[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 37 (Thursday, February 28, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1568-S1569]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EXECUTIVE CALENDAR
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will
resume consideration of the following nomination, which the clerk will
report.
The bill clerk read the nomination of John L. Ryder, of Tennessee, to
be a Member of the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority
for a term expiring May 18, 2021.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.
(The remarks of Mr. Grassley pertaining to the introduction of S. 617
are printed in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced Bills
and Joint Resolutions.'')
Mr. GRASSLEY. I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee.
Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, in a few minutes, we will be voting on
the President's nomination of John Ryder, of Memphis, to be a member of
the Board of the Tennessee Valley Authority.
To those of us in the seven State region that the TVA serves, it is a
very important institution. Its job is to provide large amounts of
reliable, low-cost electricity, which is the basis for how we live and
how we work. It has a lot to do with our ability to attract jobs. Its
job is to provide that energy in a clean way so we can see our
mountains and so we meet the emissions standards in our metropolitan
areas that allow us to attract and grow more jobs.
The TVA is fulfilling its mission very well. It is heading toward a
position in which it will be about 40-percent nuclear in its production
of electricity, about 20 percent in natural gas, and about 20 percent
in coal or a little less than that. It will have pollution control
equipment on all of its coal plants. Most of the rest is hydroelectric
power, and a little bit is renewable. In short, it has one of the
cleanest portfolios in the country, and it is continuing to do that and
is producing a lot of low-cost, reliable electricity.
We are very fortunate to be in a region in which, as we look down the
road 5, 10, or 15 years, we will be able to say to people who are
thinking of moving themselves to Tennessee or moving their businesses
to Tennessee or growing them there that they will be able to get a lot
of reliable, low-cost electricity--all that they need. In addition to
that, they will be able to see the Smoky Mountains because the air is a
lot cleaner now that they have such a clean portfolio.
So John Ryder's appointment is a very important appointment, and he
is a well-qualified man for that position. He is one of Tennessee's
best known lawyers and has been for a long time. Since the late 1980s,
he has been listed as one of Tennessee's best lawyers. He is well
respected by everyone who knows him.
Senator Corker and I recommended him to President Trump, and we know
him well. Senator Blackburn, who is Senator Corker's successor, has a
high regard for John Ryder. All of us appreciate his willingness to
serve, and we look forward to the voice vote we are going to have in a
few minutes that will place him on TVA's Board. The Board has just
selected a new chief executive officer. TVA is the largest public
utility in the United States, perhaps in the world. It is an important
assignment, and it is one I am delighted to recommend him for.
There is one other thing, but I will not dwell on this because I
spoke on this Monday night. Unfortunately, Mr. Ryder has been on the
Senate's calendar for 9 months. He was nominated by President Trump a
year ago. The problem has not been with Mr. Ryder because, as I said,
President Trump nominated him after he was thoroughly vetted by the
FBI. The Senate's Environment and Public Works Committee considered
him, had a hearing, and reported him unanimously to the floor. Yet, for
9 months, he waited there.
One reason is, the Democrats have consistently obstructed the ability
of Senator McConnell and the Republican majority to help President
Trump form his government. The Democrats have required 128 times that
Senator McConnell, the majority leader, file cloture motions to cut off
debate to advance a nomination like Mr. Ryder's.
Now, this is not a Cabinet position. This is not a lifetime judge.
This is the part-time Board of an important institution. He is one of
1,200 Presidential nominees that any President has who is subject to
confirmation by advice and consent. It is the kind of nomination by
which, if a committee unanimously reports it to the Senate, we will
normally approve it by voice vote. Yet, on this vote, Senator McConnell
was forced to file cloture a week ago. Then we had to wait an
intervening day. Only then could we come to this vote.
This is not the way the Senate is supposed to work, and this
obstruction has to stop. Senator Blunt and Senator Lankford have
introduced a resolution, which has been reported to the Senate by the
rules committee, that would cause us to adopt a rule very much like the
one we adopted in 2013, when I worked with a large number of Democrats
and Republicans for the sole purpose of making it easier for President
Obama--and his successors--to promptly confirm the men and women whom
he chose to form a government.
It received 78 votes. What we did at that time was simply say: You
still keep the cloture motion, and you still wait an intervening day if
you need it, but we reduce the postcloture time--not for Supreme Court
Justices, not for circuit judges--simply for sub-Cabinet members and
for district judges. We would reduce sub-Cabinet members to 8 hours and
district judges to 2 hours.
On Monday night, I invited my Democratic friends to work with me in
2019 the way I worked with them in 2013. In a bipartisan way, let's
make sure the Senate can do what it has historically done--to have
promptly considered and voted up or down, with 51 votes, the nominees
of any President of the United States for the 1,200 positions that form
the government.
There have been some conversations. I hope Senator Blunt and Senator
Lankford will continue to have those conversations with the Democratic
Members, but there are nine Democratic Senators, by my count, who are
seeking to be the next President of the United States. I hope they can
look 20 months down the road and realize that
[[Page S1569]]
just one Republican Senator could do to them, if one of them were to
become President, what the Democrats have done to President Trump. It
would be very difficult for the next Democratic President, if there
were to be one, to form a government. We don't want that to happen.
That diminishes the advice and consent role of the Senate. It fills up
the government with appointees who are acting and whom we don't know,
and they are not really accountable to us. That is not the way this
place is supposed to work.
So I renew my invitation to my Democratic friends to work with me the
way a number of us worked with them in 2011, in 2012, and in 2013.
Let's change the rules in the right way. Let's basically adopt
virtually the same rule we adopted in 2013 and allow this President and
any President to get prompt consideration and up-or-down votes of their
nominees.
I congratulate Mr. Ryder on his confirmation. I am grateful for his
willingness to serve, and I am sorry he had to wait so long for the
opportunity. The people of Tennessee and the seven State region will be
much better off for his service within this important institution.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the confirmation of John
Ryder, as a member of the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Valley
Authority, occur at this time.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Without objection, it is so ordered.
The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the Ryder
nomination?
The nomination was confirmed.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. 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.
The Senator from Tennessee.
____________________