Transcripts For CSPAN Energy Secretary Rick Perry Testifies On Research Development 20240714

Search bar. The hearing will come to order. The chairs authorized to declare recess at any time. Let me say good morning and welcome to todays hearing and oversight of the department of research and development enterprise. Welcome mr. Secretary we are delighted that youre here today. As you know this committee has jurisdiction over the department of energy and its a vitally important science in Energy Research and develop activities. The laboratories and facilities i hope much more quickly from now on and i look forward to working with you throughout this congress. With a budget season, i would like to bring just a few minutes and a few items to your attention and ill start with the good news. Which is despite the ministration best effort to make cuts across the board and develop my programs most actually fared well in the house of representatives and particularly pleased to see the increased to the budget for the loan programs office, both of which have yielded transformative results for Energy Technology of all type. I am also quite happy that the house reported substantial increase in the National Fusion project which advocated for as well. I went to visit the project a couple of years ago and frankly everybody was a texan. [laughter] it is crucial that we have a commitment to this product and ensure we are providing the support of the department of energy itself identified would be necessary to maintain its construction and minimize the total cost of the u. S. Taxpayers. The completion and operation of this project will have substantial contribution to what we know as Fusion Energy today successful in this project huge game changer in energy suture of not only our nation but for humanitarian as a whole. Now for the bad news. Yet again it is extremely disheartening that quite frankly disturbing to see the dramatic cuts laid out in Administration Budget proposal. I know that you must think sounds likable broken record because we had the same conversation asher. Unfortunately it is necessary until the Administration Stopped producing the short set of proposals and the thought process developing budget request. I am thankful for your enthusiastic report of all these programs but enthusiasm alone is not enough for the American People we need to seek constructive forward looking Budget Proposals being submitted to congress. Moving beyond the budget, we are here today to allow the asked questions retaining to all research and Development Programs within the entire department. As the title of this hearing suggest. Constituents remember this on both sides of the aisle benefit greatly from these programs and we believe we will be sure the responsible for the tax dollars. Many of these programs have not been authorized in many years and in some cases we hope to create more thoughtful Bipartisan Legislation this congress to support science and Energy Research supported by the department and we want to work with you in that effort. With that i would like to thank you again for being here is the secretary and i look forward to productive discussion this morning. Our Ranking Member is not present but we have a wellknown texan who i recognize. Thank you, chairwoman johnson for hosting this hearing and welcome to the fellow texas rick perry. We appreciate him being here. As we heard from the chairwoman, the department of energy and secretary. Have proposed a budget that are traditionally received bipartisan support from this committee. I would like to remind my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to important facts, number one the Budget Proposal is just that. A proposal. We members of congress are the one cashed with setting the funding levels after hearing from important witnesses like secretary. Today. Second i want to stress that we will have tough decisions to make on the deal we do not have unlimited funds and we cannot fund every project no matter how worthy. Physical programs must be prioritized and we have to make smart or get investments that give the taxpayer the best bang for the buck year after year. And at the department of energy there is an incredible range of programs in this Committee Jurisdiction includes all does, civilian research including over 10 million in Research Development and initiation and commercial application programs. As well as the department 17 National Labs. This amount totals one third of the Department Energy budget. Ms. Secretary and how to tell you that you lead an incredible department quite well of major History Research achievement and over the past 70 Years Research conducted at the national lab has led to monumental achievements in medicine, manufacturing, computing as well as the develop of innovative Energy Technology. Each national lab has an invaluable contribution to the United States scientific projects under progress. They have decided basic search is the most effective way to encourage innovation. Additionally doe 26 user facility provide our nation researchers with the most cutting edge tools of modern science like advanced Light Sources in the two fastest supercomputers in the world. Each year approximately 22000 researchers from academia and the private sector use the facilities to perform new Scientific Research into develop technologies. Here at home, doe has most research in the physical sciences. Internationally the United States is the world leader in basic Science Research and technological development. But other countries like china are making significant investments in basic research. Threatening americas global standing as the leader in scientific knowledge. Without the department stated investment in basic and earlystage research the u. S. Is in danger of losing the Global Technology edge by investing wisely in this research the department can it achieve its goal of scientific discovery and breakthrough for generations. Doe must also invest in the Research Infrastructure that brings the best scientist in the world the United States. I look forward to hearing from circular. About the doe implementation of bipartisan signs legislation that was signed into the law class congress. Including doe research and innovation act, the National Quantum act in a my bill the Nuclear Capabilities act. The department of energy must prioritize the groundbreaking research authorized in these bills over grants for technology that is ready for commercial appointment. When the government tries to push about technology in the market it Waste Limited resources and competition with private investors. But when basic research is a priority in target of federal support, everyone has opportunity to access the fundamental knowledge that can lead to the development technologies. I want to say thank you again to secretary perry for taking the time to be here today and i yelled the balance of my time manager. Thank you. Thank you very much. If there are members who wish to submit payments your statements will be added to the record at this point. And at this time i would like to introduce our witness rick perry he currently serves as United States equity religion. He received the department of energy which is tasked with National Economic and Energy Security of the United States and promoting technological innovation and report that mission and entering the environment clean up in the National Nuclear weapons complex. Prior to his cabinet pulls, mr. Perry was elected Lieutenant Governor of texas in 1988 and later served as governor from 2000 2015. He was the longestserving governor in texas history. Night to tell my age, but, ive known this gentleman since he was a young man serving in texas. Now i am going to yield i am going to ask our secretary to make his Opening Statements and then we will proceed with questions. Is there. Madame chairwoman thank you for your kind remarks are years and high School Together were great. [laughter] we are just out of college for the record. [laughter] so thank you. Ranking member weber, it is my great pleasure to be in front of you naked for your friendship and your wise counsel as i can say for a number of the members of the it is always a pleasure to be in front of a colleague in making remarks behind the door like doctor governor is good so thank you for your friendship and assistance through the years, its a pleasure to be anything front of you members today to share with you my observation about the presence honey 20 budget and as a budget request as Ranking Member weber. Describe the appropriately the department of energy. As a man, further highlight some of the great work we are doing there is a short video i would like to ask you to enjoy with me. It actually has volume two. Is anything working on at the agency. Basically what im saying shell gas leve revolution. It remains the coolest job ive ever had due to the incredibly brilliant people at her labs. They have an Astonishing Impact across the nation and around the world. Over the years are scientists of engineers have decoded dna, they kick started the development of the internet. Brought safe drinking water, Business Safety modeling, shifted the shelf asked revolution in led the revolution and the space track. Weve done all that. And much more, we are just getting started. Im especially excited about Artificial Intelligence. Our national lab home to the fastest supercomputers in the world. And our next generation important machines to accelerate americas capabilities. It is also been used to reduce traffic jams, to strengthen Cyber Security. To predict extreme weather and improved Emergency Response and even develop better treatment for cancer and brain injury. I am absolutely convinced, we just scratched the surface of her capability. Im convinced that there are advantage in science, innovation of technology we can make a world changing impact. Thank you for the privilege to show that to you. It is really exciting time to be at the helm of the boe. I appear before this Committee Last year and i committed to fulfill a number of goals including protecting the Critical Energy