[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 182 (Wednesday, November 8, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7079-S7080]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           Order of Procedure

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that 
notwithstanding rule XXII, at 3:45 p.m. today there be 30 minutes of 
postcloture time remaining on the Robb nomination, equally divided 
between the leaders or their designees; that following the use or 
yielding back of that time, the Senate vote on the confirmation of the 
Robb nomination; and that if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be 
considered made and laid upon the table and the President be 
immediately notified of the Senate's action; finally, that there be 2 
minutes of debate equally divided prior to the cloture vote on the 
Wehrum nomination.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Hawaii.
  Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, Donald Trump has consistently made 
promises to the American people that he refuses to keep. He says one 
thing and does the exact opposite. His empty promises have already hurt 
millions of people across the country, from our seniors who depend on 
Medicare and Medicaid, to the LGBTQ community he promised to protect 
and Dreamers living in fear of deportation.
  Now, with the nomination of Peter Robb to serve as the General 
Counsel at the National Labor Relations Board, or NLRB, Donald Trump 
has broken yet another promise--this time, to fight for and protect 
American workers. As an independent agency, the NLRB has an important 
mission to enforce our Nation's labor laws, protect American workers, 
and safeguard their right to organize collectively.
  The NLRB's mission is not to ignore our Nation's labor laws, to go 
after American workers, or to weaken their right to organize. Yet Peter 
Robb's career has been dedicated to doing all the things that NLRB is 
not about.
  Joining the anti-union, anti-worker forces, President Trump has 
consistently nominated people to the NLRB who are best positioned to 
destroy and undermine the core functions of the agency itself. Earlier 
this year, President Trump forced through two management-side lawyers 
to create an anti-worker majority on the NLRB.
  Today the Senate is debating the nomination of someone who has spent 
his entire legal career fighting to screw over the very workers the 
NLRB is supposed to protect. If confirmed as General Counsel, Mr. Robb 
will be responsible for supervising nearly 1,500 agents investigating 
and prosecuting unfair labor practice cases and overseeing elections 
where workers decide whether or not to unionize. This is a position

[[Page S7080]]

of great consequence for millions of workers across our country, and 
they deserve someone much better than Peter Robb.
  Mr. Robb has spent his career defending management and employers from 
workers fighting to form a union, unionized workers on strike, and 
workers who brought forward discrimination and disability claims. You 
don't have to take my word for it. Mr. Robb's biography on his own law 
firm's website tells the story clearly:

       [His] extensive experience includes advising on mergers/
     acquisitions, plant closings, labor contract negotiations 
     (both large and small), managing lockouts and strikes, 
     securing labor injunctions, discrimination issues and 
     disability claims.
       His litigation includes defending employers from unfair 
     labor practice charges, age and sex discrimination charges, 
     class action age claims, and wage/hour claims as well as 
     bringing suits against labor organizations. With such vast 
     experience and a no-nonsense approach, Peter's clients look 
     to him for sharp advice, rigorous representation and powerful 
     litigation.

  That is a description on his own law firm's website.
  Mr. Robb cut his teeth busting unions and retaliating against workers 
as lead counsel at the NLRB in the early 1980s when President Reagan 
decertified the air traffic controllers union, fired 11,000 air traffic 
controllers, and barred them from Federal service. More recently, he 
represented Dominion Energy's successful attempt to defeat a union 
organizing campaign at a power station in Connecticut.
  Management and corporations have a right to hire lawyers like Mr. 
Robb who will vigorously represent their interests, but Mr. Robb is 
certainly not the right person to lead an agency whose mission is to 
protect workers' rights, not to go after those rights tooth and nail. 
Mr. Robb's record clearly demonstrates that he will side with powerful 
corporations and special interests over workers who lack the resources 
to defend themselves.
  Unions built the middle class in Hawaii and across our country. 
Instead of confirming another management protector at the NLRB, we 
should be working together to protect workers and make it fairer for 
them to form and to join a union, which is their right.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in opposing this nominee.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.