[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 187 (Wednesday, November 28, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S7153]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                     EXECUTIVE CALENDAR--Continued

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senate will come to order.
  The Senator from Delaware.
  Mr. THUNE. Madam President, I rise today to voice my strong support 
for the nomination of Karen Dunn Kelley to be confirmed as the Deputy 
Secretary of Commerce.
  Ms. Dunn Kelley is well qualified to serve in this critical 
leadership role at the Department of Commerce, which she has ably 
filled on an acting basis for the past year.
  Ms. Dunn Kelley was already confirmed once this Congress, without 
opposition. She has served at the Department since August 3, 2017, as 
the Under Secretary for Economic Affairs, a position to which the 
Senate confirmed her by voice vote.
  Ms. Dunn Kelley has considerable economic and managerial expertise, 
cultivated through her more than 30 years of experience in the 
financial investment sector.
  In her current capacity as Under Secretary for Economic Affairs, she 
leads the Economics and Statistics Administration, which provides 
economic analysis and distributes national economic indicators.
  She also serves as the Department's administrator of statistical 
programs, including the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic 
Analysis.
  Since being named as Acting Deputy Secretary of Commerce, she has 
been responsible for the management, coordination, and implementation 
of the Department's Strategic Plan, focusing on job creation and 
economic growth across the Department's 12 bureaus and agencies.
  The Commerce Department's mission, as stated in its 2018-2022 
Strategic Plan, is to ``create the conditions for economic growth and 
opportunity.''
  The breadth of activities the Department undertakes to accomplish its 
mission range from promoting commercial space activities to enhancing 
weather forecasting, and from fishery management and trade promotion to 
standards setting for emerging technologies, cybersecurity, and 
privacy, to name just a few.
  The Department of Commerce deserves a well-qualified and experienced 
leader to continue to foster the unprecedented economic growth we see 
today and preserve American leadership.
  Throughout her career, Ms. Dunn Kelley has exhibited the kind of 
leadership that will ensure the Department of Commerce will continue 
its critical missions to promote economic growth, job creation, and 
innovation.
  I urge my colleagues to support Ms. Dunn Kelley's nomination.
  I yield the floor.

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