S. HRG. 107–31 SPENCER ABRAHAM NOMINATION HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION NOMINEE TO BE SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY JANUARY 18, 2001 ( Printed for the use of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 72–247 DTP WASHINGTON : 2001 For sale by the U.S. Government Printing Office Superintendent of Documents, Congressional Sales Office, Washington, DC 20402 VerDate 11-MAY-2000 13:06 May 10, 2001 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 72-247 SENERGY2 PsN: SENERGY2 COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES JEFF BINGAMAN, New Mexico, Chairman DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii FRANK H. MURKOWSKI, Alaska BYRON L. DORGAN, North Dakota PETE V. DOMENICI, New Mexico BOB GRAHAM, Florida DON NICKLES, Oklahoma RON WYDEN, Oregon LARRY E. CRAIG, Idaho TIM JOHNSON, South Dakota BEN NIGHTHORSE CAMPBELL, Colorado MARY L. LANDRIEU, Louisiana CRAIG THOMAS, Wyoming EVAN BAYH, Indiana GORDON SMITH, Oregon BLANCHE L. LINCOLN, Arkansas JIM BUNNING, Kentucky PETER G. FITZGERALD, Illinois CONRAD BURNS, Montana ROBERT M. SIMON, Staff Director SAM E. FOWLER, Chief Counsel ANDREW D. LUNDQUIST, Republican Staff Director DAVID G. DYE, Republican Chief Counsel JAMES P. BEIRNE, Republican Deputy Chief Counsel (II) VerDate 11-MAY-2000 13:06 May 10, 2001 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 72-247 SENERGY2 PsN: SENERGY2 C O N T E N T S STATEMENTS Page Abraham, Hon. Spencer, Nominee to be Secretary of the Department of En- ergy ........................................................................................................................ 9 Akaka, Hon. Daniel K., U.S. Senator from Hawaii .............................................. 2 Bayh, Hon. Evan, U.S. Senator from Indiana ....................................................... 37 Bingaman, Hon. Jeff, U.S. Senator from New Mexico .......................................... 1 Burns, Hon. Conrad, U.S. Senator from Montana ................................................ 41 Campbell, Hon. Ben Nighthorse, U.S. Senator from Colorado ............................ 29 Cantwell, Hon. Maria, U.S. Senator from Washington ........................................ 47 Craig, Hon. Larry E., U.S. Senator from Idaho .................................................... 35 Domenici, Hon. Pete V., U.S. Senator from New Mexico ..................................... 23 Dorgan, Hon. Byron L., U.S. Senator from North Dakota ................................... 20 Feinstein, Hon. Dianne, U.S. Senator from California ......................................... 45 Graham, Hon. Bob, U.S. Senator from Florida ..................................................... 26 Johnson, Hon. Tim, U.S. Senator from South Dakota .......................................... 3 Levin, Hon. Carl, U.S. Senator from Michigan ..................................................... 6 Murkowski, Hon. Frank H., U.S. Senator from Alaska ....................................... 4 Nickles, Hon. Don, U.S. Senator from Oklahoma ................................................. 43 Schumer, Hon. Charles E., U.S. Senator from New York .................................... 50 Smith, Hon. Gordon, U.S. Senator from Oregon ................................................... 40 Stabenow, Hon. Debbie, U.S. Senator from Michigan .......................................... 7 Thomas, Hon. Craig, U.S. Senator from Wyoming ............................................... 33 Wyden, Hon. Ron, U.S. Senator from Oregon ....................................................... 31 APPENDIXES APPENDIX I Responses to additional questions .......................................................................... 63 APPENDIX II Additional material submitted for the record ........................................................ 79 (III) VerDate 11-MAY-2000 13:06 May 10, 2001 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 72-247 SENERGY2 PsN: SENERGY2 VerDate 11-MAY-2000 13:06 May 10, 2001 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 72-247 SENERGY2 PsN: SENERGY2 SPENCER ABRAHAM NOMINATION THURSDAY, JANUARY 18, 2001 U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES, Washington, DC. The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:06 a.m. in room SD– 106, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Jeff Bingaman, chair- man, presiding. