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“PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATIONS” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Labor was published in the Senate section on pages S3398-S3399 on April 22, 1997.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATIONS
Mr. REID. Mr. President, since I have been here in the Senate, we have been under a majority controlled by the Republicans and the Democrats. When I first came here, the Democrats had the majority, and now the Republicans have the majority.
During the times that the Democrats had the majority, there were some very controversial nominees that came forward, but they always came forward and there was a vote. My concern is that we are now entering into a new era, where the majority is using nominees of the President--
and there is no question about their capabilities and their credentials to hold the job, and there is nothing relating to their moral qualifications. They are simply holding up the President's appointees because they don't want them to be selected, or they have some other issue and they are trying to hold the nominee hostage.
As an example, Alexis Herman has been nominated to be the Secretary of Labor. We were initially told we are not going to get her out of committee until there is comptime legislation marked up in the Labor Committee. That hurdle has gone over. The legislation is marked up. Now there is another hurdle this woman must find herself facing. Now we are told that there is an issue that deals with an opposed Executive order that would permit Federal agencies to consider requiring contractors on certain large Federal construction projects to comply with labor contracts for the duration of the project. Governor Miller of Nevada issues a similar order and a project labor agreement is now in use on a very large construction project outside of Las Vegas to bring water into Las Vegas.
Mr. President, I respectfully submit that holding Alexis Herman's nomination hostage to this is wrong. To hold her nomination hostage over an Executive order is wrong. She is qualified morally and educationally and is experienced. Therefore, she should be working for the taxpayers of this country in the job she was selected to do by the President. What is happening is not right.
We can get into the merits of the issue of the majority holding Alexis Herman hostage, but should that really be the case? If we looked at it closely, we would find that in the State of Nevada, as an example, of the seven contracts awarded, three went to nonunion contractors. I assume that is what the majority is concerned about. They have this problem with unions. Well, in Nevada, even though the Governor entered this order, three of the contracts went to nonunion contractors, and four went to traditional union contractors. Of the 36 contractors who bid on the seven contracts, 16 were nonunion, 20 were union.
The point I am making, Mr. President, is that this issue, this proposed Executive order, is just that--an issue. We should debate it. It is wrong and there is legislation to hold hearings or try to get the Executive order overturned, but we should not hold up this woman's nomination.
Are we going to continue without a Secretary of Labor until the majority leadership gets their way on every labor issue? I hope not. I don't think that hostage holding is a proper way to pass good legislation. It is not the way to have the President's nominees chosen. The President has a right to select who he wants to work in these very sensitive Cabinet positions. He has chosen a woman that is certainly qualified.
Mr. President, this woman is a graduate, as is my colleague, the junior Senator from Maryland, from Xavier University in New Orleans, LA. In 1977, she was the youngest director ever of the Woman's Bureau at the Department of Labor. She is certainly entitled to this job by virtue of her qualifications.
We are willing to debate these issues and work for compromises if, in fact, that is necessary. But the majority is saying that it is their way or no way. This tactic is becoming a way of business under this majority. Also, I don't believe there has ever been judicial nominations put on hold by a Congress as we have seen with this one. One must wonder about the pattern of the recent majority attacks--
Alexis Herman, Senator Landrieu, Congresswoman Sanchez, and judicial nominee Margaret Morrow. For example, take Margaret Morrow; she has been found very qualified by the American Bar Association.
She was first nominated almost a year ago, and we still have not had the opportunity to vote on this woman. This is wrong. The rules of the Senate allow leadership to delay a nomination if there are questions about the nominee's qualifications. But there are no questions about this nominee's qualifications.
There is no reason that we don't have a vote on Alexis Herman. And we should have it this week. I think that it is wrong that we go forward with legislation--the majority feels important, and the minority goes along with that--but I think we are going to have to arrive at a point where we have to take a look at how the majority is handling what takes place on this Senate floor. Maybe what we should do is nothing until these people who are qualified, like Alexis Herman and like Margaret Morrow, until we have votes on them.
If they want to vote against Alexis Herman, then the majority should vote against Alexis Herman. But to hold this woman hostage--it is now approaching the 1st of May, and this woman has not been able to go to work as Secretary of Labor. That is wrong. I think the American public deserve more, and I hope that majority leadership will allow her nomination to go forward along with some of other nominees that are being held up for reasons unknown to most of us.
Mr. DeWINE addressed the Chair.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Ohio is recognized.
Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak for 10 minutes, and I also ask unanimous consent that the time for the Senator from Georgia be extended by 10 minutes.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
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