1990 eight, we went live. it did not take long till we got that first thing. we started opening bottles of champagne. in all of the excitement, we lost track of things until we noticed that it had been a while since the bell rung. is it unplugged or is there a problem? in the first 15 minutes of being online, we crashed all of our servers. eastern.t at 8:00 p.m. the senate energy and natural resources committee consider the nomination of dan brouillette to be the next energy secretary. he was nominated by president trump after rick perry announced

his resignation. this is two hours. >> good morning. the committee will come to order. we are here to consider the nomination of dan brouillette. i am one who believes that you have done an excellent job as second-in-command to secretary perry. we welcome you back to the committee. it is good to have discussion with you. i want to thank you for all you have done at the department. for your willingness to serve at this point.

and to step up in this new and higher capacity. we have our colleagues here today this morning to introduce the deputy area secretary. texas and louisiana are well represented. feel very welcome here. by having these gentlemen the two you. we will start with senator cassidy. followed by senator cruz and senator kennedy. to introduce the deputy area secretary this morning. we do have a full complement here this morning. we welcome all of the good comments. what a wonderful way to tell me to be brief.

he is eminently qualified. the united states leads the world in all kinds of sex -- energy issues. hea louisiana native, understands the importance of exports. and lowering greenhouse gas emissions abroad. he has committed innovation. he has served as the assistant secretary of governmental affairs in the department of energy. staff director of the energy and commerce committee. and a member of the louisiana state mineral board. for theeally suited job. i urge his speedy confirmation and look forward to this floor

vote. >> thank you. let's turn to senator cruz. welcome to the energy committee. >> thank you. for got to be here. it is my privilege to help introduce dan brouillette to the committee. i am telling you right now, texas claims him. maybe we don't have to resolve that issue here this morning. many of you know him as a dedicated advocate for american energy. to those of you who do not know him well, he is eminently qualified. he will do an exceptional job as the next secretary of the department of energy. dan and his wife have both the unitedcountry in states army. they proudly live in san antonio, texas.

they raise beautiful children. after he served in the military, he transitioned into working on energy issues. he served as the assistant secretary for intergovernmental affairs. he served on the louisiana state mineral and energy board for three years. in addition to his years in public service, he has extensive private sector experience. he spearheaded ford motor company's domestic policy team. we became friends when we he was working and leading a team in san antonio. he has the qualifications, the

expertise, and the gravitas that a secretary that she needs to be affected. this is a critical time for american energy. the u.s. has become the number one producer of oil and number one producer of natural gas on the planet. surpassing both russia and saudi arabia in crude oil production. the u.s. has become a net exporter of natural gas. a milestone not reached since 1957. strong leadership in the department of energy is needed now more than ever. a final point, when it comes to cabinet, we want secretaries to be strong, principled, and able to conquer enormous challenges. i believe dan has those characteristics. he has nine beautiful children.

they have homeschooled them. if you want to talk about a labor of love and passion and commitment, it is hard to think of anything more daunting. or any government bureaucracy pales in comparison to the joys and challenges of the nine beautiful kids at home. i had the good fun and i will me atn for having joined game three of the world series here in washington where dan and i both unabashedly cheered for the houston asterisk. -- astros. we were the lone splashes of orange in a sea of red. if you want to test the measure of a man, he was willing to be surrounded by screaming nats fans. we won that game but alas did not win the war.

he will be a terrific energy secretary. >> well said, senator cruz. thank you for joining us on the committee. we will now turn to our friend and colleague from louisiana, senator kennedy. >> thank you madam chair, ranking member. thanks to all of you for taking up the nomination of secretary brouillette, who is now our deputy secretary. he operates is basically the chief operating officer of the department of energy. with your consent, he will be elevated to the position of secretary. texas.not from [laughter] louisiana.

when dad grew up, we both grew up in small towns. there were 21 people. 1 now there are911. i grew up in a little town called zachary. a small town is the way i have always described it. i am so blessed to have grown up in a small town. where everybody knows who's check is good and whose spouse isn't. [laughter] -- dan's a rock star as far as i'm concerned. we've seen such a dramatic change in energy in this world in the last 25 years, maybe even less. dan has watched it. he's been part of it.

i remember our energy policy in america used to be, ok, we're going to buy as much oil as we can from countries that hate us, and through those sales, we're going to give them money to buy weapons to try to kill us. thankfully, the world has changed. we've 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 don't want to get in a debate about climate change -- we also understand that glaciers -- melting glaciers don't 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. dan's a veteran of the service in our military. he's a veteran of service in the state government level. he's 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. he's a serious man. he exercises power intelligently, not emotionally. and he and adrian will make a great team and he will be an extraordinary secretary of the department of energy, and he has

-- this louisianan has my wholehearted and un unconditional support. >> thank you, sir. >> thank you. mr. deputy secretary, i think it's fine to have two different states vying for your love and attention. >> alaska is not going to claim them now, is it? >> i was going to include that in part of my remarks. we won't claim him but we will certainly adopt him. gentlemen, thank you. we know that you have tight schedules this morning. thank you for joining us as part of the committee and your welcoming introductions. i'm 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 we've seen during your time as deputy secretary, you've really helped to create a solid agenda for the department. it's been focused on the science and the technology. you've brought us into the world of quantum and artificial intelligence. i think you've been very responsive to the committee. you've been available to speak with members when you have been asked to do so. my sense is that you've 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

he's 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 -- 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 didn't do -- that's not called the blue lagoon. the geothermal hot springs at gina but also great things like the let us grow tour, just

