Majority Leader Frist and Democratic Leader Reid this afternoon named 14 conferees to the upcoming House-Senate energy bill conference.  The conferees are drawn, in strict seniority, from two committees – Senate Energy & Natural Resources (11) and Senate Finance Committee (3).  They are:

Senate Energy GOP:  Pete Domenici (NM); Larry Craig (ID); Craig Thomas (WY); Lamar Alexander (TN); Lisa Murkowski (AK), and Richard Burr (NC).

Senate Energy Dems:  Jeff Bingaman (NM); Daniel Akaka (HI); Byron Dorgan (ND); Ron Wyden (OR), and Tim Johnson (SD).

Senate Finance GOP:  Charles Grassley (IA) and Orrin Hatch (UT).

Senate Finance Dem:  Max Baucus (MT).

To our knowledge, the House has not yet appointed conferees.  The date for the opening conference meeting has not been set.  It is presumed that Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) will be chairing this conference.  (The chair alternates between the two bodies, and the Senate chaired the last energy bill conference.)

On behalf of Sen. Bingaman and my Senate Energy colleagues, we wish you a stress-free and safe Independence Day weekend.

#   #   #