[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Pages 16022-16023]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           EXECUTIVE SESSION

                                 ______
                                 

                           EXECUTIVE CALENDAR

  Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to 
executive session to consider the following nominations: Calendar No. 
248, 331, 332, 333, 342, 345, 351, 352, 353, 354, 355, 360, 363, 364, 
365, 366, 368, 369, 370, 373, 374, 375, and 376; that the nominations 
be confirmed en bloc; that the motions to reconsider be considered made 
and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate; that no 
further motions be in order to any of the nominations; that any related 
statements be printed in the Record; that the President be immediately 
notified of the Senate's action.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The nominations considered and confirmed are as follows:


                         DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

       Stephen Woolman Preston, of the District of Columbia, to be 
     General Counsel of the Department of Defense.


           NATIONAL FOUNDATION ON THE ARTS AND THE HUMANITIES

       Ranee Ramaswamy, of Minnesota, to be a Member of the 
     National Council on the Arts for a term expiring September 3, 
     2018.
       Rick Lowe, of Texas, to be a Member of the National Council 
     on the Arts for a term expiring September 3, 2018.
       Olga Viso, of Minnesota, to be a Member of the National 
     Council on the Arts for a term expiring September 3, 2018.


                          DEPARTMENT OF STATE

       Nisha Desai Biswal, of the District of Columbia, to be 
     Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs.


                OVERSEAS PRIVATE INVESTMENT CORPORATION

       Roberto R. Herencia, of Illinois, to be a Member of the 
     Board of Directors of the Overseas Private Investment 
     Corporation for a term expiring December 17.


                      DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

       Gregory Dainard Winfree, of New York to be Administrator of 
     the Research and Innovative Technology Administration, 
     Department of Transportation.


                  NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD

       Christopher A. Hart, of Colorado, to be a Member of the 
     National Transportation Safety Board for a term expiring 
     December 31, 2017.
       Deborah A. P. Hersman, of Virginia, to be Chairman of the 
     National Transportation Safety Board for a term of two years.
       Deborah A. P. Hersman, of Virginia, to be a Member of the 
     National Transportation

[[Page 16023]]

     Safety Board for a term expiring December 31, 2018.


                             THE JUDICIARY

       Kevin A. Ohlson, of Virginia, to be a Judge of the United 
     States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces for the term of 
     fifteen years to expire on the date prescribed by law.


                         department of justice

       Zachary Thomas Fardon, of Illinois, to be United States 
     Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois for the term 
     of four years.


                   federal labor relations authority

       Carol Waller Pope, of the District of Columbia, to be a 
     Member of the Federal Labor Relations Authority for a term of 
     five years expiring July 1, 2014.
       Ernest W. Dubester, of Virginia, to be a Member of the 
     Federal Labor Relations Authority for a term of five years 
     expiring July 29, 2017.
       Patrick Pizzella, of Virginia, to be a Member of the 
     Federal Labor Relations Authority for a term of five years 
     expiring July 1, 2015.


                    department of homeland security

       Steven Eaton Bunnell, of the District of Columbia, to be 
     General Counsel, Department of Homeland Security.


                          department of State

       Julia Frifield, of New Jersey, to be an Assistant Secretary 
     of State (Legislative Affairs).
       Caroline Kennedy, of New York, to be Ambassador 
     Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of 
     America to Japan.


                   executive office of the president

       Beth F. Cobert, of California, to be Deputy Director for 
     Management, Office of Management and Budget.


                          Department of Labor

       Scott S. Dahl, of Virginia, to be Inspector General, 
     Department of Labor.


                      Department of Transportation

       Sylvia I. Garcia, of Michigan, to be Chief Financial 
     Officer, Department of Transportation.


                          department of energy

       Bradley Crowell, of Nevada, to be an Assistant Secretary of 
     Energy (Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs.)


                   national consumer cooperative bank

       Andrea Levere, of Maryland, to be a Member of the Board of 
     Directors of the National Consumer Cooperative Bank for a 
     term of three years.


                      confirmation of zach fardon

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I am pleased that the Senate has just 
confirmed Zach Fardon to serve as the next U.S. Attorney for the 
Northern District of Illinois.
  Mr. Fardon is going to be an outstanding U.S. Attorney. He has a 
superb resume. He served for six years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in 
Chicago, where he worked on one of the highest-profile prosecutions in 
our state's history, the prosecution of Governor George Ryan. He also 
served for several years as a First Assistant U.S. Attorney in 
Nashville, which was the number 2 position in that office. 
Additionally, he has experience working as a public defender in 
Nashville, which has given him perspective from both sides of the 
courtroom.
  It is hard to imagine a more bipartisan nominee. Senator Mark Kirk 
and I worked together every step of the way in identifying our next 
U.S. Attorney. We established a blue-ribbon, bipartisan screening 
committee to evaluate candidates for this job. Our screening committee 
highly recommended Mr. Fardon, and Senator Kirk and I agree that Mr. 
Fardon is an outstanding pick.
  Former U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, the man whose shoes Mr. 
Fardon will fill, agrees that he is up to the task. When Mr. Fardon was 
nominated, Pat Fitzgerald said ``Zach is a wonderful person, a great 
lawyer and a natural leader.''
  I want to commend and thank Gary Shapiro, who has served as Acting 
U.S. Attorney for over a year, for his service and his excellent work. 
He has been a tremendous asset to the Northern District of Illinois. 
But it is important to get Senate-confirmed leadership in place in this 
office, and I believe Zach Fardon will do an outstanding job.
  Now that the Senate has confirmed Mr. Fardon, he can get to work 
addressing the urgent problems of gang and gun crime in the Northern 
District of Illinois. I have talked with Mr. Fardon about the need for 
the U.S. Attorney's office to take a leading role in this fight, and he 
agrees.
  I am glad that the Senate has taken this step today, and I wish Mr. 
Fardon well as he takes on this new role. I look forward to working 
with him.

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