[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 164 (Thursday, November 5, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11186-S11187]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           EXECUTIVE SESSION

                                 ______
                                 

  NOMINATION OF IGNACIA S. MORENO TO BE AN ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will 
proceed to executive session to consider a nomination, which the clerk 
will report.
  The assistant legislative clerk read the nomination of Ignacia S. 
Moreno, of New York, to be an Assistant Attorney General.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, today, the Senate will confirm yet another 
outstanding nominee to fill a high-level vacancy at the Department of 
Justice. The confirmation of Ignacia Moreno to head the Environment and 
Natural Resources Division is long overdue. Ms. Moreno's nomination has 
been stalled on the Senate Executive Calendar without explanation for 
almost 6 weeks. Nominations for four other Assistant Attorneys General 
to run divisions at the Department remain stalled by Republican 
objections to their consideration.
  I thank Senator Whitehouse for chairing the Judiciary Committee 
hearing on this nomination on September 9. When we reported this 
nomination by unanimous consent--without a single dissenting vote--on 
September 24, I did not imagine it would not be considered by the full 
Senate until November.

[[Page S11187]]

  Senate Republicans have irresponsibly held up nominations to critical 
posts in the Department of Justice, depriving the President, the 
Attorney General, and the country of the leaders needed to head key law 
enforcement divisions at the Justice Department. These are leaders in 
our Federal law enforcement efforts. Presidents of both parties, 
especially newly elected ones, are normally accorded significant 
deference to put in place appointees for their administrations.
  Yet, 10 months into President Obama's first term, even after we 
confirm Ms. Moreno, four nominations to be Assistant Attorneys General 
will remain stalled on the Senate's Executive Calendar due to 
Republican opposition and obstruction. These are the President's 
nominees to run 4 of the 11 divisions at the Justice Department--nearly 
half. By comparison, at this point in the Bush administration the 
Senate had confirmed nine Assistant Attorneys General and only one 
nomination was pending on the Senate Executive Calendar. The difference 
is that the Republican minority is refusing to consider these 
nominations.
  The nomination we consider today, President Obama's nomination of 
Ignacia Moreno to be the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the 
Environment and Natural Resources Division, has been on the Senate 
Executive Calendar for almost 6 weeks, even though it was reported by 
the Judiciary Committee without a single Republican Senator dissenting. 
By comparison, a Democratic majority in the Senate confirmed President 
Bush's nomination of Thomas Sansonetti to the position only 1 day after 
it was reported by the Judiciary Committee.
  The President nominated Dawn Johnsen to be the Assistant Attorney 
General in charge of the Office of Legal Counsel at the Justice 
Department on February 11. Her nomination has been pending on the 
Senate Executive Calendar since March 19. That is the longest pending 
nomination on the calendar by over 2 months. We did not treat President 
Bush's first nominee to head the Office of Legal Counsel the same way. 
We confirmed Jay Bybee to that post only 49 days after he was nominated 
by President Bush and only 5 days after his nomination was reported by 
the committee. Of course, his work in the Office of Legal Counsel is 
now the subject of an ongoing review by the Office of Professional 
Responsibility.
  Mary Smith's nomination to be the Assistant Attorney General in 
charge of the Tax Division has been pending on the Senate's Executive 
Calendar since June 11--nearly 5 months. We confirmed President Bush's 
first nomination to that position, Eileen O'Connor, only 57 days after 
her nomination was made and 1 day after her nomination was reported by 
the Committee. Her replacement, Nathan Hochman, was confirmed without 
delay, just 34 days after his nomination.
  Chris Schroeder's nomination to be the Assistant Attorney General in 
charge of the Office of Legal Policy has been pending on the Senate 
Executive Calendar since July 28. It was reported by voice vote without 
a single dissenting voice. President Bush's first nominee to head that 
division, Viet Dinh, was confirmed 96 to 1 only 1 month after he was 
nominated and only a week after his nomination was reported by the 
committee. The three nominees to that office that succeeded Mr. Dinh--
Daniel Bryant, Rachel Brand, and Elisabeth Cook--were each confirmed by 
voice vote in a shorter time than Professor Schroeder's nomination has 
been pending. Ms. Cook was confirmed 13 days after her nomination was 
reported by the committee, even though it was the final year of the 
Bush Presidency. By contrast, the majority leader may have to file 
another cloture position in order to overcome Republican obstruction 
and obtain Senate consideration of Professor Schroeder's nomination.
  Instead of withholding consents and filibustering President Obama's 
nominees, the other side of the aisle should join us in treating them 
fairly. We should not have to fight for months to schedule 
consideration of the President's judicial nominations and nomination 
for critical posts in the executive branch.
  Upon the announcement of her nomination, President Obama described 
Ignacia Moreno as a ``talented individual'' whose leadership will help 
us ``preserve our environment.'' I agree. Ignacia Moreno is a well-
qualified nominee who has chosen to leave a lucrative private practice 
to return to government service.
  Ms. Moreno currently works for General Electric, where she oversees 
that corporation's compliance with State and Federal laws. Prior to 
that, she spent 7 years in the Energy and Natural Resources Division, 
where she served as a Special Assistant and later Principal Counsel to 
the Assistant Attorney General. I am confident that Ms. Moreno's 
significant experience will be put to good use when she is confirmed to 
return to the Justice Department.
  I congratulate Ms. Moreno and her family on her confirmation today. I 
thank her many supporters for helping to free this nomination for 
Senate consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is, Will the Senate advise and 
consent to the nomination of Ignacia S. Moreno, of New York, to be an 
Assistant Attorney General?
  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. 
Byrd), the Senator from Delaware (Mr. Carper), and the Senator from 
Louisiana (Ms. Landrieu) are necessarily absent.
  Mr. KYL. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Georgia (Mr. Chambliss), the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. 
DeMint), the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Isakson), and the Senator from 
Ohio (Mr. Voinovich).
  Further, if present and voting, the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. 
DeMint) would have voted ``yea.''
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 93, nays 0, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 341 Leg.]

                                YEAS--93

     Akaka
     Alexander
     Barrasso
     Baucus
     Bayh
     Begich
     Bennet
     Bennett
     Bingaman
     Bond
     Boxer
     Brown
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burr
     Burris
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Casey
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Collins
     Conrad
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Crapo
     Dodd
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Franken
     Gillibrand
     Graham
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagan
     Harkin
     Hatch
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Inouye
     Johanns
     Johnson
     Kaufman
     Kerry
     Kirk
     Klobuchar
     Kohl
     Kyl
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     LeMieux
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lincoln
     Lugar
     McCain
     McCaskill
     McConnell
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Mikulski
     Murkowski
     Murray
     Nelson (NE)
     Nelson (FL)
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rockefeller
     Sanders
     Schumer
     Sessions
     Shaheen
     Shelby
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Thune
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Vitter
     Warner
     Webb
     Whitehouse
     Wicker
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--7

     Byrd
     Carper
     Chambliss
     DeMint
     Isakson
     Landrieu
     Voinovich
  The nomination was confirmed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The President will be notified of the Senate's 
action.

                          ____________________