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JEFF BINGAMAN, U.S. SENATOR FROM NEW MEXICO Chairman BINGAMAN. The committee will come to order. Under the Rules of the Senate the standing committees continue from one Congress to the next and have the power to act until their succes- sors are appointed. Although the Senate has yet to appoint new members, we expect, subject to the approval of a Democratic Con- ference and the full Senate, that Senators Feinstein and Schumer and Cantwell will be appointed as Democratic members of this committee and, if they are able to attend this morning, we will cer- tainly permit them to ask questions of the nominee and participate. Obviously, we extend the same courtesy to any new Republican members, but I understand that the Republican Conference has not yet decided on who those members will be. Is that correct? Senator MURKOWSKI. That is my general understanding, Mr. Chairman. Chairman BINGAMAN. The committee will consider the nomina- tion of Spencer Abraham to be the Secretary of Energy this morn- ing, then we will break for lunch and reconvene at 2:30 this after- noon to consider the nomination of Gale Norton to be the Secretary of the Interior. I have decided to exercise the prerogatives that I have as chairman for another day-and-a-half, Mr. Chairman, to model these hearings after those that we conducted in this room for Donald Rumsfeld instead of those that are being conducted for John Ashcroft. By that I mean that I would intend to give a brief statement myself, call upon Senator Murkowski, the Ranking Re- publican member, to give a statement, then call on the two Sen- ators from Michigan to introduce the witness, and then call on Sen- ator Abraham, the nominee, to make his statement, and then we would go after that to questions by the committee. In the first round of questions we will have 8 minutes per ques- tioner instead of 5, so the people can make statements or ask ques- tions as they see fit. The purpose of this hearing, as I said, is to consider the nomina- tion of our former colleague, Spencer Abraham, as the Secretary of (1) VerDate 11-MAY-2000 13:06 May 10, 2001 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 72-247 SENERGY2 PsN: SENERGY2 2 Energy. Several years ago, Senator Abraham urged that we abolish the Department of Energy. He has since seen the light. He has come to understand the importance of that Department, and the importance of it for our energy security, our national security, our economy, and our scientific and technological prowess. I am sure he is also learning the difficult problems facing the Secretary and how difficult it will be for the Secretary to solve those problems. Like his predecessors, he will be held accountable for energy supply and price fluctuations over which he has very lit- tle control. He will be held responsible for the performance of Na- tional Nuclear Security Administration, over which he has no di- rect management authority. He will be called to account for envi- ronmental messes that he had no part in making, and he will be held liable for not having opened the nuclear waste repository 3 years ago. Republicans harshly criticized President Clinton’s nominees for this and other posts in the Department of Energy for not being suf- ficiently steeped in the intricacies of the energy area for which they were nominated, and for needing, as it was referred to, on-the-job training. It would be easy for Democrats to respond in kind, now that our roles are reversed. It would be easy but it would not be constructive or fair to this nominee. It is time for both parties to put aside their rancor, to work coop- eratively with the new Secretary to try to solve some of these very serious problems facing the Department. I, for one, have assured this nominee of my support, and I look forward to working with him. At this point let me call upon Senator Murkowski to make any opening statement he would like to make. [The prepared statements of Senators Akaka and Johnson fol- low:] PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. DANIEL K. AKAKA, U.S. SENATOR FROM HAWAII Mr. Chairman, thank you for promptly scheduling this hearing to confirm our Sec- retary of Energy. The sooner we confirm Senator Abraham as the Secretary of En- ergy, the sooner he can begin work on his new and challenging assignment. I am pleased that President-elect Bush has chosen Spencer Abraham to be the Secretary of Energy. He is aware of the concerns of Americans regarding rising en- ergy costs. As a Senator from Michigan, Spencer Abraham has had firsthand experi- ence with the increases in gasoline prices that occurred last year. I want to tell you that I plan to vote for your confirmation as the Secretary of Energy. I also commend you for accepting the task of running the Department of Energy. It is one of the most challenging jobs in the Federal government. As a member of this Committee and as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, I look forward to working with you on all aspects of the operations of the Department. Senator Abraham, as you know our nation has suffered the impact of high energy prices for the last two years. Some areas of the country have suffered more than others. But Hawaii has borne