[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 5 (Thursday, January 9, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S103]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       Nomination of Paul J. Ray

  Mr. PETERS. Madam President, today I rise to speak in opposition to 
the nomination of Paul Ray to be the next Administrator of the Office 
of Information and Regulatory Affairs, more commonly known as OIRA.
  Although not many people outside of Washington have heard of OIRA, 
this office wields an important amount of influence over regulations 
that impact families, businesses, and communities in countless ways.
  If confirmed, Mr. Ray would be responsible for reviewing health, 
labor, environmental, and many other protections, from safeguarding our 
source of drinking water to ensuring the cars we drive are safe.
  In Michigan, communities like Flint, Oscoda, and Parchment cannot 
drink water from their own faucets without fear of ingesting toxic 
chemicals like lead or PFAS.
  When meeting with Mr. Ray, I stressed the need to prioritize 
protections that provide safe and clean drinking water and preserve our 
Great Lakes and other natural resources. I appreciate that Mr. Ray 
listened to my concerns. He is clearly very smart and passionate about 
administrative law and the rulemaking process. However, Mr. Ray is 
relatively new to Federal service and has relied primarily on his 
recent tenure at the agency to demonstrate his qualifications.
  Given his prior role, the best way for us to understand what Mr. Ray 
will do if confirmed is to take a closer look at what he has already 
done. In order to thoroughly examine his qualifications, we asked Mr. 
Ray to provide information about his tenure, which included reviews of 
proposals that would weaken critical protections for workers, veterans, 
children, disadvantaged communities, and the environment.
  Unfortunately, the nominee and the agency's Office of General Counsel 
have refused to meaningfully respond to committee members' request for 
information or fully participate in the Senate's efforts to meet our 
constitutional responsibilities. While Mr. Ray expressed a commitment 
to transparency, his inability to ensure compliance with the 
committee's requests--including for material that is routinely provided 
to the public in response to the Freedom of Information Act--raises 
serious doubts about whether he will cooperate with Congress if 
confirmed.
  Given the unprecedented actions taken by this administration to roll 
back safeguards, it would be irresponsible to confirm Mr. Ray to OIRA 
without an opportunity to thoroughly evaluate his record. I have sought 
to carefully consider Mr. Ray's nomination, but due to this serious 
lack of transparency, I cannot support his confirmation. For that 
reason, I will be voting no, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Scott of Florida). The Senator from 
Wisconsin.
  Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, I rise to ask the Senate to confirm the 
nomination of Paul Ray to be the Administrator for the Office of 
Information and Regulatory Affairs of the Office of Management and 
Budget.
  OIRA, as this office is commonly called, is the Federal Government's 
principal authority for reviewing executive branch regulations, 
approving government information collections, and overseeing the 
implementation of government-wide policies related to information 
policy, privacy, and statistical practices. The OIRA Administrator is 
responsible for reviewing and approving both rules and then final rules 
to ensure agencies conduct appropriate cost-benefit analyses.
  Under President Trump, OIRA has conducted between 200 and 400 rule 
reviews each year, and it has made it an administrative priority to 
reduce the regulations and to control regulatory costs. That includes 
the important work of reviewing existing regulations to identify those 
that are outdated, harmful, or counterproductive and achieving this 
administration's initial goal of eliminating at least two regulations 
for every significant new one added.
  The good news for our economy is that the administration far exceeded 
this initial goal by eliminating 22 outdated or harmful regulations for 
every new one added in 2017, and it has achieved a rate of 7\1/2\ 
regulations removed for each new regulation over the course of the 
administration. This has saved American families and businesses 
billions of dollars in compliance costs and has allowed businesses to 
spend that money and concentrate their efforts on growing their 
businesses and creating new products, services, and good-paying jobs.
  I continue to believe this administration's dedication to regulatory 
reform and reduction is the single most important factor in the success 
of our economy, record low levels of unemployment, and growing wage 
levels, with wage growth being at its strongest at the lower end of our 
income spectrum.
  It is important to note that Mr. Ray has already played a key role in 
this regulatory rationalization and its resulting economic success.
  In his having previously led OIRA as its Acting Administrator and as 
its Associate Administrator, Mr. Ray has demonstrated the ability to 
carry out the office's multifaceted mission. In addition to his direct 
leadership experience at OIRA, he currently serves as the Senior 
Adviser to the Director of Regulatory Affairs, where he advises on 
regulations and the regulatory process. He also served as counselor to 
the Secretary of Labor, where he had a similar role.
  Prior to these public service roles, Mr. Ray was an associate at 
Sidley Austin LLP, and he served as a law clerk to Supreme Court 
Justice Samuel Alito, as well as to Judge Debra Livingston of the U.S. 
Circuit Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Mr. Ray graduated 
magna cum laude from Hillsdale College and Harvard Law School.
  Because of his background and demonstrated enthusiasm for dealing 
with regulatory matters, Mr. Ray is uniquely qualified to serve as the 
next OIRA Administrator. I am grateful to Mr. Ray for his willingness 
to serve, and I strongly encourage my colleagues to vote yes on his 
confirmation.
  I yield the floor.