Senate HELP Committee Approves CNS, DOE, DOL, NMLS Board and PBGC Nominees

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, announced today that the Committee approved nine nominations en bloc this afternoon to fill positions at the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, the Department of Education, the Department of Labor, the National Museum and Library Services Board and the Corporation for National and Community Service.  To accommodate members’ schedules, the Executive Session was held off the Senate floor in between votes. 

“Americans deserve to know that the federal agencies that they rely on are filled with intelligent, dedicated people,” said Harkin.  “These individuals will, among others things, help Americans by protecting pension benefits, coming to the aid of workers, improving our higher education system, providing federal support for our nation’s 123,000 libraries and 17,500 museums and promoting community involvement.  I congratulate all of these nominees and am hopeful they will soon be approved by the full Senate so they can immediately get to work for the American people.”

A full list of today’s approved nominees is below.

John Coppola, of Florida, to be a Member of the National Museum and Library Services Board

Joshua Gotbaum, of the District of Columbia, to be Director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation

Jonathan Andrew Hatfield, of Virginia, to be Inspector General, Corporation for National and Community Service

Carla D. Hayden, of Illinois, to be a Member of the National Museum and Library Services Board

Eduardo M. Ochoa, of California, to be Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education, Department of Education

Lawrence J. Pijeaux, Jr., of Alabama, to be a Member of the National Museum and Library Services Board

Winston Tabb, of Maryland, to be a Member of the National Museum and Library Services Board

James L. Taylor, of Virginia, to be Chief Financial Officer, Department of Labor

Robert Wedgeworth, of Illinois, to be a Member of the National Museum and Library Services Board