[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 187 (Saturday, December 12, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S13096]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     NOMINATION OF ALAN D. SOLOMONT

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, on September 21, 2009, I announced my 
intention to object to proceeding to the nomination of Alan D. Solomont 
to be the Ambassador to Spain because of the incomplete responses that 
the Corporation for National and Community Service, CNCS, had provided 
to my document requests regarding the removal of its Inspector General, 
Gerald Walpin. Mr. Solomont was the chairman of the board of CNCS at 
the time that my requests went unanswered, and he began the process 
that led to Mr. Walpin's removal by contacting the White House 
Counsel's Office on May 20, 2009.
  Since September 21, the White House produced approximately 1,900 
additional pages of previously withheld documents. During that time, my 
staff conducted a series of negotiations with CNCS and the White House 
Counsel's Office over the hundreds of pages of remaining documents that 
were being withheld or had been redacted. As a result of these 
negotiations, this week the White House authorized and CNCS provided: 
1. descriptions of the information redacted from several CNCS 
documents, 2. 37-previously produced documents with substantive 
redactions removed, and 3. 370 pages of previously withheld documents. 
In addition, the White House made Mr. Solomont available for a follow-
up interview on December 8, 2009, so that he could be questioned about 
new information that had been learned from these documents and other 
sources since his initial interview on July 15, 2009.
  In order to obtain this additional information, I agreed to no longer 
object to proceeding to Mr. Solomont's nomination if the White House 
took these steps. I have kept my word and informed leadership that I no 
longer intend to object. However, I remain concerned about the accuracy 
and completeness of Mr. Solomont's answers to questions during both his 
July 15 and December 8, 2009 interviews. I understand Congressman Issa 
of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform shares those 
concerns and has sent a letter to Mr. Solomont to that effect.
  Although CNCS has produced a total of approximately 3,000 pages of 
material responsive to my request, the record should also be clear that 
the White House continues to withhold 46 documents, on grounds of 
deliberative process and attorney work product privileges. The White 
House did not provide a detailed log of the documents being withheld 
despite my requests. I will continue to seek answers to the remaining 
questions in this matter.

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