[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 71 (Thursday, May 1, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3651-S3652]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            TVA APPOINTMENTS

  Mr. ALEXANDER. Madam President, Tennesseans like our sports teams, 
whether it is the Lady Vols, or the Memphis Tigers, or Bruce Pearl's 
team from Knoxville. But John Calipari or Pat Summitt or Bruce Pearl 
wouldn't think of sending any of our teams into a big game with two 
players locked up somewhere--two players missing.
  That is exactly what my friend, the Democratic leader, has done for 
8.7 million Americans who live in the seven-State region of the 
Tennessee Valley Authority. Our big game, like most Americans, is gas 
prices, electric prices, climate change, clean air, national security.
  Every Senator is on the floor talking about that; some blaming, some 
with solutions. I am going to Oak Ridge on May 9 to propose a new 
Manhattan Project to deal with clean energy independence.
  But our secret weapon in the TVA region is the Tennessee Valley 
Authority. That is how we get our clean air so we're in compliance with 
clean air laws and new jobs can come in. It is how we deal with climate 
change. They have coal-fired powerplants. It is how we deal with large 
amounts of electricity at a low cost. That has to do with jobs and it 
has to do with gas prices as well.
  Nissan, Toyota, and General Motors all are about to sell us plug-in 
hybrids that could, by some estimates, reduce the amount of gasoline we 
use by up to 40 percent. That would deal with gas prices. But who will 
supply electricity for the plug-in hybrids? The Tennessee Valley 
Authority. So what happens? The Democratic leader locks up two of our 
best players and won't let them play in the biggest game we've got. If 
he did that to two of our Memphis basketball players, or UT Lady Vols, 
or two of Bruce Pearl's players, there would be a revolt in Tennessee, 
and I hope there is a revolt about this.
  Here is what has happened: In 2004, after several years of debate, we 
created a new board for the Nation's largest public utility--the 
Tennessee Valley Authority. The President appointed nine members. They 
were unanimously approved. Two had short terms; they served with 
distinction and the President nominated them for reappointment. The 
Environment and Public Works Committee unanimously, under Chairman 
Boxer, brought them to the floor. They are ready for approval, ready to 
go to work. But the Democratic Leader has sent me a letter that 
basically says he will not allow them to be confirmed because they are 
Republicans. That astounds me. I ask unanimous consent to put that 
letter in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                                  U.S. Senate,

                                   Washington, DC, April 14, 2008.
     Hon. Lamar Alexander,
     Dirksen Senate Office Building,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Senator Alexander: I am writing to you to advise you 
     of my concerns regarding appointments to the Tennessee Valley 
     Authority (TVA).
       As you know, the TVA was reconfigured in P.L. 108-477, the 
     Omnibus Appropriations bill enacted December 8, 2004. The 
     inclusion of that substantive legislation in this 
     appropriations vehicle expanded TVA membership to 9 members 
     from 3 members. This omnibus legislative rider gave 
     appointive authority entirely to the President with no 
     bipartisan representation.
       I expressed my concerns regarding this situation over a 
     year ago when the first slate of 6 TVA nominees was sent to 
     the Senate. I asked the President to consider using one of 
     the remaining positions for a Democratic candidate. Despite 
     that request, the President nominated 3 additional 
     Republicans for the TVA. Before the Easter recess, we 
     confirmed one of those remaining 3 TVA nominees.
       Given the inadequacy of bipartisan representation on the 
     TVA and our recent approval of 7 Republican nominations to 
     the TVA, I do not support proceeding with further TVA 
     confirmations at this time.
           Sincerely,
                                                       Harry Reid,
                                                  Majority Leader.

  Mr. ALEXANDER. The Democratic leader's decision to block these 
nominees because of their party affiliation overturns 75 years of 
Federal law and custom. Since 1933, Federal law has never made politics 
one of the considerations for TVA appointments.
  Most Presidents have appointed members of their own party, sometimes 
political independents--such as Bishop William Graves, one of the two 
nominees for reappointment who is being locked up.
  Bishop Graves is not even a Republican. He is the most experienced 
member of the TVA board, coming from the largest customer, Memphis 
Light, Gas and Water, and he is the presiding bishop of one of the 
largest religious denominations in America.
  I have sent a letter to the majority leader. I ask unanimous consent 
it be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                                  U.S. Senate,

                                   Washington, DC, April 30, 2008.
     Hon. Harry Reid,
     Majority Leader, U.S. Senate,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Senator Reid: Your decision to block Senate 
     confirmation of the President's renomination of Bishop 
     William Graves of Memphis and Susan Williams of Knoxville to 
     the Tennessee Valley Authority Board of Directors astounds 
     me. If you succeed, you would overturn seventy-five years of 
     federal law and custom.
       Your actions insult the Mid-South's largest city, Memphis. 
     Until Bishop Graves' appointment in 2006, a Memphian had 
     never served on the TVA board.
       Your actions are an affront to more than one and a half 
     million African Americans in the seven--state TVA region. 
     Until the appointment of Bishop Graves the presiding Bishop 
     of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church--an African 
     American had never served on the TVA board.
       Your actions are the kind of disheartening playpen partisan 
     politics that disappoint the American people and are causing 
     them to cry out for change in the way Washington does its 
     business.
       Since the founding of TVA in 1933, federal law has never 
     required presidents to appoint TVA directors from one 
     political party or another.
       Almost always, presidents have appointed members of their 
     own political party. As is the case with Bishop Graves, 
     members have often been political independents.
       TVA is the nation's largest public utility, with more than 
     $9.2 billion in annual revenues and 8.7 million customers. In 
     2004, after several years of debate, Congress created a new 
     TVA board and a modern governance structure.
       Bishop Graves and Susan Williams were original members of 
     the new board, nominated by the President and confirmed by 
     the Senate. They have served with distinction. The President 
     has now renominated them. The Senate Committee on Environment 
     and Public Works has again unanimously recommended them.

