[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 19 (Friday, February 3, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S675-S678]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       Remembering LaVell Edwards

  Mr. HATCH. Madam President, I rise today to honor the memory of 
LaVell Edwards, a giant of the gridiron who guided the Brigham Young 
University football program through decades of unprecedented success. 
Surrounded by his family, Coach Edwards passed away peacefully on the 
morning of December 29, 2016.
  Born to Philo and Addie Edwards in 1930 in Orem, UT, he excelled in 
football and basketball at Lincoln High School.
  Following graduation, he decided to attend Utah State University to 
play football. LaVell figured that if he played for BYU, the hometown 
school, he would have lived at home and been required to milk the 
family cows, so he went north to Logan. At Utah State, he met the love 
of his life, Patti Covey. A few months after the two went on a blind 
date, they were married in Beaver Dam, UT.
  Following graduation, LaVell served in the Army for 2 years. After 
receiving an honorable discharge from the military, he became head 
football coach at Granite High School in Salt Lake City.
  After eight seasons as head coach, LaVell was hired at BYU by Hal 
Mitchell in 1962. LaVell humorously remarked that he was hired only 
because Coach Mitchell wanted to run the single wing offense and Coach 
Edwards was the only Mormon running that offense at the time.
  After 10 seasons as an assistant coach at BYU, he was promoted to 
head coach in 1972. Prior to his promotion, BYU had never achieved much 
success in football. In LaVell's words, it was a matter of when, not 
if, he would be fired. So he decided to do something that few other 
coaches were doing at the time: make the forward pass the focal point 
of the offense. LaVell's bold move revolutionized the game of football. 
His quarterbacks ended up throwing for over 100,000 yards, and four of 
them won the Davey O'Brien Award, given annually to college football's 
best quarterback. One of his quarterbacks even won the Heisman Trophy, 
which is awarded each year to college football's best player. LaVell's 
high-powered offense boosted the team to national prominence and 
culminated in BYU's 1984 national championship victory.
  Following this historic season, Coach Edwards was named the AFCA 
National Coach of the Year. With LaVell at the helm, BYU consistently 
finished in the top 25. He would eventually lead the Cougars to 19 
conference championships and 257 victories, making him the seventh 
winningest coach in college football history. He coached 31 all-
Americans, 6 College Football Hall of Famers, and 2 Outland Trophy 
winners. Coach Edwards himself was ultimately inducted into the College 
Football Hall of Fame in 2004.
  Despite his tremendous success on the field, LaVell always remained 
humble. He also never lost his sense of humor. Although college 
football fans typically remember Coach Edwards for his trademark 
sideline scowl, he was renowned for his wit. He quipped on this fact, 
saying, ``Someone once said I'm a happy guy; I just forgot to tell my 
face.'' With his disarming humor and clever one-liners, LaVell could 
lighten the mood and make almost anyone laugh.
  Coach Edwards also had a remarkable ability to delegate. Although he 
knew football forward and backward, he surrounded himself with capable 
coaches and he let them do their jobs. His assistants were some of the 
best ever in college football, partially because he let them have free 
reign. This quality allowed him to focus on the personal element of 
football.
  He valued all of his players, and by all accounts, his door was 
always open to them. Indeed, many of his players have spoken about 
having frequent meetings with him that helped change their lives for 
the better. At his funeral, hundreds of former football players showed 
up--Hall of Famers, top-notch-rated people in almost every case. I was 