infrastructure from cyber ads investing in and earlystage, Cutting Edge Research and development in advancing the leadership in quantum computing. I am proud to report the doe has made progress in every one of those areas. This past fall i suppose a commitment to visit all 17 National Labs and i got to witness firsthand as you saw in the video the brilliant work that those incredible abilities are engaged in, you will have the opportunity to see the example i National Lab Day july the 24th, it will be right appear in your backyard on the hill and i hope you will consider coming by. Our National Labs are homes the two fastest computers. Five of the ten fastest supercomputers of the world. And we have next generation if you will, computers that are coming online in the very near future to accelerate americas capacity and capabilities in Artificial Intelligence world, this is really important and its important and a host of Different Reasons which will expand on in the course of the spring i am completely and absolutely convinced the impact that this will have on the world that we live in, not to sin the area of energy, we commonly about, but an array of science, oriented science centric areas, unfortunately the success of our National Labs is also made them a target. A target for people and nations to steal americas ingenuity. And in response, we are requiring doe employees to fully disclose their involvement in foreign governments talent equipment programs. Sponsored by countries at risk. You all know who those are, iran, china and russia and north korea. We have banned our researchers from joining chinese talent recruitment programs. I happen to think these are commonsense approaches. These are things that we should be doing. They will better protect our National Security and advanced research and technology. In the coming weeks and months, i look forward to working with all of you as the department as we work on these programs we talk about that are shared programs, and i think you met appear for your kindness, hospitality and longtime friendship. Comparing. At this point will begin our first round of questions in the chair recognizes herself for the first round. Do you stand by the proposal of the elimination i have heard you made very positive statements and we are concerned about the future of her leaders it is been a positive program in the Appropriation Committee just recommended an paramount funding. Give us a little bit of how you stand. Madame chair, i will give you a backwards look in the forwards of fma. My backwards look to my previous position to be the governor of the state of texas and the work that we did there. While randy is a member of the texas legislator, we Work Together on really exciting successful Publicprivate Partnerships, texas enterprise fund, technology fund. When you think about the cuttingedge technology became out of the National Labs francis, the dollars that we expend in the arena, our desire technology and commercialize it. That is what its about. I respect ombs work and what they do but ill be honest, i respect the congress more. And i understand how the process works. I think Ranking Member over was spot on when he reminded us this is a starting point and we recognize that. Going forward, just like i said in other Committee Hearings previously, respect this process and i understand how it works. We are going to expend the dollars and hopefully very wisely and thoughtfully and officially that congress appropriates. So as you will have historically said, we want to be run efficiently and effectively, be wise about it but we hear the message and Previous Congress sent a clear message about what they think it needs to be and i hope reflection of your desire for this program to go forward but these dollars thoughtfully with the result of programs that are making a Better Future with this country. Thank you. You had dialogue with stakeholders as to whether or not they would continue to invest in these programs without support or has there been the opportunity for that dialogue . Yes madame chair. There has been that dialogue with stakeholders. As a matter fact, timeliness every question is today, doe is going to be announcing in 2019 Technology Virtualization on project selections. There are 77 different projects and they will be matched with funds in the private sector. As a matter fact, i think theres about seven of you on the committee, congress impaired district is one of those that will be receiving some that. You are all going to have plenty for projects south to lengthen the answer of little bit more madame chair, those conversations are almost continuing because of the work that is going on at the National Labs and the focus of the department when it comes to im a big believer in a personal and professional way that Publicprivate Partnerships are very, very good marginalizing technology that is developed in the National Labs. Thank you very much my time is expired and all recognized mr. Weber. Thank you madame chair and im glad to hear the secretary you have national day july 24 and honor of Charlie Crist birthday. So happy birthday in advance governor. I didnt realize he had that kind of pull you know. [laughter] as you know president xi my bill, the Nuclear Energy innovation capability act and the law last fall. While ive been pleased to see the department take important steps in implementing the legislation such as announcing the mission for the versatile test reactor which is authorized and the bill we have heard little from the department about the rest of my bill. So talking about the budget specifically i was disappointed to see the school year 2020 budget request did not include 20 for the National Center was included in the budget request. Just by way of note, this Innovation Center is critical for the advance and will allow private companies to prove reactor designs without having to endure the lengthy nrc licensing process is my understanding that the dod is interested in this funding and reactor prototype one of the programs. My question to you, how do we not get the on the budget, what are your thoughts on the process im going to ask adam secretary, the bar to share a little bit of his observation. Before we do that i want to say, we think of the most Exciting Research that is being done at the department is dealing with small reactors that are out there, with two private Sector Companies that are working incredibly close with, we have a piece of land on Idaho National and property where we will be building this out and see a progress aid on this. We think that not only from a commercialization aspect is a been able to deliver emission free power, we d attend fy 2020 includes 160 million cut to the Fusion Energy Science Program and as a result proposes 108 million in u. S. Contributions to the Theater Project which is the world leading International Research collaboration and inFusion Energy that has in the past received wrong and continued bipartisan support from the very committee. This level is just over one third of what is required in fiscal year 2020 to maintain u. S. Commitment to participate in my question, is the department recommending that we withdraw because its hard to square fusion budget which would make the u. S. Responsible for delaying the project and increasing the overall cost with maintaining international commitment. Are we thinking of withdrawing from the project . How can we expect other countries to make investments in the u. S. Hosted International Projects like the long baseline trina facility we dont keep this commitment. You know the history of the space it got sideways back when i should appear in the spring of 2017, it was in dire strength. An app or management, there is not a type of result that any of us were comfortable with. Subsequently, the avenue executive director that is doing really good work. We have regained our confidence. I went in was on the ground to see and talk and to interact with the folks there where the facility is. We have become convinced that they are making the right progress. We are doing more and cut original, illinois thats coming out of california rather than direct procreation, with that said, the hundred seven lido request for 2020 is sufficient to maintain the progress on the highest priority, u. S. Hardware contributions that we are making. Into either your questions pacifically. We are recommending that we continue to be engaged with this cautiously, optimistic that when we roll back in here for the the next budget cycle will have better evidence that theyre making. I appreciate that. No surprise youre focused on an already on top of it. Again, i think its important and i think we want to continue the commitment as much as we possibly can i am over my time i go back. Thank you very much. Thank you mr. Secretary being here, following up on congressman webers on Fusion Energy i wanted to mention this facility at the Lawrence Livermore national lab is the Worlds Largest laser run by the National Nuclear security ministration, is the premier facility within the United States for high energy and city in the confinement research. I was concerned that the budget from the ministration was low. However, Administration Committee has provided little le funding. When we lowball it does have an impact on morale even though, is not the first time its happened under the prior ministration as well. Where the request is what congress is level funding but has an impact that is not positive on the morale of the workforce. As for the future, i would like to ask about the Energy Research and innovation act the president signed last fall. There is a provision direct you to establish and support an r d program in diffusion for energy applications, there was a clear recommendation and the National Academy report which highlighted several promising areas to explore with the enormous Energy Potential of Fusion Energy concepts. These are areas that the stockpile Stewardship Program would never pursue you because its really not what the Research Needs are quite different. What is the status of the Department Implementation