[[Page S3652]]

       Tennessee Valley residents face no greater challenges today 
     than dealing with energy costs, clean air and climate change. 
     The Tennessee Valley Authority needs a full membership on its 
     board to solve those problems.
       I respectfully request that you lift your roadblock, stop 
     trying to change seventy-five years of law and custom, and 
     allow these two outstanding nominees to go back to work on 
     the TVA board helping to provide the large amounts of clean, 
     low cost, reliable electricity Tennessee Valley residents 
     need to keep good jobs and clean air.
           Sincerely.
                                                  Lamar Alexander,
                                            United States Senator.

  Mr. ALEXANDER. I have said to the majority leader: This is an insult 
to Memphis. Bishop Graves is the first Memphian ever to serve on the 
TVA board in its history. It is an affront to the more than 1.5 million 
African Americans in our region. Bishop Graves is the first African 
American ever to be on the TVA board.
  At a time when there is a stream of Democratic Senators coming to the 
floor trying to find somebody to blame for high gas prices, why is the 
majority leader locking up two of the most valuable players on our team 
whose job it is to deal with high gas prices, high electric prices, 
climate change, clean air, and national security?
  I respectfully suggest that the majority leader, for whom I have the 
greatest respect, lift this roadblock--stop trying to change 75 years 
of law and custom. Unlock our two players and let them out and let them 
into the game against high gas prices and let them go to work.
  This is disheartening playpen partisan politics--it disappoints the 
American people and causes them to cry out for changing the way that we 
do business in Washington.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Tennessee is 
recognized.
  Mr. CORKER. Madam President, it is always an honor to be in the 
presence of the senior Senator from Tennessee who does such an 
outstanding job in this body of promoting bipartisanship.
  I know the Presiding Officer has played a big role in that. I thank 
you for that. I want to say I came here as did the Senator to solve big 
problems for our country in a bipartisan way.
  I just left a meeting that I think exemplifies that to the highest 
level, where Ron Wyden and Bob Bennett are cosponsoring a great piece 
of legislation in a bipartisan way, to solve the tremendous health care 
crisis our country is dealing with today.
  I am proud to be part of that and to join them in a bipartisan way to 
solve this major problem. I know many of us are doing the same thing to 
focus on the energy issues that are before us as a country. That is 
what I came here to the Senate to do. I know that is exactly the 
reason, Madam President, you came to the Senate.
  That is why today I rise with tremendous frustration over the actions 
of our majority leader. I have enjoyed working with our majority 
leader, and he certainly has done a good job in many instances. But, 
today, strictly on a politically motivated basis, in a letter to the 
senior Senator he stated he is not going to confirm TVA appointees 
because they are not Democrats.
  We went through a tremendous amount of effort, or this body did prior 
to me being here, to make sure the TVA board was a professional board, 
that people there were able to make decisions in the best interests of 
that body and all the many people who are served by the TVA facility.
  These two nominees are outstanding human beings. They have served 
their State, their cities, and our country with great distinction. 
Bishop Graves is someone who recently was heralded here in Washington 
because of his tremendous leadership in making sure that the racial 
divides that have been a part of our country were swept away.
  Susan Williams has done the same, has been a leader in many other 
ways, in business, and both of them have helped shepherd TVA through 
some of the finest years TVA has had.
  Both of these are reappointments. In other words, they have already 
served as part of the TVA board, which recently has been expanded 
geographically to bring in other States, which is a very good thing 
from the standpoint of board representation.
  Both of these members were approved unanimously by EPW, again a 
bipartisan effort, which I might say also is controlled by the 
Democratic Party. So I have to tell you while it is frustrating to me 
to see this body become a proxy in some cases for the Presidential 
races, I hate to see some of the things we deal with as a result, and 
that diminishes this body.
  I will tell you that our leader taking this position is a tremendous 
disservice to this body; diminishes this body. I hope the leader will 
come to his senses, will realize that not only is he doing something 
that is of tremendous harm to TVA, it damages this body for the 
majority leader to act in such a politically motivated way.
  I hope very soon these nominees will be reappointed. I hope TVA can 
get about its business in serving the people of Tennessee and other 
surrounding States in a proper way. I hope the majority leader again 
will do the right thing, will cause these nominees to come to the 
floor. I am sure they will be unanimously confirmed.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. MARTINEZ. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum 
call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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