Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove) is “saddened” to hear Erroll Southers has withdrawn his nomination for Assistant Secretary of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
Republicans, who can accomplish more as the minority party than Democrats can with vast majorities in both houses of Congress (see “Obamacare,” “war escalation” “Teddy Kennedy's old seat”), had successfully stalled Southers' nomination because they feared he would usher in collective bargaining for TSA employees. Sanchez, of course, owes her congressional career to labor unions.
The full statement Sanchez issued today follows after the jump . . .
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I am saddened to hear that Mr. Southers has decided to withdraw his name from consideration for TSA's top position. He was, and still remains, an exceptional candidate for the position.
It is important to realize that the demise of Mr. Southers' nomination had nothing to do with credentials, and everything to do with partisan politics. Some of my colleagues may have scored cheap political points by stonewalling Mr. Southers' nomination, but they did so at the expense of our country's safety and security.
TSA's lack of leadership doesn't 'just' affect the agency. It affects a vital part of our homeland security operation. It affects millions of Americans who use our transportation systems and airports every day. And it affects the public's perception of our priorities, which increasingly seem out of step with those of the American public.
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.