-- let us grow tower, just further evidence that we can do more when it comes to food -- good 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 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 i'm going to invite you back because there's 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. we're providing our friends and allies with energy while creating jobs and prosperity here at home. we're on the cutting edge of a number of exciting technologies like advanced nuclear energy, carbon capture and energy storage. and through the department's work we had the opportunity to really push out the boundaries of scientific discovery and build on our status 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 nation's biggest assets. our research capabilities continue to be the envy of the

world and our challenge is to ensure it remains so. it's 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 administration's funding levels each year, instead providing steady increases for widely supported programs like arpa-e, 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 that's what i think it's going to take to sustain this energy dominance over the long term. i'm going to it urn to senator manchin for his comments. we'll 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 morgantown, west virginia, you visited morgantown and we want you to come back. a lot of good things. i think we can do a tremendous job. we're going to put that plug in. i thank you so much for that and your attention to the importance of nettel. the secretary's job is enormous which has been mentioned and talked about and all of us know the secretary of energy is responsible for leading the

world's premiere 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 nation's nuks -- nation's nuclear weapons stockpile which a lot of people don't realize that's the responsibility of department of energy and secretary. makes the fuel to propel the nuclear 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 he's up to the task. as a father of nine he's 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 he's 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 nation. 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. i'll 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 i'm 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 i'm 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? google -- >> 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 you've 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

. on a stressful day i'm 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, adrian.y wife, my youngest son, christopher joel, sam, and my oldest steve. , that's 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 trump's nominee to be secretary of energy. i'd 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. i'd 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 america's leadership in scientific research and development, energy technology and nuclear security. this enterprise is powered by our nation's most talented and dedicated innovators including 117 nobel laureate's associated with our department. seated behind me are some of the directors who i'd 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 world's two fastest super computers. now america is back at number one. but there is still much more to be accomplished. we're committed to building three new exoe scale machines. following the leadership of this committee, we're evolving quantum science capabilities. our researchers are tackling the world's greatest energy and scientific questions and constructing the next generation of world class science facilities that are the incubators for the world's cutting edged r&d. that's the power. the united states is leading the world in energy production and the reduction of emissions. america has become the world's top producer of oil and natural gas and soon we will become a net energy exporter.

our energy storing however also includes historic growth in renewable energy. today we're the second highest generator of wind and solar energy in the world. we're also reviving nuclear energy by developing advanced technologies such as small modular reactors and advanced reactors. we're 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. that's 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 we've 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, we're also making sustained progress in cleaning up the legacy of nuclear waste. i'm proud to say the last has been removed from the k basin and stored safely away from the columbia river. we have brian vance from ham -- from hanford 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. we're 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 future for 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 murkowski, ranking 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 it's 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 arctic-related interests. the presence that we had in reykjavik just six weeks ago at the arctic circle 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 arctic-related issues. and as you speak to that, as i mentioned in my comments, you've had an opportunity to come to alaska, to see some of the benefits that come from a energy-producing 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 conecuh -- the solar, everything

we're doing to reduce our reliance on diesel powered. you saw the efforts to bring about greater efficiencies. and as you know, i've been working to push for greater coordinated research in this state. but more broadly to the arctic in general. i've 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 and sick simply, -- succi

nctly, 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, we've 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 it's 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 minerals that we currently receive today or rely upon for the development of those types of batteries, we've 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 -- robust presence there. 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 we're very excited about that. we think that's 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. -- here in the united states. >> i thank you for that. and i'm sure that we can anticipate further enzbajment

-- further engagement and enhanced engagement. because as you note, it is not just energy. it is commerce, it's 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, it's one of the smaller offices there at do -- at d.o.e. but it has an outsource importance in my state, it's a key partner for native communities that need to work to reduce their high energy costs and right now we've got one d.o.e. employee that's 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, i'll give you

two commitments. we're 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 of the strategic 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 implementing 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 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 it's 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 house's 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 day-to-day 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 you've 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 i've 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 -- reinvigorating the 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 storage capacity and systems. i think appalachia 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 -- they're 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, they're not always in our best interest and they could hold us at a hostage situation, be detrimental to us. there's an awful lot going on in

the research you've been involved in, especially the last grant we did with nettel on coal refuse as far as our drain age -- drainage and things of this sort we found out there's 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 that's part of the important work that's being done in morgantown in nettel. i think it is to address those types of opportunities. i think to the extent that we can continue the r&d that's 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 that's what we need to focus on at the department. and that's going to be my mission as secretary, should i be confirmed by the u.s. senate. i think there's a lot of opportunity for coal. there's a lot of opportunity for

other parts of the country as well. >> thank you, madam chair. >> thank you. senator barrasso. >> thank you for holding this hearing. i had an opportunity to meet with with the nominee last week. i'm impressed with his knowledge and experience and commitment to advancing america. i think he'd 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. we're 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 department's efforts aren't duplicative or redundant, doing what others are doing? >> that's 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 you're 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 -- can't 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. there's great work to be done through the school, the integrated test center. i'm on board. when we look at what's happening worldwide we need to get these developed and then floyd. -- developed and then deployed. i look at china and in india. they're going to continue to grow, release carbon dioxide as they build out sectors. the united states despite of what some may beleave, we can't 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 how can we deploy 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 we've done is create a chief commercialization officer for exactly that purpose. our national labs produce an enormous amount of technology and research and products, if you will. it's our job, i think, as the purveyors 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. we 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.

