[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Pages 16547-16549]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           EXECUTIVE SESSION

                                 ______
                                 

    NOMINATION OF CHARLOTTE A. BURROWS TO BE A MEMBER OF THE EQUAL 
                   EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION

  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. 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 Charlotte A. 
Burrows, of the District of Columbia, to be a Member of the Equal 
Employment Opportunity Commission.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the time until 
10 a.m. will be equally divided and controlled between the two leaders 
or their designees.
  Mr. REID. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                   Recognition of the Minority Leader

  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Republican leader is recognized.


                       Honoring Our Armed Forces

                   Lance Corporal Chadwick A. Gilliam

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, this morning, I rise to share with my 
colleagues the story of one brave marine from Kentucky who lost his 
life while wearing our country's uniform.
  LCpl Chadwick A. Gilliam of Mayking, KY, passed away on January 3, 
2009, of an apparent cardiac arrest at Camp Buehring, Kuwait. He was 29 
years old.
  For his service in uniform, Lance Corporal Gilliam received several 
medals, awards, and decorations, including the Global War on Terrorism 
Service Medal and the National Defense Service Medal.
  Chris Damron, Chad's brother-in-law, recalls how Chad was happy to 
enlist. ``He'd said that it was just something he wanted to do,'' Chris 
says. ``All his life he wanted to be a Marine.''
  Before entering the U.S. Marine Corps, Chad graduated from Whitesburg 
High School in the mid-1990s. After earning his bachelor's degree, he 
also graduated from Lindsay Wilson College with a master's degree in 
counseling and human development.
  One of his former high school teachers, Scottie Billiter, said 
Gilliam was an inspiration to other students. Billiter remembers that 
Chad had a wide array of interests, from the football team to the 
Spanish club. ``I have nothing but great, fond memories of him,'' 
Billiter says. ``He was a big part of who we were.''
  As a marine, Chad continued to be a natural inspiration to others. 
``All the Marines seemed to really look up to Chad,'' says brother-in-
law Chris Damron. ``He was a leader in the Marine Corps.''
  Chad was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marines, 2nd Marine 
Division, Second Marine Expeditionary Force, based out of Camp Lejeune, 
NC. He was an infantryman and joined the unit in June 2007. He was 
promoted to lance corporal in 2008 and deployed to Iraq in support of 
Operation Iraqi Freedom.
  We are thinking of Chad's family as I share his story with my Senate 
colleagues, particularly his parents Paul Gilliam and Mary Ellen Cook 
Gilliam, his wife Corinne Marie Stewart Gilliam, his sister Paula 
Regina Damron, his brother Michael Wayne Gilliam, his brother-in-law 
Chris Damron, along with many other beloved family members and friends. 
Chad was preceded in death by his paternal grandparents Willard and 
Belvia Holbrook Gilliam and his maternal grandparents Arlie and Edna 
Sergent Cook.
  I know my Senate colleagues join me in expressing gratitude and 
sympathy to the family of LCpl Chadwick A.

[[Page 16548]]

