator Byrd.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the nomination
of Dirk Kempthorne, of Idaho, to be Secretary of the Interior?
The nomination was confirmed.
Mr. STEVENS. I move to reconsider the vote.
Mr. CRAIG. I move to lay that motion on the table.
The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Louisiana is recognized for
10 minutes.
Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I wish to speak about Governor
Kempthorne's nomination, and now confirmation by this body, to be
Secretary of the Interior, and I hope he will help us work through a
compromise that has eluded this Nation for some 45 years.
The Secretary of the Interior is in a pivotal position to help bring
reason and rationale to this debate. I think that we, by confirming him
this morning, have put the right man in the job for what is ahead.
The Secretary of the Interior helps lead the debate and discussion
about the Nation's energy policies. There are many facets of that
policy, and it is multidimensional. It is one of the toughest issues
faced by this Congress. Because it is so regional, it brings very
passionate debate on both sides of the issue.
I was pleased to cast my vote this morning for Governor Kempthorne, a
former Member of this body, and a man who has shown a great deal of
ability in terms of mediating very difficult issues. He showed that
skill when he was a Member of the Senate, and I have no doubt that he
will show the same skill as he becomes Secretary of the Department of
the Interior.
One of the issues on which I look forward to working with him and my
colleagues is the issue I have spoken about so many times on the Senate
floor relative to offshore oil and gas drilling, a balance, a
partnership of mutual respect between the Gulf Coast States and the
Nation regarding a partnership that is mutually beneficial.
As the Nation struggles to find new ways to produce oil and gas using
the
[[Page S5322]]
great minds of this Nation and the great technology that has been
developed; as the Nation needs so desperately more oil and more gas,
particularly natural gas; with the prices so high so that supplies can
be increased and, hopefully, demand can be reduced, prices can come
down, prices can stabilize, and the entire economy, from the Midwest to
the Northeast to the far West can benefit from that effort, I wanted to
show a graph of what I am speaking about because I think a picture is
worth a thousand words, and I know I only have a few more minutes. This
is why I continue to come to the Senate floor to say that the gulf
coast is America's only energy coast.
This represents the miles and miles of pipeline, rigs, and
infrastructure that have been developed in the Gulf of Mexico since the
first well was drilled off of Creole, LA, in the gulf in the 1940s. By
the way, that community was just completely wiped out in the last
hurricanes, Hurricanes Rita and Katrina. But right off of Creole, a
tiny little community in southwest Louisiana, the first offshore oil
platform was drilled. Subsequently, over decades this infrastructure
has been built and it has been built better and better and stronger
using better technology, and as a result this country has benefited
significantly from this contribution.
Another way to look at it is the oil and gas leasing that has
occurred--which Secretary Kempthorne will now be responsible for, how
these leases occur, where they occur, and when they occur. As you can
see, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas have served as hosts to
this industry, and we have served proudly. But there is a crisis now in
the Gulf of Mexico, and it was brought to the televisions of every
American--every American--with the landfall of Katrina and Rita and the
subsequent flooding.
This is the devastation that has occurred along the gulf coast, the
flooding in the city of New Orleans and in communities throughout
Louisiana, and the frightening and real erosion of America's only
coastal wetlands the coastal wetlands of Louisiana. We have lost over a
million square miles of wetlands, and we are losing 33 football fields
a day. Thirty-three football fields a day are being lost in this great
and extraordinary wetland.
When people say: Senator, how are the beaches in Louisiana?
I say: We don't have beaches in Louisiana. We love the beaches that
are in Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi. We have vacationed on them
our whole lives. But we have the greatest delta system in America,
built over a million years by the Mississippi River itself, the land
that we actually live on. On this land are great wetlands that supply
fishing, that host and serve as the home of the mighty Mississippi
River, and serve as a platform for oil and gas.
As the Secretary will come to know, this oil and gas could not be
retrieved or mined from the Gulf of Mexico without the partnership of
these Gulf Coast States. So what we are asking for is fairness. We are
asking for a percentage, a percentage in dollars, from this drilling to
come back into this area and help us restore our wetlands and invest in
the infrastructure necessary to protect this great coast so that we can
provide our people with a bright and strong economic future.
I am going to submit a longer statement for the Record. Again, I
submit, looking at this chart, and just showing one more, that when we
say the gulf coast is America's energy coast, these are the pipelines
that come from the Gulf of Mexico. You can see even the Rocky
Mountains. We are proud of the production that goes out West. We are
proud of that production. But as you can see, a lot of our gas is
coming from Canada and, hopefully, more of our gas will come from
Alaska.
I see my friend and colleague from Alaska, the senior Senator, on the
Senate floor. We hope we can get more gas from Canada and from Alaska
because we need it. But I want people to see where the gas is coming
from. The gas is coming from Louisiana, and if you want more of it,
then, No. 1, help us to save our State from washing away in the gulf;
and, No. 2, help us to share in some of these revenues that will go
right back into these communities to support the industry and the
people and the schools and the churches and the towns that make this
all possible. And, if not, then go find your gas somewhere else. I mean
that. Go find it somewhere else because we have a lot of it down here.
We are happy to give it, but we need some respect and cooperation on
this point.
The Senator from Alaska is here to speak, and I am going to be back
later this afternoon to finish the remarks that I want to put in the
Record. I see Secretary Kempthorne standing here. I appreciate him
being on the floor to hear these remarks. I am looking forward to
having him come to Louisiana. I said he is not much use to us with a
broken foot, so he has to get that foot fixed and then come on back so
we can take him out to offshore oil and gas rigs. He has promised to do
that, and I am sure he will get up to Alaska sometime soon to see the
great work that Alaska does. He, of course, is very familiar, having
been the Governor of Idaho, with the West. But, Governor, we are
looking forward to having you come down and visit us on the gulf coast.
I yield the floor.
____________________