Transcripts For CSPAN3 Energy Secretary Confirmation Hearing 20240713

He currently is serving as the deputy secretary of energy, and i am certainly one who believes that you have done an excellent job as second in command to secretary perry. So we welcome you back to the committee. Its good to have discussion with you last week. I want to thank you really want to thank you for all youve done at the department, for your willingness to serve to this point, and for your willingness to step up in this new and higher capacity. Weve got our colleagues here this morning to introduce the deputy secretary, both texas and louisiana are well represented. Mr. Deputy secretary, you should feel very welcome by having these gentlemen next to you. So we will start with senator cassidy up here at the dais followed by senators cruz and kennedy to introduce the deputy secretary this morning. So senator cassidy, if you would like to proceed. We do have a full complement here this morning and a full house behind you. Hopefully the introductions do not consume our full morning, but we certainly welcome all the good comments. So senator cassidy. Madam chair, what a wonderful way to tell me to be brief. But its a privilege to represent my fellow louisianaen in Dan Brouillette as we consider his nomination to be secretary of the department of energy. Hes imminently qualified as the United States leads the world in all sorts of Energy Issues. As deputy secretary, he showed a commitment to Energy Security. Its no surprise as a louisiana native he understands the importance of u. S. Lng exports, creating jobs in the United States, but lowering Greenhouse Gas emissions abroad. Dan is committed to innovation and ensuring that our National Labs are at the forefront of developing groundbreaking technologies. He has served as the assistant secretary for congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs for department of energy under president george w. Bush, staff director for the energy and Commerce Committee under former chairman billy tozan and as a member of Louisiana State mineral and energy board, dan brings a wealth of knowledge and a unique perspective. Hes ideally suited for the job. I urge his speedy confirmation and look forward to his floor vote. Thank you, senator cassidy. Lets turn to senator cruz. Welcome to the energy committee. Well, thank you, madam chairman. Very glad to be here. Madam chairman, Ranking Member manchin, members of the committee, it is my privilege to help introduce Dan Brouillette to the committee. I, by the way, with apologies to my good friends from louisiana, im telling you right now, texas claims him. And maybe we dont have to resolve that issue here this morning. Many of you know dan is a dedicated advocate for American Energy. To those who dont yet know him well, i can tell you that hes imminently qualified and will do an exceptional job as the next secretary of the department of energy. Dan and his wife adrian have both served our country in the United States army. They proudly live in san antonio, texas, where theyve raised nine beautiful children, who you see all arrayed behind dan, much like an army preparing to stand with their father. After dan served in the military, he transitioned into working on Energy Issues as the chief of staff to the committee on energy and commerce in the u. S. House of representatives. From 2001 to 2003, dan served as the assistant secretary of energy for congressional Intergovernmental Affairs. He also served on Louisiana State mineral and energy board for three years. And for the past two and a half years, dan has been serving as deputy secretary of energy. In addition to his years in public service, dan has extensive private sector experience. Dan spearheaded Ford Motor Companys Domestic Policy Team as the Vice President at ford, and he also led Public Policy at usaa as senior Vice President. Thats where dan and i became friends when he was working and leading that team in san antonio. Dan has the qualifications, the expertise, the relationships, and the gravitas that a secretary of energy needs to be effective. This is a critical time for American Energy as this committee knows well. Were currently experiencing an American Energy renaissance with the United States having now become the number one producer of oil and the number one producer of natural gas on the planet, surpassing both russia and saudi arabia in crude oil production. The United States has also become a net exporter of natural gas, a milestone not reached since 1957. So strong leadership at the department of energy is needed now more than ever. Ill say a final point when it comes to tenacity. We want cabinet secretaries to be strong, to be principled, and able to conquer enormous challenges. I believe dan possesses those characteristics, and i would point to two data points to support it. Number one, the nine beautiful children that dan and adrian have they have home schooled. If you want to talk about a labor of love and passion and commitment, it is hard to think of anything more daunting and for that matter any government bureaucracy pales compared to the joys and challenges of the nine beautiful kids at home. Secondly, i have the good fun, and im going to out dan, for having joined me as game three of the world series here in d. C. , where dan and i both unabashedly cheered for the houston astros. And we were the lone splashes of orange in a sea of red, and you want to test the measure of a man, he was willing to be surrounded by screaming, exultant nats fans and happily cheered on the astros. We won that game, but alas did not win the war. But nonetheless, he will be a Terrific Energy secretary. Well said, senator cruz. Thank you very much, and thank you for joining us at the committee. We will now turn to our friend and colleague from louisiana, senator kennedy. Thank you, madam chair and Ranking Member, and thanks to all of you for taking up the nomination of secretary brouillette, who is now our deputy secretary, as you know. He operates as basically the chief operating officer of the department of energy. With your consent, he will be elevated to the position of secretary. Dan is not from texas. He is from louisiana, which as you know is near napoleonville, louisiana. When dan grew up we broet gr both grew up in small towns. There were 211 people. Now there are 911. I grew up in a town called zachary, which was slightly bigger when i grew up. A small town is the way ive always described it, and im so blessed to have grown up in a small town. A small town is a place where Everybody Knows whose check is good and whose spouse isnt. Dans a rock star as far as im concerned. Weve seen such a dramatic change in energy in this world in the last 25 years, maybe even less. Dan has watched it. Hes been part of it. I remember our Energy Policy in america used to be, okay, were going to buy as much oil as we can from countries that hate us, and through those sales, were going to give them money to buy weapons to try to kill us. Thankfully, the world has changed. Weve had a revolution in fossil fuels. Our oil and gas industry, frankly, with the federal government hanging all over its back, went out and through technology has unleashed enormous amounts of energy from shale. But we also understand and i dont want to get in a debate about Climate Change we also understand that glaciers melting glaciers dont lie. So our policy now is to look at alternative forms of energy. Wind, solar, geothermal, nuclear. Dan gets all that. He gets all that in part through his experience. He and adrian are both veterans. Dans a veteran of the service in our military. Hes a veteran of service in the State Government level. Hes a veteran of having served congressman billy tozan in the house, for which dan automatically has a place in heaven. And he has served with distinction as deputy secretary. Hes a serious man. He exercises power intelligently, not emotionally. And he and adrian will make a Democrat Team and he will be an extraordinary secretary of the department of energy, and he has this louisiana, this louisianan has my wholehearted and unconditional support. Thank you. Mr. Deputy secretary, i think its fine to have two different states vying for your love and attention. Slake alaska is not going to him now, is it . I was going to include that in part of my remarks. We wont claim him but we will certainly adopt him. Gentlemen, thank you you. We know you have state schedules this morning. Thank you for joining us as part of the committee and your welcoming introductions. Im going to make some brief remarks, turn to senator manchin and we will move to swearing you in, mr. Brouillette and we will then hear your testimony, which will hopefully include more formal introductions of your family. We certainly welcome all of them. It truly is a testament to you and your wife and to have them with you this morning is a real treat. I for one am very glad that you are here before us as the president s nominee to be the secretary of energy. I think weve seen during your time as deputy secretary, youve really helped to create a solid agenda for the department. Its been focused on the science and the technology. Youve brought us into the world of quan tum and artificial intelligence. I think youve been very responsive to the committee. Youve been available to speak with members when you have been asked to do so. My sense is that youve made a good impression on just about everyone. So when it was indicated that secretary perry was going to be stepping down, you to me were the obvious choice to replace secretary perry in what he refers to as the coolest job hes ever had. And i think you share that enthusiasm for this important space. I do appreciate your willingness to come to not only places like alaska but to travel around to many of the states. Certainly to see the opportunities that a state like alaska has and see firsthand the first trip that you took following your confirmation as deputy secretary was to join me in alaska. We took him out to the China Renewable Energy fair where he was able to see much of what you saw, senator manchin, learn about the potential for low temperature geothermal. We didnt do thats not called the blue lagoon. The geothermal hot springs at china but also great things like the let us grow tour, just further evidence that we can do more when it comes to food security. The deputy secretary and i share let us grow tours. I in my office and you in your garage, it all comes together. But you came back. You came back this past august. We visited Quin Gillen Gak and kin egan ak, small very remote villages in southwestern alaska. You were in anchorage at the fab lab. We got to get up on a pretty we werent up on the vol taican. We were up very high looking out to the volcano we were observing. You have been on some pretty important and i think impressive field trips in my state. So you know that im going to invite you back because theres an awful lot more to be seen. Broadening my focus a little bit, and recognizing your role here, should we confirm you, as i expect we will, to be at the he will many of the department of energy, this is an exciting time. This country is a leading