Congressional Record—Senate S1230
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
S1230 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE February 16, 2017 Please, join us in voting no on the The legislative clerk read the nomi- In Flint, MI, old pipes and improp- motion to invoke cloture. nation of Scott Pruitt, of Oklahoma, to erly treated water caused lead poi- Thank you. be Administrator of the Environmental soning in children. When the leadership The PRESIDING OFFICER. All time Protection Agency. at the EPA learned of the issue, they is yielded back. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- failed to respond in a timely manner. Pursuant to rule XXII, the Chair lays ator from Wyoming. The regional EPA administrator actu- before the Senate the pending cloture Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I rise ally resigned following the incident. motion, which the clerk will state. today to speak about the nomination For the last 8 years, the political The senior assistant legislative clerk of Attorney General Scott Pruitt to be leaders of this Agency have been reck- read as follows: the Administrator of the Environ- less, irresponsible, and arrogant. CLOTURE MOTION mental Protection Agency. Scott Pru- Change is badly needed at the Environ- We, the undersigned Senators, in accord- itt is the right person to run the Agen- mental Protection Agency and Scott ance with the provisions of rule XXII of the cy, and we need to confirm him. Pruitt will be that change. Mr. Pruitt Standing Rules of the Senate, do hereby Over the past 8 years, the political has served as attorney general in the move to bring to a close debate on the nomi- leaders of the EPA have taken actions State of Oklahoma since 2011—6 years. nation of Scott Pruitt, of Oklahoma, to be that have undermined the American Administrator of the Environmental Protec- He has worked to protect the environ- people’s faith in the Agency. They have ment in his State, while also working tion Agency. pushed broad and sweeping regulations Mitch McConnell, John Cornyn, Mike for the benefit of all the people of that have hurt our economy and have Rounds, Tim Scott, Johnny Isakson, Oklahoma. Lindsey Graham, James M. Inhofe, failed to protect our environment. He has taken on polluters. He has David Perdue, Shelley Moore Capito, These regulations include the so-called worked across party lines to do it. Roger F. Wicker, Orrin G. Hatch, Mike Clean Power Plan. This is a rule that When poultry farmers in Arkansas, a Crapo, James E. Risch, James will kill job growth in States like Indi- neighboring State to Oklahoma, were Lankford, John Hoeven, John Thune, ana, Wisconsin, Ohio, and my home Deb Fischer. increasing phosphorous levels in the Il- State of Wyoming. These also include linois River that runs between the The PRESIDING OFFICER. By unan- regulations defining the term ‘‘waters States, he worked with Arkansas’ imous consent, the mandatory quorum of the United States.’’ This was a clas- Democratic attorney general on a solu- call has been waived. sic example of Washington overreach. tion. They found a way to reduce pollu- The question is, Is it the sense of the The Agency brought irrigation ditches, tion and establish permanent stand- Senate that debate on the nomination plowed farm fields, and even parking ards. of Scott Pruitt, of Oklahoma, to be Ad- lot puddles under Federal control. With Former Arkansas Attorney General ministrator of the Environmental Pro- both of these rules, dozens of State McDaniel, a Democrat, called Pruitt a tection Agency shall be brought to a governments have had to take Wash- ‘‘staunch defender of sound science and close? ington to court. Why? Well, to try to good policy as appropriate tools to pro- The yeas and nays are mandatory stop the crippling effects of these tect the environment in his State.’’ under the rule. Washington-based regulations. Scott Pruitt also helped negotiate a The clerk will call the roll. The Agency’s outrageous actions water rights settlement between tribes The legislative clerk called the roll. have extended beyond these rules and in Oklahoma. The deal will help pre- The yeas and nays resulted—yeas 54, have had real consequences for many nays 46, as follows: American families. According to the serve scenic rivers and lakes so they [Rollcall Vote No. 69 Ex.] chamber of commerce, since 2008 this can be enjoyed for generations to come. Scott Pruitt also stood up to indus- YEAS—54 regulatory rampage by the EPA has de- try when they caused pollution. That is stroyed 19,000 coal-mining jobs nation- Alexander Flake Murkowski why the entire Oklahoma congres- Barrasso Gardner Paul wide. In Kentucky, nearly 4 out of Blunt Graham Perdue every 10 coal-mining jobs have dis- sional delegation has endorsed his Boozman Grassley Portman appeared over the past 8 years. Ohio nomination. He has been an advocate Burr Hatch Risch for the environment in Oklahoma, and Capito Heitkamp Roberts and Pennsylvania