Gilliam--gratitude for his life of service and sympathy for his 
ultimate sacrifice. Without brave men and women such as Lance Corporal 
Gilliam to defend our country, we would not be free. Those of us who 
cherish our freedoms must never ever forget that.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. King). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I support the nomination of Charlotte 
Burrows to be a commissioner of the Equal Employment Opportunity 
Commission, or EEOC, and David Lopez to continue to serve as the 
agency's general counsel.
  These are two eminently qualified nominees. Mr. Lopez is a dedicated 
public servant who has spent over two decades protecting people from 
workplace discrimination. He did an admirable job during his first 
term, and was responsible for marked improvements in both the agency's 
litigation program and in its outreach to stakeholders.
  Ms. Burrows has also had a distinguished career in public service. 
She is currently Associate Deputy Attorney General at the Department of 
Justice, and previously served as general counsel for Civil and 
Constitutional Rights for Senator Kennedy and the Committee on Health, 
Education, Labor, and Pensions. She is a leading expert in the field of 
discrimination law, and she has proven herself committed to public 
service.
  Both of these nominees deserve to be confirmed by the Senate. And our 
Nation needs public servants of their caliber and experience at the 
EEOC, which has the critical mission of protecting working Americans 
from workplace discrimination.
  Throughout my career I have been guided by the vision of an America 
that is compassionate, just, and inclusive--a society where the 
government provides a ladder, or sometimes a ramp--of opportunity that 
gives every American a fair shot at the American dream. However, that 
ladder cannot function properly if there are barriers of discrimination 
that unfairly limit opportunities for some Americans to fully 
participate in the social, political, and economic life of this Nation.
  Over the last 50 years, we have made great strides towards 
eliminating discrimination in the workplace. The Civil Rights Act of 
1964 prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, sex, national 
origin and religion. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act, in 1967, 
prohibited discrimination on the basis of age. The Americans with 
Disabilities Act, in 1990, and the ADA Amendments Act, in 2008, 
prohibited discrimination on the basis of disability.
  These important guarantees, however, are not self-enforcing. They are 
only as strong as the agency charged with enforcing them, the EEOC. The 
EEOC's mission is simple and profoundly important--to promote equality 
of opportunity in the workplace and enforce Federal laws prohibiting 
employment discrimination.
  While much progress has been made in recent decades, discrimination 
in the workplace continues to be all too common. Too many employment 
decisions are based on insidious stereotypes and prejudices rather than 
an employee's talent, ability, and qualifications. Too many hardworking 
Americans face the harsh reality of getting a pink slip or not being 
hired at all because of race, sex, national origin, religion, age, 
disability or some other irrelevant factor.
  The realities are especially harsh for individuals with disabilities. 
Less than 30 percent of working-age Americans with disabilities 
participate in the workforce, and households with an adult member with 
a disability earn 38.4 percent less than households without an adult 
member who has a disability. These facts make it clear that people with 
disabilities are still encountering roadblocks, and that the ADA's goal 
of economic self-sufficiency is far from achieved.
  The EEOC has an important role to play in combating discrimination 
and supporting employment opportunities for individuals with 
disabilities and for all Americans.
  Unfortunately, today's EEOC faces enormous challenges. The agency has 
a substantial backlog of almost 71,000 cases. And it takes an average 
of 267 days to process a discrimination claim. The truth is that the 
EEOC suffers from chronic underfunding, and this underfunding has 
resulted in a significant reduction in full-time employees. Under this 
administration, the agency has made real progress moving investigations 
forward in a timely manner, but all too often justice delayed is 
justice denied.
  American workers deserve better, especially in these times of 
economic turmoil, when discrimination often increases and workers who 
are victims of discrimination face even greater challenges. Now more 
than ever, we need strong leadership at the EEOC. The nominees are both 
extremely well-qualified and have a deep commitment to public service. 
They possess the extraordinary skills and experience that will help 
them advance the EEOC's mission and ensure proper enforcement of 
critically important laws.
  Some of my friends on the other side of the aisle have raised 
concerns that EEOC is too quick to bring lawsuits. That is just not the 
case. Litigation is a last resort for the agency, and represents less 
than 0.5 percent of all charges filed and only around 5 percent of 
charges where the commission has issued a cause finding.
  The EEOC under this administration has made enormous strides in 
improving the conciliation process. In the last 3 years, the EEOC 
improved its conciliation results significantly with successful 
conciliations now at a rate of 41 percent of all cases that are 
conciliated, up from 31 percent in fiscal year 2011. It is important to 
remember that EEOC v. CRST, the case so often cited as evidence that 
the agency isn't doing enough in the conciliation process, was a case 
brought by a Bush administration-appointed general counsel.
  My Republican colleagues also criticize the Commission for delegating 
the prosecution of routine cases to the general counsel. There is 
absolutely nothing inappropriate about that practice, and it should not 
be a controversial issue. It is a practical measure to make sure the 
Commissioners are focusing on the most important issues and have ample 
opportunity to deliberate on broader policy issues. That is why the 
EEOC's delegation policy has been carried forward across multiple 
administrations and has bipartisan support from both Republican and 
Democratic Commissioners.
  Now, I think we can all agree that there have been some unacceptable 
instances where courts have required the EEOC to pay attorney's fees 
for a defendant. But those cases are rare and need to be viewed in 
perspective. Out of the 1,045 lawsuits filed from fiscal year 2009 
through fiscal year 2013, there have only been seven in which fees have 
been assessed, and two of those are pending an appeal. Generally, the 
EEOC is prudent and successful in litigation, and the agency has won 11 
out of 16 trials from fiscal year 2013 to the present.
  I want to comment on another issue that came up at the HELP Committee 
hearing on these nominees--the EEOC's work with regard to wellness 
programs. I am a strong supporter of wellness programs, and I was 
intimately involved in drafting the section of the Affordable Care Act 
that encourages such programs. Recently, the EEOC has been involved in 
litigation involving wellness programs, and I think a lot of people are 
trying to cloud the issue here. The EEOC has never--never--taken the 
position that wellness programs are illegal. They are, however, 
investigating extreme cases where employers have allegedly forced their 
employees to participate in programs that require medical testing. That 
raises Americans with Disabilities Act issues, and the EEOC is right to 
look carefully at the issue. Plus, the agency has indicated that it 
intends to issue guidance next year to

