[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Pages 9517-9518]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           EXECUTIVE SESSION

                                 ______
                                 

 NOMINATION OF MICHAEL FROMAN TO BE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE

  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 Michael 
Froman, of New York, to be United States Trade Representative.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, there will now be 2 
minutes of debate equally divided in the usual form.
  The Senator from Montana.
  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, the Finance Committee reported out the 
nomination of Michael Froman to be USTR unanimously. It is rare that I 
speak so highly of somebody. I can think of many top administration 
officials who are very good. Michael Froman will be another. He is very 
smart, and he is very tough. He is the right person for the job as the 
United States begins to negotiate trade agreements with Asia, the so-
called TPP, as well as the trade agreement with the Europeans. Our 
economic future is tied to economic growth tied to trade.
  I strongly urge my colleagues to vote for Michael Froman. Give him a 
big vote so that when he goes to Geneva and when he goes to other parts 
of the world to negotiate trade agreements, the world will know he has 
our strong support. Michael Froman is a great man, and I hope very much 
that he gets that vote where everybody votes for him. He is a good man.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who yields time?
  The Senator from Massachusetts.
  Ms. WARREN. I agree with Senator Baucus that trade issues are 
powerfully important to our economy. They involve public policy issues 
that range from jobs to the Internet.
  Many people are interested in following our trade policies, and they 
need to have enough information to be able to offer real input into the 
process. I think the Trade Representative needs to be committed to 
transparency and democracy.
  Last week I asked Mr. Froman if he would commit to making public the 
bracketed text for the Trans-Pacific Partnership. I asked him to 
provide more information about what trade advisers were receiving what 
information. Each request that I made about a commitment to public 
revealing information, he answered with a no.
  So I rise to repeat my opposition to Mr. Froman's nomination as the 
next U.S. Trade Representative. We need a new direction from the Trade 
Representative--a direction that prioritizes transparency and public 
debate.
  I urge a ``no'' vote.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Utah.
  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I rise in support of the nomination of 
Michael Froman to be the next U.S. Trade Representative.
  Right now, there is a leadership vacuum in this country when it comes 
to international trade. That is especially true at the Office of the 
U.S. Trade Representative.
  A recent study by the Office of Personnel Management, which surveys 
employee satisfaction at executive branch agencies, found that USTR 
ranks near the bottom among small agencies in almost every category, 
including effective leadership.
  Unfortunately, this is not a new trend--the agency has been in steady 
decline since 2009.
  This is due both to a lack of real leadership and the fact that, with 
Trade Promotion Authority expired, our trade negotiators don't have the 
tools needed to do their job. To date, there has been no real effort by 
President Obama to secure TPA renewal.
  While I was pleased that President Obama announced this week that the 
United States and the European Union will soon begin formal 
negotiations on a trade agreement, I was surprised and dismayed that 
the President did not even mention TPA once in his remarks.
  This is incredible to me.
  It is easy to stand up and make speeches about trade. But real 
progress won't come by launching initiatives and talking about them. 
Getting our trade agenda right requires real leadership and the ability 
to get the agreements negotiated and approved by Congress.
  That simply won't happen without TPA.
  Members of Congress have fought to fix this problem.
  We pushed for a vote on TPA renewal on the Senate floor 21 months 
ago. Unfortunately, that effort failed, largely due to lack of support 
from our Senate Democratic colleagues.
  To me, this shows that Presidential engagement on TPA renewal is 
vital. Without the President's active leadership and public support for 
TPA, it is hard to see how our current efforts to renew TPA can 
succeed.
  And we must succeed.
  Today, 95 percent of the world's customers live outside the U.S. They 
account for 92 percent of global economic growth and 80 percent of the 
world's purchasing power.
  But the U.S. is falling behind as we fight for access to these 
markets. We simply cannot afford to sit back while other countries 
write the rules of trade to the detriment of our workers and our 
economy.
  Throughout the process of confirming Mr. Froman, I have made it clear 
that I expect the next U.S. Trade Representative to share my commitment 
to strong intellectual property rights protection and my passionate 
belief in the need for the U.S. to lead in setting the rules of 
international trade through renewal of Trade Promotion Authority.
  Mr. Froman was unequivocal, during both our confirmation hearing and 
in subsequent questions for the record, that he shares these goals.
  As the ranking member of the Finance Committee, I plan to hold him to 
his word.
  I also hope he will use his close relationship with the President to 
convince him that strong and vocal Presidential leadership on TPA will 
be critical to getting it done.
  I plan to do all I can to help support a positive, pro-growth trade 
agenda.
  I believe a strong vote in favor of Mr. Froman to be our next U.S. 
Trade Representative will be a good first step.
  I have seen a lot of people come and go in this position. I can say 
this: I have every confidence this man is going to be an excellent 
leader in the position he has accepted. I hope everybody on this floor 
will vote for him. He is for the trade promotion authority, which any 
President would want because it makes it easier to approve these free-
trade agreements and other

