[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 31 (Wednesday, March 12, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2171-S2173]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         NOMINATION OF FEDERICO PENA TO BE SECRETARY OF ENERGY

  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I wish to voice my support for the 
nomination of Federico Pena to be Secretary of Energy during President 
Clinton's second term in office.
  Mr. Pena served ably as Secretary of Transportation during the first 
Clinton Administration, and I look forward to working with him as he 
assumes new responsibilities at the Department of Energy. The 
challenges at DOE are vast, and Mr. Pena's management skills and 
ability to work with different groups should prove very useful in 
responding to the complex issues which are the responsibility of the 
Department of Energy.
  Prior to joining the Clinton Administration, Mr. Pena served as Mayor 
of Denver from 1983 to 1991, and as a Colorado legislator. During his 
tenure as mayor, Mr. Pena played an active role in reviving the Denver 
economy from its mid-1980s decline through a series of bold 
initiatives. At a time when major new international airports were not 
being built in this country, he gained approval for one of the largest 
and most technological advanced airports in the world. As Secretary of 
Transportation, Mr. Pena proudly participated in the dedication of 
Denver International Airport in February, 1995.
  While he served as Secretary of Transportation, I worked closely with

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Secretary Pena regarding the transportation issues in my home state of 
West Virginia. He now moves to a department that has responsibility for 
a different set of issues, but issues that are very important to the 
current and future economic prosperity of my state. Coal is not only a 
major economic and employment influence in West Virginia, but coal is a 
critical component of our national energy picture. At the present time, 
and projected into the future, fossil fuels remain the dominant source 
for our energy supply picture. At present, fossil fuels supply 85 
percent of our energy requirements. Coal is the source of 55 percent of 
our nation's electricity. So policies that affect coal and the role of 
fossil fuels in our energy picture are of great interest--not just to 
the states that are the source of these fuels but also to the nation as 
a whole because of the potential for significant disruption if abrupt 
changes are recommended without giving the economy a chance to prepare 
and adjust.
  As Ranking Minority Member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I 
look forward to working with Secretary-designate Pena on our energy 
policy issues. In addition to serving as the Ranking Member on the 
Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, I also serve on the Energy and 
Water Development Subcommittee--both of which have jurisdiction over 
parts of the DOE budget. At a time of constrained budgets and pressure 
to downsize the Federal workforce, we must also be attentive to the 
realities of our energy supply picture. Thus, I have been, and will 
continue to be, supportive of investments in technology development 
that will contribute to our using and producing energy more 
efficiently, as well as producing energy in more environmentally-
sensitive ways. The Department of Energy has a visible physical 
presence in West Virginia at the Federal Energy Technology Center 
facility in Morgantown, which employs some 550 persons directly and 
under contract. I look forward to working with Mr. Pena to ensure a 
continued future for this important part of our Federal technical 
infrastructure.
  There is a need within the Administration for a strong voice on 
behalf of fossil energy, and particularly coal, and I believe Mr. Pena 
is capable of meeting this challenge. I wish him well in his new job, 
and urge my colleagues to support his confirmation. I yield the floor.
  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent we extend for 
2 minutes the debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator may proceed for 2 minutes.
  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Thank you, Mr. President.
  Mr. President, I want to say I do support the nomination of Secretary 
Pena. However, I think it is very important that this new Secretary 
take the opportunity to set an energy policy in this country that says 
to the American people that energy self-sufficiency is our goal. We 
should be able to create energy through our own natural resources, not 
only to create jobs in America, but also to make sure that our country 
is strong with energy self-sufficiency.
  I am going to work with Senator John Breaux, my cochair of the Oil 
and Gas Caucus, to try to make sure that we take the duplication of 
regulation off of our oil and gas industry. Where State regulators are 
able to handle the issues, we should let it happen at the State level 
rather than the Federal Government duplicating the regulations which 
become costly and burdensome to our oil and gas industry. Why not put 
that money into new capital creations, to create new jobs in our 
country, rather than going through more bureaucratic morass that so 
hampers our businesses?
  I also want to give incentives, incentives to drill and explore for 
our own natural resources, especially marginal drilling that is more 
expensive. Why not give incentives so we can create the jobs in America 
