Grassley Escalates Holds on State Department Nominees Over Agency's Inadequate Responsiveness to Inquiries

WASHINGTON - Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, is escalating his holds on State Department nominees over the State Department's continued failure to respond in a timely, reasonable manner to numerous inquiries beginning in June 2013.   Grassley has added a hold on the nomination of Thomas A. Shannon, Jr., to be an Under Secretary of State (Political Affairs).  Grassley maintains his hold on two other nominees and released his hold on 20 Foreign Service Officer nominees.

"The continued intransigence and lack of cooperation make it clear that the Department did not care enough about their Foreign Service Officer candidates to 'get in gear' and begin to produce responses to my oversight letters.  Accordingly, I have released my hold on these officer candidates and have escalated to Mr. Shannon," Grassley said in his floor statement in placing the latest hold.  "The Department of State's refusal to fully cooperate with my investigations is unacceptable.   As I have noted before on the floor of the Senate, the Department continues to promise results but there has been very little or no follow-through.  The Department's good faith will be measured in documents delivered and witnesses provided.  ... the Department must recognize that it has an ongoing obligation to respond to Congressional inquiries in a timely and reasonable manner."

Grassley detailed the numerous inquiries he has made to the State Department since June 2013.  The topics include the State Department's use of the Special Government Employee program and private email use that raises concern about the proper handling of classified information, as well as compliance with the Freedom of Information Act, which is the Judiciary Committee's exclusive jurisdiction in the Senate; federal archiving law compliance; and several State Department Inspector General and whistleblower reports that suggest that the State Department does not hold its own employees accountable for human trafficking and prostitution violations.

In addition to Shannon, Grassley maintains his holds on the nominations of Brian James Egan as Legal Adviser and David Malcolm Robinson to be assistant secretary for Conflict and Stabilization Operations and Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization.

Last week, the Senate confirmed 632 State Department nominees, a number vastly larger than the number subject to Grassley's holds.

Grassley's statement for the Senate record on his new hold is available here.

(Washington, D.C., November 19, 2015) Nearly a century ago, in one of the nation's early steps to protect wildlife, Congress passed the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The law was a response to the slaughter and commercial trade of birds that contributed to the extinction of the Passenger Pigeon and nearly finished off the country's Snowy Egrets, too.

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act remains a flagship piece of environmental legislation today. Its language is clear: Without a permit, it is illegal to pursue, hunt, take, capture, or kill migratory birds "by any means or in any manner."

Despite its straightforward language, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act is now under attack. In September, in United States v. Citgo Petroleum Corp., the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a regrettably narrow interpretation of the Act, overturned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's successful prosecution of an oil company for the deaths of ducks in its uncovered wastewater tanks.

Toxic wastewater ponds are a foul mix of water, oil, and industrial waste. It's not hard to cover them with netting to make them safe for wildlife, and leaving them uncovered is a known invitation to bird deaths: Uncovered pits have killed hundreds of thousands of birds.

Nevertheless, the appeals court said the oil company wasn't to blame for the dead ducks. The Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the court held, prohibits only "deliberate acts done directly and intentionally" to kill migratory birds, like hunting and poaching.

Disagreement in the Courts

The Department of Justice has declined to appeal the 5th Circuit's decision in the Citgo case. This means companies in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi?a regional stronghold for oil extraction and production?will not be prosecuted under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act if birds perish at their facilities.

Elsewhere in the country, however, it's a different story. Other federal appeals courts have recognized the broad language of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act as proof that Congress intended to prohibit not just deliberate acts, but also acts of negligence that predictably kill birds.

That has been the stance of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, which includes Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah. The court held in 2010 that Apollo Energies had violated the Act by leaving uncovered field equipment known to cause bird deaths. The company, the court said, "knew its equipment was a bird trap that could kill."

A Dangerous Precedent

The 5th Circuit's decision allows a variety of corporate practices?building wind turbines along migratory routes, for instance?that could harm huge numbers of birds. All a company has to do is say with a straight face, "We didn't mean to."

This is a dangerous precedent. The Migratory Bird Treaty Act may have a long history, but its current application matters now more than ever, when many bird populations are in decline.

And so we are now at an important juncture: If we allow court rulings to erode the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, what protections do birds have from toxic wastewater ponds and other predictable yet solvable threats?

American Bird Conservancy supports the Fish and Wildlife Service's right to enforce the Act in cases where bird deaths are predictable and companies are on notice. In the meantime, instead of trying to dismantle an important environmental law, companies should undertake corrective efforts to protect birds.

Senior living community raises more than $36,000 for research, treatment and awareness

DAVENPORT, IA (November 18, 2015) - Senior Star at Elmore Place is proud to announce that the outstanding efforts of the residents and associates at the senior living community in addition to its many friends and supporters in the Quad Cities area have placed them as the number one fundraising organization in the State of Iowa for the Alzheimer's Association ... raising an impressive $36,000.

"We are proud of our residents and associates for working so diligently throughout the year to raise money for this important cause and are also very appreciative of the support and donations from our friends and neighbors in the Quad Cities community," said Marc Strohschein, executive director at Senior Star at Elmore Place.  "We hope that, through Senior Star's fundraising efforts and participation in the Walk to End Alzheimer's®, we are able to raise the level of Alzheimer's awareness."

The senior living community is part of the Senior Star family, which nationwide collectively raised more than $556,000 for the Alzheimer's Association through the 2015 Walk to End Alzheimer's®.  The funds donated to the Alzheimer's Association will contribute to the organization's mission-related initiatives of care, support and research for the disease.

For more information about Senior Star at Elmore Place or to schedule a tour, call 563.359.0100 or visit the website at www.seniorstar.com.

About Senior Star at Elmore Place

Senior Star at Elmore Place, a Senior Star community, features 236 modernly decorated apartments spanning across 20 acres of beautifully landscaped property with many customized amenities to offer its residents three distinctive living experiences:  independent living, assisted living and memory care.  For more information, visit www.seniorstar.com.

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