[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 71 (Wednesday, April 26, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2544-S2545]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                             Cloture Motion

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Pursuant to rule XXII, the Chair lays before 
the Senate the pending cloture motion, which the clerk will state.
  The bill clerk read as follows:

                             Cloture Motion

       We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the 
     provisions of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, 
     do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination 
     of R. Alexander Acosta, of Florida, to be Secretary of Labor.
         John Barrasso, Susan M. Collins, Ron Johnson, Deb 
           Fischer, Luther Strange, Bill Cassidy, Lindsey Graham, 
           John Boozman, Mike Rounds, David Perdue, Lamar 
           Alexander, Tom Cotton, Orrin G. Hatch, Todd Young, 
           Mitch McConnell, Joni Ernst, Dan Sullivan.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. By unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum 
call has been waived.
  The question is, Is it the sense of the Senate that debate on the 
nomination of R. Alexander Acosta, of Florida, to be Secretary of Labor 
shall be brought to a close?
  The yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant bill clerk called the roll.
  The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 61, nays 39, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 115 Ex.]

                                YEAS--61

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

[[Page S2545]]


  


                                NAYS--39

     Baldwin
     Bennet
     Blumenthal
     Booker
     Brown
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Coons
     Donnelly
     Duckworth
     Durbin
     Feinstein
     Franken
     Gillibrand
     Harris
     Hassan
     Heinrich
     Hirono
     Kaine
     Klobuchar
     Leahy
     Markey
     Merkley
     Murphy
     Murray
     Peters
     Reed
     Sanders
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Shaheen
     Stabenow
     Udall
     Van Hollen
     Warren
     Whitehouse
     Wyden
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Ernst). On this vote, the yeas are 61, 
the nays are 39.
  The motion is agreed to.
  The Senator from Washington.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, when workers and families fought back 
against President Trump's first disastrous pick for Secretary of Labor, 
Andrew Puzder, they made it clear that they want a Secretary of Labor 
who will fight for their interests, especially as President Trump 
continues to break promise after promise he made to workers on the 
campaign trail. I couldn't agree with them more. As bad as Puzder would 
have been, our standard cannot be ``not Puzder.''
  Never has it been so critical to have a Secretary of Labor who is 
committed to putting workers' protections and rights first, even if 
that means standing up to President Trump. It is with this in mind that 
I cannot support Alexander Acosta to run the Department of Labor.
  Given Mr. Acosta's professional history, I have serious concerns 
about whether undue political pressure would impact decision making at 
the Department. My concerns were only heightened at his nomination 
hearing, when Mr. Acosta said he would defer to President Trump on the 
priorities of the Department of Labor. The Trump administration has 
already cemented a reputation for flouting ethics rules and attempting 
to exert political pressure over Federal employees. We need a Secretary 
of Labor who will prioritize workers and the mission of the Department 
of Labor over special interests and political pressure.
  Unfortunately, Mr. Acosta's time leading the civil rights division at 
the Department of Justice suggests he will not be the mission-focused 
Secretary of Labor workers across the country have demanded. A formal 
investigation by the inspector general showed that, under Acosta's 
tenure, the civil rights division illegally considered applicants' 
political opinions in making hiring decisions, ignoring their 
professional qualifications. As Assistant Attorney General, Acosta 
chose to recuse himself from consideration of a Texas redistricting 
plan, instead, allowing political appointees to overrule career 
attorneys who believe the plan discriminated against Black and Latino 
voters.
  Mr. Acosta's past raises questions about whether--instead of making 
workers' rights and protections the priorities of that Department--he 
will allow political pressure to influence his decision making.
  Mr. Acosta's refusal to take a strong stand on many of the most 
pressing issues workers face today was equally concerning. We need a 
Secretary of Labor who is committed to expanding overtime pay to more 
workers, fighting for equal pay, and maintaining protections for our 
workers. But in responding to questions about those priorities, Mr. 
Acosta made it clear that he simply plans to defer to President Trump, 
who has already made it abundantly clear that he will not stand up for 
workers.
  Mr. Acosta continued to evade addressing my concerns about how he 
would prioritize workers' interests at the Department of Labor in our 
followup questions. We need a Secretary of Labor who will remain 
committed to the core principles of the Department of Labor--someone 
who will prioritize the best interests of our workforce, who will 
enforce laws that protect workers' rights and safety and livelihoods, 
and who will seek to expand economic opportunities for workers and 
families across our country.
  Unfortunately, Alexander Acosta has failed to show he will stand up 
to President Trump and prioritize those principles and help our workers 
get ahead. Therefore, I urge my colleagues to listen to the millions of 
workers who have made their voices heard about the need for a Secretary 
of Labor who is committed to building an economy that works for 
everyone, not just those at the top, and vote against this nomination.
  Madam President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Democratic whip.
  (The remarks of Mr. Durbin pertaining to the introduction of S. 948 
are printed in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced Bills 
and Joint Resolutions.'')
  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, 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. NELSON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Perdue). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.