Energy Producer as senator cruz has mentioned and a disruptor of world markets. Were providing our friends and al lies with energy while creating jobs and prosperity here at home. Were on the cutting edge of a number of exciting technologies like advanced Nuclear Energy, Carbon Capture and Energy Storage. And through the departments work we had the opportunity to really push out the boundaries of scientific discovery and build on our stat us as a Global Leader in the field of energy. We look to all the promise that our National Labs, our 17 National Labs provide, and the committed professionals that are there who work in pursuit of these new discoveries, one of our nations biggest assets. Our Research Capabilities continue to be the envy of the world and our challenge is to make sure it remains so. Its no secret that the president s budget request for the department of energy has fallen short of the expectations that we have articulated here on this committee. Congress has rejected the administrations funding levels each year, instead providing steady increases for widely supported programs like arpae, so anticipating that you will be confirmed, i will ask that you continue to fight for sufficient funding for programs that pursue these technologies to make energy cleaner, more reliable, more efficient, and certainly more affordable. Because thats what i think its going to take to sustain this Energy Dominance over the long term. Im going to it urn to senator manchin for his comments. Well have an opportunity to ask questions throughout the morning. And if members have additional questions after this rich round, we will ask that they be submitted by the close of business today. Senator manchin. Thank you, madam chairman. For holding this hearing on mr. Brouillettes nomination. I want to welcome his family, his amazing wife adrian and the nine beautiful children you have, you should be very proud. I know you both are. And you also are willing to serve at this important post. I enjoyed our discussion earlier this week and look forward to continuing it today. Dr. Brian anderson from morgan town, west virginia, you visited morgan town and we want you to come back. A lot of good things. I think we can do a tremendous job. Were going to put that plug in. I think thank you so much for that and your attention to the importance of nettel. The secretarys job is enormous which has been mentioned and talked about and all of us know the secretary of energy is responsible for leading the worlds premier science and technology enterprise. We count on it and its labs for the Cutting Edge Research and technological break throws needed to keep us strong and secure. At the same time the secretary most oversee the nations nuks laer weapons stockpile which a lot of people dont realize thats the responsibility of department of energy and secretary. Makes the fuel to propel the navy which we have been doing successfully for the greatest Defense Program in the world and guard against nuclear proliferation. Also responsible for the cleanups at hanford and other Cold War Nuclear weapons sites and for overseeing the marketing administrations that supply electricity to customers in 34 states. The secretary is responsible for managing an annual budget of close to 30 billion and for protecting the Energy Sector from cyberattack which is under attack every day. I say this is an enormous job. I thank mr. Brouillette and know hes up to the task. As a father of nine hes bound to be a skilled manager. Of course i give adrian a little bit more credit for that. He has a long history with Energy Issues at the department of energy and very importantly hes visited nettel in morgan town as i set before on more than one occasion. He has served as a staff director in the Commerce Committee. He served as an assistant secretary of energy during the Bush Administration and of course as a deputy secretary for the past two years. He knows the department. He knows congress. And he knows the Energy Issues facing our face. He has also demonstrated his managerial skills as a Vice President of Ford Motor Company and as a senior Vice President of usaa, the insurance and Financial Services giant that serves members of our military and their families. This committee has favorably reported and the senate has confirmed device before. Ill be following up later this week with a few questions about Energy Security and your commitment to Energy Innovation and our labs. Overall i think the president has chosen wisely in nominating you, dan, for this job and im pleased to support your nomination. Again, madam chairman, i want to thank you for holding this hearing. And i want to thank you dan, and your entire family to be with us this morning and for your willingness to serve. Thank you. Thank you, senator manchin. Mr. Deputy secretary, the rules of the committee which apply require they be sworn in connection with their testimony. I would ask that you please rise and raise your right hand. Do you solemnly swear that the testimony that you are about to give the Senate Committee on energy and Natural Resources shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Yes. You may be seated. Before you begin im going to ask you three questions that we pose to each nominee. Will you be available to appear before this committee and others to represent departmental issues and respond to the congress . Yes i will. Are you aware of any personal investments that could constitute a conflict, should you be confirmed and assume the office to which youve been nominated by the president . No. Are you involved or do you have any assets held in blind trusts . I do not. Mr. Brouillette, you may proceed. Again, we would encourage your introduction of family and welcome them to the committee, but we look forward to your statement this morning and an opportunity to engage in some questions. Thank you, chairman, murkowski for that kind irchlt duks. On a stressful day im not sure i can remember all of their names. I will do my best. If i turn around starting from this side, my daughter danielle, jackie, katherine, julia, addie, will i lovely wife aid rian, my youngt son christopher, joel, sam, and my oldest steve. Thats the entire crew. Welcome. Thank you for being such great backup. They are fantastic. Chairman murkowski and Ranking Member, members of the committee and staff, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you as President Trumps nominee to be secretary of energy. Id like to thank each yof you for being strong partners of the department of energy through the years and for your time today and i look forward to continuing to work with each of you should i be confirmed by the senate. Id also like to thank President Trump for his trust in my and for secretary perry for his outstanding leadership of this department over the past three years. The members of the committee as deputy secretary, i am proud to have been a small part of the incredible success that we have seen in American Energy. Doe and its 17 National Laboratories play a central role in advancing americas leadership in Scientific Research and development, Energy Technology and nuclear security. This enterprise is powered by our nations most talented and ded kaipted innovators including 117 nobel lore yauts associated with our department. Seated behind me are some of the directors who id like to recognize. We have with us today dr. Tom zakaria, dr. Mark peters, dr. Brian anderson, dr. Martin keller. When this team entered the department of energy, america ranked number three in super computing behind china and switzerland. We knew america could do better so we did better. We built the worlds two fastest super computers. Now america is back at number one. But there is still much more to be accomplished. Were committed to Building Three new exoe scale machines. Following the leadership of this committee, were evolving quantum science capabilities. Our researchers are tackling the worlds greatest energy and scientific questions and constructing the next generation of world class science facilities that are the inch bairts for the worlds cutting edged r d. Thats the power. The United States is leading the world in Energy Production and the redux of emissions. America has become the worlds top producer of oil and natural gas and soon we will become a net energy exporter. Our energy storing however also includes historic clothe in Renewable Energy. Today were the second highest generator of wind and solar energy in the world. Were also reviving Nuclear Energy by developing advanced text nol jooez such as small modular reactors and advanced reactors. Were also expanding the use of clean energy. Since 2005, National Green house gases have fallen by 13 and power sector emissions have fallen by almost 28 according to the epa. Thats something that all americans can be proud of. As we pursue this all of the above Energy Strategy where we must also cannot to protect our energy infrastructure. So weve developed a north American Energy resilience model, a tool that will allow us to better understand infrastructure risk and approved system resilience in realtime. While we are developing and protecting our energy infrastructure, were also making sustained progress in cleaning up the legacy of Nuclear Waste. Im proud to say the last has been removed from the k basin and stored safely away from the colombian river. We have brian vance from ham forward who forward. As we honor the obligations of yesterday, we must prepare for the threats of tomorrow and the strengths of our nuclear security. Were making significant progress modernizing our knew Nuclear Weapons enterprise. While this is substantial, doe is poised to play an even larger role in an even brighter america. I commit that if i am fortunate enough to be confirmed i will work earnestly with each of you to address the challenges and the opportunities of today and tomorrow. Chairman wur kowsky, manking member manchin, thank you again for the opportunity to be here. I ask for your favorable consideration of the nomination and i look forward to answering your questions. Thank you so very much for the statement. And let us begin with our questions. I am known, whether its on this committee or on other committees on which i serve, to ask nominees about their views, their level of engagement on arctic issues. The United States is an arctic nation, and i believe we have a significant leadership role to play. And as i ask this question, i also want to thank you, because it has been under your direction and your leadership at department of energy that we have seen a stepped up interest from doe towards arcticrelated interests. The presence that we had in rakio vic just six weeks ago at the arctic surkel assembly, the number of National Lab Directors that were part of that conference was noteworthy, and it generated a buzz and a level of excitement about the role that the United States is playing in this sector. So i would ask for your comments on what you believe the level of engagement should be on these arcticrelated issues. And as you speak to that, as i mentioned in my comments, youve had an opportunity to come to alaska, to see some of the benefits that come from a