schiffer?rozawa -- >> i am honored to be here before you today to be a member relationsional labor board. first, i would like to thank my husband, who is here today, and whose support i would not be here without. we are celebrating 32 years of marriage this month. our daughter could not be here because she started a new job in california. withon, michael, is here us in spirit. i grew up in a small town in southwestern michigan. 3500 people. a mother was a home economics teacher, my father was a pilot who taught people how to fly. that was his passion. they were both raised on dairy farms in central madrid -- central michigan. my grandparents farm was designated as a centennial farm in 1982. my grandparents are in the michigan farmer hall of fame. i spent my summers there. i helped with hay and i showed cows of the county fair. my dream to a to law school and my parents supported the dream at a time when their parents thought it was a waste of money to send their daughters to college at all. whe

the third one was miss schiffer. i asked miss schiffer if she could remember -- i asked at the hearing with other examples of an administration stocking the nlrb are organized labor employees, and she couldn't think of examples and i couldn't think of it either. over the last several years, the nlrb seems to have veered away from impartiality. instead of preserving a level playing field and protecting the carefully balanced rights of all parties, it has shown favoritism toward organized labor leadership and little interest in the rights of employees or individual employees who want to exercise their rights not to join a union. now, in fairness, i will have to admit that this politicization of the nlrb has occurred both in republican administrations and in democratic administrations, but i think appointing a person directly from a major job with a major labor union is not an example of trying to move away from that -- from that trend. the trend is causing confusion. one labor law professor at a nationally recognized l

i will start with nancy jean schiffer. as you pointed out, as the council for the afl-cio, you counseled for their positions. that is what a good lawyer does. so in the past -- and i might make it clear for the record the you and i work together on issues in terms of labor law, specifically you have advocated for a bill i sponsored call the employee free choice act. this legislation at three major provisions. it allowed workers to choose -- to form a union through the use of sign authorization cards rather than a formal election. secondly, it created a mechanism to insure their workers to form the union or will to get a first contract through binding arbitration. third, and strengthened the remedies available when there were violations of the national labor relations act. i have been involved in these issues for most of lyondell life both here in the senate in an ounce before that. i felt strongly for this legislation. many of my colleagues to the lead as to what like to make it clear that i would like to see these reforms

schiffer, welcome and please proceed. you, chairman harkin, ranking member alexander, members of the committee. i am honored beyond words to be here before you today as a nominee to be a member of the national labor relations board. first, i would like to introduce my husband, goldman smith, who is here today and without whose support i would not be. we will celebrate 32 years of marriage next month. herdaughter amelia and husband could not be here today because they both just started new jobs in california. our son michael is here with us in spirit. i grew up in a small town in southwestern michigan, 3500 people. my mother was a home economics teacher and my father was a pilot. he taught people how to fly. that was his passion. a were both raised on dairy farms in central michigan. wasrandparents farm designated a centennial farm, owned and farmed for 100 years by the same family, in 1982. my grandparents are in the michigan farmers hall of fame. i spent my summers on that farm. i helped with haying and i showed cows at

the question occurs on the schiffer nomination. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: the presiding officer: are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or wishing to change their votes? if not, the ayes are 54. the nays are 44. and the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: we the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate hereby move to bring to a close the debate on the nomination of mark gaston pearce of new york to be a member of the national labor relations board signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: under the previous order there will now be two minutes of debate equally divided in the usual form prior to a vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the pearce nomination. the senator from iowa. mr. harkin: i ask consent that all time be yielded back. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. by unanimous consent the mandatory quorum call has been waived.

the new pixar nancy schiffer an cio, and with the afl- the chief counsel to the current nlrb chair mark peers spread the united nations continues the conflict is fueling this worse refugee crisis since rwanda genocide. ofonio iteris said most series 1.8 million refugees have fled since the beginning of the year. >> there are nearly 1.8 syrian refugees known to us in the region. two thirds of them have fled theous -- serious and beginning a year, an average of over 6000 people a day. we have not seen it escalated such a frightening rate since the rwandan genocide almost 20 years ago. this has been going on for much longer than anyone feared with humanitarian consequences. >> the official u.n. death toll for serious more than two-year conflict is near 93,000. egypt's interim government sworn in its first cabinet since the ouster of president mohamed morsi earlier this month. the army general who led the defensestays on as the minister the cabinet includes three women with no positions are held by members of the muslim brotherhood or other islamist parties. the muslim brotherhood says it d

tonight, the white house announced its new nominees will be nancy schiffer, associate general counsel of the aflcio, and kent hirizawa. >> it is a compromise, and i think we get what we want. and they get what they want. not a bad deal. >> harry reid identified the key player on the republican side in pulling this deal together and thanked him publicly. >> john mccain is the reason we're at the point we are. a lot of people have been extremely helpful. but this is all directed toward john mccain from me, no one was able to break through but for him. >> e. j.dionne, and so comedy is restored at least on presidential nominations that are not for judgeships. >> well, you know, i think this is a really big deal, because whether or not had been happening, if the republicans simply were not blocking nominations but at the point where they said we don't like this consumer protection bureau, even though it is part of the law. we can't repeal it. so we'll just block the guy running it and keeping it from operating. we're worried that the idea may be pro-worker. this rose to a level even beyond

hours ago, the white house confirmed they will nominate nancy schiffer and kent yoshiho hirozawa in their. the nlrb could be up and functioning and enforcing the nation's laws again which also means all seven positions that were vacant and stalled should be filled before summer is out. today harry reid scored a rare and thorough victory because he and senate democrats are starting for better or worse to put the lessons of the house republican caucus into practice. the same tools that have given us the squester for which we seem incapable of escape. the only way to get things done in this era of dysfunction and polarization is to stop paying attention to taboos and norms and what just isn't done and threaten to do whatever it takes. we'll be right back with today's big winner, senate majority leader, harry reid. >>> as we have been talking about tonight, this has been a big day for congressional democrats, and really, for anyone who actually wants to see the senate status quo killed. senate majority leader harry reid exerted his will on republicans to finally stop the filibustering of pres

hours ago, the white house confirmed they will nominate nancy schiffer and kent yoshiho hirozawa in theirctioning and enforcing the nation's laws again which also means all seven positions that were vacant and stalled should be filled before summer is out. today harry reid scored a rare and thorough victory because he and senate democrats are starting for better or worse to put the lessons of the house republican caucus into practice. the same tools that have given us the sequester for which we seem incapable of escape. the only way to get things done in this era of dysfunction and polarization is to stop paying attention to taboos and norms and what just isn't done and threaten to do whatever it takes. we'll be right back with today's big winner, senate majority leader, harry reid. iness needs more cases. [ male announcer ] where do you want to take your business? i need help selling art. [ male announcer ] from broadband to web hosting to mobile apps, small business solutions from at&t have the security you need to get you there. call us. we can show you how at&t solutions can help you

the clerk: national labor relations board, nancy jean schiffer of maryland to be a member of the national labor relations board. mr. reid: mr. president, there is -- my understanding is there's a cloture motion at the desk to be reported. the presiding officer: that is correct. the clerk will report 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, hereby move to bring to a close the debated on the nomination of nancy jean schiffer of mare to be a member of the national labor relations board. signed by 17 senators as follows. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. the presiding officer: the clerk will report next nomination. mr. reid: mr. president, there's a cloture motion. i ask that -- i'm sorry, it hasn't been reported. pardon me. mr. . the clerk:: national labor relations board, mark gaston pierce of new york to be a member. mr. reid: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will