[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 28 (Thursday, February 16, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1390-S1391]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                    Vote on Motion to Extend Debate

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the motion to 
extend postcloture debate.
  Mr. McCONNELL. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk called the roll.
  Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Arizona (Mr. McCain).
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Indiana (Mr. Donnelly) 
is necessarily absent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 47, nays 51, as follows:

                       [Rollcall Vote No. 70 Ex.]

                                YEAS--47

     Baldwin
     Bennet
     Blumenthal
     Booker
     Brown
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Coons
     Cortez Masto
     Duckworth
     Durbin
     Feinstein
     Franken
     Gillibrand
     Harris
     Hassan
     Heinrich
     Heitkamp
     Hirono
     Kaine
     King
     Klobuchar
     Leahy
     Manchin
     Markey
     McCaskill
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Murphy
     Murray
     Nelson
     Peters
     Reed
     Sanders
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Shaheen
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Udall
     Van Hollen
     Warner
     Warren
     Whitehouse
     Wyden

                                NAYS--51

     Alexander
     Barrasso
     Blunt
     Boozman
     Burr
     Capito
     Cassidy
     Cochran
     Collins
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Cotton
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Daines
     Enzi
     Ernst
     Fischer
     Flake
     Gardner
     Graham
     Grassley
     Hatch
     Heller
     Hoeven
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Lankford
     Lee
     McConnell
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Paul
     Perdue
     Portman
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rounds
     Rubio
     Sasse
     Scott
     Shelby
     Strange
     Sullivan
     Thune
     Tillis
     Toomey
     Wicker
     Young

                             NOT VOTING--2

     Donnelly
     McCain
       
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this vote, the yeas are 47, the nays are 
51.
  Three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn not having voted 
in the affirmative, the motion is rejected.
  The majority leader.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the votes 
following the first vote in the series be 10 minutes in length.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  There will now be 4 minutes of debate, equally divided, on the 
nomination.
  Who yields time?
  The Senator from Delaware.

[[Page S1391]]

  

  Mr. CARPER. Mr. President, I said repeatedly on this floor that I 
take no joy in discord and disagreement. I am not one who is interested 
in obstruction. I come from a little State like Senator Coons, where we 
get along pretty well. We believe in the three Cs--communicate, 
collaborate, compromise.
  But you know what else gives me no joy? I get no joy from rising sea 
levels from New England to Miami that threatens our way of life. It 
threatens our way of life. I get no joy from fish advisories that keep 
us from eating fish in every State in this country. I get no joy being 
one of the States at the end of America's tailpipe, where we get all 
this pollution from other States and end up with higher costs and worse 
healthcare. I get no joy from the millions of kids who go to school 
this week with their inhalers because they have asthma. I get no joy 
from people who appear before us as nominees, take 1,000 questions for 
the Record, and give us answers that in too many cases are evasive, 
indirect, or incomplete. I get no joy from nominees who appear before 
us who pledge to provide information requested by us responsibly, 
including electronic media, and never give it to us, who fight for 2 
years to make sure we never get it. I get no joy from those 
circumstances.
  Thomas Jefferson used to say: If the people know the truth, they will 
not make a mistake. We are prepared to vote here with incomplete 
information, without the kind of wisdom we could have and vote with if 
we would wait 10 days--10 days. That is what it would cost. Is that a 
long time? Ask Gina McCarthy. She waited 132 days to get a vote. If you 
think 1,000 questions are too many to answer, ask Gina McCarthy. She 
answered a lot more. Finally, the Republicans got their answers, and we 
got our vote. She won and, I think, did an admirable job.

  We need the truth. We are seeking the truth. I have no interest in 
obstruction. I want the truth.
  Vote no.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Wyoming.
  Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, for the past 8 years, the Environmental 
Protection Agency, through its regulatory rampage, has hurt a lot of 
people in my home State of Wyoming and all across the country. The 
EPA's overreaching regulations have stunted job growth, hurt our 
economy, and failed to help the Agency meet its mission. The mission is 
to protect the environment and the health of all Americans. The EPA 
needs to be reformed and modernized.
  Oklahoma attorney general Scott Pruitt is the right person for the 
job. Mr. Pruitt is committed to protecting the environment, ensuring 
clean air, water, and land while also supporting a strong and healthy 
economy. He stood up to industry that polluted his State's air and 
water.
  He has received bipartisan support from Senators in this body, from 
State leaders, from small business, from farmers, from ranchers, and 
from many others across this country. Attorneys general from all around 
the country have recognized his good work. Attorney General Luther 
Strange of Alabama--now U.S. Senator Strange--and 23 of his peers wrote 
a letter in support of Mr. Pruitt's nomination.
  Here is what they wrote:

       The Administrator of the EPA plays a critical role in our 
     Nation's government. Attorney General Pruitt has proven, over 
     the course of his career, that he has the right character, 
     experience, and knowledge to serve as Administrator of the 
     EPA.
       We urge the Senate to confirm his nomination.

  I agree. I urge my colleagues to support the nomination.
  I yield back the remainder of my time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. All time has expired.
  The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the Pruitt 
nomination?
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There is a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Arizona (Mr. McCain).
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Indiana (Mr. Donnelly) 
is necessarily absent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 52, nays 46, as follows:

                       [Rollcall Vote No. 71 Ex.]

                                YEAS--52

     Alexander
     Barrasso
     Blunt
     Boozman
     Burr
     Capito
     Cassidy
     Cochran
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Cotton
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Daines
     Enzi
     Ernst
     Fischer
     Flake
     Gardner
     Graham
     Grassley
     Hatch
     Heitkamp
     Heller
     Hoeven
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Lankford
     Lee
     Manchin
     McConnell
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Paul
     Perdue
     Portman
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rounds
     Rubio
     Sasse
     Scott
     Shelby
     Strange
     Sullivan
     Thune
     Tillis
     Toomey
     Wicker
     Young

                                NAYS--46

     Baldwin
     Bennet
     Blumenthal
     Booker
     Brown
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Collins
     Coons
     Cortez Masto
     Duckworth
     Durbin
     Feinstein
     Franken
     Gillibrand
     Harris
     Hassan
     Heinrich
     Hirono
     Kaine
     King
     Klobuchar
     Leahy
     Markey
     McCaskill
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Murphy
     Murray
     Nelson
     Peters
     Reed
     Sanders
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Shaheen
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Udall
     Van Hollen
     Warner
     Warren
     Whitehouse
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--2

     Donnelly
     McCain
       
  The nomination was confirmed.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote on the 
nomination, and I move to table the motion to reconsider.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the motion to 
table.
  The motion was agreed to.

                          ____________________