have each lost more Cassidy Heller Rounds than 1,000 fossil fuel electric power jobs he will be an advocate for the environ- Cochran Hoeven Rubio during the same period. In West Vir- ment in Washington. Collins Inhofe Sasse ginia, 5,200 coal-mining jobs have van- When the EPA overstepped its mis- Corker Isakson Scott sion, Attorney General Pruitt led the Cornyn Johnson Shelby ished just since 2011. Cotton Kennedy Strange The total cost of all of this new red- charge to rein in Big Government Crapo Lankford Sullivan tape from the Environmental Protec- Washington overreach. Time after Cruz Lee Thune time, Scott Pruitt worked with other Daines Manchin Tillis tion Agency is more than $300 billion. Enzi McCain Toomey The leadership at the EPA has failed. States to challenge the Agency when it Ernst McConnell Wicker It has failed because a lot of their regu- exceeded its authority. Under his lead- Fischer Moran Young lations are bad ideas. ership, this Agency will respect the NAYS—46 That is not the only way the political rule of law. Baldwin Gillibrand Peters leaders at the Agency have failed; they Attorneys general from 24 States Bennet Harris Reed have actually hurt people and damaged have endorsed Scott Pruitt as someone Blumenthal Hassan Sanders the environment directly. In 2015, more who can protect the environment while Booker Heinrich Schatz also protecting State decisionmaking. Brown Hirono than 3 million gallons of toxic waste- Schumer He has also won the support of small Cantwell Kaine Shaheen water spilled into the river at the Gold Cardin King Stabenow King Mine in Colorado. The govern- businesses and farmers around the Carper Klobuchar Tester country. Groups like the National Fed- Casey Leahy ment Agency charged with protecting Udall Coons Markey our environment actually caused this eration of Independent Business, the Van Hollen Cortez Masto McCaskill U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Na- Warner spill and poisoned a river. This was a Donnelly Menendez Warren direct result of negligence on the part tional Association of Home Builders, Duckworth Merkley the American Farm Bureau Federa- Durbin Murphy Whitehouse of the Environmental Protection Agen- Feinstein Murray Wyden cy. This plume of toxic liquid flowed tion, and many others have voiced Franken Nelson downstream to New Mexico and pol- their support for Mr. Pruitt. The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this luted the Navajo Nation’s main source As chairman of the Environment and vote, the yeas are 54, the nays are 46. of drinking water and irrigation water. Public Works Committee, I take the The motion is agreed to. In the final days of the Obama ad- nomination process very seriously. Our f ministration, the EPA then denied $1.2 committee thoroughly vetted Mr. Pru- billion in damage claims from the itt. We held a confirmation hearing EXECUTIVE CALENDAR farmers, the Native American tribes, that lasted more than 6 hours. That is The PRESIDING OFFICER. The and small businesses impacted by the by far the longest confirmation hearing clerk will report the nomination. EPA’s own negligence. for an EPA Administrator on record. VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:49 Feb 17, 2017 Jkt 069060 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 0624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G16FE6.011 S16FEPT1 SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with SENATE February 16, 2017 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S1231 During this hearing, Attorney General Times article titled ‘‘Scott Pruitt, As chairman of the Senate Committee on Pruitt was asked more than 200 ques- Trump’s EPA Pick, Backed Industry Environment and Public Works, I look for- tions by Members of the committee. Donors over Regulators.’’ ward to ushering in wholesale change at the We had four rounds of questions—an Mr. Strong writes: EPA. I will be doing it alongside a com- mitted and capable administrator. unprecedented number. Our Demo- As a fifth generation Oklahoman and President-elect Trump has named Okla- cratic colleagues on the committee someone who has devoted my career to nat- homa Attorney General Scott Pruitt to lead noted during the hearing how fair the ural resource protection, I take great pride the EPA and to overhaul the agency. Attor- process was. They said how much they in the progress that has been made in im- ney General Pruitt has seen the effects of appreciated the opportunity to ask so proving Oklahoma’s land, air, water, and over regulation in his own state and has wildlife resources. many questions. After the hearing, worked to stop them. committee members submitted another He goes on to say— Pruitt has distinguished himself by chal- lenging the Obama administration on several 1,078 written questions to Mr. Pruitt to For the past six years, General Pruitt has been instrumental in many of our successes of its most burdensome rules. He stood up for answer for the record.