our energy information administration projects fossil fuels are going to power for the next 40 to 50 years. if that's 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. i'm happy to report to you that it's 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. we're 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, disruptions and energy disruption could .evastate rural communities how will you make sure they're prepared for cyberattacks and have the resiliency?

we have what's 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. we're making it cheaper. that's 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. we've 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

they're connected, it creates a door. they've 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. >> it's been reported that while you were deputy secretary energy, the secretary communicated with high-level ukrainian officials and at the president's direction with rudy giuliani, his personal attorney, about ukraine-related matters. the press reports also indicate that secretary perry pushed the ukrainian government to make changes to the board of nafta gaz, a ukrainian state-owned natural gas company.

the reason i'm asking the question is these efforts echoed changes to the board that were sought by two of mr. giuliani's 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 state-owned enterprise. it's 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. >> it's 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 that's associated with nafta gas. >> so i'm 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, i'd be inclined to say somebody like yourself who's knowledgeable, i've 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, i'm not aware of the conversations that secretary perry had or did not have with them. i wasn't 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. ? >> no, i am not. >> you haven't had any communications? >> no i have not. >> yesterday in the office i appreciated the visit you made it clear to me that because of power and the important role in making sure affordable energy in north america, you would keep the idea of privatizing bonneville power off the table. i wanted to let you know i appreciate it and if you want to add anything to what you told me yesterday in the office, i appreciate the fact that you

respond directly to the, to the question obviously privatizing bonneville power would hit the pacific northwest echo wrecking ball and you answered the question forthrightly and i appreciated it. i want to hold the record open with respect to the question i have asked dealing with secretary perry and other officials at the department, i know our people indicated we were going to ask some of those questions but i wanted to give you the opportunity to those additional supplemental materials on that. because thesed press reports did, at a time when these two indictments associates of esther giuliani were apparently seeking changes to the board that seem to be some conversation that took place between the department and nafta gas.

i will hold the record open if you like to give me information. >> yes, sir. >> madam chair, thank you. >> thank you senator wyden. secretary, great to see you here. your family is unbelievable. >> thank you, sir. >> just great. thanks for coming by the office. you got a great track record over there and we appreciate your service in the service of your family very much. -- second toduces only one of your states, texas.

we loss produce more than 3 million feet of gas. we don't drove. it just comes up. it's essentially free in north dakota because we've got to get it to markets. where i'm 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 we've got -- we need pipelines, lng facilities. how do we get more infrastructure to get this to markets? the pacific northwest, there's 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 pipeline 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 our 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 that's our contribution to this particular problem. we want to continue that. >> in the coal world, you know, we're all working to find ways

to capture carbon and sequester it. and in our part of the world, as know, there is geologic storage. it is feasible, we have to make it commercially valuable. we need your help with carbon safety, tundra. first question, you want to come up and see what we are doing. it is amazing stuff. great partnership, federal, and the private sector leading technology, university of north , p-corp, 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 45-q and others. i spoke to others yesterday. we have to have regulatory certainty.

you're committed to helping with those things as well? >> that's correct. secretary perry just send a letter to the irs. we are urging them to complete their work on finalizing this. >> there's a scientific aspect to this, you guys, right? google that's right. -- right? >> that's 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 45-q a game changer. we feel strongly that it is as well. we're going to continue to work with the irs to finalize this. we'll work with the department to advance the technology so it becomes more efficient and cheaper. that's what we need to do. >> that is right on. it is a game changer. we make this work. we're going to be able to capture co 2 on things like coal fired. that's not just going to happen in the united states. it's going to happen --

>> around the world. >> you're 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 it's the lrs sole, relacing the al kemz, the icbm minute man update, your commitment to doing that? >> we are committed to doing that. the posture review requires that we make 80 pits per year. a part of the d.o.e. is committed to that. we're working closely on how and where to do that. we have an initial plan put together to do that. we are firmly committed. >> i'm on defensive probe so we have to sync up what we're doing so it all comes together. >> yes, sir. >> again, thank you. we really appreciate your willingness to serve.

>> thank you, senator. >> 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 you've been out to sandia and los alamos. i want to extend an invitation to the waste isolation plant. >> accepted. >> it's one of a kind, and i think it's 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 we're 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 department's role in helping to facilitate transmission and its role not just in clean generation but also in resiliency and other issues that you've brought up today? >> one of the -- i mentioned in my opening testimony or opening statement, i should say, we've developed a north american resiliency model.

