[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 155 (Tuesday, December 16, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6903-S6904]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EXECUTIVE CALENDAR, NOMINATION DISCHARGED, AND PRIVILEGED NOMINATIONS
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate
proceed to the consideration of Calendar Nos. 900, Broadcasting Board
of Governors; 651, 970, Chemical Safety Board; 1079, Rasmussen; 514,
Lopes; 1104, Bradley; 1141, Rosekind; 933, Tierney; 644, 645, 646, 737,
Udall Foundation; 844, 845, 862, 864, 865, Legal Services Board; 757,
1085, 1086, Election Assistance Corporation; 1062, 1005, U.S.
Attorneys; 1099, 1100, Coleman; 790, Alexander; 1111, Berteau; 1110,
Scher; 1090, Baily; 1091, Cekuta; 1092, Uyehara; 1093, Mills; further,
that the commerce committee be discharged from further consideration of
the nomination PN 2092, O'Rielly; further, that the HELP Committee be
discharged from further consideration of PN2065, PN1279, PN1280, Legal
Services Board; further, that the Environment and Public Works
Committee be discharged from further consideration of PN1916, Udall
Foundation; that the nominations be agreed to; the motions to
reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no
intervening action or debate; that no further motions be in order to
the nominations; that any statements related to the nominations be
printed in the Record; and that the President be immediately notified
of the Senate's action.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Without objection, it is so ordered.
The nominations considered and confirmed are as follows:
broadcasting board of governors
Karen Kornbluh, of New York, to be a Member of the
Broadcasting Board of Governors for a term expiring August
13, 2016.
chemical safety and hazard investigation board
Richard J. Engler, of New Jersey, to be a Member of the
Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board for a term of
five years.
Manuel H. Ehrlich, Jr., of New Jersey, to be a Member of
the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board for a term
of five years.
office of the director of national intelligence
Nicholas J. Rasmussen, of Virginia, to be Director of the
National Counterterrorism Center, Office of the Director of
National Intelligence.
inter-american development bank
Mark E. Lopes, of Arizona, to be United States Executive
Director of the Inter-American Development Bank for a term of
three years.
DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
Leigh A. Bradley, of Virginia, to be General Counsel,
Department of Veterans Affairs.
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Mark R. Rosekind, of California, to be Administrator of the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
Helen Tierney, of Virginia, to be Chief Financial Officer,
Department of Veterans Affairs.
MORRIS K. UDALL AND STEWART L. UDALL FOUNDATION
Charles P. Rose, of Illinois, to be a Member of the Board
of Trustees of the Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall
Foundation for a term expiring May 26, 2019.
Mark Thomas Nethery, of Kentucky, to be a Member of the
Board of Trustees of the Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall
Foundation for a term expiring October 6, 2018.
Anne J. Udall, of Oregon, to be a Member of the Board of
Trustees of the Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall
Foundation for a term expiring October 6, 2016.
Camilla C. Feibelman, of New Mexico, to be a Member of the
Board of Trustees of the Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall
Foundation for a term expiring April 15, 2017.
legal services corporation
Martha L. Minow, of Massachusetts, to be a Member of the
Board of Directors of the Legal Services Corporation for a
term expiring July 13, 2017.
Charles Norman Wiltse Keckler, of Virginia, to be a Member
of the Board of Directors of the Legal Services Corporation
for a term expiring July 13, 2016.
legal services corporation
Gloria Valencia-Weber, of New Mexico, to be a Member of the
Board of Directors of the Legal Services Corporation for a
term expiring July 13, 2017.
John Gerson Levi, of Illinois, to be a Member of the Board
of Directors of the Legal Services Corporation for a term
expiring July 13, 2017.
Robert James Grey, Jr., of Virginia, to be a Member of the
Board of Directors of the Legal Services Corporation for a
term expiring July 13, 2017.
election assistance commission
Thomas Hicks, of Virginia, to be a Member of the Election
Assistance Commission for a term expiring December 12, 2017.
Matthew Vincent Masterson, of Ohio, to be a Member of the
Election Assistance Commission for a term expiring December
12, 2017.
Christy A. McCormick, of Virginia, to be a Member of the
Election Assistance Commission for a term expiring December
12, 2015.
department of justice
David Rivera, of Tennessee, to be United States Attorney
for the Middle District of Tennessee for the term of four
years.
Arthur Lee Bentley III, of Florida, to be United States
Attorney for the Middle District of Florida for the term of
four years.
united nations
Isobel Coleman, of New York, to be Representative of the
United States of America to the United Nations for U.N.
Management and Reform, with the rank of Ambassador.