of the now statutory direction to establish and support Energy Research and Development Program estimate. Like a i would like to have him swayed for detail specific. We are very much focused on seeing marshall move forward. We have been very enthusiastic about the private sector also working with us myself including congressman where he went to the university at irvine. In the confinement there is a company that came out of technology from livermore called general fusion which is actually approaching from a confinement point of view. We have accelerated our work with the private sector including confinement company and we look forward to advancing technology as well as others. Said that is the Department Program is private sector . No, most is the science area, what weve seen theres been a growth in the private sector also. That is good. There is over a billion dollars of private sector money. And one of them understood confinement and we are engaged with them on a number of programs to engage with them amongst others. I want to add, you followup with a more detailed writing report on the status of implementing this statue where we are, next steps and the like. In normalcy important to the committee on both sides of the aisle and to our country in the world. I would appreciate that if you cut let me add to that that i and madeleine here but to go take a look at one or both of the private sector effort that are going on. Tad, in orange county. Its in a ru irvine. Its fascinating work. Then Idaho National lab some of the work that is going on there. I think you are nextdoor and with the life source there. It is down the road you understand that. But investment we are making today we may look back on 20 years from now and say well done. I will note, thank you for your enthusiasm for the national lab, its very important. If we put the focus on this area of research that we should we will get there a lot sooner, we have never adequately funded the signs on i think you are sec. My time has expired. Thank you much. Thank you, madam chair holding the steering and thank you for it. Mr. Secretary. About half of the people in this room are old enough to remember the fuel crisis, the Energy Crisis of 1973 where everybody in the world, everybody in this country that wanted to get gas to get in line on tag day wait for hours to get have to think of that into gas price it brought everything to a screeching stop. In Response Congress passed and president carter signed the act in 1977 which created the department of energy to make sure we would never again be victims of such an Energy Crisis. And i commend you for reaching the current point of her right now at an unprecedented level of energy independence. Thank you job was on i was very happy to see your references to space in your video presentation, ultimately the expiration of space is about the survival of the human species and explains the unknown explainer knowledge. Last year the house signed space and Technology Committee Work Together to pass h. R. 5 89, a bipartisan department of energy with recent bill is now law. In part of it just a program on lowdose Radiation Research with any office of science is going to be necessary to better understand the future of human space i paid i wondered to give us a little bit of an update on the status on the plan to implement the program and if not cumulative. Thank you. That focus on the partnering between doe and other agencies of government and in this case nasa. It is one of the more fascinating things that we do, particularly developing the ways propel, there is going to be work that is done in reactors may be part of the tie, but the other side, theres a program that i think it is called crusty, and i get to see the work theyre doing on it and i was at a test site a few months back and the one Reactor Technology and lows almos they e partnering, private partnerships nasa, dod together on some of these projects, the National Labs and are, lows almost in the white 12 National Security complex interNational Security, i called the nevada test site, thats not the property are where they are building and testing is fullscale prototypes Nuclear Reactors. We are going to get back into space we are going to go very far in his went be driven by funding that you will are making available for the National Labs. Thank you. I go back and cure much and i want to follow up on a conversation. Regarding the Budget Hearing in the 123 Nuclear Agreement with saudi arabia. At that time there were negotiations in place and i think in your comment there was some hesitation of moving forward without the 123 agreement and for the record the Thomas Energy act of 1954 requires Cooperation Agreement which is the 123 agreement for exported Nuclear Commodities and i know this past march, earlier this year you approved the a10 authorization for transfer of certain nuclear Energy Technology to saudi arabia and while that authorization does not require the 123 agreement be in place, part of the approval process is to consider whether the transfer of these technologies are in the best interest of the United States which is what the 123 agreement typically symbolizes and let me put it in context, my other committee is the House Foreign Affairs committee, obviously we are very concerned about the tension in the region and we know, we obviously pulled out of the iran gluteal in recent days and the restarting the nuclear program. Last year the saudi conference on 60 minutes adjusted that if iran were to pursue Nuclear Weapons they would be within the right to pursue Nuclear Weapons as well. I think all the members of this committee and certainly overthinking about the United States interest would be very concerned about seeing a Nuclear Arms Race takeoff in the middle east and one of the most uncivil part of the world. Both in my role as chairman of the subcommittee and oversight for foreign affairs, could you give us an update on where we are thank you. I think you described whitestone porn with United States engaged in the process. If you really care about non preparation you care about peace in the middle east if you will in the theaters broadest context. The United States been involved, being engaged, continuing to have a discussion, negotiation going on, not just with saudi arabia but with all the folks that we can bring the table on this wherever they may be. It is important from a edification process is not a blessing or is a keys do. Do as you will. The sign off on part of 810 says it is okay to have a conversation, its okay to start this conversation with the u. S. , Technology Company dealing with Civil Nuclear and you dont necessarily have to have a 123 agreement in place to do that, thailand is a great example of a country where we have signed part eight tens with and then there was other misinformation is secret and it is not. Some of it is for price into proprietary and previous ministration made that proprietary information. Off the books speak appropriately. But we try to be, we have a reading room for the folks to look at it and were working with members of congress that are really interested in this one what is going on as well. Given the tensions in the region, this is a cup located issue, i would push for the 123 agreement. I understand, theres a competing interest of the russians and the chinese and the saudis, but they are really serious about this, they want to be a serious player in the world, we have the best technology in the best companies and they should not go in that direction. I made the statement to the leadership, the kingdom that if you want to send a message to the world if youre serious and want to be adult members of the World Community you need to sign a very strong 23 agreement with the United States. Great. Thank you. I am back. Thank you, chairwoman johnson and Ranking Member lucas. I appreciate hearing. Will the gentleman yield. I will yield to you sir. Thank you for joining us today and i congratulate you secretary. On the excellent job you are doing at the department of energy. I think its amazing to see with the regulatory agenda policies can do with the National Security at the same time. Was encouraged by the ministration longterm strategy for valuable Nuclear Energy. And to develop the necessarys attorneys. Nuclear energy is critically important to arizona for nearly 30 of the states electricity comes from Nuclear Energy. Ive been a Public Service company in the state is served 2. 7 Million People and operates appear underpowered which produces the 70 of the States Energy the Nuclear Power plant is the largest source of cleaner energy providing over 2500 jobs and generate Economic Impact of 2 billion. All while omitting no Greenhouse Gases. You visited arizona and february, you stated President Trump is focused on having a Diverse Energy portfolio that includes Nuclear Energy. We are glad you came out and imprisoning glad you came to arizona to see what were doing their print he also stated and request needs to be engaged in the development of the next generation of Nuclear Power so mr. Secretary, im wondering if you would elaborate on the departments efforts of the development of the next generation Nuclear Power. The advanced Reactor Technology program is what you have reference. We are doing the r d on that as we speak to address the longterm technical barriers that we have an smr as part of this and i think from my perspective responding for micro reactors, and micro reactors, this is particularly of interest the dod as we live in this worlo talk about resiliency and some point time today at the grid and what is going on. But from a military standpoint having these micro reactors, even smaller than our smrs to develop the power and some of the military operations is going between amount durability to perform the National Security mission that we have and we are continuing, to support the development of new skill power, that is their efforts complete the rights of the process and commercialize the design and build associated with the supply chain that they will need, partial deployment of those reactors