[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 144 (Thursday, September 7, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S4244]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              NOMINATIONS

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, nominations, well, it has been a 
productive first week back here on the Senate floor for nominations. 
Yesterday, I am proud to say, we confirmed Gwynne Wilcox to a second 
term on the NLRB, the National Labor Relations Board. I am happy she 
passed, just as she did 2 years ago when she became the first Black 
woman ever to be confirmed to the NLRB. Confirming highly qualified 
nominees like Ms. Wilcox to the NLRB is a top priority for Democrats 
and for all working Americans, because it is one of the most important 
proworker Agencies in the country.
  Under the Biden administration, the NLRB has been hard at work 
overturning Trump-era rulings that harmed workers and unions. They have 
been at work expanding protections in the workplace and safeguarding 
the right to organize. All important to maintaining the middle class 
and growing the middle class; because after all, it was the union 
movement that really created the broad American middle class in the 
first place. And when unions were attacked, the middle class declined.
  During her first term on the NLRB, Ms. Wilcox was a fervent champion 
of the labor movement, so I am pleased that she will be back on the 
board again.
  Now, later this morning we will confirm Adriana Kugler to be on the 
Federal Reserve Board. I was proud to champion this historic nomination 
of Ms. Kugler, a Colombian-American economist who will make history as 
the first--the first--Latina in the Fed Board's 109-year history. And I 
want to thank Chairman Menendez for championing this outstanding 
nominee.
  Ms. Kugler's historic confirmation will be a great moment for the Fed 
and for America, as we elevate fresh, diverse perspectives to our 
Nation's central bank and continue our strong economic recovery.
  We also confirmed two other very impressive nominees to the Federal 
Reserve this week: Philip Jefferson and Lisa Cook, another historic 
nominee, as Ms. Cook became the first Black woman confirmed to a full 
term on the Fed. Both of them again passed with bipartisan support.
  And, finally, today we will vote to confirm Anna Gomez as a 
Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission. Ms. Gomez is an 
exceptional nominee with considerable telecom experience and broad 
support from groups on both sides of the aisle. And if confirmed, she 
will be the first Latina on the Commission in over 20 years, another 
glass ceiling broken. And these are so important to getting a full, 
diverse view on important governing Agencies like the Fed, like the 
FCC.
  Ms. Gomez's confirmation will fill the fifth and final spot on the 
FCC so they can do the crucial work of expanding access to high-speed 
internet, administering programs for affordable internet access, and 
protecting consumers from junk fees and much more.
  So I thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their 
cooperation on these nominees, and I look forward to continuing this 
Democratic Senate's historic pace of confirming well-qualified and 
diverse nominees.

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