WASHINGTON, D.C. - In a business meeting off the floor of the Senate today, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved five nominations and one bill for full Senate consideration. Approved were both nominees for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Nora Mead Brownell and Patrick Henry Wood. Also approved were the nominations of J. Steven Griles as Deputy Secretary of the Interior, Jesse Hill Roberson as Assistant Secretary of Environmental Management at the Department of Energy and Lee Sara Liberman Otis to be General Counsel for the Department of Energy. “These talented individuals will be a great asset to the Administration. They will play an important role in implementing solutions to America’s energy crisis. The full Senate should act quickly to get them confirmed and in place so they can get to work for the President,” said Chairman Frank H. Murkowski. The lone bill approved by the Committee and sent to the Senate floor was S. 507, the Northern Mariana Islands Covenant Implementation Act. The bill ensures effective immigration control by extending the Immigration and Nationality Act to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. It includes special provisions that allow for the phasing out of the nonresident contract worker program, and the phasing in of federal responsibilities over immigration. It also minimizes, to the greatest extent possible, the potential adverse effects that such a phase out might have on the economy of the Commonwealth. ###