Sens. Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander on Thursday hit a decision by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid not to proceed toward the confirmation of two TVA board nominees.
Sen. Corker took to the Senate floor today "to express his frustration that the U.S. Senate has not confirmed the reappointments of Bishop William Graves, of Memphis, and Susan Richardson Williams, of Knoxville, to the Tennessee Valley Authority board of directors."
He said, “I came here to work in a bipartisan way to solve our country’s problems, and for the majority leader of the U.S. Senate to say he’s not going to proceed with the confirmations of Bishop Graves and Susan Williams to the TVA board because they aren’t Democrats diminishes him, diminishes the Senate, and diminishes all of us who serve in it.
“The Environment and Public Works Committee - that is controlled by the majority leader’s party - unanimously approved the reappointment of both nominees, and yet the majority leader, through his refusal to let the Senate vote on these qualified nominees, is taking us to the lowest possible level as it relates to partisan issues.”
Both Mr. Graves and Ms. Williams were original members of the new TVA board created in 2004, and their terms expired on May 18, 2007. Both were reappointed to a second term on the board and unanimously approved by the Environment and Public Works Committee in December 2007. Their reappointments now await Senate confirmation.
In an April 14 letter to Sen. Alexander, Senate Majority Leader Reid (D-NM) stated: “I do not support proceeding with further TVA confirmations at this time.”
Sen. Alexander also spoke on the Senate floor, saying, “Unlock our two players and let them out and let them into the game against gas prices and let them go to work.
"This is disheartening playpen partisan politics – it disappoints the American people and causes them to cry out for changing the way that we do business in Washington.”