Washington, D.C. – Today, Ranking Member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) made the following statement regarding a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report detailing negative impacts to previously-announced projects within the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) due to the Department of Energy’s (DOE) delay of funding:

“This Government Accountability Office report confirms that by arbitrarily withholding funding, the Department of Energy created uncertainty for small business, risking millions of dollars of investments and needlessly threatened the jobs of hardworking Americans. Secretary Perry should stop playing political games when funding science and research. I will be closely watching to ensure that he does just that.”

On May 16, 2017, Senator Cantwell and 27 senators sent a letter to Energy Secretary Rick Perry stating that they were deeply troubled by reports that the Department of Energy (DOE) had delayed awarding funds and, in some cases, was refusing to release funds altogether for various activities for which Congress has already provided appropriations.

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