there at the funeral on Saturday.
  Coach Edwards simply cared about people, and I was fortunate to 
witness this up close. In the 100th Congress, I had the pleasure of 
working with him when he was president of the American Football Coaches 
Association. Together, we helped to pass legislation that allowed the 
AFCA to establish multiemployer pensions for college football coaches. 
Given the uncertain nature of the coaching profession, this legislation 
was an important achievement for coaches and their families across the 
country.
  Although football was important to LaVell, his faith was first and 
foremost. While he was coaching at BYU, LaVell served as a lay bishop 
in a Mormon student congregation. He thoroughly enjoyed the 
interactions he had with those students.
  Throughout his life, he served his church in many other positions of 
responsibility. Following his retirement from coaching in 2000, LaVell 
and Patti served a public affairs mission in New York City for the 
Mormon Church. He served honorably in that capacity and even put his 
experience as a football coach to good use.
  I might add that he invited me to come up and go to dinner with a 
number of dignitaries in that area so that he could chat with them and 
tell them a little bit about his faith and his beliefs, and it was a 
privilege to do so.
  He and Patti were terrific missionaries and good people. While a 
missionary, LaVell aided in the establishment of Harlem's first high 
school football program in decades.
  Coach Edwards and Patti also met with many different political and 
religious leaders, and, as he put it, they looked to ``build bridges'' 
between these leaders and his church.
  Madam President, LaVell Edwards was a champion on and off the field. 
Not only was he one of the most successful coaches in college football 
history, he was also one of the greatest men I ever knew. I will be 
forever grateful for my own friendship with LaVell, and I pray that we 
will always remember the humility and humor that were the hallmarks of 
his life. It was one of the privileges of my life to have a personal 
relationship with him and Patti. They are two of the finest people I 
have ever met.
  I have to say that LaVell would drop anything to support his 
religious beliefs, and he was a tremendous influence on literally 
hundreds, if not thousands, of football players and others who watched 
what he said, watched what he did, and loved how well he did those 
things.
  I personally was befriended by him on a number of occasions, and it 
meant a lot to me. It means a lot to me to this day not because he was 
so important, he was one of the greatest coaches who ever lived, and he 
was in the Hall of Fame, but because he was down-to-earth, a person who 
loved to play golf, loved all sports, and loved being with people. And 
when he supported you, it was really support.
  All I can say is, he is one of the greatest men I have ever met in my 
life. He had a great influence on so many people--still does. His wife 
is every bit as great as he has been. Both are tremendous human beings 
who have made this world a better place to live.
  From a football standpoint, I think most coaches who knew him would 
say he was unexcelled, and I agree that is true, but that was minor 
compared to the type of life he lived, the type of things he did, the 
type of honors he shared, the type of kindness he showed, the ability 
to talk to people and help them through the problems they had, and, of 
course, the overall genuine goodness of a fellow whose life was well 
spent, who touched so many lives, literally hundreds of thousands of 
lives over the years, and who had this tremendous sense of humor that 
made being around him a real pleasure.
  I am grateful I knew LaVell Edwards well. I am grateful for the life 
he lived. I am grateful for the example he set. I am grateful for the 
joy he brought to so many people. And I wish his dear wife Patti 
well. I just hope that these words will be a little bit of consolation 
for her.

