[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 78 (Tuesday, May 10, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S2394]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                   Nomination of Asmeret Asefaw Berhe

  Mr. MANCHIN. Madam President, I am pleased to support the nomination 
of Dr. Asmeret Asefaw Berhe to be the Director of the Office of Science 
at the Department of Energy.
  President Reagan famously complained that the Department of Energy 
never ``produced a quart of oil or a lump of coal,'' but that was never 
the Department's job.
  The Department of Energy is as much a Department of Science and 
Technology as a Department of Energy. For nearly 50 years, it has been 
at the forefront of scientific discovery and technology innovation. As 
a seedbed for science, the Department has given us the technologies to 
increase our energy production and use our resources in a cleaner and 
more efficient way, and the Office of Science lies at the heart of the 
Department's science mission.
  It is the Nation's largest Federal supporter of basic research in the 
physical sciences. Its mission is to deliver the ``scientific 
discoveries, capabilities, and major scientific tools to transform the 
understanding of nature and to advance the energy, economic, and 
national security of the United States.''
  Leading this important scientific enterprise calls for a scientist of 
great ability and vision. I believe Dr. Berhe is very qualified for 
this important job. In judging from the long list of academic honors 
and awards that she has received and the long list of scientific papers 
that she has written, Dr. Berhe has the scientific credentials this job 
requires. She is a professor of soil biochemistry at the University of 
California, where she is also an associate dean of graduate education 
and holds an endowed chair in Earth Sciences and Geology.
  The Office of Science itself has long engaged in basic research 
relating to soil science and broader ecological questions, whether they 
be tracing radioactive elements through the atmosphere or the flow of 
energy, water, and carbon through the Earth's natural systems. So her 
background is an asset and makes her very well suited to lead the 
Office of Science.
  Dr. Berhe is also an adjunct professor at the Salk Institute for 
Biological Studies, and she has been a visiting professor at ETH 
Zurich, where Albert Einstein studied physics. She didn't teach him, 
but he studied there. She has authored over 100 scientific papers and 
has received over two dozen honors and awards for her scientific 
achievements.
  She is incredibly well qualified for this important post of leading 
the Office of Science. I strongly support her nomination, and I urge a 
favorable vote on her nomination.
  I yield back all time.