Proposed fiscal year 2018 budget. Members asked questions about the proposed cuts of the budget as well as to where to store the ations Nuclear Waste. The committee will come to order. I apologize for the delayed start. But hopefully we will have an opportunity to hear from the of the and learn president s views for the department of energy. Secretary perry, i want to welcome you to your first hearing following your bipartisan confirmation here in the senate. It took us a little bit longer, we are grad to have you at the helm and getting a full complement of folks there at the department. The budget request for the department of energy takes a different approach. The president has made a concerted effort to increase funding for the National Nuclear facility. This is a portion of the department that falls outside the scope of our committee here. The administration has requested robust funding for the cleanup of Nuclear Waste left behind by our countrys cold war legacy. The budget request proposes deep cuts to research and development for energy and science. It proposes to phase out nnovative programs such as arpae that have had success. Im concerned by certain parts. The United States is the world leader in science and energy. We like it that way and we want to keep it that way. At the core of that excellence is the work done at our National Labs and universities by the men and women. Members on both sides of this Committee Want to maintain and strengthen that leadership. We need to be careful we dont get in the way. But keeping that in mind, many of us have found good bipartisan opportunities where it makes sense to increase funding for r d. I appreciate the need to derive savings and balance our budget but it cannot come at the expense of our efforts of energy and innovation. Good science should not sit on a shelf and the department should push the limits of science in order to ensure that the next generation of Energy Technologies is developed here in this country. Although i do not support all the proposals in this budget request, i believe we do have some areas of agreement here. We can undertake reforms at the department to help save taxpayer dollars. Our work on the loan programs is a good example of how that can work. My goals for the department of energy is to drive down the costs of emerging precommercial technologies to make energy more affordable, reliable, clean, diverse and secure. Takes us back to energy 2020. Those principles havent changed and particularly important for alaska where energy costs are in orders of magnitude. Secretary perry, thank you for being here this morning. I hope to be able to host you up in the state soon. You have made similar commitments to colleagues in the congress here. Look forward to hearing your priorities outlined before the committee this morning. Turn to our ranking member. Senator cantwell the department of energy is a Global Leader in science and technology with network of National Laboratories and key to our National Security when it comes to both nuclear and cyberthreats. The president s budget proposes to slash many of the d. O. E. s essential programs and devastate emerging Clean Energy Jobs in our economy and would kill science and innovation and the jobs that d. O. E. Supports. The budget would raise electricity rates in the Pacific Northwest. A lot of people on this committee would not be supportive of that. The budget yo undermine u. S. Energy leadership in a sector that is proposed to grow millions of jobs around the world and according to the International Energy agency, 30 trillion will be invested in new facilities in Energy Efficiency between now and 2040. We have heard about the Energy Dominance from this energy. I would like to hear a lot less of exporting commodities where china is having more blow back and pledging of how we are going to focus on winning the opportunity in Energy Efficiency, advanced technologies and things that consumers and businesses around the world are pledging commitment to. As this committee recently showed, the cost of clean Energy Technologies have dropped between 41 and 94 since 2008. I was very proud to join the chair on a recent northwest trip where we saw Energy Efficiency helping businesses save dollars alaska arew grids in looking for every advantage they can get in driving down the cost of energy. The Success Stories have been built on decades of investment by the department of energy and this is something both democrat and republican administrations have supported. But President Trumps budget is a break in that bipartisan tradition and an attempt to turn pack the clock on Energy Policy i think at the expense of the future. During your confirmation hearing you committed to protecting science and the men and women who conduct that science so i have great concerns of what i think is the proposed cut that could affect as many as 1,000 people me at the Pacific Northwest laboratory. This eliminates arpae which the high Impact Technologies that are too early for the private sector to either take on or advanced critically important to our nation. And the program which provides critical state assistance to 50 states to help them. Draconian cuts to the research program, the 70 for the office of efficiency and Renewable Energy and 48 for the office of electricity delivery and electricity reliability. That is something everybody across the board here cares about and 17 cut from the office of science which is the largest federal sponsor of basic srns. You questioned the certainty of Climate Change