  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
order for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Kennedy). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Mr. President, I rise to strongly oppose the 
nomination

[[Page S676]]

of Betsy DeVos for Secretary of Education.
  I want to start by just reading from some letters from some young 
constituents that I received.
  From one little boy named Theodore:

       Dear Senator Gillibrand, I am a public student in PS 3. I 
     love my school.
       Please vote against Betsy DeVos because she's against 
     public schools. I'm happy here.

  From Felix:

       Dear Senator Gillibrand, I am a public school student in 
     New York, and I love my school. Please vote against Betsy 
     DeVos as Secretary of Education because she is prejudice 
     against public schools. I am in third grade and am a boy. 
     Love, Felix.
       Dear Senator Gillibrand, my name is Mina, and I am a public 
     school student. I love my school (PS3), and I hope you vote 
     against Betsy DeVos because she does not support public 
     schools. Sincerely, Mina.

  These are just three letters out of thousands of letters, phone 
calls, and emails from my constituents. I have never heard so much from 
my constituents about someone so ill-prepared for the job they have 
been nominated for.
  I am unconvinced that this nominee in any way would use her position 
to actually fight for the 2.6 million students and 200,000 teachers in 
the public schools in my State.
  She refused during hearings to commit to protecting the Federal 
funding that goes to our title I schools which serve students from our 
lowest income families. She refused to uphold critical Federal laws, 
like the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, in schools that 
receive this absolutely necessary Federal funding. She refused to 
commit to upholding title IX guidance from the Department of Education, 
which has played an instrumental role in addressing the problem of 
sexual assault in our schools across the country. She even wavered on 
whether guns have any place in and around our schools, she said she 
would oppose gun-free school zones. She doesn't have any experience 
working as a teacher or as a school administrator at any point in her 
career. Instead, she has spent decades advocating for education 
policies that would fundamentally undermine our public school education 
system.
  What kind of message does this send to our students and their 
families and our teachers if we put our trust in a person who has 
worked so tirelessly throughout her career to weaken public schools?
  I am astonished by how little the nominee seems to understand about 
the basic needs of New York's schools, teachers, and parents. I am very 
disturbed about how out of touch her statements are with basic values.
  In New York, we have over 2.6 million students who attend public 
schools, including 450,000 with disabilities. We have over 200,000 
public schoolteachers.
  Ninety percent of all students in our country go to public school. 
Public schools serve all kids. They feed them if they show up hungry. 
Public schools help all kids with disabilities and don't send them 
somewhere else. Public schools help all students reach their God-given 
potential, and public schools are held accountable for meeting the 
requirements of our Federal education system and essential civil rights 
protections, but this nominee has vilified public schools.
  Teachers and students around the country have raised their voices 
about this nominee, and they have made their views very clear. They do 
not want us to confirm Betsy DeVos to lead the Department of Education 
because they feel she is not an Education Secretary for all of America. 
I have heard from tens of thousands of them. Listening to what my 
constituents say, they are pretty concerned.
  I would like to read a couple more letters. This one is from a school 
social worker in a middle school. She was hired to help underserved 
children develop effective executive functioning skills and survive 
their day-to-day lives.

       My students are resilient, intelligent, loving young women 
     and men, and they face indescribable hardships that no child 
     should have to experience.
       The ideologies and policies represented by Betsy DeVos and 
     the Trump administration put my students' futures on the 
     line.
       Please continue to represent and fight for my students by 
     denying the confirmation of Betsy DeVos for Secretary of 
     Education.

  Here is another letter:

       While I teach in a private school setting, my sixth grade 
     daughter attends a public middle school, and my second grade 
     son attends a funded special education school to address his 
     speech and language delays.
       We rely on the excellent public schools in our community to 
     support the learning needs of our children, as do hundreds of 
     thousands of other families in New York City and millions of 
     families across the Nation.

  Here is another letter from a teacher in one of the poorest school 
districts in my State. He wrote:

       I not only teach the State-mandated curriculum--we offer 
     elite educational programming to all those who reside in our 
     district.
       I am honored on a daily basis to know that I have been able 
     to level the playing field for many students by offering them 
     the keys to success through their education.
       Students who come to us homeless, underfed, victims of 
     poverty and trauma are given the same access to success as 
     those more fortunate.
       Because of our public school systems, they have been able 
     to achieve the American dream and achieve all their dreams.

  These are real concerns. These are heartfelt worries. This is what 
the people of New York are saying and people across this country. We 
need to listen to our constituents. We need to serve them. We need to 
represent them. We need to listen to our teachers across our States who 
work so hard every day to make sure our children can learn and reach 
their potential. We need to listen to our families and our students who 
have expressed very real fears that this nominee will cause damage to 
our public schools.
  So I stand with my colleagues from both parties to oppose this 
nomination. I will not support the confirmation of someone who is such 
a threat to our public school system.
  I encourage everyone in this Chamber to think about the students and 
teachers in their States who desperately need a leader to run the 
Department of Education. I urge all of my colleagues to vote this 
nominee down.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. REED. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. REED. Mr. President, I rise in opposition to the nomination of 
Betsy DeVos to be the Secretary of Education. This is not a position I 
take lightly. I have never opposed the confirmation of a nominee for 
Secretary of Education. I also have never seen the intensity of 
opposition to a nominee for this position as we have witnessed with 
Mrs. DeVos.
  Thousands of Rhode Islanders--educators, parents, community leaders--
have written or called to express their dismay that a person with Mrs. 
DeVos's record and background would be chosen to lead the Department of 
Education. What I have seen and heard about Mrs. DeVos leads me to 
agree with my constituents--she is uniquely unsuited and unqualified 
for this critical position.

