Nomination of Brenda Mallory

Floor Speech

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Mr. CARPER. Mr. President, the Senate has now invoked cloture on the nomination of Brenda Mallory, President Biden's nominee to serve as the Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. First, let me just say thank you. I want to express my thanks to--and I am sure, on behalf of Brenda Mallory--53 Senators who voted in favor of cloture so that we can move forward and now debate her nomination. We thank each Senator who cast that supporting vote. But I rise in support of Ms. Mallory's nomination to this important position. This is a position a lot of folks have never heard of, but it is a hugely important one. And I urge our colleagues to now join me in supporting, in confirmation, a highly, highly qualified nominee as well.

The Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality--or CEQ, as we call it--may not be the first position many Americans think about when they consider consequential Presidential appointments. But it is a crucial body--critical body--with considerable sway over our Nation's health and environment.

One of my mentors was a Republican named Russ Peterson, a great leader of the DuPont company for many years, Governor of Delaware, and later served as Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality during the administrations of both Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.

Governor Peterson used to refer to his role as Chair at the Council on Environmental Quality as similar to that of an orchestra leader, an orchestra conductor. He said: You don't play the instruments as the Chair of the CEQ, but you try hard to ensure that everyone in the orchestra is playing in harmony. The CEQ Chair coordinates action across the entire government in order to ensure that Federal Agencies are working in harmony and that every Federal decision advances the objectives of economic growth, of better public health, and of stronger environmental quality.

While CEQ Chairs do work much like an orchestra leader, a conductor, to achieve harmony across Federal Agencies, they must also pursue balance. That balance includes at least three components: one, growing our economy; two, ensuring a just and healthy society; and, three, protecting our environment for current and future generations. Those are the clear objectives of CEQ as laid out in the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, known as NEPA, the landmark law that created CEQ, often referred to as "the Magna Carta of environmental laws.''

According to its six pages of statute, NEPA's purpose includes--and I am going to quote--"efforts which will prevent or eliminate damage to the environment and biosphere and stimulate the health and welfare of man.'' I would add "and woman.'' NEPA enshrines democracy by giving the American people a voice to help decide the fate of Federal decisions. For 50 years, NEPA has sought to ensure environmental protection, public health, and the notion that the American people should have a say in the Federal decision-making process that affects their lives.

Like our Constitution, NEPA is one of our Nation's most enduring and replicated laws. The same principles of democracy and citizen participation enshrined in our Constitution are also enshrined in NEPA.

Sadly, the Trump administration's CEQ largely walked away from the tenets of this 50-year-old law, issuing drastic rollbacks that undermine much of its very mission. Instead of advancing the CEQ's three objectives--one, a more productive economy; two, a healthier society; and three, a cleaner environment--the previous administration sadly repeatedly compromised public health and environmental quality for the sake of less redtape.

So one of the many tasks ahead for the next CEQ Chair will be to get us back on track--to harmonize our efforts to address the climate crisis, safeguard public health, and ensure that we are treating others the way we want to be treated. If that sounds familiar, it should because that is the Golden Rule, which is found in every major religion on this planet.

There are few people as well qualified to tackle this challenge as Brenda Mallory. I believe that she is the kind of experienced, dedicated public servant that we need to lead CEQ at this critical time, not just for the Agency but for our Nation.

Ms. Mallory is a deeply committed public servant with extensive experience under both Democratic and Republican administrations. No stranger to CEQ, Ms. Mallory served there for a number of years after an impressive tenure of more than a decade at EPA, including under President George W. Bush. She has earned respect from both sides of the aisle, and, as the former General Counsel for CEQ, she already knows the Agency inside and out.

Her experience and her reputation as a collaborative, pragmatic leader help to explain why she has garnered broad bipartisan support among environmental leaders who have served before her. Get this--13 past Republican CEQ and EPA appointees, including a former CEQ Chair, and 4 different Republican EPA Administrators have publicly praised Ms. Mallory and urged her confirmation. Now, that doesn't happen every day, as the Presiding Officer knows. But among those former Republican EPA Administrators who have urged her confirmation are these: Bill Reilly, Christine Todd Whitman, Michael Leavitt, Stephen Johnson, and James Connaughton.

Ms. Mallory has also earned the support of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. I will say that again. Ms. Mallory also earned the support of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce--and a whole bushel of environmental groups across this land.

She has represented business interests in the past as an attorney in private practice, so she understands the importance of timely and well- coordinated environmental reviews, which are crucial for getting investments in telecommunications and in infrastructure off the ground.

Ms. Mallory's expertise will be critical to the task that lies ahead. In addition to restoring balance at CEQ and its mission, the next Chair at CEQ will address a number of pressing crises facing our Nation today. Let me mention some of them. They include the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and they include the worst economy since the Great Depression, as well as the enduring problem and challenge of racial injustice. All three--all three of these crises are compounded by a fourth, and that is the climate crisis.

We have no time to waste. We must tackle the climate crisis with conviction and with urgency. My home State of Delaware, which I am privileged to represent, certainly cannot wait any longer. We happen to be the lowest lying State in America. Our State is sinking, and the seas around us are rising.

This is felt by other States across the country too. Climate change is an issue that hits red States and blue States alike. Our colleagues John Neely Kennedy and Bill Cassidy, from Louisiana, tell me that Louisiana loses--get this--a football field of wetlands to rising sea levels every 100 minutes.

Let me mention that again. Louisiana loses a football field of wetlands to rising sea levels every 100 minutes. In another part of the country, the midwestern part of the country, last year, hurricane-force winds flattened over half--over half of the corn and soybean crop in Iowa, literally in the span of about a week, maybe even in a span of about a day.

Out on the west coast, wildfires raged across California as big as the size of Rhode Island, while floods in Florida damaged homes, and roads and deadly ice storms a month or two ago left millions in Texas stranded without power or water.

Natural disasters and extreme weather don't discriminate; they impact all of us. Brenda Mallory knows this. She understands the gravity of the situation and the immense challenge she has ahead of her, should she be confirmed. I know she is ready to seize the opportunity ahead of her in this role.

She also knows that the laws we write and decisions we make can affect who faces the brunt of the consequences. For too long, communities of color have disproportionately suffered from our environmental policies. From chemical contaminants in drinking water to toxic air pollution from our roads and our factories, our most marginalized citizens are too often exposed to environmental public health risks and left behind by our investments and policies.

We need to work to improve environmental outcomes for all Americans-- all Americans. Brenda Mallory at the helm of CEQ can play the leadership role that is needed in addressing environmental justice and meeting the challenges of climate change in a way that will lift up all communities and achieve a brighter, more equitable future for each one of them.

As we address the crises we face, we have an opportunity to improve people's lives today and for future generations. To do that, we need principled, enlightened leaders. We need leaders who are humble, not haughty; leaders who have the heart of a servant and understand that their job is to serve, not be served; leaders who unite, not divide; leaders who build bridges, not walls.

I am confident that Brenda Mallory is just that kind of leader. She will bring integrity. She will bring honor and humility to her role just as she has done in her decades of service to this country. As Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality, she will be a leader who brings people together to form lasting solutions to the challenges that we face today.

With that in mind, I strongly urge each of our colleagues to join me in supporting her confirmation. I thank again those who voted for cloture a few minutes ago.

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