[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 37 (Thursday, February 28, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1565-S1568]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                      Nomination of Andrew Wheeler

  Mr. CARPER. Madam President, I say to our colleagues that I stand 
before you today as a Vietnam veteran--5 years of naval service during 
the hot war in Southeast Asia, trying to make sure that the force of 
communism was stopped. I served another 18 years beyond that, right to 
the end of the Cold War, as a naval flight officer and retired as a 
Navy captain.
  I am not a socialist. I am somebody who cares deeply about this 
planet. I am someone who believes it is possible to have clean air, 
clean water, better public health, and to foster economic growth.
  As it turns out, there are a lot of companies in this country that 
believe the same thing. They believe the same thing. A lot of them 
build cars, trucks, and vans. They want a 50-State deal on fuel 
efficiency standards, CAFE standards, and tailpipe standards. They want 
a 50-State deal so they don't have to build a car for 13 or 14 
different States and then a different kind of car or truck for the rest 
of the country. They don't want to do that. They want certainty and 
predictability so they can build one model for one car. They want to be 
able to be successful in competing in the world marketplace in the next 
10, 20, or 30 years.
  We need someone leading the Environmental Protection Agency who 
believes that it is possible to have cleaner air and, frankly, to 
foster economic growth in the auto companies. That is what the auto 
companies want. They are not socialists. They are free-marketers.
  There is something called HFCs, or hydrofluorocarbons. It is a 
terrible pollutant for the environment. It is 1,000 times worse than 
carbon for our global warming challenges. There are a bunch of American 
businesses that have new technology to replace HFCs. They want to be 
able not just to develop it, but they want to able to sell it all over 
the world. The marketplace is $1 trillion, and we are holding it back.
  Unfortunately, the person whom we are going to be voting on here 
today to be our EPA Administrator is part of holding us back because he 
will not agree to a treaty that the administration wants to put 
forward. It is crazy.
  Those companies that developed the follow-on products to HFCs--
Honeywell, Chemours, and others--are not socialists. They are business 
people. They want a piece of the international market, and they want to 
do good things for the climate at the same time.
  I just want to say to my colleagues: We can do both. We can have 
clean air. We can have clean water. We can have strong economic growth. 
We need somebody running the EPA who actually believes in that too. I 
am sorry to say here today that right now I don't believe it is Andrew 
Wheeler, and I say that with no joy.
  Thank you very much.
  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, throughout the country and in the great 
State of Illinois, a host of environmental issues are plaguing 
Americans. From air pollution, to groundwater contamination, to the 
increases in climate change-related harm that we are already facing, 
there is no more crucial time to have strong national leadership on 
environmental issues than right now. However, in the midst of all these 
issues comes the nomination of Andrew Wheeler--a former lobbyist for 
corporate polluters--to lead the Environmental Protection Agency.
  If there is one major thing we have learned from the Clean Air Act, 
it is that regulations save lives and money. Regulations that ensure 
clean air mean fewer premature deaths and health issues, as well as 
fewer asthma attacks in children and health-related missed work days. 
However, the EPA under this administration that is now led by Acting 
Administrator Wheeler, consistently works to roll back clean air and 
water rules. This exposes the most vulnerable members of our society--
including children and the elderly--to toxic and deadly chemicals. The 
people in Illinois are no exception. We are facing several 
environmental issues in Illinois that require immediate action by the 
EPA, and so far, I am not satisfied that EPA is doing everything it can 
and should be doing under Mr. Wheeler's leadership.
  The Sterigenics facility is causing is a public health threat in 
Willowbrook, IL due to emissions from cancer-causing ethylene oxide. 
The EPA's own risk assessment from 2016, showed that ethylene oxide 
exposure increases the risk of cancer more than what was previously 
thought. However, given this

[[Page S1566]]

