[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Pages 11146-11147]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      RECESS APPOINTMENT DECISION

  Mr. ENZI. Madam President, I wish to applaud the Supreme Court's 
unanimous decision that the President's January 4, 2012 appointments to 
the NLRB were unconstitutional. As you know, I was the Ranking Member 
on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in 2012, 
and when these appointments were made I expressed my concern with the 
administration's contempt for small businesses and the Senate's 
confirmation and vetting process. I was also proud to cosign an amicus 
brief led by our Republican leader against these pro-forma session 
appointments.
  The Appointments Clause of our Constitution provides that ``the 
President shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the 
Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, 
Judges of the Supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United 
States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and 
which shall be established by law.'' Today the Supreme Court validated 
the Senate's important advice and consent role in the confirmation 
process.
  These unconstitutional appointments are just one example of the 
executive branch overreach that Americans face every day under this 
administration. In his State of the Union address, President Obama said 
that since he is unable to rely on Congress to rubber stamp his agenda, 
he intends to use executive orders to avoid the legislative process 
altogether. This is certainly not a new practice for him: President 
Obama has issued more executive orders and economically significant 
rules and regulations than President George W. Bush, Clinton or Reagan. 
I hope today's Supreme Court decision will serve as the impetus that 
brings my colleagues together to say enough is enough.
  One issue we need to stand up to the administration about is its war 
on coal. Earlier this month the EPA issued new regulations that try to 
force a backdoor cap and tax proposal on Americans that Congress has 
rejected. Senators on both sides of the aisle realized a couple of 
years ago that coal is one of our best sources of energy and that cap 
and tax was an extremely expensive and bad idea. I urge those Senators 
to come together again and make the President withdraw his cap and tax 
regulation.
  Another issue we need to stand up to the President about is his 
attempt to control all our water. In March the EPA proposed a new rule 
that could allow the administration to regulate all bodies of water, no 
matter how small, and regardless of whether the water is on public or 
private property. We have already experienced that attempt at control 
in Wyoming, where the EPA tried to fine an individual up to $75,000 per 
day for the pond he built on his private property. Mark Twain once 
said, ``in the West, whiskey is for drinking. Water is for fighting 
over.'' I urge my Western State colleagues to come together and make 
the President withdraw his waters of the United States regulation.
  We do not have to wait for the Supreme Court to act on these examples

[[Page 11147]]

of executive overreach. The Congressional Review Act provides an 
expedited procedure for us to consider a resolution of disapproval of 
the President's rules. Under the CRA, before any final rule can become 
effective it must be filed with each House of Congress and GAO. Within 
60 days after Congress receives an agency's rule, we can introduce a 
resolution of disapproval to nullify the rule. The CRA also guarantees 
us a vote because 30 of us can sign a petition to discharge the 
resolution from Committee, and the motion to proceed to the resolution 
is not subject to amendment, motion to postpone, or motion to proceed 
to other business. I hope I have 29 colleagues willing to join me in 
signing petitions to discharge resolutions of disapproval regarding 
both of these rules.
  There are also areas where the administration is not acting when it 
should, and I hope my colleagues will push the administration to spend 
its time taking actions that help, not hurt, America.
  Officials from the IRS, Treasury Department, and White House did not 
tell Congress when they realized IRS emails had been lost that were 
relevant to bipartisan committee investigations. The administration 
knew about those emails for at least 2 months before the Senate Finance 
Committee was informed. I urge my colleagues to come together and 
insist on full disclosure from the administration regarding allegations 
of political targeting by the IRS. A Finance Committee hearing about 
the lost IRS emails would be an excellent step in getting to the bottom 
of this issue.
  The administration has not approved the Keystone Pipeline application 
that has been pending for more than 5 years. The State Department has 
done five reviews of the project and determined that the pipeline would 
cause no significant environmental impacts. The pipeline would create 
about 42,000 jobs. Our Energy Committee has passed legislation to build 
the pipeline. A bipartisan group of at least 55 Senators say they want 
to build the pipeline. I urge that group to come together and insist 
the President let the pipeline go forward.
  These are not the only areas where the President has acted when he 
should not have, and has not acted when he should have. But they are 
important to Wyoming and America, and I urge my colleagues to stand up 
to the executive branch now rather than waiting for the Supreme Court 
on another issue.

                          ____________________