[[Page 16549]]

help employers and employees navigate the tricky legal issues.
  One final point, none of the manufactured concerns coming from the 
other side of the aisle have anything to do with the ability of these 
two nominees to do the job for which they were nominated. No one has 
questioned their qualifications. Both Ms. Burrows and Mr. Lopez are 
eminently qualified. Some of my Republican colleagues just do not like 
the fact that the EEOC is doing its job and enforcing our Nation's 
civil rights laws. That is a shame because civil rights should not be a 
partisan issue. We should all be coming together to support the agency 
and the important role it plays in making fairer, more equal 
workplaces.
  I urge my colleagues to support both of these distinguished nominees 
and confirm them quickly so they can get to work ensuring fairness and 
equal opportunity for every American worker.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, all cloture time has 
expired.
  Under the previous order, there will be 2 minutes of debate prior to 
a vote on the Burrows nomination.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I don't know of anybody seeking 
recognition. I ask unanimous consent that all time be yielded back.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  All time having been yielded back, the question is, Will the Senate 
advise and consent to the nomination of Charlotte A. Burrows, of the 
District of Columbia, to be a Member of the Equal Employment 
Opportunity Commission?
  Mr. ENZI. 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 legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from California (Mrs. Boxer), 
the Senator from Louisiana (Ms. Landrieu), and the Senator from West 
Virginia (Mr. Rockefeller) are necessarily absent.
  Mr. CORNYN. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the 
Senator from Oklahoma (Mr. Coburn) and the Senator from Mississippi 
(Mr. Cochran).
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 93, nays 2, as follows:

                     [Rollcall Vote No. 301 Ex.]   

                                YEAS--93

     Alexander
     Ayotte
     Baldwin
     Barrasso
     Begich
     Bennet
     Blumenthal
     Blunt
     Booker
     Boozman
     Brown
     Burr
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Chambliss
     Coats
     Collins
     Coons
     Corker
     Cornyn
     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
     Leahy
     Lee
     Levin
     Manchin
     Markey
     McCain
     McCaskill
     McConnell
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Mikulski
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Murphy
     Murray
     Nelson
     Paul
     Portman
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Risch
     Rubio
     Sanders
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Scott
     Sessions
     Shaheen
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Thune
     Toomey
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Vitter
     Walsh
     Warner
     Warren
     Whitehouse
     Wicker
     Wyden

                                NAYS--2

     Roberts
     Shelby
       

                             NOT VOTING--5

     Boxer
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Landrieu
     Rockefeller
  The nomination was confirmed.

                          ____________________