and that is happening at the Idaho National lab outside idaho falls in 2026 as a predictive the timeframe on that. We know, keefer s, will have to have lower capital cost to build these points. We all recognize that with the challenges that the Civil Nuclear program has got. In reducing the schedule times, cost that going to building those, be focused on the supply chain, keeping it in the United States and the components that are fabricated by u. S. Companies for this and again, when we are able to do that we will be able to send a message that number one, our Energy Supply is going to be harder to disrupt the weather is cyber attack, natural disaster, all of that is going to be roughly affected by these advanced reactors and the development of those. So mr. Secretary, with regard to that, we talked about private enterprise and the role in this. I do incentivized the private sector to participate and accelerate the science with this. One of the fastest ways is for government to get out of the way and a regulatory standpoint. From a cost and point. I dont want anybody to walk away thinking i have left my understanding of how states function. States have to be there engaged in this process as well. In State Government not be an impediment to the development of these technologies as well. For that matter, states the impediment to the involvement of all the above Energy Portfolio for this country print i would suggest one of the best ways we can send a message is we want you to invest in this to make sure my permit or regulatory that we create more of a hurdle for these companies to be able to bring the product to the market. Thank you very much. Thank you to the chairwoman and Ranking Member, think you secretary. For being here today. Last time i asked you about quantum computing and today i would like to start my question on the exceptional threat of Climate Change in the department effort to accelerate transition to clean energy. Secretary. , the Fourth National Climate Assessment makes clear Greenhouse Gas an omission overe past six decades, the department of energy is one of the 13 federal agencies in the u. S. Program that contributed to the assessment. So did the department of energy sign off on the findings of the Fourth National Climate Assessment . This is a yes or no question. Yes. You grease National Climate is the result of collaborative reviewed effort across federal agencies compiled by the nations top scientists. Yes. According to the assessment, fossil fuel combustion accounts for 77 of her nation total Greenhouse Gas emission. Do you agree with this finding . Yes i welcome a conversation how we can clean up the environment no matter which side of the aisle. But what we are focused on at the department is coming up with new innovations, new technology that will help us address this issue of the climate i have more questions. Im going to ask about that. The assessment identifies without a rapid carbonization of the World Energy System over the next few decades, it is unlikely will be able to reach the 2 degrees celsius warming target that was set. Do you agree with that . I would like to get paul the bar to share with you the head of the International Agency said within the last 30 days about the decarbonization of the planet i would like you to submit that for the record. Also mr. Secretary, the Natural Resource council sent a letter to this committee, office of Energy Efficiency or eer e spend the funds that were appropriated by congress in fiscal year 2018. The president fiscal year 2020 budget request outlines the ministration plan to reprogram 353 million prior year balances from eer e to help pay for fiscal year 2020 program. That requires the ministration to obligate funds in congress uppercase money the executive branch. Last year this committee learned a request from chairwoman dawson, that the ministration violated the control act by one third of the budget you can understand why we are concerned but the same issue occurring at eera. So it is a lot agencies for obligation funds when rescission is requested by the president and approved by congress. Secretary peary, are you aware of any deferral or rescissions that congress is approved for fiscal year 2018 or 19 funding for doe programs customer. I am not. How did the total number announcements compared to the number of announcements issued fiscal year 18 today. s are secretary you are the witness here today i would like you to answer. I will refer to my experts if you dont mind. We issued those and they are in the middle of reviews right now for 2019. Mr. Sec. Will you recommit to distributive does appropriated funds for 2019 and 2020 in accordance rational. Yes i project that. Thank you very much. You. It is great to have a texan in the department of energy. I want to thank you first of all for your report, i find it personally refreshing that we had a conference of report that recognizes security challenges and the breakthroughs we need to make for advancement. It never mind were supposed to be as a charset response will use of taxpayer dollars. The perio to help deliver clean and reliable power to the people of texas and across the country. Much of the reactors are gauging with many Nuclear Plants nearing the end of their life sentence. The department longevity and safety at Nuclear Plants the Program Works with universities and Companies Like south texas project on research. Could you provide an update to the program . Lets take that one for the record indicated to you and the rest of the Committee Members in writing. Your written court touched on minerals and theres a lot of talks of alternative energy having the approach. Could you discuss what they might be doing and we know china controls 70 of them so as we look to alternative forms of energy as we are becoming a dominant nation thats finally independent and energy we dont want to trade that for the Rare Earth Minerals also as it mentions extreme National Security and those sorts of things. And i think thats very succinct i want to stop and draw a line right there and say thats looking backwards into some of the innovation and Technology Going on at the department at this particular point in time may shed some light thats dealing witdealing withrare eare controlled by maybe some countries that dont necessarily have our best interest in mind may not be as big a challenge as what we thought it was 12 months ago. Im going to ask paul to share with you because he is fresh out of seeing some of this that has tthe stuff hasto do with the bae its really fascinating and ive always said that it is the holy grail if we are able to get to that point that we can use our Renewables Solar and wind in particular to power the storage and what we are finding now is that the elements that are being used to create some of the batteries are not Rare Earth Minerals and elements we have right here in the United States we are going to be in control of our future substantially more of the Battery Storage. A couple of examples obviously a as the secretary said we didnt have the source from places that would have to have more of a challenge. The second thing as an example that we did with the support of this committee is the recycling batterbattery announcement had n made at the national lab we are looking at a world with all of these batteries being used and the economy now how we can reuse those rather than the source from other locations. You mentioned on the electric grid in 2017 you produced a report on the list of recommendations we should do to prepare for an attack. Do you know of any progress thats been made . A substantial amount. In april of this year, we issued a 35 milliondollar per Cyber Security research sale were research called to the Research Centers, and it and they are working on what you are talking about, thsome of the areas of desirability and the infrastructure to. Its used for testing that could be used to verify and validate Operational Technology equipment, software and also funding opportunity announcement was released in the month prior in march to establish a cyber manufacturing institute, and that one is co managed by the Caesar Office to mitigate Cyber Security threats and theres a lot of movement in that space. The doe National Labs and private sector in a very constructive way to send a message to our citizens and those that operate our electric and Power Systems that we are doing Everything Possible to protect them against both cyber threats, physical threats and natural disasters as well. I think your governor is about to do an announcement on infrastructure resiliency and what have you in our two states. From time to time, we get more natural disasters than we would like to have, but how we build that infrastructure and develop that resiliency of the grid is very, very important. Not just because of the cyber side of this, but ten years ago that wasnt the problem it is today. Thank the secretary for coming today, and i do want to say i worked at the National Laboratories in albuquerque and Renewable Energy and its right outside of my district. Im well awari am well aware ofy and quantity so i would encourage you to support those as much as you possibly can. Do you believe the research on Climate Science is needed or do you think the climat that climae is settled . We are continuing to add to the body of science that out there. What makes them uniquely qualified among the agencies to conduct research on climate . When you go back and look at the history of Climate Science. This election issued yesterday on climate modeling and this is another example of how their role in the Predictive Modeling of whats going on in the environment, these severe storms that we are seeing. I know you are not intentionally filibustering. I strongly urge you to continue to double down on the quite a coup Climate Research we are going to have to have those tools available. Its to Better Connect them with what they called interconnection seems to. They completed a study on this. However, the Committee Staff has informed me that the release of the porch but contains findings from the