[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Page 10973]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           EXECUTIVE SESSION

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                           EXECUTIVE CALENDAR

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
immediately proceed to executive session to consider the following 
nominations on today's Executive Calendar: Calendar Nos. 582, 583, 584, 
618, 621, 663, 666, 668, 670, 671, 675, and 684.
  I further ask unanimous consent that the nominations be confirmed en 
bloc, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, the President 
be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate then 
return to legislative session.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I want the record to reflect that we have 
cleared a significant number of people today, and we have basically 
filled the diplomatic corps, ambassadorial vacancies, except for one, 
and that is in Nepal.
  I was on the Senate floor about 10 days ago when we cleared another 
batch of ambassadors. We had the same problem then that we have now. We 
have not cleared the only vacant ambassadorial spot open, and that is 
Nepal. There is an objection by the majority. The ambassadorial 
appointments are all done except for Nepal. It is not our fault. It is 
the fault of the majority.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection? Without objection, it is 
so ordered.
  The nominations considered and confirmed en bloc are as follows:


                      department of transportation

       Linda Morrison Combs, of North Carolina, to be an Assistant 
     Secretary of Transportation.
       Francis Mulvey, of Maryland, to be a Member of the Surface 
     Transportation Board for a term expiring December 31, 2007.
       W. Douglas Buttrey, of Tennessee, to be a Member of the 
     Surface Transportation Board for a term expiring December 31, 
     2008.


                   consumer product safety commission

       Thomas Hill Moore, of Florida, to be a Commissioner of the 
     Consumer Product Safety Commission for a term of seven years 
     from October 27, 2003. (Reappointment)


                      department of transportation

       Deborah Hersman, of Virginia, to be a Member of the 
     National Transportation Safety Board for a term expiring 
     December 31, 2008, vice John Goglia, term expired.


                          department of state

       Miles T. Bivins, of Texas, to be Ambassador Extraordinary 
     and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to 
     Sweden.
       John J. Danilovich, of California, to be Ambassador 
     Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of 
     America to the Federative Republic of Brazil.
       Earle I. Mack, of New York, to be Ambassador Extraordinary 
     and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the 
     Republic of Finland.
       Jack Dyer Crouch II, of Missouri, to be Ambassador 
     Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of 
     America to Romania.
       Jendayi Elizabeth Frazer, of Virginia, to be Ambassador 
     Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of 
     America to the Republic of South Africa.
       Mitchell B. Reiss, of Virginia, for the rank of Ambassador 
     during his tenure of service as Special Envoy for Northern 
     Ireland.
       Victor Henderson Ashe, of Tennessee, to be Ambassador 
     Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of 
     America to the Republic of Poland.

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, indeed, we just confirmed about 12 of the 
96 pending nominations on the Executive Calendar, and I do thank my 
colleagues for allowing us to proceed on this list. These ambassadorial 
appointments and other nominations are all very important. It reflects 
a lot of work on both sides of the aisle to make this progress. We 
appreciate the cooperation of those to date. Again, that is 12 of 96 
nominations on the Executive Calendar that I mentioned earlier this 
morning.
  Mr. President, thus, I now ask consent that the Senate proceed to the 
consideration of the following nominations, en bloc: Calendar Nos. 429, 
594, 595, 610, 611, 612, 613, 614, 615, 617, 622, 623, 628, 629, 630, 
631, 632, 633, 634, 635, 636, 641, 642, 643, 654, 655, 656, 658, 687, 
688, 689, 690, 691, 694, 695, and 696.
  Mr. REID. Reserving the right to object, Mr. President.
  Mr. FRIST. I further ask unanimous consent that the nominations be 
confirmed en bloc, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, 
the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the 
Senate then return to legislative session.
  Mr. REID. Reserving the right to object, the reason I got a little 
out of sorts there, I thought I was in Nevada listening to a bingo game 
being called. I apologize.
  I reserve the right to object, and I do it for this reason: The two 
leaders have worked hard to clear nominations. We got a little movement 
on our side today. Therefore, we cleared some 12 nominations. We need 
some reciprocation. I do not know what the numbers were today. I do not 
know exactly, it is 3 to 12, 3 to 16. We got 3; they got 12 or 16. We 
need some reciprocation. Let me give an example.
  We have nominated and sent to the White House, and the White House 
has sent back to us a man by the name of Dr. Greg Jasko. Dr. Greg Jasko 
is to go on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. I appeared at a hearing 
yesterday. This is one of the most important sensitive commissions in 
the entire American Government. They deal with the most sensitive 
issues--nuclear powerplants, the nuclear repository in Nevada, other 
nuclear facilities all over America. Dr. Jasko is eminently qualified. 
He has a Ph.D. in physics. We cannot get him cleared.
  This is one of many examples of how it is not fair. I hope the 
distinguished majority leader will weigh in and help Dr. Jasko and 
others to get this roadblock cleared. It just really is not fair. We 
need some help on our boards and commissions. Therefore, I object, Mr. 
President.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, indeed, I will continue to work with the 
Democratic leadership to search for a way to confirm the remaining 
nominations. For those people listening who are not familiar with this 
process, as they can see, it is a give-and-take process that is a real 
struggle, but it does involve very important positions and, just as the 
distinguished Senator from Nevada said, individuals who are willing, 
who put themselves forward for public service in very important 
positions.
  We will continue to work on those who remain on the calendar and 
future nominations.

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