[Pages S11330-S11331]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           EXECUTIVE SESSION

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                           EXECUTIVE CALENDAR

  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
immediately proceed to executive session to consider the following 
nominations on today's Executive Calendar: Calendar Nos. 312, 313, 314, 
315, 316, 338, 339, 340, 341, 342, 343, 344, 345, 346, 347, 348, 349, 
350, 351, 352, 353, 354, 355, 356, 357, 358, 359, 360, 361, 362, 363, 
364, 366, 367, 368, 369, and all nominations on the Secretary's desk.
  I further ask unanimous consent that the nominations be confirmed en 
bloc, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, the President 
be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate then 
return to legislative session.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The nominations considered and confirmed are as follows:


                         DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

       Kenneth L. Wainstein, of Virginia, to be United States 
     Attorney for the District of Columbia for the term of four 
     years, Howard, Jr., resigned.


                             THE JUDICIARY

       Juliet JoAnn McKenna, of the District of Columbia, to be an 
     Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of 
     Columbia for the term of fifteen years.
       John R. Fisher, of the District of Columbia, to be an 
     Associate Judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals 
     for the term of fifteen years.


                   FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY

       Colleen Duffy Kiko, of Virginia, to be General Counsel of 
     the Federal Labor Relations Authority for a term of five 
     years.


                    DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

       Stewart A. Baker, of Virginia, to be an Assistant Secretary 
     of Homeland Security.


              DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

       Kim Kendrick, of the District of Columbia, to be an 
     Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
       Keith A. Nelson, of Texas, to be an Assistant Secretary of 
     Housing and Urban Development.
       Darlene F. Williams, of Texas, to be an Assistant Secretary 
     of Housing and Urban Development.
       Keith E. Gottfried, of California, to be General Counsel of 
     the Department of Housing and Urban Development.


                         DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

       David H. McCormick, of Pennsylvania, to be Under Secretary 
     of Commerce for Export Administration.


                       DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

       Patrick M. O'Brien, of Minnesota, to be Assistant Secretary 
     for Terrorist Financing, Department of the Treasury.


                         DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

       Israel Hernandez, of Texas, to be Assistant Secretary of 
     Commerce and Director General of the United States and 
     Foreign Commercial Service.
       Darryl W. Jackson, of the District of Columbia, to be an 
     Assistant Secretary of Commerce.


                       DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

       Emil W. Henry, Jr., of New York, to be an Assistant 
     Secretary of the Treasury.


                          DEPARTMENT OF STATE

       Thomas A. Shannon, Jr., of Virginia, a Career Member of the 
     Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be an 
     Assistant Secretary of State (Western Hemisphere Affairs).


                    INTER-AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK

       Jan E. Boyer, of Texas, to be United States Alternate 
     Executive Director of the InterAmerican Development Bank.


                OVERSEAS PRIVATE INVESTMENT CORPORATION

       Robert A. Mosbacher, of Texas, to be President of the 
     Overseas Private Investment Corporation.


                    MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION

       John J. Danilovich, of California, to be Chief Executive 
     Officer, Millennium Challenge Corporation.


                          DEPARTMENT OF STATE

       Josette Sheeran Shiner, of Virginia, to be United States 
     Alternate Governor of the International Bank for 
     Reconstruction and Development for a term of five years; 
     United States Alternate Governor of the Inter-American 
     Development Bank for a term of five years; United States 
     Alternate Governor of the African Development Bank for a term 
     of five years; United States Alternate Governor of the 
     African Development Fund; United States Alternate Governor of 
     the Asian Development Bank; and United States Alternate 
     Governor of the European Bank for Reconstruction and 
     Development.


           UNITED STATES AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

       Kent R. Hill, of Virginia, to be an Assistant Administrator 
     of the United States Agency for International Development.
       Jacqueline Ellen Schafer, of the District of Columbia, to 
     be an Assistant Administrator of the United States Agency for 
     International Development.