Isobel Coleman, of New York, as an Alternate Representative
of the United States of America to the Sessions of the
General Assembly of the United Nations during her tenure of
service as Representative of the United States of America to
the United Nations for U.N. Management and Reform.
united states agency for international development
Paige Eve Alexander, of Virginia, to be an Assistant
Administrator of the United States Agency for International
Development.
department of defense
David J. Berteau, of Maryland, to be an Assistant Secretary
of Defense.
Robert M. Scher, of the District of Columbia, to be an
Assistant Secretary of Defense.
department of state
Jess Lippincott Baily, of Ohio, a Career Member of the
Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United
States of America to the Republic of Macedonia.
Robert Francis Cekuta, of New York, a Career Member of the
Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United
States of America to the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Margaret Ann Uyehara, of Ohio, a Career Member of the
Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United
States of America to Montenegro.
Richard M. Mills, Jr., of Texas, a Career Member of the
Senior Foreign Service, Class of Counselor, to be Ambassador
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United
[[Page S6904]]
States of America to the Republic of Armenia.
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Michael P. O'Rielly, of New York, to be a Member of the
Federal Communications Commission for a term of five years
from July 1, 2014.
LEGAL SERVICES CORPORATION
Joseph Pius Pietrzyk, of Ohio, to be a Member of the Board
of Directors of the Legal Services Corporation for a term
expiring July 13, 2017.
Laurie I. Mikva, of Illinois, to be a Member of the Board
of Directors of the Legal Services Corporation for a term
expiring July 13, 2016.
Victor B. Maddox, of Kentucky, to be a Member of the Board
of Directors of the Legal Services Corporation for a term
expiring July 13, 2016.
morris k. udall and stewart l. udall foundation
James L. Huffman, of Oregon, to be a Member of the Board of
Trustees of the Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall
Foundation for a term expiring October 6, 2020.
Mr. PRYOR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the action of
the Senate with respect to discharging PN Nos. 2065, 1279, 1280, and
1916 from the HELP and EPW Committees be vitiated.
For the information of the Senate, these nominations were on the
calendar on the privileged nominations list.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Rosekind Nomination
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President. I support the nomination of Dr. Mark
Rosekind to be the next administrator of the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration, NHTSA.
Dr. Rosekind has served as a member of the National Traffic Safety
Board, NTSB since 2009. His expertise is in developing countermeasures
for fatigue in order to enhance vehicle safety. He also previously
served at NASA for a number of years, and founded a technology company
aimed at creating software that helps to reduce the role of fatigue in
traffic incidents.
While I have some reservations about his somewhat limited management
experience, given the size of the workforce he has been nominated to
lead, I believe Dr. Rosekind's experience and expertise will enable him
to approach this agency that many perceive to be in crisis with an eye
toward making it more agile and technologically capable. I believe that
NHTSA must have a leader who can hit the ground running, and Dr.
Rosekind's extensive work in the safety area gives me confidence that
he will be the right leader at this time.
As I stated at Dr. Rosekind's nomination hearing last week, the
string of auto recalls this year has been cause for grave concern. We
are on pace to have the all-time worst year for auto recalls in U.S.
history, with about 60 million vehicles being subject to recalls so
far. In many of these cases, there are legitimate questions about
whether NHTSA should have identified the defective products earlier and
communicated more effectively with the public.
Since the start of the year, I have called on President Obama to
nominate a qualified individual to lead NHTSA without delay because
inaction sends a terrible signal to the regulated community and the
American people about automobile safety and oversight.
It took 343 days for President Obama to nominate a qualified
individual to lead NHTSA, at a time when the Nation faced a year of
record recalls, from the GM ignition switch recalls that began in
February to the recalls involving defective Takata air bags. In fact,
President Obama did not formally nominate Dr. Rosekind until the
evening before the Commerce Committee was to hold a hearing regarding
these defective Takata air bags.
By contrast, it has taken only 22 days for the Senate to receive the
nomination, work through regular order at the Commerce Committee to
hold a hearing and a markup for Dr. Rosekind's nomination, and today,
to confirm his nomination by the full Senate. I believe the Senate's
action today sends the clear signal that Senators on both sides of the
aisle care very deeply about improving auto safety.
I look forward to working with Dr. Rosekind as NHTSA continues to
work through the issues underlying the record number of recalls this
year. I particularly look forward to learning the conclusions of the
top-to-bottom review of NHTSA currently being conducted by the Obama
administration, which Dr. Rosekind has promised to share publicly. Dr.
Rosekind has a challenging road ahead of him, and the Commerce
Committee will continue to pursue rigorous oversight of NHTSA for the
foreseeable future, as well as possible solutions to better address
some of the lapses that have occurred both at NHTSA and with certain
auto manufacturers and parts suppliers.
I thank the Presiding Officer, and I yield the floor and suggest the
absence of a quorum.
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