energyproducing state, not only with our oil, our gas, our fossil resources, but what we host with micro grids, with the wind that we saw in kin gen akin, quin gill oe gok, the solar, everything were doing to reduce our reliance on diesel powered. You saw the efforts to bring about greater efficiencies. And as you know, ive been working to push for greater coordinated research in this state. But more broadly to the arctic in general. Ive been advocating for the department to recontstute the Arctic Energy office. So within this context of arctic and the role of the department of energy, if you could address that please. Sure. Madam chairman, thank you. To answer your question very straightforwardly and suck sinktsly, we need to do more, not less. So you can expect from the departments of energy should i be confirmed as secretary, an increased engagement not only in alaska but in the arctic region generally. Some of the things that we have seen over the years, weve all have different perspectives, some of you serve on the Armed Services committee and the arctic means a strategic advantage to those who are focused on those issues. For those of us in the Energy Business and the Energy Industry if you will, Energy Policy industry, we see the arctic as a not only a resource for things like Critical Minerals and potentially environmentally Sensitive Energy development. We see it for the purpose of not just extracting, you know, oil and gas. I think its expanded beyond that, much, much further than we could have imagined. What i mean by that is as we move to a world of more and more Renewable Energy, our ability to develop Battery Storage becomes more and more critical. And the mip rals that we currently receive today or rely upon for the development of those types of batteries, weve become dependent upon nation states who quite candidly do not have our interests at heart. And the arctic is potentially a resource for those types of minerals. I will tell you from where i sit at the u. S. Department of energy, what you can expect from us is attendance at events like the upcoming 2020 Geothermal Congress in iceland. We will have a strong and rebust presence. Doe will also help lead. This may sound a little bit counterintuitive for those who are not familiar with iceland or, you know, places in the arctic, we will lead a super Computing Congress in iceland in 2020. So were very excited about that. We think thats important. We think that outreach is important. Again for strategic reasons. But also for our Energy Development and our Energy Security here in the United States. I thank you for that. And im sure that we can anticipate further enzbajment and enhanced engagement. Because as you note, it is not just energy. It is commerce, its environment, it is the impact that we are seeing from a rapidly changing part of the globe. Very quickly here, on the office of indian energy, its one of the smaller offices there at d. O. E. But it has an outsource importance in my state, its a key partner for communities that need to work to reduce their high energy costs and right now weve got one d. O. E. Employee thats there in the state. Years ago we got a commitment to increase that. I know that you have seen this, but i once again am seeking a commitment from you to recognize the potential that we have within oie and make sure that we are staffing appropriately. Madam chairman, ill give you two commitments. Were going to expand the office of indian energy. We are in the market to hire two people there. That will be expanded. We will also open an Arctic Office that will be fully staffed by the end of 2020. I give you those two Firm Commitments. I hope it demonstrates our interest in and the streamic importance of the arctic to the department of energy. The Arctic Energy office we think is going to be key again not only for the u. S. Arctic but i think the arctic as a whole. So we thank you for that. Senator manchin. Thank you, madam chairman. Mr. Brouillette, the secretary of energy has a statutory and legitimate role in establishing and implementsing policies relating to Energy Issues. In that role secretary perry helped broker a deal to sell coal to ukraine and u. S. Liquified natural gas as an alternative to dependence. Those efforts have land him in the mid of the house of investigation into involvement with ukraine. Can you state for the record what role you have played in any of this or have any knowledge of that . So i think you have perhaps two separate questions there. But i will tell you that secretary perry and i have been deeply involved in the Energy Security, not only in the United States but of our european allies. And in that context and in m that position as deputy secretary, i have helped to organize technical briefings for him as well as for myself. We have focused on issues like the nord stream pipeline which is a russian pipeline being built down into the northern part of germany, to counter those efforts and lessen the dependence of states like germany, european states like germany, on russian gas. We have worked very, very hard to offer alternatives. Part of that has been the construction of lng export facilities here in the United States. But its also working with countries like germany, croatia, serbia, others, in the proximity of the ukraine to zwep lng import facilities. With regard to the country of ukraine, we have worked with them at their request to help them to interconnect their electricity grid, pipeline grid. And in order to do that, they need to meet the requirements of Third Energy Package in the eu. They have sought our Technical Expertise to do those things. I have not been involved in any of the conversations related to the houses inquiry. Those are not matters that would typically fall to the chief operating officer of the department. My role within the department is to run the daytoday operations. And as you mentioned earlier, it is a large organization. It is approaching 40 billion in budget. And well over 100,000 federal employees and contractors. So that along with nine kids keeps 34e pret keeps me busy. I think youve heard us talk about the app lashan storage hub. Secretary perry and i have a Good Relationship and a long relationship. But rick and i tucked. He says ive seen the model of a classified hurricane coming up, what it will do to cripple us energy wise. Do you have the same feeling of that, the commitment for doing a backup Energy Supply and rein vig rating the mfrping base we could have in mid Atlantic States . I do, sir. Having grown up in louisiana and survived a few har kainz, i know what they look and feel like. It can be a very disturbing experience to have to go through one. And it pains me as i told you in your office privately, to have to suggest perhaps against the interest of louisiana that we should have an alternative. We should have some reduntancy in our skoerj capacity and systems. I think app laisha presents the best opportunity to do that. Not only is the area rich in Natural Resources. You know, wet gas, dry gas, you name it. The labor talent there is incredible. It reminds me much of the places that i grew up in louisiana. People are theyre hardworking people. They train themselves well and show up. They are related to our National Security. I know you touched briefly with chairman here concerning minerals. And the lack of our being able to sustain within this country. And now with the countries that do, that we rely on basically for those minerals, theyre not always in our best interest and they could hold us at a hostage situation, be detrimental to us. Theres an awful lot going on in the rye search youve been involved in, especially the last grant we did with nettel on coal ref oous as far as our drain age and things of this sort we found out theres an awful lot. Do you think that that can be increased to commercial to where we can get enough minerals or basically be able to sustain the need we have in case of a critical shortage . I do. And i think thats part of the important work thats being done in morgantown in nettel. I think to the extent that we can continue the r d thats being done, we can make these types of technologies, not only commercially viable. We can make them economically viable in large scale. And i think thats what we need to focus on at the department. And thats going to be my mission as secretary, should i be confirmed by the u. S. Senate. I think theres a lot of opportunity for coal. Theres a lot of opportunity for other parts of the country as well. Thank you, madam chair. Thank you. Senator barras oe. Thank you for holding this hearing. I had an opportunity to meet with with the nominee last week. Im impressed with his knowledge and experience and commitment to advancing america. I think hed make a superb secretary of energy. The department has done a great job i believe investing in research to advance domestic energy. What starts here in the u. S. Can change the world. Were developing Energy Technologies here at home. And then pushing to get these technologies to the deployment stage, countries around the world are doing the same. So if confirmed, how will you coordinate Research Efforts to ensure the departments efforts arent duplicative or redundant, doing what others are doing . Thats always a challenge. These departments are very, very big. I will tell you that some of the unique opportunities that we have are i think unique to the department of energy. So youre probably familiar with the wyoming test center. We do a lot of work out that way. I think wyoming in particular presents a unique opportunity for us to test check cant speak test technologies like Carbon Capture. And i am very excited about the work that i see within wyoming, what i see in d. O. E. At large. I appreciate that. Theres great work to be done through the school, the integrated test center. Im on board. When we look at whats happening worldwide we need to get these developed and doe ploid. I look at china and india theyre going to continue to grow, release Carbon Dioxide as they build out sectors. The United States despite of what some may beleave, we cant tackle Climate Change alone. We need to work with other countries to find Real Solutions to manage Carbon Dioxide without killing our economy and jobs. Once we find that commercial Carbon Capture solution, how can we did he bloi the technologies to these other countries that do have growing economies who seem to be the ones that continue to be the greatest emitters world wide . Sure. One of the things weve done is create a choef commercialization officer for exactly that purpose. Our National Labs produce an enormous amount of technology and research and products, if you will. Its our job, i think, as the purr vairz and the owners if you will, of that taxpayer funded technology to ensure that it gets commercialized, we take it off the shelf and put is into the market. Allow the private sector to run with it, have it spread around the world. As you know, sir, and as we talked about, the use of some of these fossil fuels will continue well into the 2040, 2050 timeframe. The e. I. A. Rejects fos i will fuels are going to power for the next 40 to 50 years. If thats the case i think we