[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 169 (Thursday, October 11, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S6778]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              NOMINATIONS

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, on an entirely different matter, 
yesterday the Senate passed broad, bipartisan legislation to maintain 
our Nation's waterways and drinking water systems. Now we are turning 
back to the personnel business and confirming more of the President's 
qualified nominees to important executive branch positions.
  We voted yesterday to advance the nomination of Jeffrey Clark to 
serve as Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural 
Resources Division.
  Mr. Clark's qualifications include several years of prior service as 
Deputy Assistant Attorney General in that same position. He has also 
built a strong reputation in the private sector as a leading litigator 
with subject-matter expertise in administrative law. Mr. Clark's legal 
colleagues describe him as ``one of the most capable lawyers with whom 
[they] have ever worked.'' No fewer than seven former Assistant 
Attorneys General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division 
tell the Senate that his well-rounded background and prior experience 
in the division make him an excellent choice for this position.
  After we confirm Mr. Clark, we will consider another Assistant 
Attorney General nominee, Eric Dreiband, for the Civil Rights Division. 
Mr. Dreiband is also well prepared to serve. His resume includes 
several stints of public service, including as general counsel of the 
EEOC, in addition to private sector experience. Others have praised his 
service at the EEOC as ``widely respected,'' ``in the highest rung of 
the Agency's general counsels,'' and a ``record of superlative 
performance.'' Those who have worked with Mr. Dreiband emphasize his 
strong commitment to protecting all Americans' civil rights.

  In the words of one leader who is known and worked hard with the 
nominee for 15 years, ``his commitment to fairly enforcing the law is 
without question.''
  After Dreiband will come James Stewart, the President's choice to 
serve as Secretary of Defense for Manpower and Reserve Affairs. Mr. 
Stewart's experience managing military manpower runs deep through his 
distinguished career at the U.S. Air Force, from which he retired as a 
major general.
  He has most recently served on the North Carolina Military Affairs 
Commission and on the Secretary of Defense's Reserve Forces Policy 
Board.
  Each of these nominees deserves confirmation, and I would urge our 
colleagues to approve all of them.

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