information, the EPA has still not taken sufficient actions to protect 
people of Willowbrook who are exposed to this gas. Concerns about 
ethylene oxide exposure is not limited to the people of Willowbrook--it 
is also of concern to the people of Gurnee and Waujkegan, IL who also 
have plants that use ehtylene oxide in the middle of their towns. Every 
time I have spoken with Acting Administrator Wheeler about this issue, 
I have been disappointed by the lack of urgency to do anything more 
than monitor and collect more data. When it comes to the facilities in 
Gurnee and Waukegan, the EPA won't even commit to monitor and collect 
data, even though I have joined my colleague Senator Duckworth in 
requesting that monitoring begin immediately. The EPA is 4 years 
overdue to begin the process to promulgate new standards for this gas, 
even though they know the increased cancer risk. So I, along with my 
colleague Senator Duckworth and my colleagues in the House, introduced 
legislation to require the EPA to promulgate new rules for ethylene 
oxide. However, the EPA's failure to act to limit toxic chemicals being 
emitted into neighborhoods does not end with ethylene oxide. There is 
manganese pollution on the Southeast side of Chicago. Manganese 
exposure results in serious neurological effects, such as learning 
difficulties, lower IQ scores in children, and manganese poisoning--a 
condition that resembles Parkinson's disease. There are several 
facilities on the Southeast side of Chicago that emit manganese, and 
EPA is now monitoring these facilities after my colleague Senator 
Duckworth and I pressed EPA to do so. These facilities contaminate both 
the air that people breathe and the soil that children play on.
  Although the EPA knows how dangerous this neurotoxin is and how high 
the concentrations are, they will not commit to strengthening manganese 
standards or take immediate action to clean up sites with soil 
contamination. We need someone at the EPA that will be aggressive in 
enforcing the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act.
  We also need an EPA Administrator who recognizes how urgent it is to 
address climate change. The Trump administration's own Department of 
Defense issued a report last month identifying national security 
threats to defense missions, operations, and installations, due to 
climate change. Yet Acting Administrator Wheeler continues to undermine 
independent science for climate change by appointing members to the 
EPA's Scientific Advisory Board who are biased by industry or actively 
deny that climate change is a problem. How can we expect the EPA to 
lead efforts to address climate change if its leadership doesn't 
believe it requires immediate action?
  I would also like to mention one more thing before I close. This 
administration promised farmers, biorefineries, and fuels stations that 
they would ensure stations could sell E15 fuels this summer. The EPA is 
coming close to failing to fulfil that promise. I hope the EPA will 
work with me to ensure stations are able to sell E15 fuels this summer.
  We need someone leading the EPA who will put the health and well-
being of the people of this country above the profits of corporate 
polluters. We need someone who is willing to protect families and 
communities from toxic chemicals in our air and water by fully 
enforcing the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act. And we need 
someone who will lead the charge to address climate change. I am not 
convinced that Acting Administrator Wheeler will do these things. As a 
result, I cannot support his nomination. I hope he proves me wrong.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Madam President, I rise today to express my 
opposition to confirming Andrew Wheeler to serve as Administrator of 
the Environmental Protection Agency.
  His lobbying activities and tenure, first as Deputy, then as Acting 
Administrator, show that he should not be leading the EPA in a 
permanent capacity.
  We are at a crossroads for action on climate change. The United 
Nations issued a special report in October, warning of the catastrophic 
consequences of allowing global warming to surpass 1.5 degrees Celsius.
  The report warned that human activity has already caused about 1 
degree of warming and that we need to drastically cut emissions--45 
percent by 2030 and 100 percent by 2050--to stay below 1.5 degrees.
  The EPA is the strongest institution we have in the United States to 
combat climate change in terms of technical expertise and legal 
authority. Unfortunately, I fear that, if the EPA remains under the 
leadership of Andrew Wheeler, it will continue dismantling critical 
regulations and rolling back previous efforts to address climate 
change.
  Andrew Wheeler is a former coal and fossil fuel lobbyist. Despite a 
duty to serve the public's interest, he has instead worked to push a 
counterproductive agenda of deregulation at the EPA.
  During Mr. Wheeler's EPA tenure, the Trump administration has 
aggressively moved to undermine numerous greenhouse gas emission 
regulations. This includes President Obama's landmark Clean Power Plan, 
performance standards for new power plants, and methane emission 
standards for the oil and gas industry.
  I am most concerned that Andrew Wheeler is overseeing the Trump 
administration's efforts to roll back our national program for motor 
vehicle emission standards, an issue that I have worked on for decades.
  Under the current program, fuel economy standards for new cars and 
SUVs are set to exceed 50 miles per gallon by 2025. To date, these 
standards have saved 550 million barrels of oil, $65 billion in fuel 
costs for American families, and 250 million metric tons of carbon 
dioxide.
  The success of these standards comes, in part, from the fact that 
they have been implemented as a single, coordinated national program 
under the authority of the EPA, the Department of Transportation, and 
the State of California.
  The Department of Transportation implements the Ten-in-Ten Fuel 
Economy Act, which was signed into law in 2007 following a bipartisan 
legislative effort over the course of many years. I was proud to work 
together with our former colleague Olympia Snowe of Maine and many 
others from both parties to strengthen the Corporate Average Fuel 
Economy standards for the first time in three decades.
  This law requires fuel economy standards to increase by at least 10 
miles per gallon by 2020. Beyond 2020, the law requires standards to be 
set at the maximum feasible level based on available technology, which 
the administration is trying to avoid doing for 2022-2026.
  For its part, the EPA implements complementary vehicle emission 
standards under the Clean Air Act. That law also recognizes 
California's longstanding authority to regulate its own air pollution 
and allows other States to choose to follow California's standards in 
lieu of Federal requirements, as 13 States have now done.
  Today these standards are collectively implemented as a single 
national program under a 2012 agreement between the Department of 
Transportation, the EPA, and the State of California that applies 
through model year 2025.
  Unfortunately, the Trump administration is working to tear up that 
agreement and weaken Federal standards starting in 2022. Last week, the 
administration announced it would refuse to negotiate with California 
to salvage this program. Instead of seeking consensus, the EPA, 
overseen by Mr. Wheeler, is proposing to challenge California's 
longstanding authority. These actions are unjustified and will only 
create chaos and uncertainty for the automobile market.
  Under Mr. Wheeler's watch, the Trump administration has also 
continued to roll back or undermine many other important EPA 
environmental health and safety regulations.
  From attempts to undermine effective Mercury and Air Toxics 
Standards, to evading the EPA's commitments to set safe drinking water 
standards, to failing to fully implement the Toxic Substances Control 
Act, it is clear that Mr. Wheeler will only continue his efforts to 
dismantle the EPA from within.
  I was a proud supporter of the bipartisan Frank R. Lautenberg 
Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, which passed in 2016. This 
bill amends and updates the Toxic Substances Control Act, which is the 
Nation's primary

