[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 64 (Thursday, April 19, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2291-S2292]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Puerto Rico Blackout

  Mr. NELSON. Madam President, it is hard to believe, but the entire 
island of Puerto Rico yesterday descended into darkness. An excavation 
happened to hit a main line that cut out the electricity of the entire 
island--3\1/2\ million people--an island that is not a small island; it 
is a large island. It was a total blackout. Now, 24 hours later, a 
large number of the people on the island are still in the dark.
  Tomorrow marks 7 months since Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto 
Rico, and yet Puerto Ricans are still dealing with constant setbacks 
and unreliable power. This is simply unacceptable.
  Senator Rubio and I have asked the Senate Committee on Energy and 
Natural Resources Committee to conduct an additional oversight hearing 
on the overall hurricane recovery and get to the bottom of this. I 
understand this

[[Page S2292]]

hearing will likely take place next month.
  In the meantime, this is a widespread power outage. It is the latest 
example of why so many people who were forced to leave the island after 
the storm haven't been able to return home, even though they want to. 
Yet, despite all the island's ongoing troubles, the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency, FEMA, said this week it is going to terminate the 
transitional shelter assistance for more than 1,600 families across the 
United States, and 600 of them are in my State of Florida. It doesn't 
make sense. For too many of these displaced families, the only thing 
keeping a roof over their head right now is the FEMA program, and it is 
transitional housing assistance. What that means is, they are either in 
hotels or motels and, in some cases, apartments, where FEMA is 
providing them temporary shelter because they have been displaced from 
their homes; in this case, the island of Puerto Rico.
  Storms like Hurricane Maria did this to the island of Puerto Rico. We 
have a responsibility to provide them with all the assistance we can. 
Senator Rubio and I sent a letter to the FEMA Administrator and to 
Governor Rossello, the Governor of Puerto Rico, urging them to work 
together to extend this vital program. At the very least, because there 
are so many of these families who have children in school, to extend it 
to the end of the school year so the family doesn't have to be uprooted 
while their child is still in school.
  I am happy to report that Governor Rossello has made that formal 
request to FEMA. The deadline is tomorrow. Hopefully, FEMA is listening 
to the Governor and to the pleas of Senator Rubio and me as well 
because students and families have had endless disruptions and need 
some semblance of stability so they can finish out the year.
  The hard fact is this. The situation in Puerto Rico is far from over. 
These are our fellow U.S. American citizens, and they desperately need 
our help. We should be providing them with all the help we can.
  Mr. President, I want to speak on another topic.
  (The remarks of Senator Nelson pertaining to the introduction of S. 
2720 are printed in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced 
Bills and Joint Resolutions.'')
  Mr. NELSON. I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. RUBIO. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. RUBIO. Madam President, we are on the nomination of Congressman 
Bridenstine to be the new Administrator at NASA. I want to tie it into 
what I will talk about in a moment because it comes down to 
Presidential appointments and the problems we are running into with 
regard to them.
  I was not enthused by the nomination. It is nothing personal against 
Mr. Bridenstine. I feel that NASA is an organization that needs to be 
led by a space professional. Unfortunately, a few weeks ago, the Acting 
Administrator resigned--or, I should say, retired. His last day on the 
job is the 30th. So it leaves us with the prospect of this incredibly 
important agency for Florida and the country with a vacancy in its top 
job. We are on our second Acting Administrator. If one were to do the 
math, even if Congressman Bridenstine were to withdraw and a new 
vetting process were to begin for a new nominee, by the time it would 
work its way through the administration, the committee process, and the 
floor, the way things are going here, we could be into February-March, 
at the earliest, of next year. There is no way NASA can go 2 years and 
X number of months without having a permanent Administrator.
  One makes these decisions always under the context that a President 
should have significant discretion in picking the team. Whether you 
like it or not, millions of Americans last year voted for the 
President. He was elected, and he has a right to govern. In 4 years--in 
less than 4 years now, in 2\1/2\ years--the American people will have 
the chance, once again, through our democratic process, to opine on 
whether or not they will want him to have a second term. Our job here 
is to provide advice and consent. We are to analyze these nominees and 
determine whether or not we want to support them.
  My view of it is, as has been the tradition of the Senate for the 
entire existence of the Republic, that we give great deference to the 
President on choosing the qualifications. We want to make sure that 
people are qualified and that there is nothing about them that would 
disqualify them. It is my view that the more important the job the more 
discretion the President deserves. It is why, although I had 
significant reservations about the nomination of Secretary Tillerson, I 
decided to support it, because I believed the President deserved 
significant discretion. When you get to the subsecretaries and the 
like, I think that discretion diminishes.
  It is what has led me to decide to support Congressman Bridenstine, 
despite my reservations, and it is what, I hope, will lead my 
colleagues--at least a sufficient number--to support the nomination of 
Mike Pompeo to be the Secretary of State.
  Let me read you some of the previous votes we have had here in the 
Senate. All but one of them predates my service.
  Colin Powell was confirmed by a voice vote, which is almost 
unimaginable in a 21st century Senate, but in 2001, on January 20, by a 
unanimous voice vote, he was confirmed as the Secretary of State.
  A few years later, in 2005, Condoleezza Rice was confirmed as 
Secretary of State by a vote of 85 to 13. Now, it was still 13 noes, 
but, nonetheless, it was 85 yeses. I assure you that not everyone who 
voted for her was happy about her nomination. People didn't necessarily 
agree with her. One of the people who supported her, I believe, was 
future President Barack Obama.
  Hillary Clinton was nominated and confirmed in the Senate by a vote 
of 94 to 2, and I promise you that a significant number of the Members 
on my side of the aisle may have respected Secretary Clinton but 
strongly disagreed with her and her views on a number of issues, but, 
nonetheless, they felt the President deserved to have his nominee.
  When she resigned, her replacement was then-Senator Kerry, who was 
the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, with whom I had 
significant policy disagreements in the Senate and during his time as 
Secretary of State. Yet I, along with 93 other Members of the Senate, 
supported his nomination, and he was confirmed.