Transcripts For CSPAN2 Energy Secretary Confirmation Hearing 20240713

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 grew 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 un unconditional support. Thank you. Mr. Deputy secretary, i think its fine to have two different states vying for your love and attention. Slake isalaska is not going to claim 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 tainucano. 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 turn 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 youof 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 is 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 do 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 pretty 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 min 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 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, muniscipals 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 offpower 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 yet, ullet, thanks for 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, eerc, 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 sent 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, replacing 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 noonplan 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. You are familiar with ideology louisiana, and i think it is a the storage of carbon and dioxide and maybe an oil or gas well and creating if he will one more incentive for folks to create and my job and perhaps mothers, so we have a recommendation to pursue this but how could you wrap up the gas and research and Development Program post enactment . I would like to take a quick look on how we might see do this, thanks for taking the time to be with me in your office i heard some pieces about the natural gas interesting, that you made it clear what the impact is, what the revenue could be and what the future could look like if we did apply to natural gas. I must tell you i am not fully understanding all the aspects of this but i understand clearly where you want to go and 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 i should say within the department of energy on Carbon Capture for a cool but id like to study it more id like to engage not only your office but also the laboratories id like to talk about doctor brian, id like to talk to steve ashley and other laboratories as well to see how we might and said terrifies. So you may have answered this next question but what you see is the barriers to the commercialization of commercialization of natural gas, one of the barriers we have now is an irs, rule if we can establish some certainty around those particular rules you will see private capital coming into the game much quicker, i think thats important for us to do, we can do a lot, this committee and the approach creations committee in general ive been very supportive of our work and has 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 come into this. Next, again related the International Energy agency has estimated an increase, with that they imagine or project the increase of Greenhouse Gas emissions related to, that in part that must be related to expanded populations in asia and africa and the fact that disproportionately theyre using coal for their electrical needs. Correct. It occurs to me that if the eu and the u. S. Is decreasing Greenhouse Gas emissions by converting to goal from natural gas, why should we not build on the front and a natural gas capability, it is a mean that you dont want to use sunshine and wind where it is feasible, but for industrial processes giving you the base load. I guess im asking, china by the way is building the coal fired plant so its both a market loss as well as an overall increase in Greenhouse Gas emissions. So what can we do as a nation or your department to promote the use of liquefy natural gas instead of the coal file thats being built so its our technology, our jobs but can we do to encourage that for africa, increase the needs for example. Well we talked about earlier having chief commercialization officer and taking these technologies out of the department of energy and sharing that more broadly, not only here in the United States but across the world, and to the secretary had a fair amount of work. This seems more than just the transfer of research but it also seems a policy that says week a second we have an Energy Industry that is being out hustled by china with consequences not just for jobs but also the fact that theyre using coal instead of gas so therefore releasing, more these have 30 year lifespans at least, so it seems it would go more beyond the transferability of research into almost an industrial policy. Its almost an industrial policy but unfortunately thats not something i can do, thats really something we have to Work Together with the u. S. Congress to adopt this as a national policy, if thats what the Congress Wants to do we would be very supportive of that, i agree with, you it makes perfect sense of when its all natural gas and promote u. S. Energy around the world as a potential you know supplement to renewal bull energy or replacing other perhaps more emissions admitting types of energy, that we have to attach it that allows us to have the best of both worlds if you will Clean Natural gas as well as the technology to offset the emissions of whatever is left in the natural gas. Thank you very much, i yield. Thank you madam chair i wanted to note a historic moment in this hearing when the senator said quote, we cant tackle Climate Change alone, i couldnt agree with him or, i hope that he will earn the president to join the president climate accords which isnt the only Ongoing International effort to deal with this issue, molecule of Greenhouse Gas that comes from the United States causes as much climate problem as one that comes from china or india anywhere else in the world, so im going to speak to the boss and hope we can get back to our Global Leadership and get our signatories to the paris accords, everybody is trying to claim you today, as you know if your ancestors had gone slightly west instead of south you wouldve been a major. I would be. There is substantial population of