mr. johnson's confirmation hearing, our ranking member, dr. coburn, made support his support for jeh johnson and even went so far as asking him to stay on as secretary after the 2016 election. a high compliment, indeed. and mr. johnson's wife was sitting immediately behind him, madam president. and when dr. cohen asked that assurance from the nominee, i wasn't sure if she was going to come out of her seat. and it was in support of the idea. well, mr. johnson is undoubtedly a highly-skilled leader. he is just the type of person that we need for this extremely important and challenging position. mr. johnson, of course, will not be alone in the task of leading the department of homeland security. it is critically important that mr. johnson be allowed to surround himself with a capable leadership team and we can help. indeed, we must help. at the department of homeland security alone, there are 14 presidentially appointed positions that are without a permanent replacement. of these, 10 require senate confirmation. this is a condition i call executive branch swiss cheese, madam president.

jeh johnson's nomination approving him by voice vote. on november 15 before the committee approved him, i sent a letter to mr. johnson along with several colleagues on the judiciary committee. we on the judiciary committee asked for his views on a number of important matters, including our nation's immigration policies and the fair treatment of whistle-blowers. we asked if he would cooperate with us on oversight matters and work with us to improve immigration policies going afford. because the judiciary committee has primary responsibility on immigration matters, it is necessary for us to know any nominee's position on almost any issue. it has been nearly a month and there's been no response to our letter and no indication that he might respond. in fact, i would be surprised that any nominee would respond to congress anymore, given the majority only needs a simple majority to vote for

mr. president, i've spoken a bit earlier in relation to the nomination of jeh johnson to be the secretary of homeland security. and it's an important department. 240,000 people, including disparate agencies such as the coast guard, the secret service, the t.s.a. airport personnel. and i.c.e. officers who enforce immigration laws, our border patrol officers who patrol the border; customs and immigration service which evaluate and approve or disapprove people who apply for admission to the united states, and agency after agency. many of these are complex departments. i've watched it and i do not believe it has been brought together to the degree it ought to be, and it hasn't had the kind of strong leadership it needs to have to be an effective producer for the american people. in addition to that, we've got the difficulty that this administration has basically told the immigration component of homeland security, one of its largest component parts, that they shouldn't do their job. they have been blocked and instructed not to enforce law to a degree that professor turley said it represents a

the clerk: department of homeland security, jeh charles johnson of new jersey to be secretary of homeland security. the presiding officer: i send a -- mr. reid: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: we the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 2269 standing rules of the senate move to bring to a close the debate on the nomination of jeh charles johnson of new jersey to be secretary of homeland security signed by 18 senators as follows. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion to proceed. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed say nay. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes k do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today it adjourn until 10:00 a.m. on tuesday, december 10 and following the prayer and pledge the morning hour deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the le

mr. jeh johnson. mr. jeh johnson again repeated to me that he could not give me the information that -- of what is necessary, what tools are necessary to ensure 90% effective control of our border. now, allegedly, he is being prevented from doing that by the white house. now, it's -- it's stunning. why would the white house prevent the nominee for secretary of homeland security from providing members of the senate and members of the committee that oversight homeland security information which is fundamental information if we are going to achieve effective control of our borders? so now, i go back to arizona and i say yeah, it's in the law, my friends, it's in the law that we're going to have to get 90% effective control of our border, but i don't know how you do it.