April 9, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 61 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Page S2297]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Nominations

  Mr. McCONNELL. Later today, the Senate will vote to advance the 
nomination of Daniel Domenico to serve as U.S. District Judge for the 
District of Colorado.
  After we vote on his confirmation, we will do the same for Patrick 
Wyrick, nominated to a vacancy in the Western District of Oklahoma.
  Mr. Wyrick is a two-time graduate of the University of Oklahoma and 
held a clerkship in the Eastern District of Oklahoma at the outset of 
his legal career. That career included time in private practice, as the 
State's Solicitor General and, most recently, as Associate Justice of 
the Oklahoma Supreme Court.
  I am sorry to say that this week will mark 1 year since Mr. Wyrick's 
nomination was first received in the Senate. I hope each of my 
colleagues will join me in long-overdue support for its prompt 
consideration on the floor.
  Over the course of the week, as I have outlined, we will consider 
four other well-qualified nominees who have been waiting on the 
Executive Calendar for far too long. We will build on the action taken 
last week to restore some reason and sanity to the nominations process, 
which has suffered in recent years under the burden of partisan 
obstruction.
  Before the week is through, we will also turn to the nomination of 
David Bernhardt to lead the Department of the Interior. The Senate has 
confirmed Mr. Bernhardt twice before to serve that Department as Deputy 
Secretary and as Solicitor. When you hear the nominee and review his 
credentials, it is easy to see why. Mr. Bernhardt has significant 
private practice experience, as well as a past record of service at the 
Department.
  Along the way he has earned the respect of those who rely on the 
public lands the Department of the Interior is charged to oversee, from 
Native American leaders to sportsmen's groups. He has been praised as a 
``proven leader'' who ``act[s] with integrity'' and has ``the right 
approach and skill set.''
  I hope each of my colleagues will join me in voting to confirm him 
later this week.