a canadians and we love them so i know how to pronounce your name because there are many people of similar extraction in the normal third part of our state. First i dont think there is same as research we talked a lot about Energy Independence and the fracking revolution which you know that was supported by Research Funds from the department of energy. Thats correct. So i want to hear, you reassure me that your commitment will be too strong and vigorous and forwardlooking research, whether its in the National Labs or throughout the department, these are very Important National interests in my view. One of the things that ive noticed and one of the things id like to work with this committee and others, is to move some of the research that we are currently doing perhaps more to the basic side of the equation, we have a tremendous organization in the office of science within our department and i would like to see the next generation if you will. Some of the Renewable Technologies that we are beginning to take for granted and we talk about this in your office and thank you for taking the time to meet with me. You know we are looking for the next generation of solar panels. We are looking for the next generation of Wind Technology and storage. We want to think about these things and perhaps a slightly different way as we talk about in your office with regards to Battery Storage, we have long thought a Battery Storage is filling a gap, if sun doesnt shine, cover for hours, if the wind stops blowing, covers two hours if the wind stops will. And when we think about Battery Storage and perhaps more broad context and what i think about that, perhaps battery is important for resilience, not just as a backup for Renewable Energy but fossil fuels as well. I totally agree its a National Security issue and also completely changed world and terms of the use of renewables and im going to brokerage in two weeks with senator alexander, oak ridge has a relationship with the university of maine and its beneficial for both sides and i urge you to support that kind of relationship. Absolutely its a very exciting process, we are very excited about that program and i think you will see it expand. Thank you, im looking forward to it, a couple of substantive questions, a lot of talk about lng exports what had a lot of positive benefits for the economy and also neighbors and friends having a cleaner source of energy, my concern is it if Energy Exports rise to some critical level, i dont know that level is a will start to have a negative effect or maybe a positive effect and make Prices Higher domestically. I am in the consuming business in new england and the low price of gas here is one of our competitive advantages worldwide, i would hate to see us lose that by exploiting to the point where it drives our domestic prices up, this happened in australia its not an abstract concern, is this something you have some interest and concern about . Yeah we monitor very closely and i think theres four five studies done, the last one was done in er a, but that study shows that the increase production in the United States has not yet had a dramatic impact and i think thats borne out of the micro prices. The new production of lng as well as the i would agree but i just wanna keep an eye on it because once you build 100 billion dollars of export capacity and then you say oh now weve doubled our prices and its too late i think this is something that should be carefully weighed because of its effects to the u. S. Economy. Understood and we work closely to track these kinds of things. And in the meantime i will give you a question for the record, my concern about is the math an excess methane is more potent in terms of Greenhouse Gas, 24 is methane and im worried we are not adequately controlling that, that is an unintended negative byproduct, something that i think we need to pay some attention to, in terms of research and frankly regulatory controls. Yes sir, also made a detailed question. I will respond to. You senator daines. Thank you, mister brouillette, congratulation on your nomination, you the next secretary of energy, its a big deal. First i want to invite you out to montana i really enjoyed our discussion and id like to win by you to come to montana and see the issues we have. We have vast Natural Resources its one of the few states that offers this, coal, hydro, ahead water state where it is formed in montana, lots of water, oil, gas, wind, solar, geothermal, they power our state and they power our neighboring states as well, we are also home to a booming tech sector specializing in areas like quantum computing, optics and we have also one third of our nations Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles are sourced in montana all of this will be under your purview if confirmed i hope youll be able to make it out to montana so we can see firsthand these great opportunities for growth and talk more about these issues on the ground we truly are a shining example. I think the American People and i can speak on behalf of montanas, they want to see a balanced, view conditional fuels like coal as well as renewables like hydro power make up the largest portion in our current Energy Production in montana. He both are reliable, both provide affordable power that keeps the light on and the heat on in the wintertime and we do have winter in montana. We also have a growing wind and solar generation and strong potential for geothermal, however montanas balanced Energy Portfolio is coming into her attack with a premature forced closure of one and two at the 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 litigate and closing coal strip is industry out the loss of based sewed power its also about the jobs, the livelihoods, the tax base of the community which rely on the power plant and the coal mine, i believe that there is a role for you and the department of energy to play an order to maintain base load supply in montana. One possibility is to investment and advancement of Carbon Capture Technology Like we have laid out in the bipartisan effect act. If you are confirmed will you commit to working with me in this committee to protecting and growing they slowed power and maintaining a secure and balanced