[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Pages 5287-5288]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           EXECUTIVE SESSION

                                 F_____
                                 

   NOMINATION OF CARL JOSEPH ARTMAN TO BE ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE 
                                INTERIOR

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will 
proceed to executive session to consider the following nomination, 
which the clerk will report.
  The assistant legislative clerk read the nomination of Carl Joseph 
Artman, of Colorado, to be Assistant Secretary of the Interior.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who yields time?
  The Senator from North Dakota is recognized.
  Mr. DORGAN. Madam President, I am pleased to speak on this nomination 
with my colleague from Wyoming, Senator Thomas. I chair the Indian 
Affairs Committee. Senator Thomas is vice chair of that committee.
  This is the nomination of Carl Artman to be Assistant Secretary for 
Indian Affairs. Mr. Artman is an American Indian from the Oneida Tribe 
of Wisconsin. He is highly qualified. He was nominated twice--once last 
year by President Bush. Last year, I supported his nomination, which 
was held up in the Senate. He has been nominated recently again by the 
President. I held an immediate hearing with Senator Thomas on his 
nomination. We passed it out of the committee the same day, and we have 
been waiting to get it to the floor.
  There has been a hold on the nomination, regrettably. With some 
irritation, I say it has been 2 full years last month that this 
position has been vacant. The position of Assistant Secretary for 
Indian affairs--a position that has existed in this Government since 
1806--is one that is responsible for the trust responsibilities and all 
of the other issues that relate to treaties with Indian tribes. It has 
always been considered a very important position. For 2 years it has 
been vacant. That is unbelievable. Nowhere in this country are there 
more significant and enduring problems than those that exist on many 
Indian reservations. Many live in Third World conditions. I have told 
stories of people freezing in their homes in the winter. There are 
housing crises that exist on Indian reservations. There are health care 
crises and education crises. It is unbelievable. We need to have this 
position filled. Finally, at long last, today we will have a chance to 
vote on the nomination.
  I am sure there will be an overwhelming vote in support of a well-
qualified candidate sent to us by President Bush first last year, then 
held up, unfortunately, in the Senate, and now this year, held up until 
now. Finally, perhaps, at long last we will do what we should have done 
long ago on behalf of American Indians, and that is to put someone in 
the position of the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs to be 
involved in managing and reacting to all of these responsibilities that 
have been long ignored--too long ignored, in my judgment.
  I come today to support this nomination. My colleague, Senator 
Thomas, will speak for himself, but we have worked together in support 
of trying to get this nomination to the floor of the Senate. American 
Indians and Native Alaskans--my colleagues know the information--have 
higher rates of tuberculosis, 600 percent higher than other American 
citizens; substance abuse, alcohol abuse, 500 percent higher; diabetes, 
in some cases up to 10 times the rate; Indian youth suicide, 10 times 
the rate of the rest of the country.
  These are unbelievable circumstances. We have to begin to deal with 
these issues. That is what we are trying to do on the Indian Affairs 
Committee. But it is absolutely shameful this position has been open 
for 2 full years. It has been vacant 2 years. This is a well-qualified 
person. I have met with him a couple of times. I was proud to move his 
nomination through the committee. This is a well-qualified person, an 
American Indian from the Oneida Tribe in Wisconsin.
  At long last, I hope today we will decide to give Senate approval to 
President Bush's nomination and give Mr. Carl Artman the opportunity to 
assume this role of Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Wyoming is recognized

[[Page 5288]]


  Mr. THOMAS. Madam President, I join my friend, the chairman of the 
Indian Affairs Committee, in supporting Carl Joseph Artman for 
Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs. We have waited a good long time 
to get to this point.
  Mr. Artman is an excellent candidate with diversity of experience in 
both the private and public sectors. He has the leadership and academic 
credentials needed for this necessary and extraordinarily demanding 
position.
  The Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs implements the Federal 
Indian policy set by Congress and facilitates the government-to-
government relationship with 561 Indian tribal governments.
  The Assistant Secretary, as you might imagine, is responsible for a 
variety of activities, including economic development, law enforcement, 
trust asset management, social services, and education.
  I will not take a long time, but I just want to say the Assistant 
Secretary must be balanced in meeting these needs. I think this 
gentleman will be. He has pledged to facilitate a more vibrant 
communication between Indian tribes and their neighbors.
  The job of Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs has been 
exponentially more difficult because of the methamphetamine plague that 
is ravaging this Nation's Indian communities, and he is committed to 
fighting this terrible epidemic. We can certainly support that effort.
  Madam President, you know how important it is to have leadership in 
this area, and we haven't had it for a very long time. There are many 
other challenges confronting Indian country that cannot be met without 
strong leadership within the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and yet the 
position has been vacant for 2 years.
  Mr. Artman will serve the country well. I urge my colleagues to join 
me today in moving expeditiously toward confirmation.
  I yield the floor.
  Madam President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  Is all time yielded back?
  Mr. LIEBERMAN. Yes, I ask that all time be yielded back.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the nomination 
of Carl Joseph Artman, of Colorado, to be an Assistant Secretary of the 
Interior? The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Delaware (Mr. Biden), 
the Senator from Connecticut (Mr. Dodd), the Senator from South Dakota 
(Mr. Johnson), the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kennedy), the 
Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry), the Senator from Vermont (Mr. 
Leahy), the Senator from Illinois (Mr. Obama), and the Senator from 
Michigan (Ms. Stabenow) are necessarily absent.
  I further announce that if present and voting, the Senator from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry) would vote ``yea.''
  Mr. LOTT. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Kansas (Mr. Brownback), the Senator from Wyoming (Mr. Enzi), the 
Senator from Arizona (Mr. McCain), and the Senator from Pennsylvania 
(Mr. Spector).
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Whitehouse). Are there any other Senators 
in the Chamber desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 87, nays 1, as follows:

                       [Rollcall Vote No. 59 Ex.]

                                YEAS--87

     Akaka
     Alexander
     Allard
     Baucus
     Bayh
     Bennett
     Bingaman
     Bond
     Boxer
     Brown
     Bunning
     Burr
     Byrd
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Chambliss
     Clinton
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Coleman
     Collins
     Conrad
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Craig
     Crapo
     DeMint
     Dole
     Domenici
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Ensign
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Graham
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Harkin
     Hatch
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Inouye
     Isakson
     Klobuchar
     Kohl
     Kyl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lincoln
     Lott
     Lugar
     Martinez
     McCaskill
     McConnell
     Menendez
     Mikulski
     Murkowski
     Murray
     Nelson (FL)
     Nelson (NE)
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Roberts
     Rockefeller
     Salazar
     Sanders
     Schumer
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Smith
     Snowe
     Stevens
     Sununu
     Tester
     Thomas
     Thune
     Voinovich
     Warner
     Webb
     Whitehouse
     Wyden

                                NAYS--1

     Vitter
       
       

                             NOT VOTING--12

     Biden
     Brownback
     Dodd
     Enzi
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Kerry
     Leahy
     McCain
     Obama
     Specter
     Stabenow
  The nomination was confirmed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the President shall 
be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

                          ____________________