[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 53 (Monday, March 22, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S1663]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              NOMINATIONS

  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, next, another aspect of why this is a 
good day.
  Tonight, the Senate will confirm Mayor Marty Walsh of Boston to serve 
as Secretary of Labor. The son of Irish immigrants, Mayor Walsh 
followed his father's footsteps in construction and joined the 
Laborers' Union Local 223 at age 21, eventually serving as its 
president before being elected mayor of Boston.
  During his testimony here in the Senate, Mayor Walsh said it was by 
joining a union that his parents were able to climb up into the middle 
class and give their son a shot at a better life.
  We have something in common. My grandfather came to the United States 
and became very involved with the labor movement. One day when he was 
14, it was raining. He was looking for shelter. It was pouring. He had 
almost nowhere to live. He walked into the labor temple, where he heard 
Eugene V. Debs and Will and Ariel Durant give the annual address at 
that temple established by the A.F. of L. to teach the immigrants about 
the union movement. So we have that in common. Our grandfathers are 
immigrants--one from Ireland, one from Eastern Europe, but both joined 
the labor movement, and it helped their family move up.
  The Department of Labor is in desperate need of a leader with Mayor 
Walsh's perspective. For the past 4 years under President Trump and 
Secretary Scalia, unfortunately, sadly, the Labor Department has too 
often sided with corporate America, not the working people of America, 
which it was formed to help. Once the Senate confirms Mayor Walsh, 
American workers will finally have one of their own leading the 
Department of Labor, someone from working America who will fight for 
working America.
  I am proud to say that once Mayor Walsh is confirmed tonight, the 
Senate will have confirmed all 15 of President Biden's Cabinet 
Secretaries.
  Under extraordinary circumstances, unusual responsibilities, a later 
than usual runoff election, an evenly divided Chamber, an insurrection, 
an impeachment trial, and the passage of historic Federal relief, the 
Senate has still stayed on track and confirmed President Biden's 
Cabinet faster than both of the last two administrations. Let me say 
that again. With everything else going on, the Senate has confirmed 
President Biden's Cabinet faster than during both of the prior two 
administrations, one a Democrat and one a Republican. Every single 
member of President Biden's Cabinet has received a bipartisan vote in 
favor of confirmation. I anticipate that the vote in favor of Mayor 
Walsh will stay true to form, completing an unblemished record of 
bipartisan confirmations to the Cabinet.
  It is a tribute to President Biden and his team that they have chosen 
such a fine Cabinet and a tribute to the Senators here that we have 
moved in such a quick fashion despite so many other responsibilities 
being placed on our shoulders in these early days of this Congress.
  Few Cabinets in history have begun their tenures with such daunting 
tasks: a once-in-a-century pandemic, an economy in the doldrums, global 
challenges like climate change and democratic decline. Thankfully, this 
Senate has made sure President Biden's Cabinet is in place and on the 
job as quickly as possible. We will continue the personnel business 
this week by installing the Deputy Director at OMB, the Surgeon 
General, the Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services, and 
Deputy Secretaries at Energy and Treasury.

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