Energy Portfolio . Sir i will tell you its been the policy of this administration and perhaps the last administration to pursue an Energy Strategy and the reasons for doing that are numerous and the reasons i think are the most important for us today is in our view diversity of Energy Supply means Energy Security not only for our nation but allies across the world so its 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 that until we are able to develop battery stores, that has more capacity, is longer lasting and is perhaps more flexible in some respects, it is important that the power exists because without it if we are objective we candid the adoption of renewables or the introduction into our gray it is very difficult so its important for places like this or institutions like this to remain on line until we have those answers down the road. The other point i would make to use as we look across i mentioned earlier the resilience model that we are working on and the identification of Critical Infrastructure throughout the United States, i cant commit to you that the department of energy is gonna 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. Mitch i appreciate this balanced common sense view as we think about managing our Energy Portfolio, managing risk going forward, i am on that supports the advances in Renewable Energy. But the reason we call it intermitted an energy, its a fair characterization because the wind doesnt blow all the time, until we solve the problem of storage youre gonna have the challenge that relates to some of these renewables and technology will eventually solve these problems but i want to thank you for hearing my concerns today and i look forward as you move forward to becoming the secretary of department of energy. Thank you senator, i wanna and it plays a big role and i want to ask you a couple of questions as it relates to that site, particularly the first one, obviously with respect to yarmulke mountain due support nuclear fuel. Thank you senator for taking time yesterday, i appreciated that and thank you for your cry and words about my family as well. You know the policy question is really impossible to make a determination, we have discussed in the past and as you well know i am obligated to follow the law and the law of the land todays Nuclear Waste policy act and im also obligated not to spend money. So at the moment i can give you the assurance that until the progress makes a decision nothing will happen at the department of energy. Thank you for your response, this congress, senator rosen and i introduced informed consent act, it would require the d. O. E. Secretary to obtain consent from the state and local communities, including the governor of the local governments as well as our tribal communities before funds from our Nuclear Waste fun from the repository, would you support the bill . Senator i havent read the bill but i would be happy to do so and provide you a correct answer. Thank you, and under your watch and the Current Department of energy secretary, a ship of the nevada security say from south carolina, working with secretary perry i secured an agreement with d. O. E. As codified in april 24th 2019 letter to remove the plutonium from the site in 2021, when we met this week you assured me that you were committed to honoring that agreement, do you mind reaffirming your commitment today . I do not mind, we will honor that agreement. Thank you and july 2019 the state of nevada and delegation were notified that they had violated and shipped mislabeled waste to the sites the National Security site during our meeting you said the assessments was in the process of competing i reported on the waste packaging and policies and procedures, what guarantees can you provide me and the people of nevada that it will not violate its contracts for the state in the future or allow it to be transferred from one facility to another. Sure as we talked about, immediately following that incident, it was a self reported incident i called you and i called the governor, i called the delegation to let you know of the accidental, and we know of the incident i should say, following our visits there, following our conversations the secretary directed me to do an enterprise wide assessment of all shipment, we are about 30 to 45 days away from that final report or at least the first draft of a complete report, i will come to you and share with you that draft, what we have found in what i can tell you at this point of time is that we have found minor deficiencies, public health, Public Safety, in this incident and in the ones that we have found has never been at risk. So can it be made public once its finalized . So between the years of mislabeled waste being sent to the test, sites the secret plutonium shipments, they have very little reason to trust the d. O. E. At this point and the nuclear if confirmed what will you do to gain trust of the state of nevada . I appreciate your concerns and as you have i have discussed they are sensitive to this issue and i can give you my personal commitment that i will spend personal time on these issues, i will be available to you and to your staff i will work diligently to apply the business skill sets and 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 in that theyre all following the regulations that we are guided by within the department itself part of that is just mapping out, things part of that is changing the cultures of some of these organizations and i will give you my personal commitment that i will make every effort to do that. Thank you. Thank you madam chairwoman, good to see you again, enjoyed visiting with you in our office a few weeks, ago a number of things we talked about the wind is how arizona is really leading a lot of new technologies and all the above Energy Strategy which many of us have talked about supporting, i appreciate the departments commitment to, that we have the hydro power generated, we have the ultra efficient power plant and we also have a growing solar array because we have a lot of sunshine and wide open, space we are now number three with the opportunity to grow but as has been mentioned we still need Breakthrough Technologies because the sun doesnt shine at night