studies has been delayed without explanation and the authors have been told not to discuss it publicly. Are you aware that the limits have been placed on the authors discussing these and whether they remain in place today . Will you make a commitment to make this publicly . Yes we will go back and find out where that originated from and make it right. In april of 2018, the council had 46 million funding opportunity announcement on solar are empty just days before the winners were to be announced. Can you or anyone on your staff explain why that was at the last minute to . We will get back to you. I appreciate that. And i appreciate also your comments on the Artificial Intelligence. We will continue to pursue this subject and i know they have a lot to offer on that subject. I would urge you to keep those labs funded and keep the morale high an by nonthreatening the funding year after year and with that i will yield back. Thank you very much, mr. Olson. Dont go over your time. [laughter] never my intention. I want to start something important. I want to give you a presentation from a texas lady that we both know and admire. She fell out of a tree, broke her spine and hasnt walked for three years. As you see she is a fellow aggie and wants to thank you for meeting with her and inspire her to get moving forward to college station. So to her behalf maybe you can find some time to come down. The cafe has the best chicken fried steak and all of texas and maybe pop over to the power plant right across the way. You dont even have to use the extra chicken fried steak to get me there. As you know, it picks up some Nuclear Waste thats been used by the industry and then disposes of it. It is needed and this is one of the ways it is a known carcinogen. They send it off for safe storage somewhere in america that there is a very small amount that gets picked up but cant be kept here because it came from the foreign sources originally. Its an identical field. We cant dispose of it because it came from another country. So we have these sites all across the country now sprinkled with this radioactive waste. There was a small release of the 137 and workers took that task without regards to where it came from so are you aware of this and how can we help you to make this common sense . We are familiar with this and i apologize for turning my back to you and asking a question because i wanted to make sure that i was correct but this is going to require a statutory change which you just mentioned and we will assist you any way we can from the standpoint of using science at the labs or what have you. Its the exact same elements produced at a national lab reactor. It prohibits the foreign produced elements of being placed so we would support your efforts there and anything we can do from a scientific standpoint to back that up, consider it vital. Thank you so much. Final question about ai. The cochairs of the house and the caucus in your video is awesome. Can you discuss the potential for partaking in the grid and the pipelines, protecting the National Labs . This is the future and how you do that it is such a broad sometime in the futur future lee just leave it at this, i dont think there is a field of the te government is participating in it has an have any more potentio have a bigger impact on our systems and Artificial Intelligence. The supercomputers of the department operates five of the ten fastest of the offbeat, and we are at the next level operating the extra scale computer coming online over the district in 2021 will do a billion transactions per second. That is the speed with which i think it is up to 50 times faster then the computers we have today. Its fascinating work. We will find answers to challenges we have no idea we would be able to address in the very near future. Thank you very much. Thank you madam secretary for being here. I want to start by framing the issues of Workforce Development building the workforce tomorrow as well as the cuttingedge development are very important both to me and my district and energy is a big issue in oklahoma as it is across the country so i want to start with the funding because i think we have to have a conversation about the role of Technology Development and in its history theyve funded high risk high reward innovation projects that create clean energy and Economic Growth and the important thing about that is the 145 projects that have been supported to have attracted 2. 9 billion followon funding and 76 of the projects have gone on to form new companies. I say that to ask in the proposed budge budget it basicay zeroes out and in the balance of the Publicprivate Partnership we are looking at the cuttingedge development of Government Investment leading to follow on actual companies and Economic Growth and development so what are you doing to communicate the success that this program has had to the president and his budget team . Mostly sitting in front of committees like this defending what they have historically done. And i will continue to do that. I recognized from time to time we are not alway always on the e page as him, but this is one of those. I hope you phrased that because it is an important way to encourage that Economic Growth and development by investing in cuttingedge. Turning for a moment to cybersecurity and manufacturing. Its critical and i think we need to talk about the manufacturing is a program of course you probably know is a network of advanced Manufacturing Technology areas that have the gold of establishing American Leadership in manufacturing. With respect to cybersecurity, which is absolutely critical in the hightech manufacturing, the manufacturing times, which is funded by the department of defense is focused on improving cybersecurity and digital manufacturing and that is their focus. On march 26 your department announced a 70 milliondollar reward for cybersecurity for a new manufacturing institute. So, secretary, my question is why the duplication of effort in those projects that are basically the same and have you encouraged your staff to work with them because this is very important, but in terms of streamlining our program and not duplicating efforts, why the duplication here . We worked with the secretary in charge of research at the dod quite as others at nasa we each focus on different areas. To be direct, the dod focuses on the without with the operations. The department of energy is more about science so theres different applications for different aspects. The dod for example doesnt focus on cybersecurity. They focus on cybersecurity for what they do. So theres a lot of similarities and overlap in their research and our research, but there are some very practical point of research that are different. Its hard to fully get into that here today. Just a quick followup on that did you coordinate to build the scope of this program do not overlap, or is there an overlapping of the manufacturing because it is a whole new institute are there not other ways that this could be coordinated . We do it all the time around cyprus onyx colonists when i cant answer but we can followup with you. I would appreciate that and yield back the balance. Thank you for being here today. One of the challenges i think we always face in the committee is the basic research which is absolutely critical for the future of the nation and things folks on the ground are feeling on a daily basis and with that in mind especially when we talk about things like the quantum computing and big data these are important buzzwords but how to bdowe connect it to the dayto. The number circulated as 20 veterans. I know theyve engaged in a partnership to solve just got with the use of some of the technology. I know my colleague has introduced legislation to reauthorize the partnership and i guess i would like to turn it over to you just to hear from your perspective how is the Partnership Working and what are you working on specifically and how can we do even better . Thank you for your serious passion about this issue. Probably every one of us in here, because it isnt just about veterans. Its about our kids, colleagues, citizens of the country. You and i talked about this and the congressman and i talked about it and the importance of what we potentially have in front of us now because of the breakthroughs that we are seeing in the partnerships that are being created between historically disparate agencies of government but nobody ever thought they were supposed to be involved in the dramatic brain injury. What we are showing people is that we have a real role to play. We have one of the most important timportance to play bf that computing capacity. The data that they have and they know we can trust us, no to some of the private sector folks im pretty sure the va and the veterans know they can trust the department of energy not to allow this we are going to continue to look for ways. You all have funded a line item at the doe and the program is funding into the partnership if i made the university of california, San Francisco, finding just some big breakthroughs dealing with brain science. So this is important work. I may join my colleagues on the committee to introduce the securing American Science and security act designed to improve the ability to protect federally funded research from the espionage Cyber Attacks and threats. I think its a huge issue i applaud your efforts on the Talent Program and again i was hoping you could provide an update on what the policy is and how you see it going forward. The first thing we implemented as the secretary mentioned was to ban people working at the national complex to work for the foreign Talent Program from china, russia, north korea, iran so we will be giving people who are currently employed in the complex working for the Chinese State that is no longer going to be allowed to make the decision of either workinposition of eitherworkingr us. This is consistent with the cuttingedge universities where a lot of them are beginning to realize that this is the conflict of interest so we are consistent with the systems are looking at. Whether the list