  The U.S. Secretary of Education oversees the Federal Government's 
role in ensuring educational equity in our public schools regardless of 
family income, race, ethnicity, language, or disability. Mrs. DeVos's 
work has been in the opposite direction. She has dedicated her time, 
political capital, and personal fortune to creating private sector 
alternatives to public education.
  She has also fought to shield those alternatives from the same 
standards and accountability that apply to public schools. For example, 
she spent a reported $1.45 million to reward or punish Michigan 
legislators as part of her effort to kill an accountability plan that 
would have included charter schools. This hostility to public schools 
and affinity for using public dollars to fund private schools or for-
profit education companies makes her, in my estimation, a poor choice 
to lead the U.S. Department of Education.
  Mrs. DeVos's crusade for vouchers raises another fundamental question 
about whether she respects the separation between church and state. 
This is a founding principle of our Nation. However, in the past, she 
has talked about her education reform efforts in religious terms as 
advancing God's Kingdom and reversing what she feels is a trend of 
public schools displacing church in community life. In an 
administration that has signaled a willingness to discriminate based on 
religion,

[[Page S677]]

these views are cause for real concern and they have no place at the 
U.S. Department of Education.
  Mrs. DeVos's crusade for school choice in Michigan has been a failure 
for students. Since 2000, student achievement in that State has fallen. 
In 2000, Michigan students scored above the national average on the 
National Assessment of Education Progress in fourth grade reading and 
math. By 2015, they were below average.
  As a single-issue educational reformer, Mrs. DeVos does not have the 
breadth of knowledge necessary to oversee our national education policy 
from preschool through adult education and postsecondary education. Her 
policy solution for education is choice. As they say, when all you have 
is a hammer, everything is a nail. This one-size-fits-all approach is a 
real danger given the diversity of our students, our institutions, our 
communities, and the different educational challenges across the 
lifespan of individual Americans.
  I know many parents and students and employers are worried about our 
schools. I share that worry, and we need to do more, but Mrs. DeVos's 
plan to eliminate those neighborhood schools rather than do the hard 
work of repairing, renovating, and providing the supports that enable 
all schools to be ready to learn at school is cause for alarm.
  During her hearing, Mrs. DeVos displayed little understanding of the 
Federal student aid programs that provide approximately $150 billion in 
assistance to students struggling to pay for college. So not only does 
she have a single-minded focus on private charter elementary schools, 
she has very little grasp--from her hearing testimony--on the 
challenges for postsecondary education in the United States.
  She also appeared confused about questions regarding the Individuals 
with Disabilities Education Act--the landmark law enacted in 1975, and 
updated many times since, that protects the rights of children with 
disabilities to a free and appropriate education. At first, she 
suggested that States should be allowed to decide whether or how to 
enforce the law, and that, in my view, is a disqualifying answer. This 
has been a Federal initiative that has proved successful.
  Indeed, many of us can recall when students with special needs were 
ignored--totally ignored--until the IDEA, and now they have been 
incorporated into our public school systems and into our educational 
system, which has benefited these students, their families, and our 
country.
  I also share my colleagues' concerns about Mrs. DeVos's finances and 
her ability to carry out her duties as Secretary free from conflict of 
interest. Her ethics disclosures show investments and relationships 
across a range of education interests from for-profit early childhood 
education companies to for-profit education management entities, 
advocacy organizations, education software, campus services, private 
student loans, and student loan debt collectors. She has not fully 
disclosed her assets to the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and 
Pensions Committee and has declined to provide information on the 
holdings in two family trusts that she will retain if she is confirmed. 
This lack of transparency raises real questions about whose interests 
will be served under her administration at the Department of Education.
  Education is really the launching pad for the American dream. It is 
the engine that drives this country forward. The Secretary of Education 
