[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Pages 14859-14860]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                           EXECUTIVE SESSION

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    NOMINATION OF JOHN THOMAS SCHIEFFER, OF TEXAS, TO BE AMBASSADOR 
 EXTRAORDINARY AND PLENIPOTENTIARY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TO 
                               AUSTRALIA

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to executive session to consider the nomination of John 
Schieffer to be Ambassador to Australia, reported earlier today by the 
Foreign Relations Committee, the nomination be confirmed, the motion to 
reconsider be laid on the table, that any statements be printed in the 
appropriate place in the Record, the President be immediately notified 
of the Senate's action, and the Senate return to legislative session.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection? The Senator from Idaho.
  Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, and I will 
not object, I would like to engage the assistant majority leader. I am 
extremely pleased to see that one of our nominees is moving this 
evening, Mr. Schieffer, to become Ambassador to Australia. I do know 
that the assistant Republican leader and the assistant majority leader 
have been working for the last several days to get us to a point of a 
definable number of nominees that might be considered before we go out 
today and before we go out for the August recess and some time line as 
it relates to the consideration of others that are before us.
  The Senator from Nevada understands some of our frustration. I am 
looking at a gentleman now before the Judiciary Committee who has not 
been given a time for hearing and consideration. He has been there 
since May 22, Assistant Attorney General for Natural Resources of the 
Environment. Yet I am told that he has been told that maybe sometime in 
November or December the Judiciary Committee might find time to get to 
his nomination.
  Clearly the Senator from Nevada, as I understand, is working on this 
issue. Although he and the assistant Republican leader have attempted 
to refine it and define it, that is not a way to treat our President 
and the people he needs to run the executive branch of Government.
  My question to the assistant majority leader is, To his knowledge, 
where are we now in the possibility of numbers as it relates to what we 
would finish before the August recess and some time line as to others 
that we could expect to deal with, let's say when we got back in early 
September, following the Labor Day period and on into October?
  Mr. REID. I say to the Senator from Idaho, I have had a number of 
long discussions with my counterpart, Senator Nickles. I think progress 
is being made. We have exchanged lists. We are exchanging scores of 
nominees. I think we are making good progress. There has been a little 
slowdown because of what has been going on on the floor the last few 
days. Not only have Senator Nickles and I met on several occasions, but 
the majority and minority leaders have also met and discussed this. We 
have done very well. We certainly try not to do anything other than let 
the chairmen move as they believe their committee should move. We have 
had tremendous movement in most every committee--in fact, all 
committees.
  As I said, we have exchanged with Senator Nickles scores of nominees. 
And at the appropriate time, we are happy to sit down and discuss 
further with him, as the two leaders have indicated. Once we decide we 
have something to present to them, we will do that.
  Mr. CRAIG. I thank the assistant majority leader.
  Mr. President, as I have said, I will not object. It is important 
that we move these nominees along. I understand that the new Ambassador 
headed to Australia must get there for the ASEAN conference that is 
about to convene in the Asian, sub-Asian area which is critical to us 
and to our country as it relates to climate change and that whole 
debate, along with the trade debate and the relationships we have with 
Australia and New Zealand and other nations within that area.
  I must also say to the assistant majority leader, clearly the debate 
on Mexican trucks and the Transportation bill, in my opinion, are an 
issue separate from the nominees.
  Mr. REID. I agree with the Senator.

[[Page 14860]]