should be included before we do any work with anyone from those countries that we have an extra review so this would be an extra review such as quantum and the new generation of batteries and so on. My final comment i would encourage when i think of the innovation space as a funding component and a talent component and some others, but not only should we be about making sure that folks are not playing for both sides but how do we attract more great talent here to the u. S. . Thank you for joining us this morning. Obviously the agency has many daunting challenges before it and very timely. Every year the epa publishes data on economy wide Greenhouse Gas emission and 2017 the transportation sector was the highest but now not too far behind it, 22 was industry. Emissions from the sector are expected to grow in the near thr term and of many industrial processes are considered to be difficult without with the beautiful coast effective alternatives. Coming from the transportation manufacturing the majority of the federal spending focuses on reducing emissions from the electricity sector. These are critical and worthy investments and they believe they must support innovation and clean energy not just clean electricity. What do you agree that they can help to develop cost competitive technologies that reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions while ensuring Domestic Energy intensive manufacturers continue to be leaders in innovation and remain globally competitive . I think that they are engaged in some of those efforts as we well. The solution while i was the governor of texas i had the opportunity to put in place some programs that did exactly that. If you will remember that was a reduction in the emissions from old and efficient fleet type of engines that we give a tax credit. It gives them incentive to the states to implement programs like this. Im proud of what the u. S. Has done from the standpoint of reducing emissions in the total reduction of emissions in nevada that a lot of that, but i goi think that is most of our folks at the difference an departmentt is a temporary bump back up and again as we transition where we can sell them to remove inefficient coal burning plants for the cleanburning energy i think that is just good all the way around. If i can get the indians and the chinese to recognize that, then we will be making some any Technology Options we can explore for the manufacturing this includes cogeneration, combined heat and power which can greatly improve the Energy Efficiency at the facilities. Mr. Secretary, is supporting greater priority for the department . I dont know if i would put it as a priority. Its one of the areas we care about just like over in the congressmans district where the facility is. But the point is innovation and technology is the key. They told us we found off the Energy Resources we had in this country and they were wrong. Its going to be found through the Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning that we have the power to control at the department of energy because of the funding by this committee. Other advancements may be necessary and i understand there are some works in developing this technology and file it isnt yet costeffective, i believe that it will ultimately be necessary for certain industrial applications and what will you do to encourage us among the relevant offices would have the resources to ensure they are being given proper consideration . I have made that one a priority. Up to and including in the Clean Energy Ministerial, w because ts began as a priority and a global level for the Clean Energy Ministerial that was initially held in china in this last year in vancouver. So we are making progress not just here in the United States but global event flags if you will buy the partners around the globe. That needs to be applied with industrial motion. With that, i have exhausted my time and i will now recognize the representative for five minutes. Thank you for being here. We appreciate the Research Funding that you mention in your initial comments. They conduct coordinated and Geographical Research in support of developing Products Industry from the dedicated bioenergy cross so each is led by the National Laboratory leading the Research University with the multidisciplinary stakeholders and science engineering industries. I support the industries and i am particularly interested in the research and development that cant diversify the industries and tha helps them to produce more products while lowering the cost and reducing the environmental impact. So, my question is what do you see in fiscal year 2020 and beyond to support the bioEnergy Research centers to expand restrictions . We are very supportive of these Research Centers in each of them are led by the doe labs were top universities and sometimes in partnership basically designed to lay out the scientific groundwork for new biobased economy. The following senators were selected based on an open competition. Great lakes by a Research Cent center. They are partnering with michigan state. There is another Oak Ridge National lab into Berkeley National lab and there is a center for energy bio Product Innovation and thats at the university of illinois or urba urbana. Theres been over 2500 peerreviewed publications that came out of that and theres been a thousand plus from the standpoint of what is your return on investment, the invei think its been pretty good. I have one other question and that deals with looking at another area to the veterans ves administration and i recently responded to some legislation along with my colleague. I know youve indicated that use of the supercomputing capacity to tackle the challenges in the healthcare space so would you mind elaborating again on what kind of a role you think they might play in helping the federal agencies including the Veterans Administration to better understand the Opioid Crisis . The good news is we are making some good progress. When it was at one of the apex is that being the governor of texas i had the opportunity to go to the Medical Center on a fairly regular more than i would like to be going to men and women who were burned and then at that particular point in time we saw the federal government being rather liberal in the dispensing of opioids and half a dozen years later we figured out we created a whole generation of young people dependent on these things and we started pulling back on them this is probably three or four years ago. It decreased by 90 the amount of opioids that they were giving to the people coming in and they were coming up with different ways. With that said, we ha have a rel crisis in this country. We think it may be genetically driven to some degree for them tso againstsupercomputers and oy to do genetic testing and doing it in a way that people know that this information is going to be safe and secure, the department of energy is going to play a vital role in being a partner working with nih and the va and some of our private sector partners and University Systems to find a solution to the Opioid Epidemic that we have in this country and my projectionist this will happen sooner rather than later. Thank you. I will be healed back. Thank you madam chair if mr. Secretary. I just want to tell you how much i have the privilege of escorting to the National Laboratory system. I think there was a slide that was going to be put up here in a moment if we could try to put it on the screen, please. We are also planning to be visiting all 17 of the National Laboratories and i will be leaving as largely a congressional delegation as i can throw. The first of these certainly after the National Lab Day we will be going to the new mexico National Labs, los alamos, and also repeated the antimissile work and the trinity test site where the weapon was detonated about 75 years ago. The next one is going to be in the bay area where the representatives on this committee will be the host of the visit to the bay area labs to the visit to the labs and which by the way one of the things that they have done at is to use them to directly image the nobel prizewinning research and one of the wonderful things that are often not talked about and of course where i worked for 23 years before getting into this insane business. We are also then later on going to host a visit to the denver area and western labs and at times to be scheduled the cochairs of the caucus will be hosting visit to oak ridge and a visit weve already had our first visit. I understand why you enjoy so much visiting these land and it is really essential that the entire congress recognizes the importance of these. If theres an opportunity to join any of these you are welcome. In my remaining time i would like to discuss this comes up in many ways you mentioned they signed a letter where the navy was trying to discourage congress from perceiving something that has been pursued for quite a while now to encourage the navy to look at the possibility of using low enriched uranium and its reactors. I would like to emphasize the reason that the nobel prize winnerprizewinners signed a letr abdicating there is a reason we dont test Nuclear Weapons. If we did, our Nuclear Arsenal would be safer, cheaper, more reliable but we do not test the Nuclear Weapons because if the rest of the world followed us on that example it would be a National Security disaster. The situation is identical. If we start using high enriched uranium in applications where it isnt strictly needed into the rest of the world follows us can do things like reactors for icebreakers or you name it, things they have the right to do under the nonproliferation treaty would be a disaster because they have everything they need to make the Nuclear Weapons and so for 40 years we worked on minimizing this and we will continue to engage with you to make sure everything we have the option of using low enriched or high enriched uranium which was the safe one and not these weapons grade. Weve already communicated on this and then we will be continuing. I had a grand total of 23 seconds left. What would you