Nominee for Post Of Corps Chief Fares Well at Hearing

Lt. Gen. Thomas Bostick, President Obama’s choice to be the next chief of the Army Corps of Engineers, got a generally positive reception from the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW) at a May 25 hearing. Bostick next must appear before the Armed Services Committee, which has jurisdiction over his nomination. A floor vote would follow.

Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) expressed concern about Bostick’s lack of civil works experience. Bostick said that in 1993 he was executive officer to then-Corps chief Lt. Gen. Arthur Williams during severe Midwest floods.

In 2007, Vitter and Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) held up a floor vote for weeks on Lt. Gen. Robert Van Antwerp before he was confirmed as Corps commanding general.

Pam Hunter McFarland was a Senior Editor of ENR and her expertise was: Sourcebooks, Environment, Labor

Tom Ichniowski has been writing about the federal government as ENR’s Washington Bureau Chief since the George H.W. Bush administration, and he has covered at least five major highway bills. A recognized expert on government policy on infrastructure and regulation, Tom is also a Baltimore native and Orioles fan who grew up rooting for Brooks and Frank Robinson. He is a graduate of Columbia College and Columbia’s graduate school of journalism, where he once used “unrelentless” in a headline.

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