Nominations (Cong. Rec., April 27, 2021)
Summary
Congressional Record, Tuesday, April 27, 2021: the House is not in session and next meets Wednesday, April 28, 2021, at 6 p.m., and the Senate meets at 10 a.m. Schumer says the Senate will vote to confirm three nominees: Jason Miller for Deputy OMB Director, Janet McCabe for Deputy EPA Administrator, and Colin Kahl for Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. Schumer also says the Senate must conclude its work on the water infrastructure bill before the end of the week. McConnell speaks about public servants at the top of Cabinet agencies and about the flow of fentanyl and its analogs.
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“Nominations (Cong. Rec., April 27, 2021).”
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Congressional Record
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117 th CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION
United States
of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE
Vol. 167 WASHINGTON, TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 2021 No. 72
House of Representatives
The House was not in session today. Its next meeting will be held on Wednesday, April 28, 2021, at 6 p.m.
Senate
TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 2021
The Senate met at 10 a.m. and was to the Senate from the President pro process to take up the bipartisan water
called to order by the Honorable RAPH- tempore (Mr. LEAHY). infrastructure bill. I expect the Senate
AEL G. WARNOCK, a Senator from the The senior assistant legislative clerk will do so with significant bipartisan
State of Georgia. read the following letter: support.
f U.S. SENATE, The water infrastructure bill is as
PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE, noncontroversial as it gets. It was ap-
PRAYER Washington, DC, Tuesday, April 27, 2021. proved by the Environment and Public
The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- To the Senate: Works Committee on a unanimous con-
fered the following prayer: Under the provisions of rule I, paragraph 3, sent vote—every single Democrat,
of the Standing Rules of the Senate, I hereby
Let us pray. every single Republican—thanks to the
appoint the Honorable RAPHAEL G. WARNOCK,
Gracious God, You are from ever- a Senator from the State of Georgia, to per- good work of Chairman CARPER and
lasting to everlasting. Reveal Your form the duties of the Chair. Ranking Member CAPITO. This water
glory in our Nation and world. Let PATRICK LEAHY, infrastructure bill is also a core com-
Your light so shine through our Sen- President pro tempore. ponent of the Republican infrastruc-
ators that people will see the good Mr. WARNOCK thereupon assumed ture proposal released last week. So I
things our lawmakers accomplish be- the Chair as Acting President pro tem- hope this legislation will serve as a
cause of Your might. May these people pore. starting point for our two parties to
then praise You for Your bountiful f collaborate on infrastructure when and
goodness. where we can. At the moment, Sen-
Holy God, empower us to escape from RESERVATION OF LEADER TIME ators Carper, Duckworth, and Cardin
our fragmentary and broken selves into The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- continue discussions with Republican
the exemplary unity You desire for us pore. Under the previous order, the Senators about possible amendments.
all. Lead us away from doubt and dis- leadership time is reserved. But let me be very clear: The Senate
illusionment, from cynicism and de- f must conclude its work on the water
spair. Lead us toward faith and hope, infrastructure bill before the end of the
RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY week.
certainty and love.
LEADER This is not a controversial bill or a
We pray in Your marvelous Name.
Amen. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- complicated new program. In too many
f
pore. The Democratic leader is recog- communities, access to clean, safe, and
nized. affordable drinking water is not a guar-
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE f antee. Surely, we can all agree that in
The Presiding Officer led the Pledge America clean drinking water should
BUSINESS BEFORE THE SENATE
of Allegiance, as follows: be a fundamental guarantee.
I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, today, The Senate must take first necessary
United States of America, and to the Repub- the Senate will take up a series of steps to invest in communities with
lic for which it stands, one nation under God, votes to confirm three highly qualified aging water infrastructure by passing
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. nominees to the Biden administration: this bill, and we must do so this week.
f Jason Miller for Deputy OMB Director, f
Janet McCabe for Deputy EPA Admin-
APPOINTMENT OF ACTING istrator, and Colin Kahl for Under Sec- NOMINATIONS
PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE retary of Defense for Policy. Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, now
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The And then, later this afternoon, the on nominees, yesterday, I highlighted a
clerk will please read a communication Senate will move forward with the number of accomplishments the Senate
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∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor.
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S2204 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE April 27, 2021
Democrat majority made during the these Agencies matters, and it matters, stances. There are severe penalties for
first hundred days of the Biden admin- too, that they come from different those caught trafficking them. It is the
istration. Thanks primarily to the backgrounds and have lived different least we can do to protect American
American Rescue Plan, the most experiences. By confirming historically lives, families, and communities.
sweeping Federal recovery effort in diverse nominees, we are showing the Clearly, on its own, this step hasn’t
decades, shots are going into arms; American people that their govern- been sufficient, but in a few weeks,
money is going into people’s pockets; ment represents them and that all of even this obvious step is set to expire.
and businesses, schools, and res- their voices matter. Fentanyl analogs would cease being
taurants are starting to reopen. We also know that a Cabinet with di- controlled substances in Federal law,
Americans finally—finally—have verse views will produce policies that making enforcement and deterrence
some reason for hope. Jobs are coming better reflect the needs of a diverse Na- even more difficult.
back. The economic recovery is accel- tion. So Congress is faced with what
erating, and the pace of vaccinations I am proud of the nominees we have should be a crystal-clear choice. The
has far exceeded even President Biden’s confirmed over the first hundred days. right thing to do, of course, is to per-
own goals. After one of the most dif- As we move forward, the Senate will manently schedule these substances.
