[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 198 (Wednesday, December 11, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6986-S6987]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             CLOTURE MOTION

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Pursuant to rule XXII, the Chair lays before 
the Senate the pending cloture motion, which the clerk will state.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

                             Cloture Motion

       We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the 
     provisions of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, 
     do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination 
     of Stephen Hahn, of Texas, to be Commissioner of Food and 
     Drugs, Department of Health and Human Services.

[[Page S6987]]

         Mitch McConnell, Thom Tillis, Richard Burr, Pat Roberts, 
           John Cornyn, John Hoeven, Cindy Hyde-Smith, Roger F. 
           Wicker, James Lankford, John Boozman, James E. Risch, 
           John Barrasso, John Thune, Roy Blunt, Lamar Alexander, 
           Mike Braun, Shelley Moore Capito.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. By unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum 
call has been waived.
  The question is, Is it the sense of the Senate that debate on the 
nomination of Stephen Hahn, of Texas, shall be brought to a close?
  The yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator 
from North Carolina (Mr. Burr), the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Isakson), 
and the Senator from Kentucky (Mr. Paul).
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Colorado (Mr. Bennet), 
the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Booker), the Senator from Vermont (Mr. 
Sanders), and the Senator from Massachusetts (Ms. Warren) are 
necessarily absent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 74, nays 19, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 393 Ex.]

                                YEAS--74

     Alexander
     Baldwin
     Barrasso
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Boozman
     Braun
     Brown
     Capito
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Cassidy
     Collins
     Coons
     Cornyn
     Cortez Masto
     Cotton
     Cramer
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Daines
     Durbin
     Enzi
     Ernst
     Feinstein
     Fischer
     Gardner
     Graham
     Grassley
     Hawley
     Hoeven
     Hyde-Smith
     Inhofe
     Johnson
     Jones
     Kaine
     Kennedy
     King
     Lankford
     Lee
     Manchin
     McConnell
     McSally
     Menendez
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Murphy
     Perdue
     Peters
     Portman
     Risch
     Roberts
     Romney
     Rosen
     Rounds
     Rubio
     Sasse
     Scott (FL)
     Scott (SC)
     Shaheen
     Shelby
     Sinema
     Sullivan
     Tester
     Thune
     Tillis
     Toomey
     Van Hollen
     Warner
     Whitehouse
     Wicker
     Wyden
     Young

                                NAYS--19

     Blumenthal
     Cantwell
     Duckworth
     Gillibrand
     Harris
     Hassan
     Heinrich
     Hirono
     Klobuchar
     Leahy
     Markey
     Merkley
     Murray
     Reed
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Smith
     Stabenow
     Udall

                             NOT VOTING--7

     Bennet
     Booker
     Burr
     Isakson
     Paul
     Sanders
     Warren
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this vote, the yeas are 74, the nays are 
19.
  The motion is agreed to.
  There is 2 minutes of debate on both sides before the next vote.
  The Senator from Delaware.


                     Nomination of Aurelia Skipwith

  Mr. CARPER. Mr. President, I take no joy today in rising to urge my 
colleagues to join me in voting no on the cloture of the nomination of 
Aurelia Skipwith to serve as Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service.
  To my disappointment and dismay, Ms. Skipwith has not provided 
information pertaining to her activities at the Interior Department 
that was requested by Senate Democrats during her nomination process. 
Despite my repeated requests for this information since August--
requests made twice in writing and twice in person during her 
nomination process--Ms. Skipwith has refused to produce information 
that is routinely provided by other nominees. She even suggested--get 
this--that I file a Freedom of Information Act request for the basic 
information I seek. I worry, once confirmed, Ms. Skipwith's 
forthrightness will only worsen, which will severely impair our ability 
to conduct meaningful oversight over the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service.
  Ms. Skipwith's lack of candor has elevated questions that already 
existed about her qualifications, her commitment to environmental 
conservation, and whether she can ethically lead the U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service. I believe it is irresponsible to confirm a nominee 
given these serious outstanding issues. I urge my colleagues to join me 
in voting no on cloture.
  I thank the Presiding Officer.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Wyoming.
  Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, the Senate is considering the nomination 
of Aurelia Skipwith to be Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service.
  The agency needs Senate-confirmed leadership in place, and Ms. 
Skipwith is well qualified to serve as the Director. She has a degree 
in biology from Howard University, a degree in molecular genetics from 
Purdue University, and a law degree from the University of Kentucky. 
For almost 3 years, Ms. Skipwith has served as the Department of the 
Interior's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
  At her nomination hearing, Ms. Skipwith was introduced by Democratic 
Congressman William Lacy Clay, of Missouri. He said Ms. Skipwith was 
``one of the most talented, hardest working and driven persons that I 
have ever known.''
  I encourage every Senator to support her nomination.
  I yield the floor.

                          ____________________