have an obligation if we care about the environment and m minimizing the carbon impact, we have to get these technologies off of the shelf and into the market. With Nuclear Energy being a source of energy with no carbon footprint, President Trump has established a Nuclear Fuel Working Group to make recommendations to enable american uranium production to continue. I encourage the working group to swiftly make its recommendations to the president to provide immediate relief for producers. Do you support actions to preserve and strengthen our own american uranium production . I do. The working group is very close to its final product. Im happy to report to you that its in the final stages of the inner Agency Process within the executive branch. It will look at the entirety of the fuel cycle for Nuclear Power from enrichment, the front end of the cycle all the way to the back end. Were proud of that work. We hope to share it with you very, very shortly. Great. Then the department of energy does have an office of cybersecurity, Energy Security and emergency response. It addresses Energy Related emergencies, disrupgss and Energy Disruption could devastate rufl and you are arn but specifically rural communities. How will you make sure theyre prepared for cyberattacks and have the rezil cy and robust neft . We have whats called the electricity we meet from time to time to talk about krush security. Part of that conversation are tools that are available to almost all utilities. We have a lot of acronyms in the government. We call it crisp. It is for reporting cyberincidents in utilities. We have heard from smaller rural municipal utilities in particular that the product is too expensive. Were making it cheaper. Thats one of the ways if we can make this product, this reporting product, crisp, if we can make that available to the smaller utilities, municipals in particular, we can share what we have and begin to share the intelligence that we see from places that are nation state actors who want to violate our electricity grid. Weve done a pretty good job over the last two years of educating and letting them know the risk they face not only to their utility but to the extentd theyre connected, it creates a door. Theyve been responsive to our efforts and we hope to continue in the course of the next two to three years. Thank you, mr. Secretary, thank you, madam chairman. Senator wyden. Its been reported that while you were deputy secretary energy, the secretary communicated with highlevel ukrainian officials and at the president s direction with rudy giuliani, his personal attorney, about ukrainerelated matters. The press reports also indicate that secretary perry pushed the Ukrainian Government to make changes to the board of nafta gaz, a ukrainian stateowned natural gas company. The reason im asking the question is these efforts echoed changes to the board that were sought by two of mr. Giulianis now indicted associates, lev parnas and igor fruman. So just a couple of questions here. Were you aware of any contacts between secretary perry or any other senior d. O. E. Officials and representatives of nafta gas. I am aware that the secretary met on occasion with individuals who were asking for assistance with the restructuring, if you will, or reorganization of the stateowned enterprise. Its a vertically integrated company. In order for them to connect with the eu, we had conversations about their structure. When you say we, were you involved in conversations . No, i was not. I was not. The we is the collective we at the department of energy. I got you. Its not me and the secretary. But no, i am not aware of any conversation that he had with either mr. Giuliani or others within the ukraine government about the board or the Advisory Board thats associated with nafta gas. So im still a little bit unclear. Are you aware of the nature of any communications with nafta gas . Because initially you said you knew there were communications. So being the deputy, id be inclined to say somebody like yourself whos knowledgeable, ive watched you over the years, would know a little bit about the nature of the conversations. Tell me a little bit more about that. No, im not aware of the conversations that secretary perry had or did not have with them. I wasnt party to that. I am aware that within the department there are technical experts from time to time will interact with colleagues about these types of matters. But i am not aware of any conversations between the secretary and anyone at nafta gas. And are you aware of any conversations mr. Giuliani has had with the department on this . I am not. And you have not had any contact . I have not. The only other thing i wanted to touch on is yesterday in the office, and i appreciated the visit, you made it clear to me that because of boneville power and their Important Role in making sure there was Affordable Energy in north america, you would keep the idea of privatizing a boneville 4 opowe off the table. I preern it. If you want to add anything to what you told me yesterday in the office, i appreciated the fact that you responded directly to the question. Obviously privatizing boneville power would hit the Pacific Northwest like a wrecking ball. And you answered the question forthrightly. And i appreciate it. I also want to hold the record open with respect to the questions ive asked dealing with secretary perry, other officials at the department. I know our people indicated that we were going to ask some of those questions, but certainly i want to give you the opportunity if theres additional supplemental material on that. As i say, i was particularly concerned because these press reports did come up at a time when these two indicted associates of mr. Giuliani were apparently seeking changes to the board, seemed to be some conversations that took place between the department and nafta gas. And ill hold the record open if youd like to give me additional information. Yes, sir. I appreciate it. Madam chair, thank you. Thank you, senator wyden. Senator hoven. Secretary bowel yeullet, tha coming by the office. Youve got a great track record over there at d. O. E. We appreciate your service. In north dakota we pro duce 1. 5 billion barrels of oil a day. Thats second only to one of your states, texas. We loss produce more than 3 million feet of gas. We dont drove. It just comes up. Its essentially free in north dakota because weve got to get it to markets. Where im going with this is we need infrastructure. When i started as govern up there we produced a lot less, now 1. 5 million a day, going up. And weve got we need pipelines, lng facilities. How do we get more infrastructure to get this to markets . The Pacific Northwest, theres a lot of places that want this energy. But we need to get it there. We need infrastructure. How can you help us . I think one of the ways we can help to to work with regulators at the state and federal level. To give assistance to the most important ways to place infrastructure, we also support the development of additional Pipeline Capacity in the United States. We have worked very aggressively with our partners in places like the department of Energy Department of interior at the department of transportation, to let them know, what are the most critical needs . Where are the most critical concerns that we have as the department of energy for the placement of infrastructure . And what do i mean by that . As we talk about things like cybersecurity, for instance, if you think about what the world was, you know, say ten years ago, 15 years ago, 20 years ago, where a pipeline a natural gas pipe lane may have served two, three electric generation facilities, today it might serve six, seven, perhaps eight. It creates a risk in the electric generation world. If we can expand that and have a number of pipelines serving those seven or eight, we not only allow the gas to get to market. We reduce or cybersecurity risk in particular with that type of development. Sharing that insight, sharing the work of our National Laboratories with the regulators will perhaps ease some of the permitting that has to happens with a result of these developments. So thats our contribution to this particular problem. We want to continue that. In the coal world, you know, were all working to find ways to capture carbon and sequester it. And in our part of the world, as well as, you know, texas, louisiana, other places, thats both ter shirai as well as storage. Weve got to make it commercially viable. We need your help with carbon safe. We have our project tund rau, first question you wanted to see what were doing up there . I would love it. Wed appreciate you seeing it. Its amazing stuff. Great partnership, federal, and the private sector leading technology, university of north dakota, eeoc, pcorp, you support. Sure. We need both to keep carbon safe moving, are you committed to doing that . Yes, we are. We need to work with the tax credits of 45q and others. I spoke to others yesterday. We have to have regulatory certainty. Youre committed to helping with those things as well . Thats correct. Secretary perry just send a letter to the irs. We are urging them to complete their work on finalizing this. Theres a scientific aspect to this, you guys, right . Thats right. They have sought our help as well and we have provided it. I harken back to the words of folks like dr. Fati but role at the International Energy agency in paris. He called 45q a game changer. We feel strongly that it is as well. Were going to continue to work with the irs to finalize this. Well work with the department to advance the technology so it becomes more efficient and cheaper. Thats what we need to do. That is right on. It is a game changer. We make this work. Were going to be able to capture co 2 on things like coal fired. Thats not just going to happen in the United States. Its going to happen. Around the world. Youre right there on point on it. The last question i have is regarding our National Nuclear labs and making sure we continue to advance that work on the new pollutenium pits and the other things our military needs to upgrade our nuclear capabilities, whether its the lrs sole, relacing the al kemz, the icbm minute man update, your commitment to doing that . We are committed to doing that. The posture review requires that we make 80. A part of the d. O. E. Is committed to that. Were working closely on how and where to do that. We have an initial noplan to do that. We are firmly committed. Im on defensive probe so we have to sync up what were doing so it all comes together. Yes, sir. Again, thank you. We really appreciate your willingness to serve. Thank you. Thank you. Senator heinrich. Thank you, madam chair. Welcome, mr. Brouillette. I appreciate you sitting down with me yesterday. We had a chance to get to know each other over the years a little bit. I know youve been out to sandia and lossal moes. I want to extend an invitation to the waste isolation plant. Accepted. Its one of a kind, and i think its very helpful to actually get down inside that facility to understand the role that it plays obviously. So i appreciate you being willing to do that. I want to follow up with a similar question to