[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 159 (Thursday, October 29, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S10889]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       SENATE HOLD ON GSA NOMINEE

  Mr. BOND. Mr. President, earlier today, apparently, our distinguished 
majority leader came to the floor and noted that a nomination for GSA--
made on the opening day of Major League Baseball season--still remains 
unconfirmed for the job and said it was ``because a Republican Senator 
is demanding a Federal building is built in his home State.''
  Obviously, I am that Senator. I thank the good Senator from Nevada 
for raising that question because I and a bipartisan group of Members 
of Congress and the leaders of the Kansas City area have been working 
with the GSA for the past several weeks to resolve the concerns I have 
and get some questions answered on a project very important to the 
Kansas City community.
  Our conversations have amazingly become very productive, and the GSA 
has assured me they will have information to share very shortly. 
Unfortunately, until I put this hold on the nominee, progress was not 
quite so quick. But I expect the issue to be resolved shortly, in what 
I hope is a matter of a couple days, to the benefit of the GSA and 
certainly to the benefit of the Kansas City greater community.
  Let me point out one other thing before leaving the floor. The 
community of Kansas City--all of the leadership, the elected officials 
and others--had gone together to work with the GSA to get a building--a 
new building--to replace an existing building, which by any stretch of 
the imagination is extremely expensive, is partly occupied, and is not 
conducive to good work, as a good workplace, and it needs to be 
replaced. We had gone all the way through, gotten GSA approval and 
gotten to OMB. Then it was held up in the Senate. After all the 
financing had been committed to construct a building on a lease-to-own 
basis, they decided to pull the plug.
  The Commissioner of Public Buildings has assured me that the existing 
facility is not a fit place for the workers to work. So I had asked and 
inquired of GSA and advised them that Kansas City needs to know what 
the plans are. As I say, our bipartisan congressional delegation is now 
receiving great cooperation, and we are working hard to get this 
resolved. We hope to do that shortly.
  I also want to point to the fact that, according to a report in 
govern
mentexecutive.com, delay on this nomination reaches back long before my 
informational hold, which occurred in late July. Since Senator Reid 
suggested the nomination has been pending since April, it raises the 
question: Why wasn't she approved in April, May, June or July, prior to 
my informational hold? That was a period during which the baseball 
season started and stretched long past the All-Star break.
  According to governmentexecutive
.com, the delay was because of concerns by Senator Reid that GSA allow 
Federal employees to travel to Las Vegas to meet, gamble or whatever 
one does in Vegas. It is important to the Federal employees in Kansas 
City that they have a building that has a roof that doesn't leak--a 
proposition of which GSA concurs. Senator Reid apparently wants Federal 
employees to be able to visit Las Vegas, and certainly I want Federal 
employees to have a good place to work. Senator Reid has his priorities 
regarding the delay on this nomination and I have mine. He wants more 
people in Las Vegas; I want to get the building that had been promised 
and was expected by the Federal employees in Kansas City.
  Assuming the report in govern
mentexecutive.com is accurate, I wish to make sure it is clear to the 
Senate that the delay in approval of this nomination has more than one 
father and is truly bipartisan.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record 
a copy of the article to which I referred.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                 [From Congress Daily, Sept. 14, 2009]

           Senate Majority Leader Slows Action on GSA Nominee

                           (By Dan Friedman)

       Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has missed few 
     chances to complain about blocked executive nominations, 
     regularly ripping Republicans for holds that he said are 
     designed to limit floor time for Democratic legislation.
       On Thursday, for example, Reid faulted Republican 
     ``stalling tactics'' for forcing a cloture vote before the 
     confirmation of Cass Sunstein to head OMB's Office of 
     Information and Regulatory Affairs. In a June floor speech, 
     he blasted Republicans for placing holds on more than 20 
     nominations.
       But multiple Democratic and Republican staffers say Reid 
     himself slowed action on one of the highest-ranking nominees 
     awaiting confirmation, Martha Johnson. She is President 
     Obama's pick to head the General Services Administration.
       Johnson, a former GSA chief of staff, cannot start her job 
     until she is confirmed, a GSA spokeswoman said.
       Reid is keen to promote travel to Nevada, where he faces a 
     tough re-election fight next year. Aides said he delayed 
     confirmation of Johnson while seeking assurances that the 
     agency, which oversees federal travel policy, did not 
     discourage federal employees from traveling to Las Vegas for 
     business conferences.
       Johnson's nomination cleared the Senate Homeland Security 
     and Governmental Affairs Committee in June, and drew no GOP 
     objections when it was circulated to all Senate offices. But 
     a Democrat apparently held up the nomination and prevented a 
     floor vote, Senate staffers from both parties said.
       ``We later learned that Reid has expressed some concerns 
     about travel,'' said a senior Republican aide. ``He had some 
     concerns about that and was using the Martha Johnson 
     nomination as leverage with the White House and GSA.''
       The aide said Reid did not place a technical hold, which 
     would not be needed since the majority leader controls the 
     floor schedule.
       ``It is not accurate to say that Sen. Reid had a hold on 
     the nomination. . . . It is typical practice that a 
     nomination is reviewed once it is received,'' a Democratic 
     leadership aide familiar with the matter said. ``There were a 
     couple of issues that needed clarification on the 
     nomination.''
       Reid has touted his concern about agencies limiting travel 
     to Las Vegas. In an exchange of letters in July, he asked 
     White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel to ensure federal 
     agencies do not prohibit travel to Las Vegas and other 
     conference destinations that ``are considered too leisure 
     oriented.'' On July 27 he sent a letter asking federal 
     agencies not to limit travel to any specific U.S. cities.
       After Reid's concerns were resolved, Sen. Christopher (Kit) 
     Bond, R-Mo., placed his own hold on the nomination last month 
     because of concerns about delays in a federal construction 
     project in Kansas City. Bond has met with Johnson, but is 
     continuing the hold while waiting for further information 
     from the nominee, a spokesman said.
  Mr. BOND. I thank the Chair. I yield the floor, and I suggest the 
absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BURR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. BURR. Mr. President, are we in morning business?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Yes.
  Mr. BURR. I ask unanimous consent to speak in morning business for 20 
minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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