"This nomination highlights the important role that the Department of Energy plays in maintaining our national technological competitiveness. The Department is steward to most of our premier Federal scientific laboratories, and is a leading funder of Federal research in the physical sciences and engineering. We are unlikely to make major progress on our long-standing energy challenges without better scientific insight into these challenges, and a strong push for developing new technologies and then deploying them in the private sector. Secretary-designate Samuel Bodman will bring very strong credentials to the Department of Energy in these areas, and I look forward to working with him in his new position."