and also create energy resources for our country that would make us 
more able to be sufficient?
  Mr. President, it is very important that the new Secretary come with 
the full support of the Senate. I hope that he will be committed to a 
strong energy policy for our country and that he will also take 
seriously the requirement that we work for the new alternative MOX 
fuels that will, I hope, come from the nuclear weapons that we are in 
the process of dismantling. I hope he will take the opportunity to 
visit Pantex in Amarillo to see what can be done with this great MOX 
fuel opportunity, to use the aging nuclear weapons in our arsenal.
  In supporting this nomination, I would like to briefly discuss two 
issues of importance to my State of Texas and the Nation.
  Mr. President, a healthy and competitive oil and gas industry--
capable of producing adequate and affordable energy supplies--is 
crucially important to the U.S. economy and to the welfare of the 
American people. This is especially the case at a time when U.S. 
companies and workers face growing competition in the global economy.
  As cochairman, of the Congressional Oil and Gas Caucus, I am 
concerned that U.S. policy, taken as a whole, has overtly encouraged 
increasing oil imports over expanding domestic production. I look 
forward to working with Secretary Pena to reverse this trend and to 
create conditions that foster a competitive and healthy oil and gas 
industry.
  This year, I will be working with my colleagues in the House and 
Senate to continue our goal of reducing or eliminating redundant or 
unnecessary regulations on this industry. For example, there are many 
regulatory requirements to address the same concern imposed at both the 
Statese co- and Federal level. Where possible, we should eliminate one 
level of identical regulations, which have destroyed jobs, raised 
consumer prices, and sent American business to foreign countries. I 
look forward to working with Secretary Pena on these objectives.
  I believe in most cases the State regulations should be given the 
greater deference.
  I will also be working with my colleagues to provide tax incentives 
which encourage oil and gas drilling and production, especially for 
marginal wells and formations which are difficult to develop.
  I know all the members of the Congressional Oil and Gas Caucus look 
forward to working with Secretary Pena on these issues and to ensure 
that Government policies which affect the oil and gas industry are the 
result of sound and informed decision making.
  Mr. President, I would like to turn briefly to a second and final 
issue of concern to Texans and the Nation--the continued transformation 
of our Nation's nuclear weapons complex and the important work being 
performed at he Pantex Plant near Amarillo, TX.
  Our victory in the cold war signaled the end of the arms race, but it 
has focused our current efforts on arms reductions. A benefit from 
these reductions is the potential energy source of special nuclear 
materials from dismantled weapons.
  Just a few months ago, Department of Energy officials announced their 
intention to process excess plutonium into mixed-oxide, or MOX, fuel 
for use in commercial nuclear reactors.
  Pantex has been the Nation's premiere nuclear weapons production site 
since 1951. Today, it is the only authorized site to assemble and 
disassemble weapons. Currently, the plant stores all the plutonium 
removed from dismantled weapons.
  The 3,400 workers at Pantex played a key role in our cold war victory 
and their expertise in safety and security handling and storing 
plutonium should not be ignored as the Department searches for a MOX 
fuel fabrication site. The excellent safety record, cost savings and 
efficiencies established at Pantex over the last 40 years make it the 
ideal candidate for new DOE work.
  As DOE proceeds with its assessments of potential sites, I invite 
Secretary Pena to visit Pantex so he can see firsthand the world class 
facilities and professionals available to the Department of Energy near 
Amarillo and in the Texas Panhandle.
  I also ask Secretary Pena to take a close look at the safety and 
reliability of our nuclear stockpile. I am concerned that with an end 
to our nuclear testing, computer modeling alone will not be sufficient 
to maintain our deterrent nuclear capability. I hope that together with 
the Secretary of Defense, Secretary Pena will take a close look at how 
we manage and maintain this critical capability.

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  I look forward to working with Secretary Pena on these and other 
important issues. The next Secretary of Energy has a great opportunity 
to give our country an energy policy that values energy sufficiency for 
our country.
  I thank you for this opportunity to speak on behalf of Secretary 
Pena. I yield the floor.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak for 30 
seconds.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Regarding soon-to-be-confirmed Secretary of Energy 
Pena, I want to tell the Senate I know him and his family very well, in 
particular his wife, who went to school with my children. We are good 
friends. I do not support him on that basis only. I think he is ready 
to undertake this very difficult job. I wish him well.
  I think we can work together to make the Department of Energy a 
better department under his administration. I look forward to working 
to that end. I yield the floor.

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