mr. wheeler. he said mr. wheeler has exemplified excellence in his professional endeavors in both his previous government service and his private sector experience. in short, he is keenly qualified to hit the ground running at the e.p.a., and i agree. this nomination has garnered the support of a broad base of organizations including the national association of manufacturers, the united mine workers of america, and the chamber of commerce. mr. president, andrew wheeler is well qualified, well qualified to fill this critically important role at the e.p.a. he is the right person to serve as deputy administrator of the e.p.a., and i would urge every senator to support this nomination. with that, mr. president, i would recognize my colleague and friend from oklahoma who has been a mentor to me on the committee, the former chairman of the committee of environment and public works, jim inhofe. thank you very much, mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma is recognized. mr. inhofe: thank you. i

mr. wheeler would enter. he would have to be ready for a job that none of us can say at this time that he's ready to tackle, cleaning up a huge mess at e.p.a. as the "miami herald" notes, and again i quote, the flurry of ethical questions surrounding the environmental protection agency administrator scott pruitt is now a blizzard. a blizzard. the emerging picture of a chief environmental officer not only fighting along sides as he moments oil and gas interests but arrogantly betraying the public trust. the "miami herald" concludes and i will quote again, time and again trump has accepted arrogance and incompetence on his staff as long as loyalty remains beyond question. close quotes. meanwhile, akron, ohio. in its editorial entitled "deep in the swamp at the e.p.a." april 8. the "akron, ohio, beacon journal" notes some folks in the white house knew how bad scott pruitt was. and i quote the akron, ohio beacon journal. john kelly showed the right instincts. according to news accounts the white house chief of st

mr. pruitt's leadership, but we'll get to that later. today the senate is preparing to vote on the nominee to be the second-highest ranking official at the environmental protection agency, andrew wheeler. and as the number two at the environmental protection agency, andrew wheeler deserves the kind of scrutiny that reflects a position one step away from being the administrator. andrew wheeler has spent years protecting the coal industry. first, from here in the senate where he worked to prevent passage of climate legislation.

mr. wheeler's nomination and record is troubling. first is the example of mr. wheeler lobbying on behalf utility. the issue is mr. wheeler would have a prominent role in reviewing very air pollution rules that govern coal plants, rules that he got paid millions of dollars to help attack. a number of press reports expressed how murray energy was a driving force behind secretary perry's ill considered resilience proposal. that proposal ignored the department of -- department's own staff report and this was an attempt to try to say that coal was the only reliable source of energy for the electricity grid which would have citizens paying more in their utility rates. they said that is a wrong conclusion. and it was a transparent attempt to try to prop up one of the administration's favorite energy sources, which really would have made everything more expensive for consumers and certainly would have changed the focus of what we were trying to do to decarbonize. but the biggest problem here was the proposal hit consumers, as i said with billions of dollars in added cos

mr. wheeler's former boss, senator inhofe, says, quote, there's no one more qualified. senator inhofe. our former colleague, senator lieberman, has called mr. mr. wheeler fair and professional and has said he hopes the nomination will receive fair consideration by the senate. the deputy administrator is the e.p.a.'s chief operating officer. he plays a major role in protecting america's air and water while minimizing unnecessary obstacles for workers and job creators. the american people deserve to have him and other key officials in place. i mentioned yesterday that our democratic colleagues are literally setting records. just 15 months in, they've chosen to force -- now listen to this -- 84 cloture votes on president trump's executive and judicial nominees. 84. that's more than three times as many nominee cloture votes as happened in the first two years of president obama, president bush, and president clinton combined -- combined. 84 cloture votes is more than three times as many cloture votes as happened in the first two years of president obama, bush, and clinton altogether. many

mr. wheeler is only the latest in a long line of swamp nominees i will be opposing his nomination. mr. wheeler's nomination sheds even more light on the current storm around e.p.a. administrator scott pruitt. if there was ever somebody who characterizes the swamp, it is scott pruitt, and all americans should believe that, regardless of your views on the environment or whether wind or solar or natural gas or oil or coal was the right form of energy. what pruitt is doing is just incredible. in a relatively brief tenure at e.p.a., he has amassed an embarrassing list of scandals. he's ordered the construction of an expensive soundproof office at the e.p.a. for reasons unknown when none of his predecessors, democrat or republican, saw any need for such a facility. he's typically flown coach when paying for travel out of his own pocket but elected to fly first class when the taxpayers foot the bill. and after moving to washington, administrator pruitt rented an apartment for a cut-rate price from, guess who? an energy lobbyist and former campaign donor who represents multiple clients with bus

mr. wheeler's experience make him extremely qualified. i appleby yas because he -- i am bias because he is from west virginia. his wealth of knowledge of working on environmental policy in the public and private sector are just incredible, i think. the knowledge and experience will be a tremendous asset to the agency and to the american people. he understands as a -- watching policy being made and helping policy being made, and then transitioning to the private sector and how that policy influences the private sector as well. he's had an active hand in environmental energy and infrastructure policy on both the achievements, the debates, probably some of the failures that we've had as well as the nominations of numerous presidential nominees. andrew will start with a head start here. he'll hit the ground running and that's what we need at the e.p.a. he is also tasked with coordinating and are working with various agencies within the jurisdiction. he has worked with other agencies while he was a staffer. beginning in 2009, mr. wheeler went

mr. wheeler cannot solve this problem alone at e.p.a. scott put has no interest in governing, no interest in leaving a lasting and responsible legacy and no interested in working with anyone who -- the presiding officer: the senator's time has expired. mr. carper: i urge a no vote. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: cloture motion, we the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of andrew wheeler of virginia to be deputy administrator of the environmental protection agency signed by 16 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of andrew wheeler of virginia to be deputy administrator of the e.p.a., the environmental protection agency, shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: the presiding officer: is there anyone wishing to vo