senator hoven but on the transmission side of infrastructure. We have got to do a better job in this country whole books have been written about how hard it is to develop interstate transmission right now. And if were going to marry up some of the best, cheap, clean, Renewable Generation in the country, with where the demand is, we have to be able to build transmission. We have literally multiple billions of dollars worth of wind that would be developed tomorrow in new mexico if we had a way to get it to market. What is the departments role in helping to facilitate transmission and its role not just in clean generation but also in resiliency and other issues that youve brought up today . One of the i mentioned in my opening testimony or opening statement, i should say, weve developed a north american resiliency model. As part of that effort, weve also identified Critical Infrastructure throughout the United States. And a large portion of that is transmission infrastructure. What were trying to identify is what needs to be served . In the event of a catastrophic event, what needs to be served in our view . And it would obviously be reviewed by the congress and others, first, second, third, fourth and fifth . What is it we need to do for Public Safety . To turn the lights on quickly, recovery from a catastrophic event. We want to maintain some level of resiliency for all of our military installations as well. Thats part of the calculation that were doing. That effort is beginning to identify critical loads all throughout the country of huge Transmission Needs that we have. So we would support i know that youre interested in this and i think if you mentioned a couple of weeks ago you may have introduced a bill on this to incentivize this type of construction and development we would support those types of efforts because this is critical to our Defense Network as well. It is also important for the reasons i think you were alluding to earlier. I was just down in chile just a few months ago and met with the president there. She was very, very proud at the time of both their solar energy and their wind energy. The challenge she has is that she cant move it from north to south. And we have some similar challenges here in the United States as well. Tremendous solar capabilities in the southwest, your part of the world, less so in other pards. But moving that from your part to the northeast is a bit of a challenge. So we have to fix those types of issues if we are going to see the continued acceptance and development of renewable technologies. To avoid the worst impacts of Climate Change, its pretty clear that in addition to eliminating our current emissions, were actually going to have to pull some carbon back out of the air. If youre confirmed, is increasing d. O. E. s Research Area of direct air capture something youre willing to focus on and commit to . Absolutely. I think thats going to be really important. One of my frust raigs with d. O. E. Has simply been that d. O. E. s Home Appliance and lightbulb standards which have been incredibly productive economically saving my constituents an estimated 400 a year, have not gotten always the attention that they are due. Im concerned that the department has now missed legal deadlines on issuing 19 new standards and some are more than three years late. Are you willing to commit to sharing that d. O. E. Is finally meeting whatever its legal obligations are to set and update Energy Efficiency standards . Sure, we will do that. And lastly, the chair mentioned this, anything you want to share about rpe . There has been this mismatch between the budget proposals and a broad bipartisan support of that program which we all recognize has been incredibly helpful to our nation . Happy to address that, senator. As you and i have discussed in the past, you know, in some respects its both a blessing and a curse i should say to have worked on this side of the branches of government, if you will, having been a staffer in congress, im fully aware of budget processes and how they work. Now that i find myself here, the commitments i can give to you is that i will fight for these programs within our department because i think theyre important. But its also important to i understand that i dont have the final say in what comes over to the United States senate or the congress. But i will fight for these programs. Thank you. Thank you. Senator cassidy. A well put answer, tactful and exlist. Thank you. Innovation which we all are interested in, there was a quote yesterday from Federal Reserve chair. He said the Energy Independence of the u. S. Is something people have talked about for 50 years. Never thought it would happen. It has. Its a great thing. Its a great thing. Its a great thing. A lot of what you have been discussing today has been innovations. Id like to go to 45qs, as did hoeven but he focused on the coal aspect. As we read both the u. S. And worldwide, thats important, but natural gas is increasetionly being used. Thats correct. Youre familiar with geology of georgia. I think its ideal for 45s. Maybe it in an old oil or gas well and creating one more incentive for folks to et up industry and jobs. We have a Committee Recommendation to pursue this. But how would you how could you ramp up the gas research and Development Aspect postenactment . Id like to take a closer look. Thank you for taking time to meet with me in your office. I must say id heard bits and pieces about the natural gas industrys interest in this. But you made it perfectly clear what the impact is, Revenue Streams do be. I must tell you that im not fully understanding all of the aspects of this. But i understand clearly where you want to go. I would support that. I think its very important that we pursue these types of technologies not just for coal, which we have developed a lot of weve done a lot of good work within the department of energy on Carbon Capture for coal. But id like to study it more and engage not only your office and you personally but also our National Laboratories. Id like to talk to for instance, you know, dr. Brian anderson is here from nettel. Id like to talk to him. Steve ashby out at pnl and others. To see how we might do this correctly and incentivize this to come to the market. That might be you may have answered this next question. But what do you see as the barriers to the commercialization of Carbon Capture . Is that something kind of, we have to explore it further . I think one of the barriers clearly now is were waiting on an irs rule on 45q. If we can establish some certain teach around those particular rules youll see private capital coming into the game quicker. I think thats important. We can do a lot at the d. O. E. This committee and the Appropriations Committee in general have been very, very supportive of our work and have funded it and supported it very strongly. But i think at this point we have to have certainty with the tax law so that we can get private capital to come into this. Next, again related, the irnts national Energy Agency has estimated an increasing use of energy about 1 per year. With that they imagine or project theyll be increased Green House Gas emooegss related to that. That must be related to expanding populations in asia and africa than disproportionatly theyre using coal . Thats correct. It occurs to me in the eu and u. S. Is decreasing Greenhouse Gas emissions by con vetting from coal to natural gas, why should we not build in on the front end a natural gas capability . Doesnt mean you wouldnt want to use sunshine and wind where feasible. I guess im asking, and china by the way is building these coalfired plants. Both a market loss as well as an overall increase in Greenhouse Gas emissions. What could we do as a nation or at your department to promote the use of liquefied natural gas instead of the coal fire thats being built so its our technology, our jobs and cleaner building . What could we do to encourage that for africa . I think, sure, we talked about earlier having a chief commercialization officer and taking these technologies out of the department of energys laboratories and sharing them more broadly not only here in the United States but all across the world. The secretary and i have done this seems more than just the transfer, if you will, of research, but it also seems a policy which says, watd a second. We have an Energy Industry which is being outhustled by china with consequences not just for jobs but also for the fact that theyre using coal instead of gas, and therefore releasing more. These have 30year life spans at least. Correct. It seems it would go more beyond the transfer to almost an industrial policy. Almost. But thats not something i can do at the department of energy. Its something that we ought to Work Together with the u. S. Congress to adopt as a national policy, a National Industrial policy, if thats what the Congress Wants to do, we would be very supportive of that. I agree with you. If were going to sell natural gas, promote u. S. Lng around the world as a potential supplement to Renewable Energy or replacing other perhaps more emissionsemitting types of energy, then we ought to attach it to Carbon Capture technology that allows us to have the best of both worlds, Clean Natural gas as well as offsetting the emissions in the natural gas burning. Thank you very much. I yield. Senator king. Thank you, madam chair. I want to note a historic moment in this hearing when senator barras oe said we cant tackle Climate Change alone. I couldnt agree with him more. I hope hell urge the president to rejoin the paris climate accords which is the only on gog International Effort to deal with this issue, a molecule of Greenhouse Gas which comes from the United States causes as much climate problem as one that comes from china or india or anywhere else. Im going to speak to senator barras oe later. I hope we can get back into our area of Global Leadership and join the other 197 signatories to the paris accords. Everybody is trying to claim you today. If your ancestors had gone slightly west instead of south in 7756, you would be a mainer. I would be. Substantial population of acadians in northern maine and we love them and so i know how to pronounce your name because there are many people of similar extraction in the northern part of our state. First, i dont think theres much more important of what your department does than research. We talked a lot about Energy Independence and the fracking revolution, which as you know was largely supported by Research Funds from the department of energy. Thats correct. I just want to hear you reassure me that your commitment will be to a strong and vigorous and forwardlooking reef search, whether in the National Labs or throughout the department, arpae, these are very important in the National Interests in my view. You have my commitment on that. One of the things i have noticed and want to work on with this committee and others is to move some of the research were doing perhaps to the more basic side of the equation, more basic science. We have a tremendous organization. Id like to see the next generation of some of the renewable stek nol jooez were beginning to take for