Washington, D.C. – The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee today approved the nomination of Jeffrey Clay Sell as Deputy Secretary at the Department of Energy and Patricia Lynn Scarlett as the Deputy Secretary at the Department of the Interior. The committee approved the two matters by unanimous consent during a business meeting this afternoon in S-211 of the Capitol. A quorum was not reached in the 11:30 a.m. business meeting, and thus the vote had to be postponed until later in the afternoon. The nomination of Jeffrey Clay Sell, to be Deputy Secretary of Energy: President Bush nominated Clay Sell to be Deputy Secretary of Energy on February 28, 2005. Since February, 2004, Mr. Sell had served as a Special Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs, working in the President’s Office of Legislative Affairs and specializing in coordinating and achieving the President’s legislative agenda in the United States Senate in the policy areas of energy, natural resources, budget and appropriations. Previously, Mr. Sell had served as a Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, working within the President’s National Economic Council, since July, 2003. In that capacity, Mr. Sell advised the President on domestic energy policy and coordinated the formation and implementation of the Administration’s energy policy. Prior to serving at the White House, Mr. Sell served as the Majority Clerk and Staff Director for the Energy and Water Development Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, working directly for the subcommittee Chairman, Senator Pete V. Domenici of New Mexico, and the full Committee on Appropriations Chairman, Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska. Mr. Sell led the Republican staff on Energy and Water from January, 2000, to July, 2003. Previously, Mr. Sell served on the Bush-Cheney Transition as part of the energy policy team. From 1995 to 1999, he served on the staff of Congressman Mac Thornberry of Texas, the last two years as Thornberry's Administrative Assistant. The nomination of Patricia Lynn Scarlett, to be the Deputy Secretary of the Interior: Lynn Scarlett is Assistant Secretary of Policy, Management, and Budget at the Department of the Interior. Since taking her post at Interior in July 2001, Ms. Scarlett coordinates budget planning within the Department and has helped the Department implement the President’s Management Agenda and other key management initiatives. She serves as both the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Human Capital Officer of the Department. She also helps coordinate Department-wide environmental policy initiatives to implement Secretary Gale Norton’s “4 C’s” vision of conservation through cooperation, communication, and consultation. From June 2003-2004, she chaired the Wildland Fire Leadership Council, an interagency and intergovernmental forum for implementing the National Fire Plan and 10-Year Implementation Plan. She co-chairs the Recreation Fee Leadership Council, and interagency groupl to coordinate recreation fee policy and practices. She serves on the Board of Trustees of the Udall Foundation as the Department of the Interior Representative. Prior to joining the Bush Administration in July 2001, she was President of the Los Angeles-based Reason Foundation, a nonprofit current affairs research and communications organization. In addition to her management role, her policy research focused on environmental, land use, and natural resources issues. Ms. Scarlett served on Pres. George W. Bush's environmental policy task force during his presidential campaign. She was appointed by former Gov. Pete Wilson to chair California's Inspection and Maintenance Review Committee, a position she held for 6 years. Ms. Scarlett served as an Expert Panelist on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's full-cost accounting and "pay-as-you-throw" projects. She chaired the "How Clean Is Clean" Working Group of the National Environmental Policy Institute from 1993-98 and served at the request of former EPA Administrator William Ruckelshaus on the Enterprise for the Environment Task Force, which examined new directions for U.S. environmental policy. Ms. Scarlett received her B.A. and M.A. in political science from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she also completed her Ph.D. course work and exams in political science and political economy. ###