ficult years in recent memory, the first continue working with the White Only in Washington could this become
hundred days of the Biden Presidency House on confirming nominees and ju- some kind of intense debate, but alas,
and the new Senate Democratic major- dicial appointments that reflect the di- some soft-on-crime corners of the po-
ity have seen the country turn a cor- versity and dynamism of our great litical left have convinced some Demo-
ner. Slowly but surely, we are proving country. crats that this impending expiration is
to the American people that govern- actually, actually a political oppor-
ment and the Senate can work for f tunity. They want the Democrats to
them. MEASURE PLACED ON THE only reschedule these analogs for a
As President Biden prepares to take CALENDAR—S. 1364 short period of time, punting this dead-
stock of where we have come from and line just a few months into the future,
where we still need to go, with a joint Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I un- which makes you ask, Why?
address to Congress, it is worth looking derstand that there is a bill at the desk Well, so that Democrats could come
back at some of the accomplishments that is due for a second reading. back to the table with an unrelated
of these first 100 days. Among those ac- The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- soft-on-crime bill—say, reducing prison
complishments is the fact that the pore. The Senator is correct. sentences for drug dealers—and make
Senate has confirmed the most diverse The clerk will read the bill by title that bad idea the price of admission for
Cabinet in history, faster than under for the second time. keeping these deadly poisons illegal.
both Presidents Trump and Obama, and The senior assistant legislative clerk So look, we need to be clear-eyed
all of them with bipartisan support. read as follows: here. No amount of political spin or in-
Eleven are people of color, and 10 are A bill (S. 1364) to provide for the recogni- side-the-beltway horse trading can
women. Among them, we have a former tion of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, muddy the debate. It is very clear: Con-
teacher, a former construction worker, and for other purposes. gress should schedule these fentanyl
several former veterans, a small busi- Mr. SCHUMER. In order to place the analogs permanently—permanently.
ness man, even a musician—a far cry bill on the calendar under the provi- It is not complicated. Americans are
from the, shall we say, less economi- sions of rule XIV, I would object to fur- dying. Communities are drowning. Chi-
cally diverse Cabinet chosen by the ther proceedings. nese drug traffickers are getting rich
former President. Now, more than ever The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- off of our misery. Permanently sched-
before, we have a Cabinet that looks pore. Objection having been heard, the uling these analogs is the very least,
like America. bill will now be placed on the calendar. the very least Congress can do.
In our Nation’s history, the Treasury Mr. SCHUMER. I yield the floor. f
Secretary has only ever been a White f NOMINATION OF JANET GARVIN
man—an unbroken streak of 77 White MCCABE
men in a row. This Senate confirmed RECOGNITION OF THE MINORITY
the first woman to serve as Treasury LEADER Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, now
Secretary in our history, Janet Yellen. on another matter, this week the Sen-
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem-
The list of firsts goes on: the first Afri- ate is set to vote on President Biden’s
pore. The Republican leader is recog-
can American to serve as Defense Sec- nominee to be Deputy Administrator of
nized.
retary, the first Black man to serve as the EPA. This nominee actually needs
f no introduction for my fellow Kentuck-
EPA Administrator, the first ever in-
digenous American, and the first ever FENTANYL ians and our neighbors in coal country.
openly gay Secretary to lead any Cabi- But for those less familiar, Janet
Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, as I McCabe was the chief author of the
net Agency.
noted here on the floor last week, the Clean Power Plan that President
Last week, the Senate confirmed
unaccompanied children packed into Obama unveiled back in 2015. Well, 6
Vanita Gupta to Associate Attorney
General—the first woman of color and overflowing facilities are not the only years and thousands of coal industry
the first civil rights attorney ever to tragic consequence of our failure to se- jobs later, Ms. McCabe is set to join an
hold that position. cure the border. administration whose job-killing poli-
Last month, Dr. Rachel Levine be- In addition to the U.S. mail, our cies would make the Obama EPA blush.
came the Deputy Secretary of Health southern border is a major source for Of course, President Biden’s War on
and Human Services, the first openly the stream of lethal illegal drugs that Coal predates his administration. Back
transgender Federal official in Amer- continue to pour into our country. Ac- in 2008, as a candidate for the Vice
ican history. cording to the CDC, more Americans Presidency, he insisted there would be
Federal Agencies have enormous in- died of overdoses last year than ever ‘‘no coal plants here in America. Build
fluence over the policies that affect the before. them, if they’re going to build them,
day-to-day lives of the American peo- This health crisis predated COVID–19 over there,’’ obviously, meaning some
ple. Whether registering for Social Se- and will outlast it, and Customs and other country.
curity, filing for unemployment or vet- Border Protection data tell us a major Sadly, this was one area where the
erans’ benefits, or seeking a small busi- cause has been a spike in the flow of Obama administration, unfortunately,
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ness loan, average folks interact with fentanyl and its analogs produced by kept its promises. It was a terrible
these Cabinet Agencies every single chemical companies in places like time to be a working American whose
day, hundreds of thousands, if not mil- China. These drugs, which can be hun- livelihood the Democrats happened to
lions, of times. dreds of thousands of times stronger dislike. But our new President’s
Having capable, experienced, and en- than morphine, are rightly classified leftward sprint is set to make these
ergetic public servants at the top of on the schedule of controlled sub- bad old days merely the warmup act.
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