[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 63 (Wednesday, April 18, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S2241]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       Nomination of Carlos Muniz

  Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, later this afternoon, the Senate will 
finally vote to confirm Carlos Muniz--a well-qualified nominee--to be 
general counsel at the U.S. Department of Education.
  I came to the floor last week to ask for this vote because I believe 
Mr. Muniz has been subject to unreasonable delays. For example, Mr. 
Muniz was nominated by the President on June 6th of last year--316 days 
ago. He has been pending on the floor since we reported him out of the 
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee on October 18, 2017--
182 days ago. In other words, he has been waiting for 6 months, 
following his approval by the relevant committee, for the Senate to 
consider this nomination. So it is time to confirm him. It is time to 
give Secretary DeVos an attorney and a general counsel.

  Mr. Muniz has extensive experience as an attorney and in government. 
From January 2014 to February 2018, he was a partner at the law firm of 
McGuireWoods in Florida.
  Prior to that, from January 2011 to 2014, he was Deputy Attorney 
General for the State of Florida and Chief of Staff to Attorney General 
Pam Bondi. There, he managed a 400-lawyer agency and oversaw all 
functions, including litigation, policy development, legislative 
affairs, and communications. He was also General Counsel for Florida's 
Department of Financial Services and Deputy General Counsel for 
Governor Jeb Bush.
  Mr. Muniz graduated from the University of Virginia with high honors. 
He earned his law degree from Yale, where he was an editor of the Yale 
Law Journal. After law school, he served as a law clerk to two Federal 
judges, one on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the 
other for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. In 
other words, he is exactly the kind of person that we hope would serve 
in public life.
  I am delighted that he chose to accept the President's nomination and 
that we will have a chance this afternoon to confirm him.
  As general counsel, he will have the important job of providing legal 
assistance to the Secretary concerning the programs and policies of the 
Department and making sure that these policies follow the law, which 
given his background, he has the experience to do.
  He testified in his confirmation hearing that he is committed to 
advising the Secretary to follow the law as Congress wrote it.
  I am glad we are having this vote today. I support his nomination. I 
urge my colleagues to do the same.
  Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Texas for his courtesy in 
allowing me to speak before him.

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