and so Arizona Research institutions and Companies Working hard on research for this type of technology and i just want to get your perspective on support from the department on working with universities in the private sectors, specifically on the Energy Storage issue because we when i had a polite where we can really go much further and some of these Energy Initiatives unless we can have breakthroughs. I think you are absolutely right and i look forward to working with you should i be confirmed and the good folks of arizona to figure out some of these problems, we are very interested and developing that talent that we need to develop in the next five or ten years and i think when you see that coming through a number of different avenues but one of the things i like to mention to you, i know its not in your states i apologies for that, perhaps we can do one and youre state of arizona as well but recently the national Renewable Energy laboratory in colorado, he worked closely with the university there, and they started a brandnew graduate program thats focused on Renewable Energy and its a partnership, we need the scientists to join us on these tough problems and with regard to the technology itself we have discussed some of it but there is another effort that i would like to mention to you again, not in arizona so i apologize for that but what we call it is the great storage launchpad and its being done with one of our laboratories and the northwest, Pacific Northwest we have a fantastic operation an opportunity. We have two two great scale storage, not just the smaller batteries you see in peoples, homes but this is large Battery Storage, we are very excited about that, again i would love to work with you. Well i would like to invite you up to arizona as. Well accepted. If theres a place for them to push speed and some of these initiatives, theres also some on Energy Storage, i talked to people who come and advocate on Greener Energy and i say to them you must be pro mining because these materials come out of the ground, i sometimes get a blank stare out of a response, but one of the five season arizona as is copper, but raw material like nickel and cobalt and other minerals are essential to building things like the solar panels, the batteries in all goes with, that so we cant have tech without mining, and american mining were also having breakthroughs in technology to have the cleanest stewards of our minings. It should be supported if we want to advance green energy, and recycling should be part of it and they are in the recycling teamed up with my fellow arizona senator on legislation to stop start some of this, i want to ask your perspective on the supply chain and that being a part of d. O. E. s approach, working with interior others to make sure we have a secure supply chain for these technologies. Youre absolutely correct about, that i mentioned earlier to senator manchin, one of the opportunities we see for the mining industry, for the coal industry, the copper industry in your case, these are critical materials, minerals i should say. We have become not only depended upon but reliant upon for some of these newer technologies, so if we have opportunities to look at coal lash, to look at some of the residual materials that are left over from Mining Operations and we can extract from that at least a portion of the minerals that we made, we are going to make every opportunity in every effort to do exactly that. The lessening of our nation states that dont have our interests at heart, something we have to do and i appreciate your military service and again i must tell you, say this on the record i have never been so nervous and all my life to be standing in front of an a pilot as a former tank commander the stress is very high, ill just leave it at that. Great im out of time, i do want to do a question for the record related to biomass its something arizona is leading on weve mitts managed our forest and now is we finally going into time management, its an issue of wildfire but also this stuff that we normally would throw away using that as bio mass to generate energy and i would love to have your commitment to work with us on that. Yes maam all take that question for the record. Senator hirono. To ensure the fitness of all nominees to these appointed positions i asked the following two initial questions of every nominee who appears before any of the five commissions committees that i said, so you ever made unwanted requests for sexual favors or committed any favorable or physical harassment of a sexual nature . No maam. Have you ever face discipline or entered into settlement related to this conduct . No maam. Mr. Brouillette, this Committee Asks each nominee under oath if they will be in quote, available to appear before this committee or any other committee to represent and respond to things concerning the congress, however secretary perry has refused to deal with records about ukraine and the impeachment inquiry, 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 the executive Branch Counsel assuming that the subpoena was properly served and the opportunity to be representative by the executive Branch Council i would make myself available. Thank, you and one assume said they were duly issued. The United States has historically acknowledge the duty of individuals, in fact we have laws, anyone who serves in the federal government has responsibility to come forward and report misdeeds, fraud violations of law and we do acknowledge and i hope you do as well, the contributions of whistleblowers to combat abuse and fraud violations of laws. I do, i fully support the whistleblower laws on the books and i will give you a came in that that we have contracts are viewed, with contractors in the department of energy and i will ensure that the whistleblower provisions our most recently included in those contracts. So it sounds like you it protect whistleblowers within your department should you be confirmed and she would protect them from retaliation as required under the snow blower protection act. You said you are coming up with guidance or something that youre department. Yes we have instituted guidelines in training but weve also reviewed all of our contract so we have with