Don Nickles: “first let me thank my friends and colleagues, Senator Reid and Senator Daschle, for finally moving some of these…”

“first let me thank my friends and colleagues, Senator Reid and Senator Daschle, for finally moving some of these nominees. Some are long overdue. Some are still yet to be confirmed. I will make one mention: Kyle McSlarrow, to be Deputy Secretary of Energy. He worked for us in the Senate. He is more than qualified. I happen to know the Secretary of Energy because he used to be a Senator, Spence Abraham, and he has personally requested that he be confirmed. He needs a Deputy Secretary of Energy. So while I am pleased we were able to confirm a large number of nominees, we have some nominees who are now going to have to wait the entire month of August and well into September to be confirmed. I find that to be unfair. I wanted to express my pleasure with the one we were able to confirm and my displeasure with the fact that there are about 30 people who will still be left on the calendar, including individuals such as Kyle McSlarrow to be Deputy Secretary of Energy, and other outstanding nominees who will still be held in limbo in the confirmation process throughout August and maybe well into September. I find that regrettable. There is no reason in the world not to move more of these nominees.”