[inaudible conversations] good morning. The committee will come to order. Id like to welcome you all to our second bubble confirmation hearing of this anon girls feet. I would like to start by thanking senator korn and for being here to speak on behalf of our nominee is. Always good to have you. Our fellow committee member, senator mention from West Virginia is prepared to also offer introductory remarks for a nominee. Governor perry, i would like to extend a warm welcome to you and to your family. Know that i appreciate your desire to serve, your willingness to become our next secretary of energy. Ive enjoyed the meeting that we had together, learning more about your leadership as governor of the state of texas, including your accomplishments in the area of energy and environment. Im going to withhold this morning and a reference to text size versus alaska size. Weve had that discussion. But in all seriousness, we know that you are seeking to leave the department of energy at an inter
Test. Test. Test. Senator portman . Thank you. And governor perry, thank you for your willingness to step up and serve again in another way and sacrifices that involves. I enjoyed our meeting. Its one on the couch with my colleague from minnesota. Sure. But it was interesting and we talked about a number of topics. One was the importance to my state and our nation of having a uranium enrichment capability and in ohio, we have a plant that produced enriched uranium until 2000. When president obama ran in 2008, he promised to accelerate that cleanup and just the opposite has happened. Every year, weve had to fight to keep the cleanup in place. Gone from 2024 to 2044 end date. Costing taxpayers by the way, billions more by stretching it out and not being more efficient about it. And im very disappointed in the department of energy for their inability to follow through on their commitments to the plan and frankly, its difficult for people who work there. They never know their next paycheck