[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Pages 4920-4921]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   NOMINATION OF JESSICA ROSENWORCEL

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, it is difficult for me to be here to talk 
about what I am going to talk about because I believe that the Senate 
operates only when there is trust among the Members of this body.
  A man whom I served with whom I have such great respect for, and that 
is former Republican Majority Leader Bob Dole, said:

       I knew that nothing else I did would matter very much if I 
     ever forfeited the trust of my colleagues. As we all learn 
     around here, if you don't keep your word, it doesn't make 
     much difference what agenda you try to advance.

  The trust which Senator Dole spoke of has been broken. The Republican 
leader McConnell broke his word to me.
  In December of 2014, the Republican leader and the Senator from South 
Dakota, Mr. Thune, came to me on the floor, asking if I would agree to 
confirming a Republican Commissioner to the Federal Communications 
Commission. That man's name is Michael O'Rielly, and he had worked for 
Jon Kyl and John Cornyn. Of course, Cornyn is still here and Kyl left. 
I have great respect for Jon Kyl, being from my neighboring State of 
Arizona.
  So I said that this is kind of an unusual request, since everyone 
knows that two leaders, when we have a Commission we are going to staff 
with our selections, he and I have a right to do that, and we always 
pair them--a Democrat, a Republican, and a Democrat and a Republican. 
We pair them together.
  So I said to my friend from South Dakota and my friend from Kentucky 
that doesn't sound like the right thing to do for me, but they talked a 
while longer, and my heart said do it, my head said don't. My heart 
won, and I relented, after having made an arrangement, an agreement 
with them that we would go ahead and do O'Rielly right then; that I 
would agree to do that provided that when the new Congress convened in 
less than a month, we would take care of the Democrat. Her name is 
Jessica Rosenworcel. That was our agreement. That is how we would pair 
one Republican with a Democrat, as is our custom.
  But--and I repeat--I said: I agree, we will go ahead and do him now. 
He didn't have a job, so I was told, and so he could do that. They 
promised me they would confirm Rosenworcel the next Congress. I wasn't 
there alone. I had my staff with me. So it is not me saying one thing. 
I don't think anyone denies the conversation. I didn't have to agree to 
this. I did it because the Republican leader said he would do his part 
and get her confirmed.
  I am sorry to report to the world, to the Senate, I was wrong. Over 
the last 16 months, the Republican leader has refused to fulfill his 
commitment. He hasn't kept his word. Republicans assumed control of the 
Senate in January 2015. I waited patiently for the Republican leader 
and Senator Thune to keep their word regarding Rosenworcel's 
nomination.
  To his credit--John Thune and I have served here a long time. I know 
him well. I worked against him once and was successful. I worked 
against him a second time and wasn't successful. He beat my dear friend 
Tom Daschle, but he is a fine man. He and I used the gym together in 
the House. To his credit, Senator Thune did everything he could to 
fulfill the commitment. He was having pressure not to do anything, I am 
sure, but he called his committee together. He is the chairman of the 
Commerce Committee. He reported Rosenworcel out to the Senate floor. 
There his authority stops. He doesn't have any power to do any more. He 
did what he felt he was obligated to do, and I felt he was obligated to 
do. It is now Senator McConnell's problem, I guess. But a year went by. 
She still wasn't sent to the floor. That is when I talked to Senator 
Thune--the first of many times. He did what he said he would do and 
reported her out.
  A few months ago, in December of 2015, a year after we had made our 
agreement, I reminded Senator McConnell of his commitment to do what he 
said he would do to quickly advance the nomination. He told me that the 
Senate would confirm her when we returned in 2016. January 2016 passed 
with no action. Before we left for the President's Day recess, I spoke 
again with Senators McConnell and Thune about Rosenworcel's nomination. 
February passed with no movement. March passed. Here we are, 21 days 
into April, with no confirmation.

[[Page 4921]]

  I have waited. I have waited patiently for my friend to do the right 
thing. I have held off for months coming to the floor. What else would 
I do? What else could I do? I held off, hoping the Republican leader 
would deliver on the pledge that he gave to me.
  I spoke again with him yesterday on the telephone, urging him to move 
her forward. He said to me: We'll do it next year. Next year she is out 
of a job. Her term expires at the end of this year. Her career will 
basically be over because of my accepting my counterpart's word. I told 
the Republican leader and I told Senator Thune that I would not remain 
silent forever on this. I told both of them yesterday I was going to 
come to the floor.
  The Republican leader, I hope, was aware of the words of Bob Dole, 
which I talked about earlier in my remarks. Dole said:

       I knew that nothing else I did would matter very much if I 
     ever forfeited the trust of my colleagues. As we all learn 
     around here, if you don't keep your word, it doesn't make 
     much difference what agenda you try to advance.

  That was Robert Dole.
  To say I am disappointed is an understatement. This is a commitment 
that was made to me about a year and a half ago. We have to keep our 
trust. This isn't an issue of my being offended. I have been offended. 
The Presiding Officer has been offended. We have all been offended. 
This isn't only personal with me, in taking the Republican leader's 
promise as a personal affront. It is not a personal affront to me. If 
it is, I will have to bear that. I think it is, but I can handle that. 
What I am concerned about is what it means for the Senate and what it 
means for a human being, a woman who works very hard every day, trying 
to do the right thing for a very important part of our country.
  I understand the Republican leader has a tough job. I know that. I 
had that job a lot longer than he has. Because of the dysfunction in 
his caucus, it is difficult, I am told and as we see, for him to get 
things done. But that is no excuse for someone not keeping their word. 
He could go into executive session. We would agree to that. He could 
file cloture. He could do this in many different ways.
  I still expect him to live up to his commitment and get Commissioner 
Rosenworcel confirmed. I don't want this to be a bad time for the 
Senate if it continues. It is a bad day for the Senate now because you 
have to keep your word. That is all we have around here.
  I see no one on the floor, and I will ask the Chair to announce what 
the Senate is going to do the rest of the day.

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