[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Pages 8182-8183]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           EXECUTIVE SESSION

                                 ______
                                 

      NOMINATION OF STEPHEN L. JOHNSON TO BE ADMINISTRATOR OF THE 
                    ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will 
proceed to executive session, and the clerk will report Calendar No. 
61.
  The legislative clerk read the nomination of Stephen L. Johnson, of 
Maryland, to be Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Delaware.
  Mr. CARPER. Mr. President, as one who grew up in Danville and 
Roanoke, VA, as one who served in the U.S. Navy with John Warner as our 
Secretary of the Navy, I join my friend George Allen and all of you in 
saluting him. It has been my privilege to serve under him as a naval 
flight officer for a number of years. It has been my privilege to serve 
with him and with all of you for about the last 4 years.
  During that time I have worked with a number of you on our side and 
on the Republican side to try to find common ground with respect to 
issues such as class action, asbestos litigation reform, bankruptcy, 
the next step in welfare reform, a comprehensive energy policy, a 
business model for the Postal Service in the 21st century. The list 
goes on.
  As a former Governor, one who used to nominate people to serve in 
cabinet posts and judgeships, I have generally voted to confirm the men 
and women President Bush has nominated to serve on his team. In a 
number of instances I have gone well beyond just voting for a nominee 
of the President but advocating for them. I will give some examples. 
Tommy Thompson was nominated for Secretary of Health and Human 
Services. I called him and said: Congratulations; how can I help you 
get confirmed and how can I help get your team confirmed? I did the 
same thing with Tom Ridge when he was nominated for Secretary of 
Homeland Security. I did the same thing with Christie Whitman when she 
was nominated for EPA, and I did the same thing for Mike Leavitt when 
he was nominated to head EPA.
  I stand before you tonight taking a different posture. I have never 
put a hold on any nominee in any time I have served here. It is not in 
my modus operandi. But I have done it tonight and with a good man, 
Stephen Johnson, who has been nominated by this President to lead the 
EPA. I am convinced if he is confirmed, he would do a good job.
  I stand here tonight asking that we not confirm him at this time. I 
will tell you why. For the last 3 years, I have been asking the 
Environmental Protection Agency to give us comparative data, comparing 
the President's Clear Skies proposal, the proposal of Senator Jim 
Jeffords, Susan Collins, and Joe Lieberman, and a bipartisan bill I 
have introduced with several of you. We have asked for comparative 
data, modeling that actually says this is what each of the bills will 
do on the economic front. This is what they would do on the 
environmental front, and here is what they would do on the public 
health front.
  I made that request first in 2002, again in 2003, again in 2004, and 
again in 2005. I am not going to go into the litany of responses. My 
friends, the response has been ultimately disappointing. We have tried 
to compromise. The administration offered us a deal. We have come back 
with a counterproposal. We have not been able to find middle ground.
  Tonight we end up with a decision to go for cloture. For those of you 
who are going to vote no on cloture, I say thank you. For those who are 
going to vote yes, let me say this: My friends, I don't care who is 
President. I don't care who is running EPA. I don't care who is in the 
majority here. When we are voting on issues such as clean air or clean 
water or these kinds of issues and we need good scientific data, by 
golly, we ought to get it. We should not have to beg for it. I don't 
care who is running this place. We should get it. We should be able to 
make these decisions based on good science. That is what I want.
  The real tragedy, if Stephen Johnson is confirmed tonight--and I wish 
him well if he is--is we have missed an opportunity not only to confirm 
a good man, but we will have missed an opportunity to provide this side 
with, frankly, the kind of scientific data we can go forward with and 
actually do a good bill, adopt a good clean air bill that will do a 
good job in reducing sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and mercury, and 
slowing the growth of carbon dioxide. We have missed an opportunity if 
we go forward tonight.
  For those who are standing with me, I say thank you. For those who 
are not, I ask you to remember, someday we will have a Democratic 
President. Someday we will have a Democratic majority in this Senate. 
Be careful of the bed that you make, because someday you will get to 
sleep in it.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Ohio.
  Mr. VOINOVICH. Mr. President, I rise in support of the nomination of 
Stephen Johnson to be Administrator of the EPA. This Senate should vote 
for cloture and support this nomination.
  As chairman of the Oversight of Government Management Subcommittee, I 
am very interested in the management of our Federal Government. Finding 
the right people with the right skills to run our Nation's agencies is 
very important. And President Bush has found the right person to lead 
the EPA.
  Mr. Johnson will be the first career official to hold the position. 
He has worked at the EPA for 24 years and for 8 of the 9 EPA 
Administrators. He knows the inner workings and personnel at the agency 
which may be exactly what is needed to manage it. He has managed 
virtually every aspect of the agency's rulemaking process.
  One of his strongest qualifications is he will be the first 
professional scientist to be the director of the Environmental 
Protection Agency. He has already been confirmed twice by the Senate as 
assistant administrator in 2001 and deputy administrator in 2004. There 
is a real need at the EPA to have him confirmed. The agency has had 
four Administrators in 4 years.