as part of that effort, we've also identified critical infrastructure throughout the united states. and a large portion of that is transmission infrastructure. what we're 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. that's part of the calculation that we're 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 you're 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 can't 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. -- other parts. 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, it's pretty clear that in addition to eliminating our current emissions, we're actually going to have to pull some carbon back out of the air. if you're confirmed, is increasing d.o.e.'s research area of direct air capture

something you're willing to focus on and commit to? >> i think that's going to be >> really important. withf my frustrations 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. i'm 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 it's 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, i'm 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 they're important. but it's also important to i understand that i don't have the final say in what comes over to the united states senate or the congress. but i will fight for these programs. >> that is what we would ask. thank you. >> thank you. senator cassidy. >> a well put answer, tactful but also very explicit. 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. it's a great thing. >> it's a great thing. >> it's a great thing. a lot of what you have been discussing today has been innovations. i'd like to go to 45-qs, as did hoeven but he focused on the coal aspect. as we read both the u.s. and worldwide, that's important, but natural gas is increasingly being used. >> that's correct. >> you're familiar with geology of georgia. i think it's ideal for 45-s. maybe it in an old oil or gas well and creating one more incentive for folks to set up industry and jobs. we have a committee recommendation to pursue this. but how would you -- how could you ramp up the gas research and

development aspect post-enactment? >> i'd like to take a closer look. thank you for taking time to meet with me in your office. i must say i'd heard bits and pieces about the natural gas industry's interest in this. but you made it perfectly clear what the impact is, revenue streams do be. i must tell you that i'm not fully understanding all of the aspects of this. but i understand clearly where you want to go. i would support that. i think it's very important that we pursue these types of technologies not just for coal, which we have developed a lot of -- we've done a lot of good work within the department of energy on carbon capture for coal. but i'd like to study it more and engage not only your office and you personally but also our national laboratories. i'd like to talk to for instance, you know, dr. brian anderson is here from nettel. i'd like to talk to him. steve ashby out at pnl and others.

to see how we might do this correctly and incentivize this to come to the market. >> that might be -- you may have answered this next question. but what do you see as the barriers to the commercialization of carbon capture? is that something kind of, we have to explore it further? >> i think one of the barriers clearly now is we're waiting on an irs rule on 45-q. if we can establish some certain ty around those particular rules you'll see private capital coming into the game quicker. i think that's important. we can do a lot at the d.o.e. this committee and the appropriations committee in general have been very, very supportive of our work and have funded it and supported it very strongly. but i think at this point we

have to have certainty with the tax law so that we can get private capital to come into this. >> next, again related, the irnts national energy agency has estimated an increasing use of energy about 1% per year. with that they imagine or project they'll be increased green house gas emooegss related -- greenhouse gas emissions related to that. that must be related to expanding populations in asia and africa than disproportionatly they're using coal? >> that's correct. >> it occurs to me in the eu and u.s. is decreasing greenhouse gas emissions by con vetting from coal to natural gas, why should we not build in on the front end a natural gas capability? doesn't mean you wouldn't want to use sunshine and wind where feasible. i guess i'm asking, and china by the way is building these coal-fired plants. both a market loss as well as an overall increase in greenhouse gas emissions. what could we do as a nation or at your department to promote

the use of liquefied natural gas instead of the coal fire that's being built so it's our technology, our jobs and cleaner burning? what could we do to encourage that for africa? >> i think, sure, we talked about earlier having a chief commercialization officer and taking these technologies out of the department of energy's laboratories and sharing them more broadly not only here in the united states but all across the world. the secretary and i have done -- >> this seems more than just the transfer, if you will, of research, but it also seems a policy which says, wait a second. we have an energy industry which is being outhustled by china with consequences not just for jobs but also for the fact that they're using coal instead of gas, and therefore releasing more. these have 30-year life spans at least. >> correct. >> it seems it would go more beyond the transfer to almost an -- transferability of research to almost an industrial policy.

>> almost. but that's not something i can do at the department of energy. it's something that we ought to work together with the u.s. congress to adopt as a national policy, a national industrial policy, if that's what the congress wants to do, we would be very supportive of that. i agree with you. it makes perfect sense. if we're going to sell natural gas, promote u.s. lng around the world as a potential supplement to renewable energy or replacing other perhaps more emissions-emitting types of energy, then we ought to attach it to carbon capture technology that allows us to have the best of both worlds, clean natural gas as well as offsetting the emissions in the natural gas burning. >> thank you very much. i yield. >> senator king. >> thank you, madam chair. i want to note a historic moment in this hearing when senator cannot? said "we

climate change alone." -- we cannot tackle climate change alone." i couldn't agree with him more. i hope he'll urge the president to rejoin the paris climate accords which is the only on gog international effort to deal with this issue, a molecule of greenhouse gas which comes from the united states causes as much climate problem as one that comes from china or india or anywhere else. i'm going to speak to senator barrasso later. i hope we can get back into our area of global leadership and join the other 197 signatories to the paris accords. everybody is trying to claim you today. if your ancestors had gone slightly west instead of south in 1756, you would be a mainer. >> i would be. >> substantial population of acadians in northern maine and we love them and so i know how to pronounce your name because there are many people of similar extraction in the northern part of our state.

