[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Page 9442]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        REQUEST FOR CONSULTATION

  Mr. COBURN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that my letter to 
the minority leader dated May 29, 2012, be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                                  U.S. Senate,

                                     Washington, DC, May 29, 2012.
     Hon. Mitch McConnell,
     Minority Leader, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
       Dear Senator McConnell, I am requesting that I be consulted 
     before the Senate enters into any unanimous consent 
     agreements regarding calendar #714, the nomination of Heidi 
     Shyu to be an Assistant Secretary of the Army for 
     Acquisitions, Logistics, and Technology.
       Ms. Heidi Shyu has been the Acting Assistant Secretary for 
     the position to which she has been nominated for nearly one 
     year. Her office directly oversees the Program Executive 
     Office for soldier weapons. I remain concerned with the 
     Army's plans for the improvement of its small arms weapons 
     while our soldiers are at war. For example, I have not seen 
     the Army make sufficient progress on the directive of the 
     then-Secretary of the Army Pete Geren to conduct a 
     competition to replace its individual carbine rifle no later 
     than the end of FY2009.
       Thank you for protecting my rights on this nomination. I 
     will keep you informed of my continued effort to work with 
     the Army on the nomination of Ms. Shyu as we ensure that our 
     soldiers have the very best modern small arms that American 
     manufacturers can provide.
           Sincerely,
                                             Tom. A. Coburn, M.D.,
     U.S. Senator.

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