[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Pages 16398-16399]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  NOMINATION OF ROBERT S. ADLER TO BE A COMMISSIONER OF THE CONSUMER 
                  PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION--Continued

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont.


                              Immigration

  Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, I will take just about a minute. I know 
we are waiting for others to come. I have heard some of the discussion 
on the floor and in the hallways about Thanksgiving. On Thursday, when 
I sat down with my family over Thanksgiving dinner, I thought about our 
history and how my grandparents came to Vermont from Italy, my great-
grandparents from Ireland, and my wife's family from the Province of 
Quebec in Canada. We, similar to most Americans, are a family of 
immigrants. It is that rich melting-pot history that makes our country 
so special, so strong. Thanksgiving is a good time to celebrate and 
honor that strength.
  Far too many immigrant families today, however, live in fear--fear of 
being torn apart, of losing a mother or father or sister or brother, to 
deportation. Bringing peace to those families is one of the things that 
most motivated me last year during the long debate on immigration 
reform. Both Democrats and Republicans in this Chamber praised the fair 
and thorough process that we had in the Judiciary Committee on the 
immigration bill.
  We had 6 hearings featuring 42 witnesses. We debated bipartisan 
legislation a total of 37 hours over a 3-week period. We considered 212 
amendments, and we adopted 136 of them--all but 3 on a bipartisan 
basis. The full Senate

[[Page 16399]]

then debated the bill and approved it by an overwhelming bipartisan 
majority.
  But that effort was not good enough for Republican leaders in the 
House. They would not even allow a vote on the bill. Today, they are 
batting zero when it comes to addressing the broken immigration system.
  They now complain that the President is acting alone, but he is not. 
The American people support immigration reform. That is why President 
Obama acted. His actions are legal, but they are only a temporary fix. 
Congress must still act. The Republican House leadership has chosen to 
hold hearings attacking the President's actions, rather than simply 
stepping up and allowing a vote on a bill to solve the problem. Time is 
running out and they are wasting it on political antics. I hope that 
they use the remainder of this month to take up and vote on the 
comprehensive bill we sent them more than a year and a half ago.
  I applaud the President's action to keep families together. That is 
why next week, the Senate Judiciary Committee will again turn to the 
issue of family unity. I have asked Astrid Silva, whose remarkable 
story President Obama began to tell last week, to come and share the 
rest of her story and what the President's actions will mean to her 
family. The fact is we have done the work for an immigration bill. Why 
won't the Republicans at least vote--vote yes or vote no. We did, and I 
applaud those Republicans and Democrats in the Senate who stood and 
voted. Let the House act.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from South Dakota.


                          Coloretti Nomination

  Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota. Madam President, I rise to urge my 
colleagues to vote in favor of the nomination of Ms. Nani Coloretti to 
be Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban 
Development.
  The HUD Deputy Secretary is a critical component of the agency's 
management team, overseeing HUD's programs that provide affordable 
rental housing, community and economic development opportunities, and 
an opportunity for creditworthy families to achieve the dream of home 
ownership. I believe Ms. Coloretti has the skills and experience 
necessary to take on this role. The full Senate Banking, Housing, and 
Urban Affairs Committee also approved Ms. Coloretti's nomination for 
the position on April 29, 2014, by voice vote.
  Ms. Coloretti is currently the Assistant Secretary for Management at 
the U.S. Department of the Treasury. During her tenure at Treasury, Ms. 
Coloretti helped create a new Treasury Operations Excellence Team, 
which has applied lean principles developed in the private sector to 
improve performance at Treasury. This work encompassed dozens of 
process improvement outcomes, saving the Department money and staff 
time while engendering a culture of continual improvement.
  Prior to joining the Treasury Department, Ms. Coloretti held 
positions in the San Francisco mayor's office, including budget 
director; the San Francisco Department of Children, Youth, and Their 
Families; the U.S. Office of Management and Budget; and the private 
sector. She is also a recipient of the National Public Service Award, 
the Public Policy and International Affairs Achievement Award, and the 
Federal 100 Award.
  In all, Ms. Coloretti would bring over 20 years of experience in 
budget and program analysis, as well as more than 15 years of 
management experience, to the position of Deputy Secretary of the 
Department of HUD.
  At a time when millions of American families struggle to find 
affordable rental housing, the market continues to lock many 
creditworthy potential borrowers out of homeownership, and HUD's State 
and local partners work to provide greater opportunities with limited 
resources, it is critical that HUD and the programs it oversees are run 
efficiently and effectively. As HUD's Deputy Secretary, Ms. Coloretti 
would be a valuable addition to Secretary Castro's management team. I 
urge my fellow Senators to support her nomination.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Virginia.

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