[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 155 (Tuesday, December 16, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Page S6905]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


    NOMINATION OF ESTEVAN R. LOPEZ TO BE COMMISSIONER OF RECLAMATION

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  NOMINATION OF MARCUS DWAYNE JADOTTE TO BE AN ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF 
                                COMMERCE

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      NOMINATION OF JONATHAN NICHOLAS STIVERS TO BE AN ASSISTANT 
ADMINISTRATOR OF THE UNITED STATES AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

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 NOMINATION OF JOHN CHARLES CRUDEN TO BE AN ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL

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NOMINATION OF CHRISTOPHER SMITH TO BE AN ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF ENERGY 
                            (FOSSIL ENERGY)

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senate will now proceed to the following 
nominations, which the clerk will report.
  The assistant legislative clerk read the nominations of Estevan R. 
Lopez, of New Mexico, to be Commissioner of Reclamation; Marcus Dwayne 
Jadotte, of Florida, to be an Assistant Secretary of Commerce; Jonathan 
Nicholas Stivers, of the District of Columbia, to be an Assistant 
Administrator of the United States Agency for International 
Development; John Charles Cruden, of Virginia, to be an Assistant 
Attorney General; and Christopher Smith, of Texas, to be an Assistant 
Secretary of Energy (Fossil Energy).


                        Vote on Lopez Nomination

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is, Will the Senate advise and 
consent to the nomination of Estevan R. Lopez, of New Mexico, to be 
Commissioner of Reclamation?
  The nomination was confirmed.


                       Vote on Jadotte Nomination

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is, Will the Senate advise and 
consent to the nomination of Marcus Dwayne Jadotte, of Florida, to be 
an Assistant Secretary of Commerce?
  The nomination was confirmed.


                       Vote on Stivers Nomination

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is, Will the Senate advise and 
consent to the nomination of Jonathan Nicholas Stivers, of the District 
of Columbia, to be an Assistant Administrator of the United States 
Agency for International Development?
  The nomination was confirmed.


                       Vote on Cruden Nomination

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is, Will the Senate advise and 
consent to the nomination of John Charles Cruden, of Virginia, to be an 
Assistant Attorney General?
  The nomination was confirmed.


                        Vote on Smith Nomination

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is, Will the Senate advise and 
consent to the nomination of Christopher Smith, of Texas, to be an 
Assistant Secretary of Energy (Fossil Energy)?
  The nomination was confirmed.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call 
be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Under the previous order, the motions to reconsider are considered 
made and laid upon the table and the President will be immediately 
notified of the Senate's action.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                   unanimous consent request--s. 2244

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
resume legislative session and proceed to the consideration of the 
House message to accompany S. 2244, which is the Terrorism Risk 
Insurance Act; that the majority leader be recognized for the purpose 
of offering a motion to concur in the House amendment to S. 2244; that 
there be up to 10 minutes of debate equally divided between the two 
leaders or their designees prior to a vote on the motion to concur; 
that there be no motions to concur with an amendment or motions to 
refer in order prior to a vote on the motion to concur; finally, the 
vote on adoption of the motion to concur be subject to a 60-
affirmative-vote threshold.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. COBURN. Reserving the right to object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oklahoma.
  Mr. COBURN. Mr. President, I thank Senator Schumer for trying to work 
with me on this bill, and the members of the banking committee. They 
have known my objections all along on both NARAB and the options we 
offered.
  We offered this evening to the House three options under which they 
could enroll to come back to where the Senate had been in terms of a 2-
year sunset provision. They disagreed with that. And the other options 
we offered--taking NARAB completely out of this bill--which doesn't 
have anything to do with the terrorism risk insurance bill, or to give 
States an opt-out so the States that don't want to be a part of the 
NARAB provision don't have to be a part of it, we have not been able to 
find agreement on that, despite the best efforts of a lot of people 
here this evening.
  I ask the majority leader if he would agree to amend his request to 
strike the NARAB provision from the bill.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Does the majority leader so modify his 
request?
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, my friend 
from Oklahoma seeks to amend the House-passed TRIA bill with an 
unrelated piece of legislation in the sense that he knows--we all 
know--would change the bill, it is gone, and that would be a 
modification to the bill. If the Senate were to amend TRIA, we would 
have to send it back to the House of Representatives. They are gone. 
They are not going to change anything in the bill. We have been told 
that many times. Amending the TRIA bill would be just another way to 
kill the TRIA bill.
  I say with respect to my friend from Oklahoma, whom I have worked 
with for 10 years, from the very beginning we have tried to work out 
something with him on this bill. We have been unable to do that. It is 
unfortunate, but his objection is going to kill TRIA. I am very sorry 
about that, but that is a fact. So I cannot accept his modification.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  Is there objection to the original request?
  Mr. COBURN. Reserving the right to object, to continue one portion of 
my statement, if I might.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oklahoma.
  Mr. COBURN. According to industry calculations, TRIA has made the 
industry $40 billion in the last 12 years. The American taxpayer takes 
all the risks, except for 35 percent, and the insurance industry makes 
the money.
  We had a compromise bill coming out of the banking committee. My 
objections were well known at that time. They were trying to be 
accommodated by Senator Schumer.
  With that, I must object to the bill.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.

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