[[Page 9518]]

agreements that really are in the best interests our country.
  This man is competent, and he is highly qualified. He doesn't share 
my philosophy particularly, but I think he does with regard to this 
position. I have every confidence in him, and I hope everybody who can 
will vote for him.
  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, is there any time remaining?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Montana.
  There is no time remaining.
  Mr. BAUCUS. I would ask for 10 or 15 seconds.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, so ordered.
  The Senator from Montana.
  Mr. BAUCUS. I would say to my good friend from Massachusetts that if 
she will work with us, we will work with Mr. Froman to make sure he 
answers all of our questions.
  I plan to work with the Senator to get answers to the questions. I 
was unaware of this problem until the Senator just mentioned it.
  Ms. WARREN. May I be heard for 10 seconds?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Ms. WARREN. I have no doubt that Mr. Froman will be a highly 
qualified Trade Representative. There is a point of principle at stake 
here, and that point of principle is that we should not be moving 
forward on trade agreements without making more of this information 
public. This is what this is about. Without that, I urge a ``no'' vote.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is, Will the Senate advise and 
consent to the nomination of Michael Froman to be United States Trade 
Representative?
  Mr. VITTER. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant bill clerk called the roll.
  Mrs. BOXER (when her name was called). Present.
  Mr. CORNYN. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the 
Senator from Idaho (Mr. Risch) and the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. 
Chiesa).
  Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Idaho (Mr. Risch) 
would have voted ``yea.''
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 93, nays 4, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 158 Ex.]

                                YEAS--93

     Alexander
     Ayotte
     Baldwin
     Barrasso
     Baucus
     Begich
     Bennet
     Blumenthal
     Blunt
     Boozman
     Brown
     Burr
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Chambliss
     Coats
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Collins
     Coons
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Cowan
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Donnelly
     Durbin
     Enzi
     Feinstein
     Fischer
     Flake
     Franken
     Gillibrand
     Graham
     Grassley
     Hagan
     Harkin
     Hatch
     Heinrich
     Heitkamp
     Heller
     Hirono
     Hoeven
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Johanns
     Johnson (SD)
     Johnson (WI)
     Kaine
     King
     Kirk
     Klobuchar
     Landrieu
     Leahy
     Lee
     McCain
     McCaskill
     McConnell
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Mikulski
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Murphy
     Murray
     Nelson
     Paul
     Portman
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Roberts
     Rockefeller
     Rubio
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Scott
     Sessions
     Shaheen
     Shelby
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Thune
     Toomey
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Vitter
     Warner
     Whitehouse
     Wicker
     Wyden

                                NAYS--4

     Levin
     Manchin
     Sanders
     Warren

                        ANSWERED ``PRESENT''--1

       
     Boxer
       

                             NOT VOTING--2

     Chiesa
     Risch
       
  The nomination was confirmed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the motion to 
reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table. The President 
will be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

                          ____________________