first, i don't think there's much more important of what your department does than research. we talked a lot about energy independence and the fracking ay independence and the fracking revolution that was largely supported by research funds by the department of energy. that is correct. -- mr. brouillette: that is correct. >> want to hear that your commitment -- i want to hear that your commitment will be researched throughout the department. commitmentette: you, on this -- you have my commitment on this. i want to move some of the research we are currently doing more to the basic side of the equation. we have a tremendous organization. the next generation and some

other renewable technologies, we are beginning to take for granite. granted. taking for we're looking for the next generation of wind technology, and storage, and we want to think about these things in a different way. with regards to battery storage, we long thought about that to fill in the gap. if the sun doesn't shine, cover those four hours. you will be thinking about battery stored in a more fluid context. perhaps batteries are important for resilience. may be a backup for fossil fuels. >> it is a national security issue, and it is a completely changed world in terms of renewables. i am going to oak ridge in two

weeks senator alexander who has a relationship with the university of maine that is beneficial to both sides, and i urge you to support that kind of relationship. mr. brouillette: absolutely. that is a very exciting project we have with the university of maine. i think you will see that expand. >> thank you. looking forward to it. a couple of substantive questions. a lot of talk about lng exports that have a lot of positive benefits in terms of the american economy and our neighbors and friends. is lng my concern exports rise to certain critical levels, it will start to have a negative effect, make prices higher domestically. businesshe consuming in new england. the price of natural gas here is one of our competitive

advantages worldwide. i would hate for us to lose that by exporting to the point where it drives our domestic prices up. this has happened in australia. is this something you have concern about? mr. brouillette: i am aware there are four or five studies that have been done. the latest was done in europe. i forgot with the acronym stands for, but that study shows the increased production in the united states has not yet had a dramatic affect on price. -- effect on price. as well asduction the expanded export capacity. >> i would agree with that study, but i want to keep an eye on it because once you build export capacity, and then you doubled your domestic prices and it is too late, that is something that should be carefully weighed because of the

effects on the rest of the u.s. economy. mr. brouillette: i will work closely with others to track these types of things in the department. >> i am out of time, but my concern is about the methane associated with the extraction of natural gas being 1000 times more potent than greenhouse gas. i am worried were not adequately controlling that. negativen unintended result. in terms of research, frankly read literally controls, thank you. i will submit a detailed question to your response. dave -- senator danes. >> thank you for your nomination on the neck secretary of energy.

when you came by the office, i really enjoyed our discussion. i went love to invite you to montana and show you the issues we have in big sky country. it is one of the few states that truly does offer and all the above energy portfolio. hydro, oil, gas, wind, solar, geothermal. our power our state empower neighboring states as well. we are home to the booming tech sector specializing in quantum uad's, and weics, have one third of our nation's intercontinental ballistic missiles, are sourced in montana. all of this will be under your purview if confirmed, and i hope

you will be able to make it out to montana so you can see first these great opportunities for growth can talk more about these issues on the ground. we truly are a shining example of a balanced energy portfolio. , ifink the american people they want to see a ballast view as it relates to our energy portfolio, energy like coal and renewables like hydropower makeup the largest portion of our current energy production in montana. both are reliable. both provide affordable, baseload power that keeps the lights on, and the heat on in the wintertime, and we do have winter in montana. mr. brouillette: yes you do. >> we also have a growing wind and solar generation, and strong potential for geothermal. balancedmontana's energy portfolio is coming under foreclosure of a

power plant at the end of this year and the threat of breaches across the northwest. both of these are due to extreme, radical -- that litigate. it is in just about the loss of over 600 megawatts of baseload power. it is also about the jobs, the livelihoods, the tax base of the coal strip community, which rely on the power plant in the coal mine. i believe there is a role for you in the department of energy to play in order to maintain baseload supply in montana. one possibility is investment and advancement of carbon capture technology in the -- inisan effect act card the bipartisan effect act.

will you commit to working with me and this committee to maintaining a secure and a ballast energy portfolio? mr. brouillette: so, i will tell it is been my view to pursue this strategy. what is most important in our view is diversity of energy supply means energy security. it is very, very important that we maintain this in the united states. the other reason that it is important, until we are able to develop battery storage that has more capacity, is longer-lasting, and is more flexible in some respects, it is important that baseload power exists because without it, if we are candid, the adoption over

nobles, or the introduction of renewables into our electric grid is very, very difficult. it is important for places like institutions to remain online until we have those answers down the road. make, as point i would we look across the model we are working on in the identification of critical infrastructure throughout the united states, i can commit to you that we will look at these types of facilities to see if they fit that potential model, and see if there is anything we should be concerned about about the loss of that inner student -- about the loss of the institution. think -- iillette, i appreciate this balanced, commonsense view as we think about managing risk going

forward. supports the advancements in renewable energy. to solve the problem of storage, we are to have a john lynch -- we are going to have a challenge as it relates to an noble energy. but i wanted thank you for hearing my concerns today and i look forward to moving forward in the next stage. mr. brouillette: thank you, sir. mr. brouillette, congratulations on your nomination, and welcome to your family. thank you for taking the time to meet with me in my office this week. as you well know, the nevada national security side is relative to nevada. you play a big role there. i want to ask you a couple of questions as it relates to that site particularly.

