mr. wehrum is the right fit for this position. i encourage my colleagues, democrat and republican, to vote no on his nomination to be e.p.a.'s assistant administrator for air. mr. president, i reserve the balance of my time. i ask unanimous consent that prior to the vote on confirmation of the wehrum nomination, there be an additional 2 minutes of debate equally divided. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. carper: thank you. ms. warren: mr. president, i rise today to oppose the nomination of william wehrum to be the next assistant administrator for air and radiation at the environmental protection agency. you know, this job is really pretty straightforward. the person in this job must fight for the right of every american to breathe clean air. but here's the problem -- mr. wehrum has dedicated his career to the service of corporate polluters. like president trump and administrator pruitt, in a fight between hardworking families and well-paying corporate polluters, mr. wehrum sides with the corporate polluters every single

mr. wehrum's legal bills. mr. president,ve

mr. wehrum. mr. wehrum has proven time and time again that he is not a friend of the renewable fuel standard. he sued the biofuel industries not once, not twice, not three times but at least four times representing groups like the american petroleum institute that are strong opponents of the r.f.s. during his nomination hearings, mr. wehrum refused to commit to supporting the r.f.s. claiming that he was unfamiliar with the program. he wouldn't even acknowledge the unprecedented attacks launched on the biofuel industries by this administration. if you support the r.f.s. like illinois farmers and i do, it should be obvious that the right thing to do is to oppose mr. wehrum. this is not about having blanket opposition to president trump's nominees. this is about our national security, our rural communities and our environment. look, i have already fought a war over oil, and i'd rather run my car on american-grown corn and soy genes than oil from the middle east. our farmers deserve better than a presiden

mr. wehrum will continue to work with this e.p.a. to undo the damage that the obama administration's overreach in a reasonable manner. for instance, obama's obama's s office of air and radiation was responsible for the regulatory scheme which threatened to push -- to punish coal families and ship middle-class jobs overseas. when administrator scott pruitt came to kentucky last month, he announced the official withdrawal of that rule. unlike the previous leadership of the e.p.a., administrator pruitt actually cared enough to come to my home state and hear directly from the men and women impacted by the agency's regulations. he is someone who will work with us to protect our environment and save kentucky families from harmful regulations. mr. wehrum will work with administrator pruitt to help continue this trend at the e.p.a. i look forward to the senate advancing his nomination. now on another matter, members of the senate are continuing to work hard to deliver much-needed tax reform for families and small businesses. yesterday senato

mr. wehrum in this position. i hope we will get some bipartisan support to reject this really awful nomination. i i yield the floor.

mr. wehrum should not go any further. it is really very civility our own government scientists say that climate change is real, urgent, and caused by humans. and fuds don't want to take their word for it look at the rise of severe weather here in the united states alone. a record number of category-4 hurricanes killed dozens of people and destroyed or damaged entire communities in the southern united states and puerto rico. wildfires killed dozens of people and burned more than 8.4 million acres in the northwest. droughts lasting for months wiped out farmers' crops and forced ranchers to sell livestock in the midwest. the city of seattle had soot on cars from the wildfires. the state of montana, depending on where you were, for a period of -- it looked like it was -- for a period it looked like it was literally on fire. the u.s. forest service budget is soon to be more than 50% fire fighting. this is supposed to be the forest service for conservation and management of our forests and now it is a federal fire fighting forc

mr. wehrum for this position. in the interim, he has only continued his work to advantage industry by advocating for weakening the clean air act. i will continue to stand up for the right of marylanders and all americans to air that is safe to breathe and a climate that is livable and all of us can help in that regard by rejecting this nominee. mr. president, i would suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: mr. barrasso: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. barrasso: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. barrasso: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, one year ago the american people went to the polls. the american people demanded a change. they demanded a change from eight years of too little economic growth and too much government control and regulations. the effect was immediate and the effect was incredible. in the past year we

wehrum of delaware to be an assistant administrator. mr. mcconnell: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the cloture motion. the clerk: cloture motion: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of william l. whrum to be an assistant administrator of the environmental protection agency, signed by 1 senators as follow -- mr. mcconnell: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: question is on the motion. all those in favor, say aye. all those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar 159,der i can kahn. sper sper all those in favor, say aye? those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion