Douglas Alexander: “this morning, I want to take a few minutes to talk about an amendment that was adopted yesterday. It was sponsored by…”

“this morning, I want to take a few minutes to talk about an amendment that was adopted yesterday. It was sponsored by the Senator from Ohio, Mr. Voinovich. The amendment is about the 3,361 Presidential appointees and how they are confirmed. I am glad to see that as I am speaking the President pro tempore is here because he has been a Presidential appointee in an earlier administration. I am glad to see both the chairman and ranking member of the Governmental Affairs Committee here because their committee deals with this issue. This is the kind of issue that never makes the front page and is always on the back burner. But it has a major practical effect on how our Government works. The 9/11 Commission has reminded us, once again, of the problem we have. What the 9/11 Commission recommended, and what Senator Voinovich's amendment would do--an amendment that I was glad to cosponsor--is to, in the words of the 9/11 Commission--``speed up the nomination, financial reporting, security clearances, and confirmation process for national security officials at the start of an administration.'' In other words, in plain English, to make it possible, if President Bush reorganizes his administration in a second term, or if Senator Kerry is the new President, they have 3,361 appointments to make.…”