must be a champion for public education.
  As we have seen from the Office of Civil Rights data collection, we 
have significant gaps in opportunities and resources in schools across 
this country. Our Secretary of Education must be dedicated to helping 
States and school districts close those gaps. These children cannot 
afford to have resources drained from their public schools for vouchers 
that will do little to improve the quality of education in their 
communities.
  And as many of my colleagues in rural States have indicated, there is 
just, in many places geographically, the inability to substitute a 
public school with a vouchered charter or private school. If we break 
faith with these public schools, we will leave thousands of Americans, 
particularly in rural communities, without any real choice.
  The Secretary of Education should be working toward helping our 
teachers, principals, school leaders, and parents ensure that we are 
reaching all students and helping them succeed. All students include 
students with disabilities and English language learners. All students, 
together, learning from one another and not in separate and, indeed, 
perhaps inherently unequal environments. Our goal should be equal 
opportunity. And if we pursue that goal, we will see the progress and 
success of America continue.
  We need a Secretary of Education who is prepared on day one to lead 
our Federal student aid system that includes a student loan portfolio 
of over $1 trillion with more than 40 million borrowers. This is 
another aspect of the responsibilities in postsecondary education that, 
in her testimony and in her presentation, Mrs. DeVos appeared to be 
ill-informed about. Our Secretary of Education must be at the forefront 
of expanding college access, improving affordability, and ensuring that 
students' educational and financial interests are protected.
  We need a Secretary of Education who is prepared to address the needs 
of adult learners, especially those who have been left behind in a 
changing economy. Mrs. DeVos has provided no insight as to how she will 
lead the Department of Education's efforts to support adult learners.
  In fact, one of the realities of this economy is that learning today 
is lifelong, lifetime learning. We have left the period in which a high 
school diploma would be adequate for a person to get a good job, move 
up through the ranks in a company, retire comfortably, and provide for 
the next generation. Now, the intensity of education and the duration 
of education has to be for a lifetime. And, once again, that knowledge, 
that expertise, was not demonstrated in her testimony.
  Sadly, I do not believe that Mrs. DeVos is the Education Secretary 
that we need. She has dedicated her time and wealth to promoting 
alternatives to public education, which I believe is the bedrock of our 
democracy. I think one of the most significant reasons this country 
grew and expanded was that going back to our earliest days, we, more 
than any other Nation in the world, pioneered free public education, 
accessible to all, and that engine drove this country forward. To 
ignore that, to abandon public education, would be a tremendous setback 
to not only our economy but to the fabric of our society.
  Her focus on vouchers and for-profit education calls into question--
very dramatically--her commitment to public schools. It does not seem 
to be her major priority, and I would argue that has to be a major 
priority of the Secretary of Education, along with the Federal role of 
ensuring that the rights of all students are protected, regardless of 
where they live. This can't be a Department of Education that is 
focused on certain ZIP Codes and ignores other ZIP Codes.
  Furthermore, nothing in her background and in her testimony before 
the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee inspires 
confidence that she has the experience or vision necessary to oversee 
public education policy, including higher education and adult 
education.
  For these reasons, I cannot support her nomination, and I would urge 
my colleagues to join me in voting no.
  As I indicated in my opening remarks, having served under both 
Republican Presidents and Democratic Presidents, this is the first time 
I have ever felt that I could not support a nominee for the Department 
of Education.
  With that, Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I wish to thank my many colleagues who 
have been here this morning to talk about this critical appointment, 
the Secretary of Education, who oversees all of our K-12 and higher 
education in this country. It is a principle so many of us care about. 
I have heard passionately from so many of my colleagues here today 
about what public education means to them, what it means to our 
country, what it means to our

