[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 78 (Tuesday, May 10, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S2392]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                   Nomination of Asmeret Asefaw Berhe

  Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I come to the floor today in opposition 
to the nomination of Dr. Asmeret Berhe, who has been nominated to serve 
as the Director of the Office of Science at the U.S. Department of 
Energy.
  The Office of Science is the Nation's largest Federal sponsor of 
basic research in physical sciences. Its mission is to advance the 
energy, economic, and national security of the United States. This job, 
this mission to advance the energy, economic, and national security of 
the United States is one that I view as very critical.
  Dr. Berhe has been a professor of soil biogeochemistry--soil 
biogeochemistry--at the University of California Merced for over a 
decade. Now, she has focused her research on soil management and 
sequestering carbon in the soil. Her background and her experience have 
very little to do with the Department of Energy's main scientific 
focus.
  A May 9, 2001, op-ed in the Wall Street Journal by a physicist whose 
expertise is theoretical physics has noted:

       Ms. Berhe's research program on soil chemistry, exploring 
     the capture of carbon dioxide, is relevant to climate-change 
     policy. But her research expertise isn't in any of the Office 
     of Science's major programs, and she has no experience as a 
     scientific administrator and minimal experience with the 
     Energy Department itself.

  So not that there is anything wrong with her underlying experience to 
do other things, but for this specific position, the qualifications 
just aren't there. Dr. Berhe is clearly not the right choice to lead 
the Office of Science.
  Certain positions Dr. Berhe has taken or endorsed are also 
concerning. On February 28, 2001, she retweeted this statement:

       I'm just going to propose that a nation that can land an 
     SUV sized rover in an ancient lake on another planet can 
     build an electrical grid that is not [f---ing] useless--

  This is her retweeting--

  because of slavish devotion to the free market.

  Apparently, we are devoted to the free market, and she doesn't like 
it.
  On May 7, 2015, she wrote in Science that ``the practice of farming'' 
is to blame for climate change. ``The practice of farming'' is to blame 
for climate change.
  Dr. Berhe is not the right person to serve as the Director of the 
Office of Science. I rise in opposition to her nomination. I urge my 
colleagues to join me in voting against this nominee.
  I yield the floor.