[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 182 (Wednesday, November 8, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7097-S7098]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             CLOTURE MOTION

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There will now be 2 minutes of debate, equally 
divided.
  The Senator from Delaware.
  Mr. CARPER. Mr. President, I rise in opposition to the nomination of 
William Wehrum to be EPA's Assistant Administrator for Air and 
Radiation.

[[Page S7098]]

  President George W. Bush nominated Mr. Wehrum for the very same job 
in 2005. He was not confirmed then but was able to serve in that role 
on an acting basis--something he could not lawfully do today. At the 
time, I voted against Mr. Wehrum's nomination because I feared he would 
impede efforts to clean our air and protect the health of Americans. 
Sadly, my fears have been proved well-founded. Twenty times, the courts 
found that clean air regulations that Mr. Wehrum helped craft did not 
follow the law or protect public health.
  Since leaving EPA in 2007, Mr. Wehrum has spent his time suing the 
Agency.
  Mr. Wehrum was elusive in answering our questions. When asked which 
clean air regulations he supports, he could not name a single one--not 
one.
  Mr. Wehrum's extreme views are not good for public health and, quite 
frankly, the legal uncertainty that stems from his judgment would not 
be good for American businesses. That is why I call on all of my 
colleagues to join me in opposition to this nomination.
  Thank you.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Wyoming.
  Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, Mr. Wehrum has been nominated to serve 
as the EPA Assistant Administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation. 
He has more than three decades of experience in environmental policy. 
He has worked as an environmental engineer. He has been a public 
servant at the EPA as an environmental lawyer. His time at the EPA 
includes years of service as the Acting Administrator of the Office of 
Air and Radiation, the same office to which he has now been nominated.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Pursuant to rule XXII, the Chair lays before 
the Senate the pending cloture motion, which the clerk will state.
  The assistant 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 William L. Wehrum, of Delaware, to be an Assistant 
     Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
         Mitch McConnell, Orrin G. Hatch, Thom Tillis, John 
           Barrasso, Johnny Isakson, Chuck Grassley, Lindsey 
           Graham, Roy Blunt, John Cornyn, John Thune, John 
           Boozman, Cory Gardner, Pat Roberts, Mike Crapo, Mike 
           Rounds, James M. Inhofe, John Hoeven.

  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 William L. Wehrum, of Delaware, to be an Assistant 
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, shall be brought 
to a close?
  The yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  Mr. CORNYN. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the 
Senator from Texas (Mr. Cruz), the Senator from Kentucky (Mr. Paul), 
and the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Roberts).
  Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Roberts) 
would have voted ``yea.''
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. 
Menendez) and the Senator from Montana (Mr. Tester) are necessarily 
absent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Lee). Are there any other Senators in the 
Chamber desiring to vote?
  The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 49, nays 46, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 267 Ex.]

                                YEAS--49

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

                                NAYS--46

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

                             NOT VOTING--5

     Cruz
     Menendez
     Paul
     Roberts
     Tester
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this vote, the yeas are 49, the nays are 
46.
  The motion is agreed to.

                          ____________________