Trent Lott: “I must say, I think this objection is, at the very least, very unfortunate. It has been my understanding that we are…”

“I must say, I think this objection is, at the very least, very unfortunate. It has been my understanding that we are operating in good faith with respect to the confirmation of Mr. Pena and the markup of the nuclear waste bill. I have made a special effort to get this nomination up this morning. We had a lot of communication with the ranking member, the chairman and other Members interested in the confirmation of the Secretary of Energy designee, with the understanding, clearly, that the nuclear waste bill could go forward. Since this objection has now been raised, the Energy Committee cannot complete its business with respect to reporting out the nuclear waste bill today. It is my understanding they will reconvene tomorrow at 9:30 in order to take action on this very important nuclear waste bill. I say again, I have been trying to be cooperative in trying to move nominations.”