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[Pages S2504-S2505]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Nomination of Gordon Hartogensis
Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I come to the floor to oppose the
nomination of Mr. Gordon Hartogensis to serve as Director of the
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation and, really, to express my
continued frustration with the Republicans' efforts to weaponize the
nomination process for partisan gain, including their unprecedented
refusal to move Democratic nominees for important Agencies, like the
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the National Labor
Relations Board, in order to tilt them in favor of corporations, and
including their continued attacks on women's healthcare and
reproductive rights by stacking our courts with far-right judges.
The Director of the PBGC is responsible for protecting the retirement
security of almost 40 million people. We owe it to workers and retirees
to make absolutely sure a nominee for this position has the relevant
pension-related experience and knowledge to handle that challenge. One
needs to have the determination to fight for workers and retirees and
to have the willingness to work with Members on both sides of the
aisle.
When it comes to Mr. Hartogensis, I am simply not convinced that this
is the case. It is unclear to me why he was nominated to replace
Director Reeder, who is doing a commendable job, well before Director
Reeder's term was completed. What makes this even worse is that the
Senate HELP Committee didn't have a hearing at which members could
question Mr. Hartogensis.
I have asked the Trump administration why it decided to replace Mr.
Reeder. No response. My Democratic colleagues on the committee asked
the chairman for a hearing with Mr. Hartogensis. No hearing. We should
be giving Mr. Hartogensis' nomination serious scrutiny, including
having a hearing with the Senate HELP Committee, especially considering
the complex challenges that the PBGC Director must help the Agency
navigate amid our country's multiemployer pension crisis. Millions of
workers and retirees across the country are at risk of seeing the
pensions they were promised--that they earned and planned their
financial futures around--thrown into jeopardy through absolutely no
fault of their own.
I am hopeful we can focus on this issue more going forward, and I
look forward to taking bipartisan steps to address this crisis, but I
am disappointed that our committee, which
[[Page S2505]]
should be most focused on this critical issue, was not even able to
have a hearing with Mr. Hartogensis in order to dive into this crisis
more deeply. So, given my doubts about his credentials for this
position and my frustration with this nomination process, I will be
voting against this nomination.
Unfortunately, Mr. Hartogensis is just one example of a broader
effort by the Republicans to play political games with the nomination
process in ways that, ultimately, harm workers and families nationwide.
