[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
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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.
____________________