Office of Management and Budget Director Nominee Shalanda Young to Rosen: “Senator, privately we spoke about this and publicly you have my commitment to bring together the affected parties.”
View/Download Video of Senator Rosen’s Questions HERE
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) secured a commitment from the nominee to permanently lead the Office of Management and Budget to include the Nevada delegation and key state, local, and Tribal stakeholders in discussions on the expansion of Naval Air Station Fallon. Senator Rosen questioned Shalanda Young, the nominee to lead the Office of Management and Budget. A transcript of Senator Rosen’s exchange can be found below, and a video of the full exchange can be found here.
BELOW IS A TRANSCRIPT OF THE EXCHANGE:
ROSEN: While Nevada is the proud home of Naval Air Station Fallon, the Navy’s current proposal lacks key mitigations needed for support from our state and local communities and impacted tribes. So, my colleagues in the Nevada delegation and I have been diligently working on this issue with all affected stakeholders for the past several years; so we were incredibly surprised when this past fall, OMB released a Statement of Administration Policy endorsing the Navy’s proposal without any modifications. In response, we wrote to you in November, following up on a letter from Nevada’s Governor from October 26th. I appreciate your recent response to the Congressional delegation letter committing OMB to coordinate relevant federal agencies on this matter. However, our Governor has still not received a response, and our local Tribes have thus far been unable to secure a meeting with you.
So, Ms. Young, can you commit to responding to the Governor’s letter and to talking with impacted Tribal communities about OMB’s SAP supporting the Fallon expansion?
YOUNG: Senator, privately we spoke about this and publicly you have my commitment to bring together the affected parties. Tribal consultation is not something I take lightly. This Administration, this President, has doubled down and reminded us of our obligations, and so, you have my commitment. It is something important to me to make sure that we do more than lip service with regard to Tribal consultation. And like I told you before, the Navy needs to be at the table. And as with a lot of issues, OMB sits in a place to help coordinate those conversations and you have my commitment to do that.
ROSEN: Thank you. I appreciate that because you do have a unique ability at OMB to do that. So, I’d like to have convened at the meeting with DOD, the Department of Interior, the Nevada delegation, and key state, local, and Tribal stakeholders so we can all be in the same room, whether it’s Zoom or in person, so we can find a path forward that addresses everyone’s needs and concerns. I look forward to working with you on that.
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