[[Page 8183]]

  Mr. Johnson is serving as both deputy administrator and acting 
administrator. The agency has a number of other open positions. It is 
crying out for leadership. I imagine some of my colleagues are 
wondering why there is any controversy. I am the chairman of the Clean 
Air Subcommittee. The controversy over this nomination does not come 
from the EPW Committee as it overwhelmingly voted 17 to 1 in favor of 
his nomination.
  The ranking member, Senator Jeffords, stated, when he was nominated:

       I applaud the decision to nominate Stephen Johnson to head 
     the EPA, and will work to move his nomination through the 
     Senate.
  Senator Lieberman also was very complimentary about Mr. Johnson and 
about the fact that he was qualified and that he was needed at the 
agency.
  I wanted you all to know that we have been working for the last 4, 5 
months to pass a bill to reduce powerplant emissions by 70 percent. 
Senator Carper and I, who are very good friends, have spent countless 
hours trying to compromise. He sent a letter to the EPA requesting an 
analysis that would take several months to complete. Senator Carper has 
placed a hold on a nomination because he wants information. Senators 
have a right to information, but because he wants more analysis 
performed, here are the facts: EPW has held 24 hearings on 
multiemissions legislation. EPA has provided Congress with thousands of 
pages of information. EPA career staff has stated this is the most 
analyses they can ever remember being performed on a proposal.
  Mr. President, I am particularly talking to my colleagues on the 
other side of the aisle. We have more information than the whole 
Congress had when it passed the Clean Air Amendments in 1990. In May of 
2004, the Energy Information Administration performed an analysis 
similar to what Senator Carper is requesting. Last year, the 
administration went much farther than I would have gone. They agreed to 
do another comprehensive analysis to provide 12 pieces of information 
on 4 proposals, including many of the things that we have been talking 
about.
  This is not a small analysis. It is going to take 6 to 8 weeks--did 
you hear me?--to complete.
  To reiterate, we have had four administrators in 4 years, and things 
are not getting done at the EPA. Unfortunately, Mr. Johnson's 
nomination is being held hostage because of an issue that pales--this 
difference of opinion pales when you consider how desperately the EPA 
needs a Director right now. We have to have somebody there to get the 
leadership.
  As I say, I understand my colleagues on the other side of the aisle 
have said we are going to vote en masse against cloture. Johnson is a 
good man. He is desperately needed at EPA, and I urge you to vote for 
cloture so we can confirm the scientist and the first career official 
to be administrator of the EPA. Thank you.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I yield back my time.


                             Cloture Motion

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The minority leader yields back the time.
  Under the previous order, the clerk will report the motion to invoke 
cloture.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

                             Cloture Motion

       We the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the 
     provisions of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, 
     do hereby move to bring to a close debate on Executive 
     Calendar No. 61, the nomination of Stephen L. Johnson, of 
     Maryland, to be Administrator of the Environmental Protection 
     Agency.
         Bill Frist, J.M. Inhofe, Sam Brownback, Kay Bailey 
           Hutchison, David Vitter, Orrin Hatch, Elizabeth Dole, 
           Lisa Murkowski, Bob Bennett, John Cornyn, Lamar 
           Alexander, Johnny Isakson, C.S. Bond, Michael B. Enzi, 
           Mike DeWine, John Ensign, Ted Stevens.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. By unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum 
call has been waived.
  The question is, Is it the sense of the Senate that debate on the 
nomination of Stephen L. Johnson, of Maryland, to be Administrator of 
the Environmental Protection Agency shall be brought to a close?
  The yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. The clerk will call 
the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. The following Senator was necessarily absent: the 
Senator from Mississippi (Mr. Lott).
  Mr. DURBIN announced that the Senator from Connecticut (Mr. 
Lieberman) is necessarily absent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 61, nays 37, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 115 Ex.]

                                YEAS--61

     Alexander
     Allard
     Allen
     Baucus
     Bennett
     Bond
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burns
     Burr
     Byrd
     Chafee
     Chambliss
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Coleman
     Collins
     Cornyn
     Craig
     Crapo
     DeMint
     DeWine
     Dole
     Domenici
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Frist
     Graham
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Hatch
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Kyl
     Leahy
     Lugar
     Martinez
     McCain
     McConnell
     Murkowski
     Nelson (FL)
     Nelson (NE)
     Roberts
     Santorum
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Smith
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stevens
     Sununu
     Talent
     Thomas
     Thune
     Vitter
     Voinovich
     Warner

                                NAYS--37

     Akaka
     Bayh
     Biden
     Bingaman
     Boxer
     Cantwell
     Carper
     Clinton
     Conrad
     Corzine
     Dayton
     Dodd
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Harkin
     Inouye
     Jeffords
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Kerry
     Kohl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Levin
     Lincoln
     Mikulski
     Murray
     Obama
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Rockefeller
     Salazar
     Sarbanes
     Schumer
     Stabenow
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--2

     Lieberman
     Lott
       
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this vote, the yeas are 61, the nays are 
37. Three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn having voted in 
the affirmative, the motion is agreed to.
  The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the nomination 
of Stephen L. Johnson, of Maryland, to be Administrator of the 
Environmental Protection Agency.
  The nomination was confirmed.

                          ____________________