[[Page S1567]]

chemicals management law. Thousands of Californians rely on it to 
safeguard against exposure to toxic chemicals we encounter every day.
  EPA is charged with protecting all Americans from undue and harmful 
exposure to existing and newly introduced chemicals. However, under the 
Trump administration, the EPA's safety reviews of toxic substances has 
fallen far short of the intent of this sweeping, bipartisan toxic 
chemical reform legislation.
  One example of a chemical that I am very concerned about is asbestos. 
As a result of the administration's lack of action, my colleagues in 
the Senate and I introduced legislation in 2017 that would have amended 
the Toxic Substances Control Act to require the EPA to identify and 
assess all forms of asbestos and ultimately ban this known carcinogen.
  This bill was named after Alan Reinstein, who passed away in 2006 at 
the age of 66 from mesothelioma, a disease caused by exposure to 
asbestos. Delays in banning asbestos have meant that as many as 15,000 
Americans die each year from exposure.
  During Wheeler's tenure, the EPA has resisted calls to eliminate 
exemptions for asbestos in the current Chemical Data Reporting rule, a 
reporting requirement under the Toxic Substances Control Act, to comply 
with its mandate to prevent unreasonable risks to health and the 
environment presented by asbestos.
  Despite knowing the health risks for decades, asbestos is still used 
in a wide variety of construction materials that the public unwittingly 
comes into contact with every day.
  Andrew Wheeler's tenure at the EPA, both as Deputy Administrator for 
the EPA and as Acting Administrator, has shown a clear disregard for 
the EPA's mission to protect the public and the environment. I urge all 
of my colleagues to oppose his confirmation.
  Thank you.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oklahoma.
  Mr. INHOFE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to be recognized 
for such time as I shall consume as the final speaker before the vote 
on the nomination.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. INHOFE. Thank you very much, Madam President.
  Madam President, we are going to vote in just a few minutes to 
confirm Andrew Wheeler to be Administrator of the Environmental 
Protection Agency. There is no one better to serve in this role, and I 
would know. Andrew worked for me for 14 years in both my personal 
office as well as in my capacity as chairman of the Environment and 
Public Works Committee.
  He was with the committee back when President Trump nominated Andrew 
as Deputy Administrator. I said: There is no one more qualified. There 
is no one more qualified anywhere in America to handle this job than 
Andrew Wheeler.
  He has been Acting Administrator for the last 7 months. Let's keep in 
mind that he was the most qualified person 7 months ago, and now he has 
had 7 months on the job, and he has done a really great job. He has 
been the Acting Administrator.
  It didn't really start when he came on board with any of the 
governmental Agencies. He has always been concerned about nature and 
the environment. The guy was an Eagle Scout.
  In fact, I remember the discussions of people who were with him when 
he was actually climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. It was with a group of 
people who were interested in nature and the environment. This came 
early on with him. So he has the ability to lead the Agency.
  I have always enjoyed following his career. After earning a law 
degree at Washington University in St. Louis, he joined the EPA as a 
special assistant in the Agency's Pollution Prevention and Toxics 
Office in 1991. I am talking about 30 years ago. This guy has been 
there for a long time. For all practical purposes, he has grown up in 
that particular discipline.
  He was an EPA employee for 4 years, transitioning to the George H. W. 
Bush administration and then the Clinton administration after that, 
where he earned three Bronze Medals for commendable service along the 
way.
  By the way, I doubt if there are too many people in this Chamber who 
know what that is. So I am going to read it to you.
  The Bronze Medal is given for ``significant service or achievements 
in support of the Agency's mission or for demonstration of outstanding 
accomplishments in supervision and leadership.''
  That is Andrew Wheeler. He received three of those.
  I know you have heard a lot of people opposing him. Regretfully, 
there are a lot of people opposed simply for the reason that this is a 
nominee of the President. We went through this with Mr. Kavanaugh. We 
heard all of these things, and people now look back, and many of them 
regret that they said the things that they said.
  It is awfully hard to be critical of Andrew because he is such a nice 
guy.
  He left the Agency. He brought the sense of service and leadership 
with him to the U.S. Senate, where I had a front-row seat because he 