and you said im going to protect all the science whether its related to climate or whatever aspects we are going to be doing, end quote. Mr. Secretary, i want to make sure you and your office has all the information you need on science. Your Budget Proposal slashes the biological and Environmental Research within the office of science. The office that supports Climate Research by 43 and another troubling area is the important priority for d. O. E. On energy infrastructure. Our grid and Energy Networks are under cyberattack, from 2012 to 2016 the number of incidents more than doubled and according to the Washington Post story, russian government hackers have shown their interests in targeting u. S. Energy and utility systems. So this threat to our grid is clearly growing and this morning, i along with 1 of my colleagues sending a second letter reit range that d. O. E. Should address this. During your confirmation hearing you assured me and the committee that cybersecurity would be one of your top two priorities but nevertheless slashes it by 30 . I want to see a larger investment in this critical area to our infrastructure. I would like to mention, i know my colleague from washington had chance to talk to you about hanford funding and the administrations cleanup at the plutonium, uranium facility by worker takeover events at the finishing plant and the budget being cut demonstrates a disregard tore the health and safety of the individuals who are working in our state. The Trump Administration needs to understand that if we do not prioritize hanford funding and the potential for safety and security, we are going to have issues and serious problems. These recent incidents are a wakeup call for the administration. And im working to ensure the resources are there for the public. I know ill have a little sheet somewhere of all the ideas and schemes that people have come up with in the past. We had secretary lay the good Plant Construction in 1991 to reconsider the waste and pretreatment plan. The Clinton Administration planned the privatization operation of the plant to pay contractors. We saw sick abrams grounding the waste in the tanks and calling it good. We saw a secretary convene science experts to review the plan. Secretarymon ease review ways of the treatment. All im saying is every Energy Secretary comes into office pressured more by an o. M. B. Person who knows nothing about cleanup to do it on the cheap. It cant be done. We need to clean this up and based on science. So i look forward to asking you more about that. But i know many of my colleagues throughout the Pacific Northwest both on this committee and on the Appropriations Committee will have a lot to say about our priorities for hanford. Thank you, madam chair. Senator secretary perry, good to have you before the committee. Alison dune is with the secretary, chief financial acting officer for d. O. E. You will not be providing testimony this morning but thank you for being here with the secretary. Mr. Secretary, if you would like to begin your remarks so we can return to questions. Secretary perry senator, thank you. And its a privilege to be in front of you and the committee again. Senator cantwell and members of the committee, its my privilege to be here to discuss President Trumps fiscal year 2018 budget request. And each of you know, it is a reat privilege to serve as the 14th secretary of energy. As a former legislator, i might add an appropriator as well and the governor, i am very respectful of the budget process and know the importance of the work you are undertaking and look working with you to finalize a budget that we can all be proud of and serve the taxpayers of this country as well. In my 3 1 2 months i have seen the impact of the departments leadership, both domestically and internationally. I have traveled around the country. Been into some of your states and senator cantwell, i intend asap, most ford likely this summer to look at that, to talk to the men and women who are working there, visit with those brilliant individuals that are on site that i happen to take a lot of faith in their knowledge of whats needed and how to address these issues that are driving their mission. So i look forward to being in a lot of your states over the course of the next month ahead. These labs truly are as you have all noted either today or in previous conversations are national treasures. They are the future of innovation in this country. And i have been in absolute awe of the diverse scope of the departments mission and the consequential work that we are charged with undertaking. I have also traveled overseas representing the United States at the g7 meeting in roman beijing for the Clean Mission innovation. I had the opportunity to visit japan and meet with leaders and stakeholders about the future of the Energy Partnership that the veryand japan has and on a somber note, i towered the site of the fukushima disaster and saw firsthappened the Monumental Task that they have before them. My trip to asia began on the day that President Trump announced hat we would officially officially withdraw from the paris depreement. I delivered his message to the world that even though the u. S. Would no longer be part of the paris agreement, we are still the leader in Clean Energy Technology and we are committed to that mission. The department of energy does many things well. America has remained on the forefront of technology for over 40 years because of the amazing men and women at these labs. You particularly understand this with the