[[Page S678]]

democracy, and what it means for kids of all different backgrounds to 
come together in a public education system that is guaranteed by this 
country. The dangerous views of this nominee, Betsy DeVos as Secretary 
of Education--who has said repeatedly she will not protect the 
investments we have made, but rather has the philosophy that we should 
take money away from our public education students and put it to 
vouchers for private schools--will undermine our whole entire 
democracy. It is why we have heard across this country from so many 
parents and teachers and students and grandparents and business leaders 
who are urging Senators from every State to vote no on this nominee.
  Certainly we can do better. Certainly the last election was not about 
sending our K-12 and higher education system into chaos, certainly not 
at a time when one of the most important things people care about is 
the stability of our economy, the ability to get a job. Fundamental to 
that is being able to know you can go to a school, no matter where you 
are or where you live or how much money you have, and get a good 
education. We need to keep that, and no one wants to send that system 
into chaos at this time. That is why people are speaking out.
  As I mentioned earlier today, I have heard from thousands of people 
in my home State who have contacted me with concerns about this 
nomination of Betsy DeVos to be the Secretary of Education. An 
overwhelming number of them are people who have spent time in our 
classrooms with our kids; that is, our teachers. Many of them have 
spent decades in public schools dedicating their own lives to helping 
our children learn in school districts of all different sizes, and 
those teachers deserve a voice today.
  So I thought I would take a few minutes to tell my colleagues a 
little bit about what I am hearing and why they believe we should 
oppose Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education.
  I heard from a teacher from my hometown of Bothell, WA, who wrote me 
and said that public education is the basis of equality for all 
students in this country. Our Founding Fathers recognized the 
importance of having educated citizens and the need to provide it for 
all of our children. Education for profit doesn't work. And we need to 
do what we can to make sure we fight privatization of our education 
system.
  I heard from another woman in central Washington who works with low-
income students. As she noted, taking title I funding and putting it 
toward private schools will be devastating to small communities. She is 
echoing what I am hearing from rural communities across my State and 
what I am hearing from many other Senators who have talked to me about 
what they are hearing from rural communities in their States.
  From Seattle, I heard from an educator who told me that she wanted to 
see fellow educators--or at least people with some experience in our 
public schools--running this Department. That is why she opposes Betsy 
DeVos--no experience.

  A retired teacher from Mercer Island asked me to oppose this 
nomination. She has spent 37 years teaching children in our public 
schools.
  On the other side of my State, in Spokane, a 28-year teaching veteran 
says strengthening public education is the best thing we can do for 
schools like hers that are located in a high-poverty district.
  In Prosser, a public school teacher and a former lawyer told me that 
he is committed to both the public education system and the 
Constitution. He called the nomination of Betsy DeVos an affront to 
both, given what he called her track record of undermining public 
schools and the need for separation of church and State. He said that 
only through access to high-quality learning opportunities can we 
remain free.
  I heard from a teacher--also a parent--from Issaquah who said: ``This 
nomination is very disappointing.'' In order to ``make America great 
again'' she said we need fully funded schools for teachers who have the 
time and the resources to prepare students to be lifelong learners.
  In Monroe, WA, a teacher for 35 years says she is afraid of what 
DeVos could mean to public education.
  From Camano Island, a retired teacher of 31 years said all children 
deserve the same access to high-quality public education.
  A teacher from Vancouver School District tells me that our public 
schools deserve better than someone who has called them a dead end, 
adding that the Secretary of Education should be an advocate for the 
principle of free, quality, and equal education. She worries that if we 
don't defend public education from the views of Mrs. DeVos, then we 
have failed the future of this democracy.
  I received a succinct message from Dave in Seattle, in all caps, 
where he writes: ``ABSOLUTELY NO.''
  Those are just a few of the many, many people I am hearing from. 
There are literally thousands and thousands more. I know that is true 
from all of our colleagues here. Why? Because people are making their 
voices heard loud and clear. They want a Secretary of Education with 
real experience in public schools who is truly dedicated to 
strengthening our public education system across the country.
  I am proud to stand with my constituents and the public school 
educators from Washington State to urge our colleagues to vote no on 
Betsy DeVos.
  We have had a good number of Senators here today to talk about this. 
I know we are going to be spending Monday, Monday afternoon, into the 
night Monday, Tuesday morning hearing from many other Senators and 
having a very robust debate.
  I hope that all of those who are listening, and everyone in this 
country, stands up at this time and thinks about what public education 
means to this freedom and this democracy, and I know they will, as they 
have been continuing to let their voices be heard by their elected 
representatives.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mrs. ERNST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________