Political Quotes

“I am very concerned. The Energy and Natural Resources Committee has oversight of the Department of the Interior. As a consequence, we have had the responsibility of holding hearings on the nomination of various individuals for the Department of the Interior. It is rather ironic that the only individual at the Department of the Interior who has been cleared by the Senate in its entirety is Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton. We have had a situation with regard to the Deputy Secretary, Mr. Steven Griles, that deserves some examination by this body. Mr. Griles was nominated on March 9 by our President. Hearings were held on May 16, as I chaired the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. He was reported favorably out of the committee by a vote of 18-4 on May 23 of this year. All this was prior to the switch by Senator Jeffords who made his announcement on May 24. At that time, we immediately began to try to move the nomination. The minority also tried to get a time agreement. According to the information we have from the floor staff, Griles was cleared on the Republican side on May 23. In an executive session on May 23, we did move one nomination. On May 24, we moved 19 nominations. On May 25, we moved 33 nominations. On May 26, we moved 8 nominations. In each case, Griles was cleared by the Republican side but objected to by the Democratic side. I wonder why.…”