like to get donee organizationally that would improve their effectiveness . I got some pretty good advice from the former secretary and governor of new mexico bill richardson. He said dont mess with the National Labs. And frankly that is pretty good advice. For the record i would like to invite all of you to come out to your neck of the woods for an event where we bring out a private sector on a host of different areas that again we dont have time for me to put on my hat and talk about these. Whether youve got one in your district or not if you have the opportunity to go to a national lab, please do it. Its the most brilliant capable men and women who are making i think more different than any single group of people in this country. Youve been a wonderful ambassador to science and an administration that makes that not always an easy job. In the timeliness of this it is on Artificial Intelligence. Thank you very much. Thank you mr. Secretary for being here this morning. Approximately 25 of the district in ohio is rural. For my constituents to access a quality education of Science Technology mathematics it is critical many of the job openings that cannot be filled in ohio are stem focused. They reach the communities like all the time. One of the areas we are focused on is on the office of Economic Impact and diversity and the program is created to expand the participation of the individuals who historically may not have the same opportunities. I can speak a little bit of historically to this. I grew up in a place my School Grades one through 12 at 115 kids. I probably wouldnt be sitting here in front of you if i had gone to a Bigger School because i could use how to and they wouldnt end up being a veterinarian. Organic chemistry changed my life and made a pilot out of me. The point is a lo that a lot ofe communities dont have historically access to some of the Science Technology engineering and math programs that children really needed to be successful in this program. The chief commercial officer are currently working with our National Labs again and the university of chicago to do a roundtable this summer to explore some pathways of continuing to harness these kids with this technology and a i am pretty excited. Weve got a program called making nuclear cool again at the department. We are reaching out and helping to. When i was going to college, this was a pretty cool thing and its lost a lot of its shine if you will. So again, whether it is small reactors or micro reactors we are talking about, its bringing the Nuclear Energy interest back into that area and preparing people to be the scientists and technicians we are going to need to require and Rural America absolutely doesnt need to be overlooked any longer. Thank you for that answer. The bill passed out of this Committee Last month and underscores my support for making Strategic Investments in r d. Mr. Secretary if this Bipartisan Legislation was enacted and the department had the ability to open an Additional Center of innovation, was manufacturing challenges would you want to research . Theres a host of areas and you think about secretary carson actually had o on them all withn the last 30 days some manufactured housing. When we talk about where im from manufactured housing thats not the case anymore because of our manufacturing that we have today we are able to build some housing that is highly efficient and that is cheaper substantially, so advanced manufacturing in places that you dont historically think about. Automotive were literally that y building a Nuclear Reactor in the parts of its Nuclear Reactor it is another of those priority is that we have. Thank you very much, thank you madam chair. On the coalfired plan plante are enjoying this in the natural gas and shield us revolution im not going to rehash this again but we focused on one of the first projects ive done as secretary at the plant outside of houston and Fort Bend County where 90 plus of the emissions are captured and then send over to be used in the enhanced Recovery Process and 80 miles away out of sight of victoria texas. It is a coal powered plant. We are not building any new ones. What are you giving wit doing we natural gas plants . This is one of the most exciting things. He gets out into that area more than i do. We have greater access pulling carbon out of the air into the ocean, how is the National Academy received by the department of energy and what do you do about the negative technology . Let me give you a little statement that might sound really interesting. The head of the International Agency in paris i dont think theres anybody ive been dealing with that has a better handle on. This isnt political as he looks at the facts and what have you and he says if we eliminate the cars running on gasoline today, transition every one of them to electric, we would still need 81 of the oil and Gas Production that is occurring in the world to be able to continue on developing manufacturing and running our fleet engines and what have you. So, we know weve got some challenges here from the standpoint of how we are going to deal with the folks that are talking about completely switching over the fleet to renewable and im not going to argue that can i interrupt . I asked specifically about pulling carbon out of the atmosphere and ocean. Are they working on this, this is one of the national academies. There are projects going on on the ocean side of it, that is my understanding. One more question you mentioned a number of time times about Artificial Intelligence and your excitement. What questions were they attempting to answer . Its across the board. Its things as interesting as concussions. We have been historically taught there are three levels, my old, or excuse become become of his , moderate and severe. And because of the work thats been done at the university of california San Francisco with a program that neuroscience will tell you that there is 28 and thats because of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning on the supercomputers we are running at the department. So, i mean that is just in a very slender area of brain size. So you are using Artificial Intelligence to solve problems across the board not specifically department of energy questions. Its a resource rather than energy questions but they are rising and we are able to find solutions to because of the massive amount of data that we are able to crunch if you will before we didnt have the time and capacity. I appreciate answers about how Carbon Capture. Thank you very much. I yield back. Thank you for your leadership work. I think thats what going on in the Energy Revolution and of the United States of america is one of the greatest news stories and 80 the news story of the 21st century from the exports reaching 10 Million Barrels a day to annex parts of la and gm shifting that entire industry and then as a combat veteran which my colleagues have heard me say on this committee i cant tell you how many veterans we have at walter reed and how many we have lost hauling diesel fuel across the supply lines when many of those old posts and many portions of the military can and should be existing on renewabl renewables. One of the things im most excited about this folder and where florida is going to the solar leftbrace oversight that spilled by Florida Power and white and its to have 30 million pills the 2,030th ten gigawatts of electricity. Im proud to say that theyve eclipsed california now and is in 2191 of the most solar Power Installations for number one in the country for new panels and in the next five years should be number one across the board. So i think the Sunshine State is living up to its name. My question mr. Secretary is how do you see the department really sustaining the private sector growth, and does a conservative i love that its leading the charge on this but obviously its a state issue int and the governor has been a leader how do you see that department continuing to embolden on the solar and renewable atlarge . From the standpoint of continuing to find opportunities to have Publicprivate Partnerships the commercialization of innovation in technology coming out of the National Labs for instance i think they would be looking at ways to give incentives to companies to risk their capital working with universities for instance was just where by and large your state innovation and technology will come from and looking for ways to partner with the doe. They are working together on some of these projects and Florida Power Just Announced a 491 million megawatts utility battery. Thats massive. We are talking so with what you are doing with solar, by the way for the record, solar just bypassed hydro is that right clicks this folder just bypassed hydrohydro. Hydro. Hydro. The solar side of things they are really making some good progress. Battery storage is, i think, as we talked about earlier the holy grail. If i could ask you to submit for the record dod has 63 labs i would be interested how you coordinate a lot of activity and we need to spend those dollars efficiently and how you coordinate it at also spending the scope and then we get into some areas like Waste Disposal that could be more powerful across the board in terms of funding the organization. Let me just hit some of those highlights coordinating between agencies is really important and one of the ways to do that is actually to show up and know what other agencies are doing i am going darpa to talk about what they are doing in ways we can partner with them and quite frankly we had Different Missions and the resiliency side that we talked about we are the agency that has the responsibility and the electrical sector. To make sure that is the idea we responsibility another agencies have areas that come in on the fringes but doe that is their base to make sure we have that we easily can see in the electrical grid. We are doing everything we can and the modeling side of what doe is doing with the environment i think will pay some great dividends in those lowlying areas at sea flooding occurring with the effect of the changing these are