granted. Thank you for taking the time to meet with me. Were looking for the next generation of solar pands, wind technologies. And storm. And storage. We want to think about these things in perhaps a slightly different way. As we talked about in your office with regard to Battery Storage, weve long thought about Battery Storage as simply filling a gap. If the sun doesnt shine cover the four hours while the clouds are out. If the wind stops blowing cover the two hours. What are we thinking about Battery Storage in a more broad context. Perhaps batteries resilience no backup for, you know, Renewable Energy, but a backup for fossil fuels as well. Totally agree. Its a National Security issue and its a completely changed world in terms of the use of renewables. Im going to oak ridge in two weeks. Oak ridge has a relationship with the university of maine that supports both sides. Its a very exciting project we have with the university of maine. Im looking forward to it. A lot of talk about l and g exports which have a lot of benefits in terms of the neighboring economy and our neighbors and friends have a clean source of energy. If l and g exports rise to some critical level, and i dont know what that level is, it will make Prices Higher domestically. Depends what part of the business youre in. Im in the consuming business in new england. The low price of natural gas is one of our competitive advantages world wide. I would hate to lose this by driving our prices up. This happened in australia. This isnt an abstract concern. Is this something you have an interest and concern about . We monitor this very closely. The latest study was done by nera. Ive forgotten what the acronym stands for off the top of my head but that study shows that increased production in the United States has not yet had a dramatic impact on price. The new production of l and g. As well as the expanded export capacities that have developed over the last four to five years. I agree with that study but i want to keep an eye on it. Once you build 100 billion of export capacity you say uhoh weve doubled or domestic prices. We do monitor closely. Ill work closely with the ia. My concern is about the methane associated with the extraction of natural gas. 25 of the Greenhouse Gasses now are methane. Im worried that were not adequately controlling that. That is an unintended negative byproduct. Its something i think we need to pay some attention to in terms of research and frankly regulatory controls. Yes, sir. Ill submit a detailed question. Ill respond to you. Senator danes. Thank you. Mr. Brouillette, congratulations on the nomination for the next secretary of energy. Its a big deal. I first want to invite you out to montana. We chatted and id really like to invite you to come out to montana to see firsthand the issues we have out in big sky country. Absolutely. That was easy. We have vast Natural Resources in montana. Its one of the states that truly does offer an all of the above Energy Portfolio. Coal, hydro, lots of water, oil, gas, wind, solar, geothermal. That power our state. In fact they power our neighboring states as well. Were also home to a booming tech sector specializing in areas like quantum computing, b opt optic. All of this will be under your purview if confirmed. I hope youll be able to make it out to montana as we can see firsthand these great opportunities for growth and talk about these issues on the ground. We truly are a shining example of a balanced Energy Portfolio. Montanans want to see a balanced view as it relates to our Energy Portfolio. Traditional fuels like coal as well as renewables like hydro power make up the largest portion of our Energy Production in montana. Both are reliable. Both provide affordable base load power that keeps the lights on and the heat on in the wintertime and we do have winter in montana. Yes, you do. We also have a growing wind and solar generation and strong potential for geothermal. However, montanas balanced Energy Portfolio is coming under attack with premature forced close yours of units 1 and 2 of the coal strip power plant at this end of this year and the threat of dam breaches across the northwest. Both of these are due in part to extreme radical groups that litiga litigate. Closing coal strip is just about the loss of 600 mega watts of base load power. Its also about the job, the livelihoods, the tax base of the coal strip community which rely on the power plant and the coal mine that feeds it. I believe there is a role for you in the department of energy to play in order to maintain base load supply in montana. One possibility is through investment and advancement of Carbon Capture Technology Like we have laid out in the bipartisan effect act. Mr. Brouillette, if confirmed, will you commit to working with me and this committee to protecting and growing base load power like coal strip and maintaining a secure and balanced Energy Portfolio . I will tell you its been the policy of this administration and perhaps even the last administration to pursue an all of the above Energy Strategy. The reasons for doing that are numerous, but the reasons i think are perhaps most important for us today is, in our view, diversity of Energy Supply means Energy Security. Its very, very important that we continue to produce energy from all sources that we have here in the United States. The other reason i think its important, however, is until we are able to develop Battery Storage that has more capacity, is longer lasting, is perhaps more flexible in some respects, it is important that base load power exists, because without it if we are, i think, objective and candid, the introduction of renewables into our grid is very very difficult. Its important for generation facilities like coal strip to remain online until we have those answers down the road. The other point i would make to you is as we look across the resilience model that were working on and the identification of Critical Infrastructure throughout the United States, i can commit to you that at the department of energy were going to look at these types of facilities to see if they fit that potential model and see if theres anything we should be concerned about potentially about the loss of that institution for the military installations that you have identified in your state. Mr. Brouillette, i appreciate this balanced, common sense view as we think about managing our Energy Portfolio, of managing risk going forward. Im one who supports the advances in Renewable Energy but theres a reason we call wind intermittent energy. Its a fair characterization because the wind doesnt blow all the time. Technology eventually will solve these problems. I want to thank you for hearing my concerns today and i look forward to moving you forward here as our next secretary of the department of energy. Thank you, sir. Mr. Brouillette, congratulations on your nomination. Welcome to your family. I want to thank you again for taking the time to meet with me this week many my office. Thank you, senator. As you well know, the nevada security site d. O. E. Plays a big role there. I want to ask you a couple of questions as it relates that fight. With respect to Yucca Mountain, do you support the storage of spent nuclear fuel or high level radioactive waste at Yucca Mountain . Thank you for your kind words about my family. The policy question thats before us on Yucca Mountain is really a policy question, i think, for congress to make a determination on. As we have discussed in the past, im obligated to follow the law and the law of the land today is the Nuclear Waste policy act. Im also obligated to not spend money that hasnt been appropriated to pursue those policy drirectives by the congress. At the moment, i can give you assurance until Congress Makes a decision on Yucca Mountain, nothing will happen at the department of energy. Thank you for your response. This congress senator rosen and i introduced the Nuclear Waste informed consent act. The bill would require the d. O. E. Secretary to obtain consent from the affected state and local communities, including the local governments as well as our tribal communities before funds from the Nuclear Waste fund could be used for Nuclear Waste repository. Would you support the bill . I havent read the bill but i would be happy to do so and provide you a direct answer. Under your watch and secretary perry, d. O. E. Shipped a half a metric ton to the Savannah River site in north carolina. I supported an agreement with d. O. E. To begin removing the plutonium from the site in 2021. When we met this week, you assured me you were committed to honoring that agreement. Do you mind reaffirming your commitment today . I do not mind at all. I will give you a Firm Commitment that we will honor that agreement. In july of 2019 the state of nevada and the nevada congressional delegation were notified that d. O. E. Had violated the waste criteria in shipping mislabeled waste to the site, the National Security site. During our meeting earlier this week you said the office of enterprise assessments was in the process of completing a report. What guarantees can you provide me and the people of nevada that d. O. E. Will not violate its contracts with the state in the future or allow mislabeled waste to be transferred from one facility to another . Sure. As we talked about, immediately following that incident which was a selfreported incident inside of the department of energy, i called you and i called the governor and i called the delegation to let you know of the accident, let you know of the incident i should say. Following our visits there following our conversations the secretary directed me to do an enterprisewide assessment of all shipping of waste within the department. Were about 3045 days away from that final report or at least the first draft of a complete report. I will share with you that draft. What we have found and what i can tell you at this point in time is we have found some very minor deficiencies, public health, Public Safety in this incident. T has never been at risk. Will that be made public . It will be made public. After Yucca Mountain, the years of mislabeled waste, the secret plutonium shipments. If confirmed what steps will you take to improve communication and trust with the state of nevada . I appreciate your concerns. I happen to have family there so im very, very sensitive to these issues as well. I can give you my personal commitment that i will spend personal time on these issues. I will be available to you obviously and to your staff. I will work diligently and apply the skill sets, the business skill sets that i think i bring to the table to look at these types of processes within the department of energy and ensure that they are robust, that they follow the proper procedures and that theyre all following the regulations that we are all guided by within the department itself. Part of that is just mapping out things. Part of that is changing the culture of some of these organizatio organizations. I give you my personal commitment that i will make every effort to do that. Nsenator mcsally. Thank you. Good to see you again. Enjoyed visiting with you in our office. One thing we talked about, how