[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Page 3050]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


                        NOMINATION OF RYAN ZINKE

  Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, tonight the Senate took a long overdue 
step forward in finally confirming Congressman Ryan Zinke to be our 
next Secretary of the Interior. You know, we could have done this on 
January 20. You see, Ryan Zinke is not a controversial nominee. He is a 
westerner. He is a Montanan whom we need serving as our next Secretary.
  Back on January 17, when the Energy and Natural Resources Committee 
had a hearing on Ryan Zinke's nomination, I detailed for the committee 
exactly why he is a good fit for this job.
  Frankly, it is shameful that it took this body this long to move 
forward on Ryan Zinke's nomination. You see, this is a historic moment 
for Montana, as Congressman Zinke will be the first Montanan ever to 
serve in a President's Cabinet. That dates back to statehood in 1889.
  Back in 1979, there was a junior from Bozeman High School and another 
junior from Whitefish High School who were both headed to Dillon, MT, 
for Boys State. They were both Boys State delegates. In fact, the 
keynote speaker that year was a newly elected U.S. Senator. He had been 
elected in the fall of 1978. This was June of 1979, at Boys State, and 
this Senator was named Max Baucus.
  So 38 years later, that kid from Bozeman was serving on the U.S. 
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and that kid from 
Whitefish was testifying before that very same committee to be the next 
Secretary of the Interior.
  You see, Ryan Zinke was also captain of the soon-to-be undefeated 
State champion Whitefish Bulldogs football team. He was also president 
of his class.
  After high school Ryan went on to the University of Oregon, where he 
was a full-scholarship, starting athlete for the Oregon Ducks football 
team, where he won numerous awards for both outstanding academic and 
athletic performance. He majored in geology, a subject matter that I 
know has served him well in serving the people of Montana.
  Ryan Zinke was a U.S. Navy SEAL commander whose assignments included 
the elite SEAL Team Six. In fact, part of that tenure was serving under 
General Mattis--now Secretary Mattis--as the commander of Joint Special 
Forces in Iraq at the very height of insurgent activity.
  During his 23 years as a U.S. Navy SEAL, Ryan conducted special 
operations on four continents. Ryan Zinke earned two Bronze Stars and 
many other awards for his service to our Nation. We should all be 
thankful to him, to his wife Lola, and their children for his service.
  Following his retirement from the Navy, after more than two decades 
of honorable service to our Nation, Ryan came back home to Montana, and 
he continued to serve again, this time in our State government. Ryan 
ran for and won a seat in the State senate and then as Montana's sole 
Representative in the U.S. House.
  For the past couple of years, Ryan has been a strong supporter of 
conservation, of responsible natural resources development, of LWCF, as 
well as increased recreational access to our public lands.
  Ryan grew up 30 minutes from Glacier National Park. I grew up about 
60 minutes from Yellowstone National Park. We both understand the 
importance of our national parks.
  Ryan is intimately familiar with the vast jurisdiction of the 
Department of Interior because he has lived it. He has seen his own 
hometown suffer due to bad government policies that hurt rural 
communities like Libby, where the logging industry has been decimated; 
like Malta, like Colstrip, which depend on our public lands for access.
  Above all, Ryan is a Montanan who grew up on our public lands. He 
knows that we must strike the right balance between conservation and 
responsible energy development, and he understands more than most that 
these one-size-fits-all policies from Washington, DC, never work for 
real America. The bureaucrats in Washington, DC, oftentimes can't even 
find Montana on a map.
  Ryan Zinke is whip smart. He is a guy you want in your corner while 
you are fighting in the streets of Fallujah for your life or you are 
fighting on the floor of Congress for your livelihood. He listens. He 
fights for what he believes in. I have absolutely no doubt he will be a 
fighter for America; he will be a fighter for our public lands as the 
next Secretary of the Interior. So I look forward to confirming Ryan 
Zinke within the next day and a half.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.


  

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