tools that you have in your states. They wake up every day knowing that they will make a real difference in the world. And i told them the first time i met with them, the greatest job i ever had was being the governor of texas. But after working here, i have come to realize secretary of energy is officially the coolest job i have ever had, senator. Under my leadership, our experts at d. O. E. Will continue their work for the benefit of every american and our allies alike. As secretary of energy, im a member of the National Security council, this council supported by d. O. E. In its mission to keep our nation safe. President trumps budget request for the department of Energy Provides 28 billion to advance our key missions and focuses on important investments including ensuring the safety and effectiveness of our Nuclear Weapons arsenal, protecting our infrastructure from cyberattacks, achieving computing and focusing the Amazing Network of our National Laboratories on Early Stage Research and development. And my goals are straightforward, advance our nations critical scientific r d mission, fulfill our Environmental Management commitments. I just painted you a rather rosey picture. And while there is a lot of good news to report, there are other hard conversations that we need to have. As you are well aware. There are approximately 120 sites in 39 states that are storing spent nuclear fuel or high level waste. In fact, many members of this committee have waste in their states. We have a moral and a National Security obligation to come up with a longterm solution finding the safest repositories available. This is a sensitive topic for some, but we no longer can continue to kick the can down the road. As a former legislative appropriator and agency head and governor, i understand for following the rule of law. I have been instructed to move towards that goal. The president s budget request 120 million to resume licensing tivities for the Yucca Mountain repository and have a robust storage program. We need to be good stewards of the taxpayer dollars. Congress has spent 5 billion on the mox project that is way over budget. 7. 2 billion and 2048 completion date. The money appropriated for this project is money that could be used towards other priorities like National Security or cleanup at other sites thrfment is a better, cheaper and better way to dispose of plutonium. We are using that process now. I look forward to having a dialogue about these tough and important issues in the days and months to come. This proposal makes some difficult choices but it is paramount to execute our fiduciary to the american taxpayer. The president s proposed priorities dealing with the core mission by consolidating duplication within our agency is in order and it does respect our taxpayers. He deserves credit for beginning this discussion about how we most wisely spend our scarce federal dollars. As for me, this isnt my first rodeo. Having been the governor of texas for 14 years, i managed under some pretty tight budget consequences and wasnt always blue skies and smooth sailing. We had substantial budget shortfalls during that period of time that i was governor. And we were able to budget successfully and we faced limited resources at times and texas became a shining example of economic growth, higher educational standards and important improvements to the environment. I will manage the same way at the department of energy. We did that in my state by working together. Thats one thing i really want to bring forward today. Is my intention to working with you. I understand this budgetary process. I understand its the first step. I am committed to working with you. Each of you. In the ways that you direct. I understand this process. I respect it. Set clear goals. Manage the best and the brightest to achieve those goals. And spending scarce resources wisely. With your help, i believe we can attain many of the positive outcomes that you expect, that you want to see, that the department of energy is capable of delivering on behalf of the American People. So thank you again and i look forward to attempting to answer your questions. Thank you, mr. Secretary. I appreciate your enthusiasm for your new role. Im sure that that will help you get through every day and some days are easier than other. Ms. Murkowski we all know that around here. Let me start my questions about arpae. Because im a big fan of arpae. I recognize that when we think about the department of energy and the cool things that is you get to do, one of the cool things is to really help facilitate some of these great, fabulous ideas that change the country. Change the world. But as we all know, cool ideas that start in somebodys garage dont always end up making it through. We talk a lot around this committee about the socalled valley of death, with energy innovations. And good things happen but they just cant make it to that point of commercialization. And when i think of the role of arpae, and how it has really , its to be that bridge investments have reportedly spurred nearly 2 billion in followon private sector funding and Spinoff Companies to advance technology in market. This is exactly the type of thing that we should be doing. So the question to you this morning, to start things off, do you support the mission of arpae, and if so, if we eliminate it, where are we . Really, where does that put the department of energy and that space that you should be occupying which is to help really revolutionize and change the world here. Mr. Perry yes, maam. Se