{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/otherstatements?ContentRecord_id=d3b47c51-9920-4969-895d-bdeb72824463", "Hearing Statement: EPW Nominations Hearing for Department of Interior, EPA and Department of Commerce", "2013-12-17", "2013", "2013-12", "Democrat", "House", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON \u2013 Today, Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety, participated in a nominations hearing before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.\r\nA copy of Sen. Carper's opening statement, as prepared for delivery, follows:\r\n\u201cBefore I begin, I would like to warmly welcome all of our nominees to today\u2019s hearing and thank you for wiliness to serve and go through the nomination process.\u00a0 As Chairman of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee \u2013 I know how time consuming the nomination process can be for not only the nominee, but also the Committee. That\u2019s why I would also like to thank the Madame Chairman for her tireless work to move the nominees in our Committee\u2019s jurisdiction \u2013 like the ones before us today - forward in a timely fashion.\r\n\u201cToday\u2019s hearing highlights the fact that we are lacking critical leadership in numerous positions in just about every agency, undermining the effectiveness of our government. This has been a problem that has plagued the executive branch through both Democratic and Republican administrations \u2013 a problem so prevalent that I\u2019ve started referring to it as \u2018executive branch Swiss cheese.\u2019 While Congress and the Administration have taken steps to address this problem, the fact remains that we still have more work to do to ensure that we have talented people in place to make critical decisions.\r\n\u201cThat\u2019s one of the reasons why today\u2019s confirmation hearing is so important.\u00a0 I believe all of the nominees before us are extremely qualified and look forward to working with all of them in their respected agencies if confirmed.\r\n\u201cI especially look forward to working with Ms. Rhea Sun Suh, who, if confirmed, will oversee two very important divisions within the Department of Interior \u2013 the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Park Service. Wildlife conservation is important to me and to all Delawareans, and we\u2019ve been particularly thankful to the Fish and Wildlife Service for undertaking extensive plans to overhaul Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge.\r\n\u201cThe dynamic environment within the Refuge and the wildlife that depend on this habitat it is extremely vulnerable to rising seas and coastal storm, and has been badly damaged by coastal storms in recent years. Along with the rest of our Delegation and Governor Markell, I will look forward to continuing our close relationship with the Fish and Wildlife Service \u2013 and working with Ms. Suh if confirmed - as we implement the Refuge\u2019s new Conservation Plan.\r\n\u201cAnd if confirmed, Ms. Suh will also be working with Director Jon Jarvis to oversee the National Park Service \u2013 which, as many of you know, is of most interest to me. After a 10-year effort, Delaware finally became part of the National Park System in April of this year with the designation of the First State National Monument.\u00a0\r\n\u201cDirector Jarvis has already assigned a superintendant to the First State National Monument \u2013 Delaware native, Mr. Russ Smith.\u00a0 Mr. Smith has already hit the ground running; I do not believe there could be have been a better choice for our first superintendant.\r\n\u201cIf confirmed, Ms. Suh, I look forward to working with you to ensure the First State National Monument is another success story of the National Park System despite the limited budgets.\u00a0 I also plan on continuing legislative efforts to authorize a national park in place of the national monument \u2013 and look forward to working with you on these efforts.\r\n\u201cThank you again to Ms. Suh and the other nominees before us today.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/otherstatements?ContentRecord_id=d3b47c51-9920-4969-895d-bdeb72824463"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9314280468970537, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}