[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 35 (Tuesday, February 27, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S1230]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



               Nominations of Ryan Nelson and Susan Combs

  Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, as chairman of the Senate Western Caucus 
and as a Montanan, I am here to urge the swift confirmation of two 
outstanding nominations to serve in the Department of the Interior. The 
first is Ryan Nelson, a native of Idaho Falls, ID, as Solicitor of the 
Department of the Interior. The second is Susan Combs, a rancher from 
Big Bend, TX. She is nominated to be Assistant Secretary for Policy, 
Management and Budget.
  Both of these positions are critical to managing our public lands and 
wildlife. Yet these two well-qualified individuals have been waiting in 
a bureaucratic limbo. Mr. Nelson was first nominated over 209 days ago, 
and Ms. Combs received her first nomination over 231 days ago.
  Mr. Nelson is a great choice to serve as Solicitor. He is a 
westerner, and he spends time fishing and hunting with his family in 
Idaho. He understands our western way of life, and he has the work 
experience to make sure our public lands are managed and protected in 
the right way.
  His service includes serving as clerk on the U.S. Court of Appeals 
for the D.C. Circuit, serving as special counsel for the Senate 
Committee on the Judiciary and as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in 
the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Department of 
Justice.
  At the Department of Justice, he worked to defend vital Federal 
programs and oversaw many complex cases involving our natural 
resources, wildlife, and environment. He also compelled polluters to 
limit harmful emissions into the air and worked with then-Solicitor of 
the Department of the Interior David Bernhardt on the listing decision 
for the polar bear. Like Mr. Bernhardt, Ryan is capable of upholding 
the law and the science, even when it is not easy.
  If you want someone who values conservation, who knows the 
appropriate use of laws, like the Antiquities Act and the Endangered 
Species Act, then Ryan is your guy. The Department of the Interior 
needs Ryan's expertise to help make the best decisions possible for the 
benefit of our natural resources and the people and wildlife living 
around them. His confirmation must be prioritized.
  Ms. Combs is also exactly the right person for the job to serve as 
the Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management and Budget. Ms. Combs 
has had a long and successful career both in business and in public 
service, including as a member of the Texas House of Representatives, 
as Texas's agriculture commissioner, and as Texas's comptroller of 
public accounts. Her proven management track record in public service 
and in business is crucial to making the Department of the Interior 
more efficient and effective to help ensure the responsible stewardship 
of western lands.
  Both Mr. Nelson's and Ms. Combs's nominations have been pending 
longer than any of their predecessors'--now listen to this--over the 
past 25 years. This is not just bad governance; it is a complete lack 
of governance. Here is the problem. When you have qualified individuals 
like Mr. Nelson and like Ms. Combs who wait in this bureaucratic limbo 
for this long, it then puts them in a position to, maybe, find other 
employment. We need to find the best people who are willing to serve in 
these positions, and we need to give them the respect of moving them 
through quickly so that we can keep them with the thought of entering 
public service.
  Colleagues, it is time to get the job done and move these critical 
nominations across the finish line.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont.