[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 92 (Tuesday, June 25, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5119-S5120]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


        NOMINATION OF PENNY PRITZKER TO BE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will 
proceed to executive session to consider the following nomination which 
the clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read the nomination of Penny Pritzker, of 
Illinois, to be Secretary of Commerce.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, there is 30 minutes 
of debate equally divided in the usual form.
  The Senator from Illinois.
  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, for those who are following the debate 
of the Senate, we are in the midst of the debate on the immigration 
reform bill, expecting votes on amendments this

[[Page S5120]]

week, and then final passage. It is a historic and important measure. 
We have interrupted it briefly to consider a nomination that is 
important as well. It is the nomination by President Obama of Penny 
Pritzker of Chicago to be the next Secretary of Commerce in the 
President's Cabinet.
  I know Penny and I know her family and I know the reputation they 
enjoy in Chicago, in Illinois, and around the world. She is an 
extraordinary person. The Pritzker family has been successful in 
business for many decades and many generations. She stepped up years 
ago and told her father she wanted to play a role in business 
leadership. There weren't that many women involved in business 
leadership at that time, but her father said he would give her an 
opportunity, and he did. She became very successful with the 
corporation, with the family businesses, and has made a name for 
herself over the years.
  Penny has decades of business, entrepreneurial, and, equally 
important for this job, civic experience. Despite her success in the 
private sector, Penny Pritzker and her family have given unsparingly of 
their own time to help many important causes. She understands business 
and economic development, but she also understands the reality of the 
challenges many families face across our country.
  We know the jobs report from earlier this month showed we had 6.9 
million jobs created over 39 consecutive months of private sector job 
growth. That is progress. We have come a long way. But let's make no 
mistake, families are still struggling to find work and many who are 
working are struggling paycheck to paycheck to survive. Penny Pritzker 
will bring considerable experience to the Department of Commerce to 
help us create new businesses and job opportunities in America.
  Penny understands what it takes to build a business from scratch. She 
has done it five different times with startup businesses. She has 
created jobs that support families and communities across America.
  More than creating jobs, she has helped countless people get the 
education they need to connect them with job opportunities.
  She leads Skills for America's Future, a national program bringing 
together businesses, community colleges, and others, preparing workers 
for good-paying 21st century jobs.
  In addition to education, Penny Pritzker is an ardent supporter of 
the arts, which supports economic development and tourism across the 
Nation. She is a member of the American Academy of the Arts and 
Sciences and a trustee of the Kennedy Center.
  There is no question that our economy is headed in the right 
direction. The question is: Who will pursue today's efforts to continue 
that growth and lead us to future success? Who will continue efforts to 
help American businesses in the global marketplace?
  Although we are on the right track, too many businesses in America 
are still struggling to survive. Expanding the new markets is one way 
to help American business and our economy. We need a Secretary of 
Commerce who will not only help small businesses grow and create jobs 
but also open opportunities for businesses to expand their products and 
services across the States, the country, and the globe.
  Penny Pritzker called me a couple of weeks ago and urged me, if 
possible, to do everything I could to try to get her nomination moving 
before July. I talked to Senator Reid, who was fully supportive of the 
President's nominee. The reason she is anxious to do that is because 
important trade discussions are going to begin after the 1st of July 
with some of the leading economic powers around the world. She wanted 
to be at that table. It is important for America that she is.
  Penny knows what it takes to make business work. She knows the tools 
businesses need. What is more, she knows economic development at all 
levels.
  Colleagues from both sides of the aisle agree we need job creation. 
Penny Pritzker has a proven track record in promoting jobs and growth, 
and her leadership will help our country. Her decades of experience 
will serve her well. Ms. Pritzker's wide-ranging perspective will prove 
worthwhile to the future of our Nation as we compete in the global 
marketplace.
  I urge my colleagues to support Ms. Penny Pritzker's nomination, and 
I look forward to working with her as she is hopefully going to be the 
next Secretary of Commerce under the Obama administration.
  Madam President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arkansas.
  Mr. PRYOR. Madam President, I also rise in support of Penny Pritzker 
for Secretary of Commerce. I think she will do an excellent job.
  I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business for 3 or 4 
minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.