[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 193 (Thursday, December 6, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7336-S7337]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    NOMINATION OF BERNARD L. McNAMEE

  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. President, President Trump has nominated Bernard 
McNamee to be a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 
FERC.
  FERC is an independent agency that regulates the interstate 
transmission of electricity, natural gas, and oil. FERC also reviews 
proposals to build liquefied natural gas, LNG, terminals and interstate 
natural gas pipelines, as well as licensing hydropower projects.
  Historically, FERC has been independent and nonpartisan. I am 
concerned that, if confirmed, Mr. McNamee would threaten the 
nonpartisan independence of FERC.
  Mr. McNamee has a long-standing history of being an opponent of clean 
energy and led Texas's efforts to challenge the Obama administration's 
Clean Power Plan.
  In remarks before the Texas Public Policy Foundation, TPPF, and 
sponsored by Koch Industries in February 2018, Mr. McNamee said fossil 
fuels are

[[Page S7337]]

``key to our way of life,'' but renewable energy ``screws up the whole 
physics of the grid.'' He also portrayed industry lawsuits with 
environmental groups as a ``constant battle between liberty and 
tyranny.''
  While at the Department of Energy, Mr. McNamee was a key player in 
the agency's failed attempt to bail out the coal industry and upend 
wholesale energy markets.
  Furthermore, I am very concerned that Mr. McNamee will take us 
backwards in the fight to combat climate change. Just recently, the 
Trump administration tried to bury the release of the Fourth National 
Climate Assessment report and its alarming statistics on the realities 
of climate change. The report found that annual average temperatures in 
the United States are projected to continue to increase in the coming 
decades and that human health and safety, our quality of life, and the 
rate of economic growth in communities across the U.S. are increasingly 
vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. In my home State of 
Maryland, the report found that one of Maryland's crown jewels, the 
Chesapeake Bay, will experience stronger and more frequent storms, an 
increase in heavy precipitation events, increasing bay water 
temperatures, and a rise in sea level.
  FERC's independence is critical to its mission, and Mr. McNamee, if 
confirmed, would be a significant departure from that.
  His history as being a supporter of the fossil fuel industry, an 
opponent of clean energy, and an opponent of progress to combat climate 
change are alarming. I oppose his nomination to be a member of the 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, FERC.
  Mr. LANKFORD. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. RISCH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Under the previous order, all postcloture time has expired.
  The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the nomination 
of Bernard L. McNamee, of Virginia, to be a Member of the Federal 
Energy Regulatory Commission for the remainder of the term expiring 
June 30, 2020?
  Mr. RISCH. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator 
from North Carolina (Mr. Tillis).
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Fischer). Are there any other Senators in 
the Chamber desiring to vote.
  The result was announced--yeas 50, nays 49, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 254 Ex.]

                                YEAS--50

     Alexander
     Barrasso
     Blunt
     Boozman
     Burr
     Capito
     Cassidy
     Collins
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Cotton
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Daines
     Enzi
     Ernst
     Fischer
     Flake
     Gardner
     Graham
     Grassley
     Hatch
     Heller
     Hoeven
     Hyde-Smith
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Kyl
     Lankford
     Lee
     McConnell
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Paul
     Perdue
     Portman
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rounds
     Rubio
     Sasse
     Scott
     Shelby
     Sullivan
     Thune
     Toomey
     Wicker
     Young

                                NAYS--49

     Baldwin
     Bennet
     Blumenthal
     Booker
     Brown
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Coons
     Cortez Masto
     Donnelly
     Duckworth
     Durbin
     Feinstein
     Gillibrand
     Harris
     Hassan
     Heinrich
     Heitkamp
     Hirono
     Jones
     Kaine
     King
     Klobuchar
     Leahy
     Manchin
     Markey
     McCaskill
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Murphy
     Murray
     Nelson
     Peters
     Reed
     Sanders
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Shaheen
     Smith
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Udall
     Van Hollen
     Warner
     Warren
     Whitehouse
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--1

       
     Tillis
       
  The nomination was confirmed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.

                          ____________________