worked for me for 14 years.
  He just did really tremendous work. There were never any complaints 
about him. He knew what he was doing. Again, with a 31-year background, 
there is nothing that he doesn't know about the mission.
  Andrew started in my personal office as chief counsel and 
transitioned to staff director for a Senate subcommittee. I was a 
subcommittee chairman at the time on the subcommittee called the Clean 
Air, Climate Change, Wetlands, and Nuclear Safety Subcommittee. He was 
the one who did all the work, and I took the credit, but it worked.
  In 2003, when I became the chairman of the Environment and Public 
Works Committee, Andrew became our chief counsel. Over the next 6 
years, he would eventually become staff director and we worked closely 
together on highway bills, energy bills, the Diesel Emissions Reduction 
Act, and the Clear Skies Act.
  I can remember when this was taking place because someone who was a 
very close friend of mine and is no longer here, Barbara Boxer from 
California, worked together on these things. It was really kind of 
funny. Philosophically, we were opposed to each other as much as two 
people could be, but we accomplished everything. We accomplished the 
things that other people were not able to accomplish.
  It is only natural that the President would nominate Andrew to be the 
Deputy Director at that time of the EPA. That was last April. He was 
confirmed in a bipartisan vote.
  I will always remember that he gave a speech over at the EPA. It was 
kind of a welcome speech at that time. That was the day that he was 
confirmed as Deputy Director of the EPA. I think every single employee 
was in there, really, to kind of pay homage to him. It is a big deal. 
Here is a guy who started 30 years ago at the bottom. He is just a 
normal person in the bureaucracy, and all of a sudden--not all of a 
sudden, it took him almost 30 years to do it--he climbs up to become 
Deputy Director. So he was really a model. He was a model to those 200 
or 300 people.
  Andrew didn't even know this as he was making his initial speech, but 
I watched the looks on their faces, and the model that he was for them 
was that there is room at the top. Here is a guy who climbed all the 
way up, and he reached the top.
  He knows what it takes to ensure that our environment is cared for 
within the laws passed by Congress. He will ensure that all 
stakeholders are heard, and he will provide certainty and stability for 
the regulated community. That is a switch.
  One of the reasons I ran for Congress in the first place many years 
ago was the fact that I was a builder and developer and I was 
overregulated. I know what it is like firsthand. He will be a good 
steward of the environment without punishing our States, without 
punishing our farmers, and without punishing our job creators just for 
the sake of it. Those days are behind us.
  Andrew has worked on these issues for his entire 28-year career, and 
I am honored that he chose to spend half of his 14 years working for 
me. So I have directly benefited from his service. The U.S. Senate has 
benefited from his leadership, and now America will benefit as well.
  Let's vote Andrew in and put him to work.

[[Page S1568]]

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, all postcloture time 
is expired.
  The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the Wheeler 
nomination?
  Mr. INHOFE. 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 legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Arizona (Ms. Sinema) is 
necessarily absent.
  The result was announced--yeas 52, nays 47, as follows:

                       [Rollcall Vote No. 33 Ex.]

                                YEAS--52

     Alexander
     Barrasso
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Boozman
     Braun
     Burr
     Capito
     Cassidy
     Cornyn
     Cotton
     Cramer
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Daines
     Enzi
     Ernst
     Fischer
     Gardner
     Graham
     Grassley
     Hawley
     Hoeven
     Hyde-Smith
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Lankford
     Lee
     McConnell
     McSally
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Paul
     Perdue
     Portman
     Risch
     Roberts
     Romney
     Rounds
     Rubio
     Sasse
     Scott (FL)
     Scott (SC)
     Shelby
     Sullivan
     Thune
     Tillis
     Toomey
     Wicker
     Young

                                NAYS--47

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

                             NOT VOTING--1

       
     Sinema
       
  The nomination was confirmed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Young). Under the previous order, the 
motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table, and 
the President will be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

                          ____________________