The following named officer for appointment in the grade indicated in the United States Navy under title 10, U.S. Code, section 531:

To be commander

Valerie R. Overstreet

BARACK OBAMA

To the Committee on Armed Services.

THE WHITE HOUSE, May 4, 2011.

To the Senate of the United States:

I nominate

THE FOLLOWING NAMED INDIVIDUALS FOR APPOINTMENT TO THE GRADE INDICATED IN THE REGULAR NAVY UNDER TITLE 10, U.S.C., SECTION 531:

The Presiding Officer laid before the Senate the following message from the President of the United States, transmitting a withdrawal of a nomination, which was laid on the table:

To the Senate of the United States:

THE WHITE HOUSE, May 4, 2011.

I withdraw the nomination of Ryan C. Crocker, of Washington, to be a Member of the United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy for a term expiring July 1, 2012, vice Penne Percy Korth, term expired, which was sent to the Senate on February 17, 2011.

BARACK OBAMA

In executive session,

REPORTS OF COMMITTEE

The following favorable reports of nominations were submitted:

By Mrs. Murray for the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

Allison A. Hickey, of Virginia, to be Under Secretary for Benefits of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Steve L. Muro, of California, to be Under Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Memorial Affairs.

UNANIMOUS CONSENT AGREEMENT - MCCONNELL NOMINATION

On request by Mr. Reed and by unanimous consent, it was

Ordered, That the remaining time postcloture be yielded back and the Senate proceed to vote on the nomination of John J. McConnell, Jr., of Rhode Island, to be United States District Judge for the District of Rhode Island; that, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate; that no further motions be in order to the nomination; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action; and the Senate then resume legislative session.

Following debate, and

YEAS AND NAYS ORDERED

On request by Mr. Whitehouse and with a sufficient second, the yeas and nays were ordered on the nomination.

VOTE - MCCONNELL NOMINATION

The question being, Will the Senate advise and consent to the nomination of John J. McConnell, Jr., of Rhode Island, to be United States District Judge for the District of Rhode Island?

The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll (No. 66 Ex.) and
The vote resulted - yeas 50, nays 44 - as follows:

Yeas: Baucus, Begich, Bennet, Bingaman, Blumenthal, Brown (OH), Cantwell, Cardin, Carper, Casey, Conrad, Coons, Durbin, Feinstein, Franken, Gillibrand, Hagan, Harkin, Inouye, Johnson (SD), Kerry, Klobuchar, Kohl, Landrieu, Lautenberg, Leahy, Levin, Lieberman, Manchin, McCaskill, Menendez, Merkley, Mikulski, Nelson (NE), Nelson (FL), Pryor, Reed, Reid, Rockefeller, Sanders, Schumer, Shaheen, Stabenow, Tester, Udall (CO), Udall (NM), Warner, Webb, Whitehouse, Wyden - 50.

Nays: Alexander, Ayotte, Barrasso, Blunt, Boozman, Brown (MA), Burr, Chambliss, Coats, Cochran, Collins, Corker, Cornyn, Crapo, DeMint, Enzi, Graham, Grassley, Hatch, Hoeven, Hutchison, Inhofe, Isakson, Johanns, Johnson (WI), Kirk, Kyl, Lee, Lugar, McCain, McConnell, Moran, Murkowski, Paul, Portman, Risch, Rubio, Sessions, Shelby, Snowe, Thune, Toomey, Vitter, Wicker - 44.

So it was,

Resolved, That the Senate advise and consent to the said nomination.
Pursuant to a previous order,

The motion to reconsider was considered made and laid upon the table; the President was immediately notified of the action of the Senate and the Senate returned to legislative session.

As in executive session,

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2011

REPORTS OF COMMITTEE

The following favorable reports of nominations were submitted:

By Mr. Rockefeller for the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Scott C. Doney, of Massachusetts, to be Chief Scientist of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Mr. Rockefeller, Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, reported favorably the following nomination lists which had previously appeared in the Congressional Record on the dates indicated and, at the Senator's request and by unanimous consent, it was ordered that they lie at the Secretary's desk for the information of Senators.

Coast Guard nomination of William G. Dwyer, to be Lieutenant Commander. Coast Guard nominations beginning with Jessica L. Bohn and ending with Jeremy A. Weiss. (See Executive Journal proceedings of April 8, 2011, for complete list.)

EXECUTIVE SESSION

CONSIDERATION - COLE NOMINATION

On request by Mr. Reid and by unanimous consent, it was

Ordered, That the Senate proceed to executive session to consider the nomination of James Michael Cole, of the District of Columbia, to be Deputy Attorney General.

CLOTURE MOTION FILED - COLE NOMINATION

Mr. Reid presented a motion to invoke cloture on the nomination of James Michael Cole, of the District of Columbia, to be Deputy Attorney General, which was stated as follows:

We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the provisions of Rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of James Michael Cole, of the District of Columbia, to be Deputy Attorney General, to which position he was appointed during the last recess of the Senate, Department of Justice:

Harry Reid, Patrick J. Leahy, Herb Kohl, Dianne Feinstein, Al Franken, Christopher A. Coons, Richard Blumenthal, Amy Klobuchar, Sheldon Whitehouse, Sherrod Brown, Mark Udall, Richard J. Durbin, Thomas R. Carper, Bernard Sanders, John D. Rockefeller IV, Jeanne Shaheen, and Charles E. Schumer.

On further request by Mr. Reid and by unanimous consent, it was

Ordered, That the mandatory quorum under Rule XXII be waived with respect to the cloture motion on the nomination.

On request by Mr. Reid and by unanimous consent, it was
Ordered, That the Senate resume legislative session.

UNANIMOUS CONSENT AGREEMENT - COLE NOMINATION

On request by Mr. Reid and by unanimous consent, it was Ordered, That at 4:30 p.m. on Monday, May 9, 2011, the Senate proceed to executive session to consider the nomination of James Michael Cole, of the District of Columbia, to be Deputy Attorney General; that there be one hour for debate equally divided in the usual form; that upon the use or yielding back of