the first one is the juncker a mountain. support radioactive waste coming out of there? mr. brouillette: i sincerely appreciate you taking time out to meet with me. cae policy question of yuc mountain is for us to make a determination on. -- i'm of the land obligated not to spend money that has not been appropriated to the u.s. department of energy to pursue the policy directives given by the congress. at the moment, i can give you assurance that in the near term as secretary, tell -- until they make a decision on yucca mountain, nothing will be done. >> senator rosen and i

introduced the nuclear waste act. would you support the bill? mr. brouillette: i have not read the bill but i would be happy to do so and provide you a direct answer. >> thank you. under your watch, and that is the current department of energy shift -- working beganh secretary perry, i removing the put tony him from the site in 2021. committed to honoring that agreement. i will give you

a firm commitment will honor that agreement. nevada andof 2019, congressional delegation were notified that d.o.e. had violated the waste acceptance criteria and shipping mislabeled waste to the side, the national security site. during a meeting, you said the office of enterprise assessments or completing a report on the radioactive waste policy. what guarantees can you provide me and the people of nevada that the d.o.e. will not violate their contract? talkeduillette: as we about immediately following that incident, which was a cell purported incident inside the department of energy, i called you and i call the governor and --all the delegation into delegation to let you know about the incident. following our conversations, the

secretary directed me to do an enterprise-wide assessment of all shipping of ways within the department. to 45 days away from that report, or at least a first draft of a complete report and i will share that draft with you and what we found, what i can tell you that we have found very minor deficiencies -- public health, public safety, in this incident and in the minor deficiencies we have found have never been at risk. >> would be made public? mr. brouillette: it will be made public. mountain andcca the secret was tony him shipments, there is little reason to trust d.o.e. at this point and the nuclear programs. wouldfirmed, what steps you take to improve communication and trust with the state of nevada? mr. brouillette: senator, i

appreciate your concerns. as we discussed, i happen to have family there, so i'm sensitive to these issues as well. i can give you a personal commitment that i will spend personal time of these issues. i will be available to you obviously and to your staff. with therk diligently business skill sets i bring to the table to look at these types of processes within the department of energy, and ensure they are robust, that they follow the proper procedures, and that they are all following the regulations we are abiding by within the department itself. part of that is changing the culture some of these organizations and i will give you my personal commitment that i will make every effort to do that. >> thank you. >> senator make sally. >> mr. brouillette, to see you again. i enjoyed seeing you in office.

we talked about how arizona is really leading in a lot of new technologies, and all of the above energy strategies. i appreciate the department has to commitment to that. hydro-powered generated by the hoover dam and the nuclear plant, and we have a because wear array have a lot of sunshine and wide open space. we are number three in solar in arizona with the opportunity to grow, but we still need through technologies in stormont because the sun does not shine at night -- in storage because the sun does not shine at night. companies are looking into research for this type of technology. i want to get your perspective on support from the department on working with universities in the private sector, particularly

on the storage issue because we will hit a point where we cannot go much further with some of these energy initiatives unless we can have breakthroughs in storage. mr. brouillette: you're absolutely right, senator, and i look forward working with you should i be confirmed and the good folks in arizona to figure out these tough problems. inare very, very interested developing the talent we need to hire over the course of the next five or 10 years. we will see that coming through a number of different avenues, but one of the things i want to recently, aou is doctor worked closely with the university of colorado-boulder to started to program focused on renewable energy and it is a partnership with the lab itself. i would like to explore opportunities like that to build this pipeline, and into these

areas. with regard to the technology, we discussed some of it. there was another effort i would like to mention to you again. it is on the west coast. we call it the grid storage launchpad being done with one of our national laboratories in the pacific northwest. operation andtic a fantastic opportunity we have developed technologies that will be grid-scale storage, not just the smaller batteries you see in people's homes, large battery storage and you're very excited about that. i would love to work with you on that. >> i would love to invite you out to arizona as well. it would be great for our universities to participate in some of these initiatives. i talk all the time about green

air energy, and i say, you must be pro-coal mining. produce 65% of the nation's copper. copper another critical minimalist. crucial to building batteries and all that goes with that, so we can have green tech without mining in american mining, where we are having breakthroughs in technology to have the best doers of our environment in our mining, certainly something that should be something we need. recycling has to be apart of this as well. my fellowmed up with legislators to regenerate the recycling. we want to ask you about the supply chain and if that will be d.o.e.'s approach to make sure we have a secure supply chain for these technologies?

mr. brouillette: it is one of the opportunities we see from the mining industry, for the coal industry and copper industry, these are critical minerals that we have not just become dependent and reliant upon for these technologies. if we have opportunities to look at some of the residual materials left over from mining operations him and we can extract from that a portion of the minerals we need, we will make every opportunity and effort to do exactly that. the lessening of our dependence on nationstates that don't have our interest at heart is something we have to do an ipo show your military service. dois something we has to with our military service. >> i want to do a question for

the biomass that arizona is leading on. we have mismanaged our forest for several years. issue of the stuff that would normally be thrown away, using that as biomass to generate energy, and will love to have your commitment to work with us on that. mr. brouillette: i look forward to working on that. to ensure the fitness of all nominees to the use appointed positions, as of following two initial questions of every nominee who appears before the five committees in which i say. since you became a legal adult, have you made and wanted request for sexual favors were committed any assault of a sexual nature? mr. brouillette: no, ma'am. >> have you ever entered into a settlement related to this kind

of conduct? mr. brouillette: no, ma'am. brouillette, we ask each nominee under oath if they will be available to appear before this could penny and other congressional committees to represent the departmental positions and respond to concerns to congress. the secretary of state has thesed to comply with impeachment inquiry. subpoenasomply with duly issued by congress? mr. brouillette: senator, as part of my oath, i would make myself available if i were to receive a subpoena from the u.s. congress. withe -- i would consult branch counsel to make sure the subpoena was properly served. i would make myself available. is assuming the