  Mr. CRAIG. I know you had referenced some slowing down of the 
process. This process must not slow down. We have decisions that need 
to be made in the field. We have citizens waiting for decisions to be 
made by agencies of our Government who now are not making them or are 
making them not with Bush appointees but with former Clinton 
appointees. I don't think that is the way either of us want that to 
happen.
  I hope that clearly we can confirm a substantial number before the 
August recess. We are going to pursue this and work certainly with you, 
and I and my colleague from Arizona will work with our leadership and 
with the assistant Republican leader. Time lines are critical.
  I must tell the Senator that if what I am told is true, that when a 
nominee engages the staff of one of the committees to ask when he might 
be scheduled--and he has been there since May 22--and he is told, in 
essence, when we get around to it in November or December, that sounds 
to me like something other than timely scheduling. That sounds to me 
like a great deal of foot dragging on the part of the Judiciary 
Committee, its chairman, and its staff. If that is the case, and that 
can be determined, my guess is, there will be less work done here than 
might otherwise be done in the course of the next number of weeks, if 
we can't determine to move these folks ahead with some reasonable 
timeframe both for hearing and for an understanding of when they can 
come to the floor for a vote.
  With that, I do not object.
  Mr. REID. Let me say to my friend, we believe nominees should be 
approved as quickly as possible. I say respectfully to my friend from 
Idaho, this is not payback time. We have indicated, and I have 
indicated to the Senator personally, the majority leader has indicated 
to the minority leader--I spoke to my counterpart, Senator Nickles--
this is not payback time. We will not compare what happened to 
President Clinton to what has happened to President Bush.
  We are going to do our very best. We are working as rapidly as we 
can.
  I think what we have done is quite commendable. You are going to have 
to work with your side because a number of the holds on some of these 
important nominations are on your side.
  We are doing the best we can. We appreciate your interest. I have 
taken the assignment given to me by my leader, as Senator Nickles has 
by his leader, as being serious. We are doing our very best to come up 
with a product that will satisfy the body.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to confirmation of the 
nominee? Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. KYL. Mr. President, reserving the right to object.
  Mr. REID. I have a parliamentary inquiry. I want to make sure the 
time is running against the cloture motion. If it is not, then we are 
not going to bother with this nomination because we don't have the 
time. Is this counting?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The time is being charged to the 30 hours 
under the cloture motion.
  Mr. KYL. I don't mean to take any time.
  Mr. REID. We have a lot of time.
  Mr. KYL. That is not the object. Reserving the right to object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arizona.
  Mr. KYL. Mr. President, I want to ask the assistant majority leader 
one, maybe two questions. This nomination is a great nomination, as the 
Senator from Nevada pointed out. It would not be my intention to 
object. What it demonstrates is, my understanding is that the 
President, or someone on his behalf, called and said can't we shake 
this nominee loose, for the reason the Senator from Idaho indicated. It 
illustrates the fact that we have held up the nominations so long that 
really important things are beginning to happen that require that we 
put these people in place.
  Therefore, I think it is commendable to bring this nominee to the 
floor now. I ask the distinguished assistant majority leader--there are 
also some important efforts at the United Nations which require the 
attendance of John Negroponte, the nominee for Ambassador of the U.N. 
The President deserves to have his Cabinet filled out finally. John 
Walters, the nominee for drug czar, is somebody of great importance to 
the White House. I spoke yesterday with the Attorney General who asked 
if we could please get Tom Sansonetti, an assistant from the Department 
of Justice, confirmed as quickly as possible.
  I ask the assistant majority leader, since there are 15 nominees who 
I think are on the Executive Calendar now, we can do all of those right 
now if he would agree not only that we could ask unanimous consent on 
this one nominee, but the others who are at least pending on the 
Executive Calendar before us.
  Mr. REID. I don't think you can list in order of priority which of 
these nominations are more important than another. If you asked people 
before the committee, the Environment and Public Works Committee, it 
may not be, in the minds of some, as important to some under the 
auspices of the Judiciary Committee because that person is changing 
their lives to have a new assignment in life. It is very important. So 
we are doing everything we can to move through these quickly. We want 
to make sure that the chairmen and the chairwomen of these committees 
and subcommittees have the opportunity to do whatever they need to do 
to make sure it is brought before the Senate in the fashion they 
believe appropriate.
  I say to my friend, in answer to the question, Senator Nickles and I 
have been working and at an appropriate time we will report to the two 
leaders as to what we expect to happen on both sides in the next few 
hours.
  Mr. KYL. Mr. President, then I will ask for a second question with 
the indulgence of the Senator. With all due respect, the answer is a 
nonanswer. It doesn't tell us when we might consider these nominees. 
The distinguished assistant majority leader said phrases such as ``as 
quickly as possible'' and ``as rapidly as we can accommodate.'' Is it 
not true that there are 15--if I am incorrect, please give the correct 
number--15 people pending on the Executive Calendar who don't await 
anything except our action? We can do it now or at the end of the day. 
Nothing stands in the way--no committee chairmen, no further vote, 
nothing. As far as I know, there is no controversy with respect to any 
of these.
  Is there any reason that this number, whether it be 14 or 15, could 
not be agreed to today?
  Mr. REID. We hope before the day's end there are more than that on 
the calendar. Some will be reported today.
  This is not quite as easy as the Senator from Arizona has indicated. 
The Department of the Treasury--these four people who have been 
reported out by the committee, by Senator Grassley and Senator Baucus, 
are really important, we think--the Deputy Secretary, Assistant 
Secretary, Under Secretary, and another Under Secretary. These are 
being held up on your side. We are trying to work our way through this. 
I say to my friend that we are trying to do our best. We are acting in 
good faith. That is why we interrupted the proceedings for Mr. 
Schieffer.
  Senator Nickles and I have been given an assignment. I know you will 
accept what I say. He and I have been working hard, but I ask you to 
meet with him. We have had a number of discussions relating to the 
nominations. I am confident it is going to bear fruit very quickly.
  Mr. KYL. I will not object. I appreciate the response of the 
assistant majority leader, although it suggests to me that these 
nominees are being held hostage to the legislative process. I hope we 
can get these confirmations as quickly as possible.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to the confirmation?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The nomination was comfirmed.

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