arizona is really leading in a lot of new technologies and a real all of the above Energy Strategy. I appreciate the departments commitment to that. We have the hydro power generated by the hoover and glenn canyon dam, the paolo verde nuclear militant and we also have a growing solar array because we have a lot of sunshine and wide open space. Were now number three in solar in arizona with the opportunity to grow. But as has been mentioned, we still need break through technologies in storage because the sun doesnt shine at night. Arizona Research Institutions and companies are working hard on research for this type of technology. I just want to get your perspective on support from the department on working with universities and the private sector specifically on the Energy Storage issue because were going to hit a point where we cant really go much further in some of these Energy Initiatives unless we can have breakthroughs in the storage. Were very, very interested in developing the talent that we need to hire over the course of the next call it 5 or 10 years. I think were going to see that coming through a number of different avenues. One thing id like to mention to you and i know its not in your state, perhaps we can do one in arizona as well. Dr. Martin keller is here at the National Laboratory in boulder, colorado. He worked closely with the university there to start a brand new graduate program thats focused on Renewable Energy. Its a partnership with the lab itself. Id like to explore opportunities like that as well so we can build this pipeline of talent coming into these areas. We need scientists to join us to work on these tough problems. With regard to the technology itself, weve discussed some of it. There is another effort that i would like to just mention to you, again, not in arizona but its out on the west coast. What we call it is the grid storage launch pad. Its being done with one of our National Laboratories in the northwest. Its a fantastic operation and a fantastic opportunity we have to develop technologies that will be grid scale storage, not just the smaller batteries that you see in peoples homes, but this is large Battery Storage. Were very exciting about that. Again, i would love to work with you. Id like to invite you out to arizona as well. Theres also an issue of the supply chain, of course, for Energy Storage. I talk all the time to people who come in to advocate for green energy and i say to them, oh you must be pro mining because these materials come out of the ground. One of the five cs for arizona is copper. Raw materials like copper and nickel and cobalt are essential to building things like the solar panels, the transmissions line, the batteries and all that goes with that. We cant have green tech without mining and american mining to have the cleanest, best stewards of our environment and our mining is certainly something that should be supported if were trying to advance green energy in my view. Recycling has to be part of the mix as well. Ive teamed up with my fellow arizona senator on legislation to jump start some of this recycling. I want to ask your perspective on the supply chain. Youre correct about that. Its one of the opportunities we see for the mining industry, for the coal industry, the copper industry in your case. These are Critical Materials or Critical Minerals that weve become reliant upon for some of these newer technologies. If we have opportunities to look at coal ash, if we have opportunities to look at some of the residual materials left over from Mining Operations and we can extract from that at least a portion of the minerals we need, were going to make every effort to do exactly that. The lessening of our dependence on nation states that dont have our interests at heart is something we have to do. And i appreciate your military service. I have never been so nervous in all of my life to be standing in front of an a10 pilot. As a former tank commander, the stress was very high. Its all good. We love to provide that Close Air Support over head. Im out of time but i do want to do a question for the record related to woody biomass. Thats something that arizona is leading on. Its an issue of wildfires, watershed. The stuff that would normally be thrown away, using that as woody biomass to generate energy. Wed love to have your commitment. Ill take that question for the record and get back to you. Thank you. So ensure the fitness of all nominees to these appointed position, i ask the following two initial questions of every nominee who appears in any front of the committees. Have you ever committed assault of a sexual nature . N no maam. Have you ever entered into a settle relating to this kind of conduct . No maam. This Committee Asks each nominee under oath if they will be available to appear before this committee and other congressional committees to represent and respond to issues of concern from the congress. However, secretary perry has refused to comply with a subpoena about his dealings with ukraine. Will you comply with subpoenas duly issued by congress . Senator, as part of my oath here, i said i would make myself available. If i were to receive a subpoena from the u. S. Congress, i would of course consult with executive branch counsel. Assuming the subpoena was properly served i would make myself available. One assume that is the subpoenas were duly issued. The United States has historically acknowledged a duty of individuals in fact, we have laws that everyone who serves in the federal government has a responsibility to come forward to report violations of law. We do acknowledge and i hope you do acknowledge the contributions of whistleblowers to combat abuse, fraud and violations of laws. I do. I fully support the whistleblower laws on the books. We have begun a process of reviewing the contracts we have with contractors in the department of energy. I will ensure that the whistleblower provisions most recently passed by congress are included in those contracts. Sounds like you would commit to protecting whistleblowers within your department should you be confirmed and you would protect them from retaliation as required under the whistleblower protection act. Yes, maam i would. You say youre actually coming up with some kind of guidance that your department will adopt along these lines. Weve instituted guidance and training within the department of energy. Weve also reviewed all our contracts to ensure that the whistleblower protections that congress intended when it passed the statute are part of the contracts we have with these employers. So it must cause you some concern that there are all these calls for the disclosure of the whistleblower who brought to our attention what happened with regard to ukraine. There is a lot of discussion about the importance of Battery Storage. Hawaii has a commitment to becoming 100 sustainable so Battery Storage is a big deal for us. Can we look for some breakthroughs in Energy Storage including grid storage from the department of energy and all your partnerships with the various National Labs . I certainly hope so. I certainly hope so. Im looking forward to that because weve been talking about the importance of Battery Storage to enable all of us to use all of the Energy Sources and basically lessen our reliance on fossil fuels. And that requires Battery Storage because its intermittent power. The republican of the Marshall Islands of the United States is one of our very close allies. Last year the department of energy signed a memorandum with the department of interior to conduct a radio chemical analysis of groundwaters surrounding the cactus crater waste site in the Marshall Islands. The study will also assess the str Structural Integrity of the site which houses contaminated soil and radioactive debris from u. S. Nuclear weapon tests. The people of the Marshall Islands have a right to know the scope of problems from the dome. The study is very important. It will help us to address these concerns. If confirmed as secretary, will you commit that the department will complete this report and submit it to the committee on time . I will commit that we will submit whatever report were required to on time. Id like the opportunity to review the mou. Im not familiar with it but i would like that opportunity and respond to you perhaps in writing. That would be fantastic. Thank you. So the United States has not conducted Nuclear Weapons tests since 1992. Thats really a big part of the secretarys responsibility. I know that it came as news to your predecessor or soon to be. Have you been briefed by the directors of the Los Alamos Lab toib on the advances the d. O. E. Has made and the ability to maintain the Nuclear Arsenal in the absence of testing . Yes, i have. The Lab Directors are engaged in a process of assessing and providing their assessment to us of the stockpile itself. Yes, i have been briefed on it and i look forward to hearing their assessment perhaps within the next week and a half. So i think we have an aging stockpile and we need to be assured of the safety issues that are involved in all of that. So thank you. I look forward to working with you on all these and other matters. Thank you, senator. Thank you for being here. I was wondering if you remembered our conversation. I do. So you said you had two priorities. Do you remember what you told me they were . Cyber security and hanford. Isnt that amazing all this time we both remember that . Want to go back to hanford. First, let me laud my colleagues. They are still working on our energy bill, but very robust provisions in there for d. O. E. To play a major role in cyber security. We hope that you will help make that a reality. We think we have an education shortage issue and we think the d. O. E. Could play a very big role here. I hope theyre successful in dealing with that. And d. O. E. Playing a major role. Just in talking to our colleagues, i think practically every committee has had some hearing on cyber security. But when they get down to it ray realize its the grid. I really do believe d. O. E. Has to play a more robust role here in a leadership way. Let me ask you about hanford since we both remember. That was a big priority. To meet the department of energys and i know you mentioned mr. Vance is here and other d. O. E. Officials from hanford. But we need obviously to get the right budget. I think the fy 20 funding level was well over a billion below the compliance budget level. Im sure you know very well the challenges that we face as a state and that we have milestones and they have to be met and that theres a legal obligation by the department of energy to meet those milestones. So i would like to hear your commitment again to working with all of us in meeting those milestones. Im fully committed to that, senator. We have engaged with the state department of ecology. We have notified them of a risk situation there, high risk notice is what its called. We are very much committed to the program we have currently established. When you and i had this conversation almost two years ago that wasnt last week that we had that conversation. It was two years ago. It was some time ago. But i do recall. You pointed out to me