subpoenas are duly issued. the united states has knowledge and duty of individuals and everyone who serves in the federal government has a responsibility to come forward to report misdeeds, fraud and violations of law, and we do have acknowledge the contributions of whistleblowers to combat abuse and violations of law? mr. brouillette: i fully support the whistleblower laws on the books and i will give you a commitment that we have begun a process of reviewing contracts we have with contractors at the department of energy. i will ensure the whistleblower provisions that were most recently asked are included in those contracts. >> sounds like you're committed to protecting whistleblowers within your department should you be confirmed, and you would them from retaliation as required under the whistleblower protection act? mr. brouillette: i would. >> you are coming up with the

should you be confirmed? mr. brouillette: we have instituted guidance, training within the department of energy, but again, we have also reviewed all of our contracts that we have with outside contractors to ensure the whistleblower protections that congress would be protected. concernst cause you with the whistleblower in regards to ukraine. there is a lot of discussion about the importance of battery storage. why has a commitment to becoming -- batterynable storage is a big deal for us.

we look for big breakthroughs and battery storage -- it will look for big breakthroughs with battery store? mr. brouillette: i certainly hope so. >> we have been talking about the importance of battery storage to enable all of us to use all the energy sources and limit our reliance on fossil fuels and now requires battery storage because it is intermittent power. the republic of the marshall islands of the united states is our close allies, and the d.o.e. signed a memorandum with the department of the interior to conduct a radio chemical analysis of groundwater surviving the cactus we scan to nurse site in the republic of the marshall islands. it houses contaminated soil and radioactive debris from u.s. nuclear weapons tests.

the people of the marshall islands have the right to know about the scope and scale with the dome and impacts to human's health. the study is very important and will help us to address these concerns. that thecommit department will complete this report and submitted to the committee on time? commituillette: i will we will submit on time. i would like the opportunity to review that. . toould like the opportunity respond to that in writing. >> that would be excellent. i know that this game is news to you, but have you been briefed by the sandia national

laboratories on the significant advances that the d.o.e. has made in the ability to remain the arsenal in the absence of testing? mr. brouillette: i have been, we are in the process, as we speak, the lab directors are engaged in a process of assessing and providing their assessment to us of the stockpile itself, so yes, i have been briefed on and. and i look forward to hearing their assessment perhaps within the next weekend a half. >> we have an aging stockpile and we need to be assured of the safety issues that are involved in all of that, so thank you. i look forward to working with you on all of these and other matters. you, mr. brouillette for being here. i was wondering if you remembered our conversation? mr. brouillette: i do. -- do youmber your 2

remember the two prior readies? energy -- we are still working on our energy bill, but very robust provisions for d.o.e. to play a major role in cybersecurity, and we hope that you will help make that a reality. we have phone education shortage -- we have an education shortage issue. successful ine dealing with that. and d.o.e. playing a more major role. every committee in congress has had some committee on cybersecurity, but when they get down to it, they say, it is the grid, and the grid, and the

grid, so i believe d.o.e. has to play a more robust role in the leadership. hanford.k you about to me, the department of energy, and you mentioned that mr. vance appreciates that another dod officials from hanford. but we need obviously to get the right budget, and i think the fy 20 funding level is one billion below the compliance budget level. i am sure you know very well the challenges we face as a state and we have milestones and they was ao be met, and there legal obligation by the department of energy to meet those milestones, so i would like to hear your commitment again to working with all of us in meeting those milestones. mr. brouillette: i am fully committed to that and we have engaged with the state department and notified them of a risky situation.

we are very much committed to the program that we have currently established. when you and i have this conversation almost 2.5 years ago -- itwe should clarify that wasn't last week we had a conversation. mr. brouillette: but i do recall that in you pointed out and rightfully so that you were concerned. a new administration comes in and the program changes and remove the ship to the right or to the left. we have chosen not to do that. advice andgely your at your direction. we will continue the progress we have already made, as i mentioned earlier. i am proud we have mood the last radioactive waste -- i am proud we have moved the last radioactive waste out of that river. but we have much more to do.

i am working closely with contractors and near bringing business discipline -- i working ,losely with contractors bringing business discipline. it is one of the highest priorities, the highest within the program and it ranks right at the top of my priority list, should i be confirmed as secretary, i will be there quite often. >> that should be news for everybody in the northwest and for the nation because it obviously is a very complex cleanup problem. i think people forget the inments of what we did meeting the nation's needs and securing production at that time, but we have to remember the cleanup responsibilities are just as dire and challenging, so thank you for that commitment. the training facility provides a really great exceptional work for our workforce who are committed to making sure there process atrocedural

hand. you committed to continuing working with hanford and the hammer facility? mr. brouillette: yes i am, and brian and i have had these conversations on a regular basis on the importance of hanford and the importance of processes and procedures so safety remains paramount. ofthere are clearly a lot priorities at hanford, including the start up of the low activity waste. talk about that and how you thing -- mr. brouillette: sure. that is part of what i meant earlier that we won't change the ship. what we did was focus our efforts on the flaw so we could get that process started, and right now, we are on schedule for 2023 to begin those operations. the balance of the facilities will be online surely, meaning

the administrative buildings and those having to support that institution. we have made that are priority. we have to do that first and right. let's do something and get something started. and show it works so we can get to high-level waste and do the things we need to be done and it is very complex. >> thank you. i knew you would be back took wary the deputy secretary and you did not disappoint. i had an opportunity this morning to be with secretary rick perry. it was a good gathering of international leaders focused in this area, and the secretary

