U.S Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, M.D. today made the following statement after Senate Democrats blocked confirmation of the president’s six nominees to serve on the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Board of Directors:
“These highly qualified nominees were unanimously approved by the Environment and Public Works Committee and deserve confirmation by the full Senate. Their business skills and management expertise provide the ideal background for members of the restructured Board. This obstruction is unwarranted, and these nominees deserve better.”
Frist authored and secured passage of legislation that changed TVA’s management structure "to bring it in line with other corporations of similar size and scope." As part of that legislation, the TVA Board of Directors was expanded from three fulltime members to nine parttime members.
The Board nominees awaiting confirmation are Susan Richardson Williams of Tennessee, William B. Sansom of Tennessee, Dennis Bottorff of Tennessee, Howard A. Thrailkill of Alabama, Robert M. Duncan of Kentucky and Donald DePriest of Mississippi.