outside contractors to assure that the whistleblower protections that congress intended will pass the statute and the contract so we have with these. So im last cause you some concern that there are calls for the disclosure of the whistleblower who brought to our attention what happened with regret to ukraine. There is a lot of discussion about the importance of Battery Storage. Why has a commitment to becoming 100 percent for Electrical Energy so Battery Storage is a big deal for us so can we look for some breakthroughs and Energy Storage including storage . And now youre partnerships with the various labs. I certainly hope, so im looking for it to that weve been talking about the importance of it to enable all of us to use all of our Energy Sources and to basically listening to rely on fossil fuels, that relies on this, and one of our very close allies and last month they signed a memorandum and with the department of interior to conduct a analysis of groundwater with the waste containment sight on the islands commonly referred to as the study will also assess the Structural Integrity of this site which houses contaminated soil and radioactive debris from a Nuclear Weapon tests. So the people have a right to know about the scope and scale of problems and of impacts to human health and their environment that resolve from a dome. And the study will help us address these concerns, if confirmed as secretary will you come into that the department will complete this report and submit to the committee on time . I will come in that we will submit whatever reporter we are required to on time. Senator i would like the opportunity to review it and respond in writing in writing perhaps. That would be fantastic, thank you. So the United States is not conducting Nuclear Tests and that is a big part of the secretaries responsibility, i know that it came as a news to your predecessor, have you get briefed by the directors on the significant advances the d. O. E. Has made and the ability to maintain the u. S. Nuclear arsenal in the absence of testing . Yes i have and we are in the process as we speak as a matter of fact the Lab Directors are engaged into process of assessing and providing their assessment to us of the stockpile itself, so i have been briefed on it and i look forward to hearing their assessment perhaps in 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 and all these and other matters. Thank you senator. Thank you madam chair and thank you Mister Deputy secretary for being here. I was wondering if you remembered our conversation. So you said you had two priorities to remember what they were . Cybersecurity and hat forward. Isnt that amazing all this time we both remember that. I want to go back to hand for her, to let me log my colleagues, the chair and the kasky and Ranking Member are still working on our energy bill but very robust provisions and they offer d. O. E. To play a major role in cybersecurity and we hope that you will help make that a reality, we think we have a short its issue and we think we can play a big role here in obviously the committee has many issues but i hope they are successful in dealing with that, and d. O. E. Playing a major role just talking, i think every committee year and congress had some meeting on cybersecurity when they get down to it they realize its the grid and the great and the grid, so i do believe they have to play a more robust role here in a leadership way so hopefully you can do that. Let me ask you about hand you both remembered it was a priority, to meet the department of energy and i know you mentioned that they very much appreciate this and other d. O. E. Officials from hand forward, but we need to get the right budget and i think the fbi 20 funding level was 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 that need to be met and there is a legal obligation by the department of energy to meet those milestones and so i would just like to hear your commitment again to working with all of us and meeting those milestones. I have committed to that and give engaged with the department, we have notified them of the risk, that high risk notice if you will, we are very much committed to the program that we have currently established, when you and i had this conversation i think almost two years, ago two and a half years ago now. That was it last week we had this conversation. It was sometime ago but i do recall. You know you pointed out to me that rightfully so you are concerned, we move the ship to the right we have chosen not to do that its largely your advice in your direction, we are going to continue the mission and the progress i mentioned earlier, i am proud that we moved away from like columbia river, thats not the end of the story, we have much more to do, im working closely with the contractors there, we are bringing, i hope some business discipline to some of the operation so that we can speed up these cleanup efforts but i want to assure you that im fully committed to this cleanup, operation it is one of the highest priorities i should say, its the highest, it ranks right at the top of my priority list and 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 security and production at the time, the cleanup possibilities are just as dire, thank you for that commitment. The federal trade main facility provides great work for our workforce who are committed to making sure there is a safe procedural process, are you committed to working with the hammer facility . Yes i am in brian and i have had these conversations on a regular basis about the importance of hammer, processes and procedures so that worker safety remains paramount. And there are a lot of priorities, to start up an operations of the waste facility lodge, so how would you, talk about that and how we keep moving forward. I think thats part of what i meant earlier were not going to change so that we can actually get the process started and right now i think were on schedule for 2023 to begin those operations the balance of facilities will be online very shortly which means the buildings and the things that have to support that institution but we have focused and made that our priority, we have to do that first and right and i guess lets use the, hot get