at that time, i think rightfully so, that you were concerned. The new administration comes in and the program changes. In other words, we move the ship to the right or the left and we do a 180 and things slow down and nothing gets done and cleanups dont happen on time. We have chosen not to do that. Thats largely at your advice and direction. Were going to continue the mission at hanford. Were going to continue the progress weve already made. Im proud we have moved the last radioactive waste away from the columbia river. We have much more to do. Im working closely with the contractors there. Were bringing i hope some business discipline to their operation so we can speed up these cleanup efforts. But i want to give you my commitment that im firmly committed to this cleanup operation. Its the highest within the e. M. Program. It ranks right at the top of my priority list. Should i be confirmed as secretary, i will be there quite often. That should be good news for everybody in the northwest and for the nation, because it obviously is a very complex cleanup problem. It is. I think people forget the elements of what we did in meeting the nations need in securing production at that time, but we have to remember that the cleanup responsibilities are just as dire and challenging. So thank you for that commitment. The hamer federal Training Facility provides great work for our workforce who are committed to making sure theres a safe procedural process at hanford. Are you committed to working with hanford and the hammer facility . Yes, i am. Brian and i have had conversations on a regular basis about the importance of hammer so worker safety remains paramount. There are clearly a lot of priorities at hanford including the startup and operation of the low activity waste facility. Correct. So talk about that for a second and how you think we keep moving forward. Sure. I think thats part of what i meant earlier that were not going to change the ship. We focused our efforts so we can get that process started. Right now i think were on schedule for around 2023 to begin those operations. The balance of facilities are going to be online very very shortly. But we have focused and made that our priority. We have to do that first and right. I guess in a very simple parlance, lets get something started and show that it works so we can get to high level waste and do other things that need to be done in this very complex facility. Thank you. Thank you, senator. I knew you would be back to query the deputy secretary on hanford. So you didnt disappoint there. Mr. Deputy secretary, i had an opportunity this morning to be with secretary perry. This was at the ifnec global ministerial on small modular reactors and advanced nuclear. It was a good gathering of International Leaders focused in this area. The secretary articulated a very strong vision for the u. S. Role in this space and i was able to follow him with comments about what were doing legislatively in tandem with the administration to move out on this extraordinary potential. Weve advanced the Nuclear Energy leadership act, nela, but what we do within this legislation is we focus on the reality that most of these reactors are going to require the halo which we know is not currently produced here. So were looking to what it is that we need to do in order to facilitate this opportunity for us here in this country. So i know that this is something that the department is looking at, the nela legislation in addition to some other pieces that were working to help facilitate. I pointed out in my opening comments that it shouldnt be unusual or odd that a secretary from a producing state like texas or someone like me from a producing state like alaska would be interested in the prospects in the future for advanced nuclear and all that it provides. Hopefully the department is considering what a comprehensive advanced Nuclear Fuel Program would look like to anticipate these near term needs. But know thats going to continue to be a priority of mine. It certainly has of secretary perry and hopefully you will continue that as well. It will be. Theres a number of different issues there in your question. What we are going to advance at the department of energy are things like the versatile tech reactor at inl. Thats a very high priority for us. That particular reactor, that piece of equipment allows us to test materials, it allows us to utilize processes that will test newer fuels so they can qualify, perhaps get through regulatory processes a lot sooner. Were also going to conduct a Pilot Project for halo. We want to get to a place where we can develop small micro reactors, 1 to 5 mega watts. If we can make them even smaller, then it can serve communities that you showed me in alaska, i think, much more easily and places like where i grew up in louisiana where theres only 200 people and perhaps more alligators than people on any given day. If we can get small reactors to those types of areas in the country, were not only provided them with a clean reliable source of power. Weve taken a good step forward in reducing Carbon Emissions throughout the world. Its something i want to continue should i be confirmed as secretary. Thank you for allowing us to borrow dr. Ben rinky who is very intimate with your piece of legislation. Thank you. Senator manchin. Briefly i want to make a statement on how important this job is. When you look about history and you look at energy, the role energys played in history and where we are as a people demand our nation how itwere blessed be the super power of the world. I go back to my grandparents talking about the first time they received electricity and my grandmother was so tickled to have a refrigerator and a washing machine. We were talking to the staff about we probably have a billion out of 7. 5 billion maybe a billion people without any access to energy whatsoever in the world and their desire to have what weve taken for granted, but also the threat because of all the terrorism that goes on and how susceptible we are. Thats cyber as we talked about. Also us being the cutting edge of quantum, if you will, and the ability to stay ahead of the rest of the world. And then other nations who want to challenge our status, if you will, by using energy as geopolitical tool and Holding People hostage and all the things that basically is going to be under your purview. And i just want you to know youre going to have partners with you. We want you to succeed. We want you to do well. We want you to be able to come to the committee and not look at us as democrats and republicans but as americans who want our country to prosper, but to help lift others around the world who are seeking the same opportunities in life that weve been able to have. So i wish you well. God speed. Thank you, sir. Thank you, senator manchin. Well said. Deputy secretary, you have fielded a range of issues here this morning, everything from the arctic to advanced nuclear to the waste issues to Critical Minerals, Energy Storage, l and g. We have covered the gamut and you have arctic haticulated ver from a policy perspective. Its clear that your knowledge of energy writ large is substantive but also your keen understanding of the department of energy, its responsibilities, its roles and the promise that it can hold, again, not only for this country but for other nations as they look to our leadership in so many of these different areas. I am a little concerned, however. You have made commitments here to visit alaska, west virginia, arizona, montana, maine, wyoming, nevada. I am a little concerned youre not going to have time for the day job here, but we will work with you as you seek to gain better understanding and appreciation of all that our great state verss have to offer these very important areas. Again, i want to thank you family for joining you here today. To you, ive never seen such well behaved young people sitting behind their father. No squiggling, no squirming. I did catch a little bit of a nap there and im totally with you on that, guy. But i also want to recognize your national lab family that you have here. We know that the men and women who serve in our National Labs are an extraordinary asset to our country and i know that they are a very tight knit group having hosted many of you in the state of alaska. So the fact that they are here in your support is also a testament to the dedication that you have to this job. I think based on what ive heard today, you will have strong support moving out of this committee. Its my intention to try to move you through the Committee Process just as rapidly as possible. Secretary perry has announced that he will be departing on the 1st of december and we would like to see a seamless transition there as we move your name forward to assume this very important position as secretary of energy. So with that, we thank you for being here, we thank you for your time, your leadership and your vision. With that, the committee stands adjourned. Thank you. [ applause ] this afternoon here on cspan 2 the House Oversight and Reform Committee holds a hearing on how some states are restricting Reproductive Health care rights and reproductive services. If you cant watch on tv, youll find it online at cspan. Org or listen live on the free cspan radio app. The House Intelligence Committee and chair adam schiff continue impeachment inquiry hearings on friday at 9 00 a. M. Eastern on cspan 2 with testimony by former u. S. Ambassador to ukraine marie yovanovitch. Find the procedures for the hearing and the questions the committee hopes to have answered at our website cspan. Org impeachment. Watch our live coverage on cspan2, cspan. Org on your computer or mobile device or listen live wherever you are with the free cspan radio app. This weekend book tv will feature three new books. Saturday night donald trump jr. Talks about his book triggered. Then sunday night at 9 eastern on afterwards, former Harvard Law School dean martha minnow talks about her new book. We are so punitive that even people who have served their sentences have these collateral consequences of their crimes, not allowed to vote in many places, not allowed to have a professional license, not allowed to keep their children, not allowed to get housing in certain places. I think enough is enough and we should find ways to acknowledge forgiveness. We are imperfect as human beings. The law is imperfect. At 10 00 p. M. Eastern former u. N. Ambassador nikki haley with her book with all due respect. This afternoon hear on cspan 2 the House Oversight and Reform Committee holds a hearing on how some states are restricting reproductive rights and Reproductive Health care services. Live coverage begins at 2 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan 2. Were discussing trade and lots of other matters and were having a very good discussion. I thought bringing over some of our republican senators that are very much wellversed in whats going on in turkey to meet president erdogan would be good. So were having a very strong discussion on different things, including the safe zone and the border, the oil. Again, trade is a very big factor. We think we can get the trade up to about 100 bi