[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 63 (Thursday, April 11, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2422-S2423]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                    Confirmation of David Bernhardt

  Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, we just voted in a very important vote 
on the Senate floor--a bipartisan vote--to confirm Mr. David Bernhardt 
as the next Secretary of the Interior for the United States of America. 
It was a strong vote--56 to 41.
  I want to begin my remarks this afternoon by rising to express my 
gratitude and appreciation to Mr. Bernhardt for stepping up to the 
plate to continue to serve his country and to continue to serve the 
Department of the Interior now in the role of Secretary, the individual 
who is going to be running the Department of the Interior for the 
United States.
  I thank my colleagues. It was a bipartisan vote in the Senate, which 
I think is important for voting for now-Secretary Bernhardt. Actually, 
I would like to be the first Senator to call him Secretary Bernhardt. 
If you and your family are watching, Mr. Secretary, thank you.
  I also want to mention that I have been listening to some of the 
speeches made by my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. To be 
perfectly blunt, I find what we just witnessed a bit disheartening. I 
would like to say at the outset that we can and should disagree on 
policy disputes. Certainly issues like land issues are really important 
to me in my State, that is for sure. We can disagree about the 
direction of how we are going to move some of those policies forward. 
What is disheartening, though, is when you have someone like Mr. 
Bernhardt, who is willing to serve his country again--and I am going to 
talk about that--essentially getting his reputation dragged through the 
mud on the Senate floor. It is not a good thing. It doesn't encourage 
people to want to serve.
  So, Mr. Secretary, thank you. I know this wasn't an easy confirmation 
process.
  When you look at his background, this is actually one of the most 
qualified individuals to serve as the Secretary whom we have had in 
many years. He was the Solicitor General under President George W. 
Bush, confirmed by the Senate; he was the Deputy Secretary for the last 
2 years, confirmed by this body; and now he is the Secretary. I would 
say those are very high qualifications. I just want to talk about him 
for a little bit.
  Why do I support Mr. Bernhardt? The Secretary of the Department of 
the Interior is really important to America. It is critically important 
to my State, the great State of Alaska. We have over 200 million acres 
of land under the Department of the Interior's control in Alaska--200 
million acres. That is over two times the size of California. In fact, 
one-quarter of all the lands that the Department of the Interior 
manages for the United States reside in Alaska. Let me repeat that. 
One-quarter of all the lands that the Secretary of the Interior manages 
in America are in my State.
  So we take this role of Secretary of the Interior very, very 
seriously, which is why I wanted to come to the floor and again thank 
Secretary Bernhardt

[[Page S2423]]

and let him know that even though there were a lot of Senators down 
here really ripping into him, the vast majority of us--56 of us, at 
least--think he is going to do a great job.
  Why do we think that, Mr. Secretary? Well, certainly with regard to 
Alaska, sometimes Secretaries of the Interior understand our State and 
that we are different and unique and that Federal laws passed by this 
body say so. Other Secretaries of the Interior don't. They don't 
understand that in Alaska you have to balance conservation with 
resource development and economic opportunity. Secretary Bernhardt does 
understand this, and this is refreshing. Secretary Zinke did. This was 
refreshing. It was a refreshing break from the previous administration, 
the Obama administration, where Secretaries of the Interior, like Sally 
Jewell, went out of their way to tilt Federal power in a way that 
disadvantaged the State of Alaska, despite Federal law saying you 
shouldn't do that.
  Well, we just had a U.S. Supreme Court decision 2 weeks ago saying 
that that practice of the Department of the Interior and their 
different officials tilting the law against Alaskans had to stop. It 
was a huge case that I talked about on the floor last week, Sturgeon v. 
Frost, which says that in the laws of the Federal Government, 
particularly as they relate to Alaska--the Supreme Court stated it 
several times in a 9-to-0 opinion--Alaska is unique and Alaska is 
different. When it comes to the Department of the Interior, it is very 
different.
  Well, Mr. Secretary Bernhardt knows that, and that is one of the 
reasons why I am so pleased to have voted for him and supported his 
confirmation, which we just saw on the Senate floor. It is not just me 
who supports him. Let me provide some quotes from letters and support 
groups, because, again, after listening to some of my colleagues the 
last couple of days, you would have thought that everybody was against 
him. Actually, most groups who care about conservation were for him. 
Let me give one really important group--the Alaska Federation of 
Natives, an extremely important group in my State. The Secretary of the 
Interior has trust responsibilities to lower 48 Indians and Alaska 
Natives. This group had this to say about Mr. Bernhardt:

       He listens well. He is articulate in his responses. He 
     draws reasonable conclusions. Moreover, he has established a 
     trusting relationship with the Alaska Native community around 
     the issues of resource development and subsistence hunting 
     and fishing.

  So they have been complimentary and supportive.
  The American Farm Bureau says:

       This President's nomination of David Bernhardt as Secretary 
     of the Interior is great news for American agriculture. He 
     understands the needs of America's farmers and ranchers and 
     is an excellent choice for Interior Secretary.

  The Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies--who are they? Those 
are the men and women in each State who manage fish and game like the 
Department of the Interior. Here is what they had to say:

       The Association is appreciative of Mr. Bernhardt's 
     continued support for the great work of state fish and 
     wildlife agencies in conserving our nation's natural 
     resources.

  The Congressional Sportsmen Foundation says:

       Mr. Bernhardt has demonstrated he is a true advocate for 
     sportsmen and women across the country by working with the 
     community throughout his career in natural resources 
     management, and implementing Secretarial Orders that promote 
     sportsmen's access to public lands.

  That is a very big issue in my State.
  Even a group like Ducks Unlimited says: ``His integrity in following 
the law is beyond reproach.'' Let me say that one again. ``His 
integrity in following the law is beyond reproach.'' David Bernhardt is 
a champion of conservation and the right person for the job.
  When I was the commissioner of natural resources in the great State 
of Alaska--which actually is a job similar to the Secretary of the 
Interior, where we manage an enormous portfolio of land, water, oil, 
gas, minerals, and timber--I had the opportunity to actually hire Mr. 
Bernhardt when he was in the private sector as an attorney helping the 
State of Alaska with a big complicated lands issue. He did a great job. 
He was a hard worker. He was a man of integrity. So the list goes on 
and on of the supporters.
  So, again, Mr. Secretary, we just want you to know that given your 
background as former Solicitor of the Department of the Interior and 
former Deputy Secretary of the Department of the Interior and as 
someone who has gotten rave reviews from groups all across the country, 
and now as the Secretary of the Interior, my view is that you are 
actually one of the most qualified individuals to hold this position. 
So congratulations. You certainly earned it. We appreciate your service 
to this great Nation of ours, your service to the Department of the 
Interior, and your service to my State, the great State of Alaska, and 
we certainly look forward to working with you as you continue your 
public service for our country, for Interior, and for Alaska. I just 
wanted to come to the floor to commend you on a strong bipartisan 
support, and we are going to look forward to working with you.