some important goals. Thank you mister secretary im on Armed Services as well i yelled back my time. Thank you mister secretary and governor its always good to see you. Its no secret i am excited about solar energy as is my friend to help our nation in the world transition to a clean energy economy. Unfortunately the Administration Proposed cuts of more than 70 percent and justify those to say they are conducting activities that can and should be carried out by the private sector. The administration establish tariffs however on solar cells which supplied the majority of Us Solar Companies these tariffs have arguably raised prices and make it harder for Solar Companies to invest in her own research and Development Activities and notably to companies they were in tended to help that they are now out of business as of this month and with a demonstration on the financial constraints of the tariffs quick. I have no information to acknowledge that i have no knowledge about that for any correspondence. Did you ever consult with the others on the administration such as a trade representative how tariffs could negatively impact as Solar Companies with research and development not necessarily just Solar Companies but there has been a number of companies i have had conversations with that i did share with the ambassador and the challenges the tariffs as proposed as usbased companies and with your success one of my jobs as governor is to get people together and to open some doors it is wise to say here is a constituent ive got with challenges with what you are proposing and i have had some success in being able to put them together. We dont have a deal you with the chinese with specificity but they need to hear from people who were on the ground. Do you think tariffs are more an effective way then to sustai sustain. You are getting out of my area of expertise. Very well. Mister secretary are welcome i want to say what a great country that we live in and im so proud our Carbon Emissions today have a downward trend delivered to Conservation Innovation and also with agriculture and ruled america for a second as i look at the big picture transportation creates 29 percent of the Carbon Emissions and agriculture about 9 percent with this entire country to produce only 9 percent of Carbon Emissions and to transport another for the products out of the country with that in mind to double that agriculture production using less water but still over the last decade weve had a Carbon Footprint so what do we do to help promote conservation and innovations even though we improve it how do we keep working together. I think there is a couple of areas that i would mention traveling through the National Labs to keep in mind what my prior jobs in the state of texas is the agricultural commissioner there is a personal connection and the great contribution that agriculture and those Rural Communities make to america and with that said with the manufacturing side is what area to have some potential to develop more efficient equipment from a strength standpoint and then add a manufacturing facility that is pretty fascinating and made mention of secretary carson had some manufactured housing shown on the mall here in the last 30 days. He even had a vehicle a shelby cobra that was built by the National Labs and the Agricultural Community in the Additive Manufacturing side. And also at the national lab over in california. So the work they are doing with the confession and emission side of it you dont think about the department of energy and agriculture. Thats not the first thing that comes to mind. Also the work they are doing with biofuels in the progress they are making their. There are three examples in the department of energy is making a positive impact on the agricultural communities. Talk about Rural America and the challenges and improvements about 35 percent of is the largest solar farm breaking ground recently but what i have learned to buy those solar panels from china may have remove that supply chain of solar panels to other countries and therefore could pull the project off so it is exciting and those challenges for one of two people in a mile stretch that is different than Battery Storage for big cities so what are they doing for Battery Storage and how that technology is improving . What is the future look like quick. I mentioned earlier what is happening as the governor was laying out with Florida Power on their storage. That technology came from work done at a national lab and some of the work they are doing with Battery Storage. Launchpads that will accelerate Material Development testing and independent evaluation of Battery Materials and battery systems. I asked paul to talk about the elements in these batteries that will be very effective for us and not quite where we dont have that concern where those materials are coming from that developed in the United States with this capability accelerating new technology and obviously collaborating with the doe and the labs out there and the private sector. The states have a role to play as well and one of the things i always remind people is when they think about texas they think of a big oil and Gas Producing state but we also became the number one wind Energy Producing state because we wanted to have a diverse portfolio so the wind energy side that occurred with my friends in europe on a regular basis that texas produces more energy percentagewise than the european union. Thats a good thing. Thank you very much. Thing max. Thank you secretary perry. Earlier this month your department moved a political appointee into Deputy Assistant secretary for Energy Efficiency within doe. Do you know the name of this individual . I can tell you it is alex fitzsimmons. Does that sound familiar quick. Yes. Can you tell me about his qualifications . As a regular practice i dont talk about personnel issues in the public. I will share with what i have learned in the Public Domain he graduated from George Washington university in 2012 with a degree of Political Science and he spent the next four years in a variety of roles a fossil fuel advocacy groups including American Energy alliance. I was surprised to learn that you may not in 2015 while he was there the American Energy alliance called for congress to eliminate the office of Energy Efficiency the very office that he now leads. Are you aware of that quick. No but this is what i am aware of. That was my question. You know about the office of energy. This is going to be good for you you should let me know but im not going to do it. Fair enough. You do know about the office of Energy Efficiency that has fulltime staff that has employees of the lead federal agency for policy programs and Research Manufacturing building and thats what it does. By way of contrast with qualifications with previous Deputy Assistant secretary for Energy Efficiency Kathleen Hogan served in that role for a decade prior to that she served at epa is a Division Director a president ial rank award, Energy Efficiency hall of fame, and a contributor to the Nobel Peace Prize Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. A phd from department of geography at johns hopkins. And her predecessor served Technology Leader for nearly 20 years before rising to the rank of Deputy Assistant secretary. As i understand it mister fitzsimmons is the first ever political appointee to serve in that role and by far is the youngest why did you fill the position with instead of a career technologist quick. I will pass on talking about personal issues. I understand he is serving in an active role can you tell us when you expect to fill that position on a permanent basis quick. I cannot. When you do i hope you find someone with the experience and gravitas to lead the best scientists and engineers. I want to talk about the Budget Proposals this year and the budget request with the massive cuts across the board with higher for the women across the board how many lab employees will lose their jobs. I would have to go back. I think to go back to play that hypothesis game if you do this then what does this look like that is a waste of my time and your time frankly. Do you agree cutting the budget by 70 percent would cause lab employees to lose their jobs. What i can tell you is you can make a statement that cutting a budget by 100 percent would cause people to lose their job but thats not the reality. If you look back historically at what this committee has done. We understand how to manage an agency i had the opportunity to manage a fairly big entity as the governor of the state of texas and i respect the appropriations process. Those appropriators will decide the dollars. If i may forgot i am reclaiming my time i understand what you are saying about the budget and appropriations process but i would ask that you keep in mind even when these proposed cuts are rejected by congress that you understand they have a severe impact on the morale you have spoken so highly of. Thank you and i yelled back. Thank you secretary perry and as a native of houstonian it with the seventh Congressional District where i represent the energy cord or i appreciate all of the above approach and that you embrace the governor of our state and these had led texas to be the leader of Renewable Energy. People indeed are surprised that texas produces the most wind energy of any state in the union more than three times the next meeting state and i give credit to your policies for that and it is important that we are doing with the portfolio to talk about research so there are some Budget Priorities i want to talk about to get your perspective the department of energy has worked on Carbon Dioxide Removal Technology and the Intergovernmental Panel we talked about this morning as well recommends Carbon Capture as a critical piece to combat Climate Change. So doe has worked on technologies like direct air capture and development through fossil energy and Renewable Energy. We have seen some major successes that you referenced earlier in your testimony at the chernobyl plant and also in response to bad net power plants outside of