Heidi Alexander: “today the Senate will vote on the confirmation of Marvin Kaplan to be a member of the National Labor Relations Board…”

“today the Senate will vote on the confirmation of Marvin Kaplan to be a member of the National Labor Relations Board, NLRB. I am glad that we are moving this nomination because the National Labor Relations Board needs to function as intended. The board hasn't been full in nearly 2 years. I am certainly not the only one of us who thinks a full Board is important. One Democratic senator said at a hearing on May 16, 2013: ``I strongly support a fully functioning NLRB with five members. I think confirming the entire slate will ensure that the NLRB is working for American workers and American employers.'' Another said at the same hearing: ``What we don't need now--the last thing we need here in Washington or across the country--is more rancor, more division, more ideology, at a time we need this Board fully functioning. We need five people to get confirmed here. Any Senator who is standing in the way of getting five people confirmed and having a functioning Board has a lot of explaining to do . . .'' Then-Chairman Harkin said in September 2014: ``Keeping the NLRB fully staffed and able to do its work will send a strong message to the American people that yes, Washington can work, and our government can function.'' The National Labor Relations Board has five members with 5-year, staggered terms, and a general counsel with a 4-year term.…”