something started edge show that it works so we can get to highlevel ways and things that can be done in a very complex facility that we. Have thank you madam chair, thank you. Thank you senator. Thank you senator, i knew you would be back to query the deputy secretary, so you didnt disappoint there mr. Deputy secretary i had an opportunity this morning to be with secretary perry, this was at the global ministerial on reactors and advance nuclear it was a good gathering of International Leaders focused in this area and 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. As you know we have advanced the Nuclear Energy leadership act. But what we do with in this legislation is we focus on the reality that most of these reactors are going to require the high and low reactors that are currently not produced here, we are looking to what it is we need to do in order to facilitate this, this opportunity for us here in this country so i now that this is something that the department is looking at, in addition to Everything Else that we have put into law, some of the other pieces that were working to help facilitate, but i pointed out in my opening comments that it shouldnt be unusual or odd that a secretary from a producing state like texas for someone like me from a producing state like alaska would be interested in the prospects for advance nuclear and all that it provides so hopefully the department is considering what a comprehensive advanced Nuclear Program would look like to anticipate these needs, but they will continue to be a priority of mine, it certainly has hopefully you will continue that as well. It will be, you know there is a number of different issues that are in your question, what we are going to advance at the department of energy or things like that is a very high priority for us and that particular reactor, that piece of equipment if you will allows us to test materials, allows us to utilize processes so they can qualify. We are also going to conduct a Pilot Project and we think thats good for different reasons, we want to create different reactors, i think they have a very Bright Future and were very excited about the process forward, but if we can make them even smaller than a conserve communities that you showed me in alaska, i think much more easily in places like where i grew up in louisiana where theres only 200 people as a tool do and alaska and more alligators and people at any given, day if we can get small reactors in those types of areas in the country weve not only provided a clean reliable source of power, we have taken a good step forward in reducing Carbon Emissions throughout the world so its something thats very important. Its something that i do want to continue today be confirmed as secretary and i look forward to working with you and i must say for the record as well, thank you for allowing us to borrow the doctor who is very intimate with you or piece of legislation. Well thank, you we are working as together, i think it is like a tactic, to have any final question senator . I just wanna make a statement on how important this is as far as this job goes, we like about history and energy in the royal energy is played in the history and where we are as a people, in our nation how it is played and being blast with having a lot of resources to be the superpower of the, world i go back and think about my grandparents talking about when they first received electricity and remembering that my grandmother was tickled to have a refrigerator, and washing machine, so today when we were talking to the staff and thinking about having a billion people without any Energy Access whatsoever in the world and their desire to have what we have taken for granted but also the threat because of all the terrorism that goes on and have susceptible we are and also us being at the cutting edge of quantum 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 to a Political Tool and Holding People hostage in all the things that is going to be under your purview and i just want you to know that youre gonna have partners with you. We want you to succeed, we want you to do well, we want you to come to the committee and not come as democrats and republicans but to help lift of their is around the world that are seeking the same opportunities and life that weve been able to have. So i wish you, all got speed. Senator manchin thank you, well said, deputy secretary you have fielded a range of issues here, everything from the arctic to advance its nuclear, to the waist issues, energy, storage we have covered the gamut and you have articulated very well from a policy perspective, it is quite clear that youre knowledge, breadth and depth of energy is very substantive and also youre keen understanding of the department of energy, its responsibilities, its roles and the promise second hole not only for this country but others as they look to our leadership and i am a little concerned however, you have made commitments here to visit alaska, west virginia, main, wyoming, nevada and i am a little concerned youre not gonna have time for the day job here but we will work with you as you seek to gain a better understanding and appreciation of all our great states have to offer, again i want to thank your family for joining you here today, to you i have never seen such well behaved young people sitting behind their father, no school going, no squirming, i did catch a bit of a nap there and im totally with you on that. But i also want to recognize you are national lab family that you have here, we now that the men and women who serve are extraordinary assets to our country and i know that they are a tight knit group having hosted many of you, so the fact that they are here and your support is a testament to the dedication that you have to this job, i think based on what ive heard today you will have a strong support moving out of this committee, its my job to try to move you out just as rapidly as possible, secretary perry has announced that they 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 see in this position as secretary of energy. So with that we thank you for being, here youre time, your leadership and your vision, with that the committee stands adjourned. Thank you. applause