                          DEPARTMENT OF STATE

       John Hillen, of Virginia, to be an Assistant Secretary of 
     State (Political-Military Affairs), vice Lincoln P. 
     Bloomfield, Jr., resigned.
       Barry F. Lowenkron, of Virginia, to be Assistant Secretary 
     of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.


                     AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION

       Jendayi Elizabeth Frazer, Assistant Secretary of State 
     (African Affairs), to be a Member of the Board of Directors 
     of the African Development Foundation for the remainder of 
     the term expiring September 27, 2009.


                          DEPARTMENT OF STATE

       Francis Rooney, of Florida, to be Ambassador Extraordinary 
     and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the 
     Holy See.
       Alfred Hoffman, of Florida, to be Ambassador Extraordinary 
     and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the 
     Republic of Portugal.
       Charles A. Ford, of Virginia, a Career Member of the Senior 
     Foreign Service, Class of Career Minister, to be Ambassador 
     Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of 
     America to the Republic of Honduras.

[[Page S11331]]

       Mark Langdale, of Texas, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and 
     Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the 
     Republic of Costa Rica.
       Brenda LaGrange Johnson, of New York, to be Ambassador 
     Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of 
     America to Jamaica.
       Alexander R. Vershbow, of the District of Columbia, a 
     Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Career 
     Minister, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary 
     of the United States of America to the Republic of Korea.
       Patricia Louise Herbold, of Washington, to be Ambassador 
     Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of 
     America to the Republic of Singapore.
       William Paul McCormick, of Oregon, to be Ambassador 
     Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of 
     America to New Zealand, and serve concurrently and without 
     additional compensation as Ambassador Extraordinary and 
     Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Samoa.


                       DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

       H. Dale Hall, of New Mexico, to be Director of the United 
     States Fish and Wildlife Service, vice Steven A. Williams, 
     resigned.


                     NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

       Edward McGaffigan, Jr., of Virginia, to be a Member of the 
     Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the term of five years 
     expiring June 30, 2010. (Reappointment)


                    ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

       George M. Gray, of Massachusetts, to be an Assistant 
     Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
       Lyons Gray, of North Carolina, to be Chief Financial 
     Officer, Environmental Protection Agency.

               Nominations Placed on the Secretary's Desk


                            FOREIGN SERVICE

       PN796 Foreign Service nomination of Robert S. Connan, which 
     was received by the Senate and appeared in the Congressional 
     Record of July 29, 2005.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I rise to address the nomination of Stewart 
Baker to be Assistant Secretary for Policy at the Department of 
Homeland Security.
  Last week, when Mr. Baker's nomination came before the Senate 
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, I voted no. 
That is my position today.
  Mr. Baker is an intelligent and accomplished man, but he does not 
have the experience necessary to fill this important post at this 
important time. Mr. Baker is a lawyer with experience in national 
security, trade, and technology. He has been widely published on topics 
such as cyber-security and civil liberties. I understand that he 
performed capably as the general counsel of the Silverman-Robb 
Commission on WMD intelligence capabilities. Mr. Baker might be well 
qualified for many positions at DHS, but he is not qualified to be 
Assistant Secretary for Policy.
  During his confirmation hearing before our committee, Mr. Stewart 
testified that he expected to be the ``central player'' at DHS on 
``lessons learned'' from Hurricane Katrina, to develop emergency 
response policy, and to be a key player on immigration reform, among 
other matters. Yet when asked at his hearing if he had emergency 
response experience, he said ``no.'' He also admitted to having little 
expertise on immigration issues.
  While no one could be expected to be an expert on all of the issues 
addressed by DHS, it makes little sense to me to appoint a person with 
no emergency response experience to be the central player on lessons 
learned from Katrina, or to appoint a person with little immigration 
expertise to articulate Federal immigration policy, especially when, 
over the next few years, both issues--emergency response and 
immigration--will be so prominent at the Department. As we have learned 
from the Katrina disaster, we cannot afford to have inexperienced 
people in senior positions at DHS for on-the-job training.

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