articulated a strong vision for the u.s. role in this space. with able to follow him comments about what we are doing legislatively in tandem with the administration to move out on this extraordinary potential. as you know, we have advanced , butuclear leadership act what we do within this theslation is we focus on reality that most of these reactors will require the that is notium currently produced here. we are looking to what it is we need to do in order to facilitate this opportunity for us here in this country, so i know this is something the

department is looking at, an addition to everything else you have already put into law, some of the other pieces we are working to help facilitate. opening,nted out in my commission not be unusual or odd that a secretary from a producing state, like texas, or something -- or someone like me from alaska, would be interested in the prospects in the future for advanced, nuclear and all that it provides, so hopefully the department is considering what comprehensive advanced nuclear fuel programs would look like to intensive pay fees new needs and no that will continue to be a priority of mine -- and know that will continue to be a priority of mine. mr. brouillette: there are a number of different issues within your question.

we will advance the department reactor. is a testing that is a high priority for us. -- thatler reactor particular reactor allows us to test materials and utilized processes -- the test materials and utilize processes. we will also conduct a pilot project. that is very important for a number of reasons. we want to get well place where we can develop small, micro-reactors, one to five megawatts. they have a bright future and we are excited about their path forward throughout the process. but if we can make them smaller, we can serve communities. like i grew up in louisiana were there only 200 alaska, there more

alligators than people on any given day. it we could get small reactors in those areas of the country, we not only provided them with a clean, reliable source of power, we have taken a good step forward in reducing carbon emissions throughout the world. that is something i want to continue as i do become confirmed a secretary. i look forward to working with you. tonk you for allowing us borrow dr. ben lincoln. >> did you have any final question? >> i want to make a statement of how important -- we talked about this as far as it is important this job is. when you look at history and the role energies plate and where we are as a people, and being resourcesth a lot of to defend ourselves, to be a

superpower of the world, think about my grandparents talking about seething electricity, and remembering my grandmother was so tickled to have a refrigerator in the washing machine. , thinking about we have probably 7.5 billion without access to energy whatsoever and there desired to have what we have taken for granted. is a threat because of all of the terrorism going on and how susceptible we are. on the cutting edge of quantum and the ability to stay ahead of the rest of the world, and other nations who want to challenge our status, if you will, by using energy as a geopolitical tool and holding people hostage, and all the

things that will basically be under your purview. i want you to know you will have partners with you. we want you to succeed and do well. we want you to be able to come to the committee and not look at us as democrats or republicans, but americans who won our country to prosper with the goal of uplifting people around the world. i wish you well. godspeed. mr. brouillette: thank you, sir. >> will said. -- well said. deputy secretary, you have fielded a range of issues this morning, everything from the arctic to advanced nuclear to the waste issues, to critical --erals, energy storage, lng we have covered the gamut and you have articulated very well a policy perspective. it is quite clear that your

large is of energy at very substantive, but also, your keen understanding of the department of energy, its responsibility, its roles and promise it could hold, not only for this country, but for other nations, as they look to our leadership in so many of these different areas. i am a little concerned, however, you have made ,ommitments to visit alaska virginia, maine, wyoming, nevada, arizona -- i am a little concerned you will not have time for the day job here. but we will work with you as you seek to gain better understanding, appreciation of all that our great states have to offer. i want to thank your family for joining you here today.

to you, i haven't seen such well-behaved young children sitting behind their father. no squiggly, no squirreling -- no squirming, but i did catch a nap there, and i'm totally with you on that, guys, but i also want to recognize your national lab family you have here. we know that the men and women who serve in our national labs are an extraordinary asset to our country, and they are a very tightknit group having hosted many of you in the state of alaska. the fact that they are here in your support is also a testament to the dedication that you have to this job. i think based on what i have heard today, you will have strong support moving in this committee and it is my commitment to move you through the committee process, just as rapidly as possible. heretary perry has announced

will be departing on the first of december, and we would like to see a seamless transition there, as we move your name forward to fill this very important position as secretary of energy. with that, we thank you for your time, leadership, and your vision. with that, the committee stands adjourned. mr. brouillette: thank you. [applause] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

>> this week, the house intelligence committee and djere adam schiff continue with the impeachment inquiry hearings. beginning tuesday morning at 9:00 eastern on c-span 3, watch live testimony from jennifer williams come to vice president mike pence, and director for european affairs at the national security council, lit tunic colonel, and at 2:30, ambassador kurt volker, the special envoy to ukraine and national security white house a tim morrison. on wednesday at 9:00 a.m., testimony continues with gordon sondland and at 2:30, deputy assistant of defense for russian, ukrainian and eurasian affairs laura cooper and daniel hill.

on thursday and 9:00 a.m. eastern, the committee will hear testimony from fiona hill. watch the first two public hearings in their entirety on our website at c-span.org/impeachment and you will find transcripts of witness testimony and procedures for the hearing, plus, points of interest features that identify key moments during the hearing indicated by a star in the timeline. watch live coverage of the house impeachment inquiry hearings on c-span 3, c-span.org, or listen live wherever you are with the free c-span radio app. deval patrick, former democratic governor of massachusetts, filed the paperwork to be a 2020 presidential candidate in new hampshire's first of the nation primary ballot and was greeted by the new after secretary of state, who explained some of the history behind the process. here is a look.