Menezes praises bipartisan American Energy Innovation Act

To watch a video of Senator Manchin’s opening remarks, please click here.

To watch a video of Senator Manchin’s questioning, please click here.

Washington, DC – Today, the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a hearing to consider the nomination of Mark Menezes to be Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy. U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), Ranking Member of the Committee, stressed the importance of the Department of Energy’s role, and that of its highest-ranking officers, in combatting the COVID-19 crisis and rebuilding our economy.

“The Department of Energy is a scientific powerhouse. Its national laboratories are some of the nation’s premier scientific research centers. Labs are using what they learned from Smallpox, Anthrax, and Ebola to develop models to help determine how the Coronavirus behaves and lab supercomputers are helping us screen drug compounds to expedite vaccine development. DOE and its labs can also play a vital role in supporting the scientific research and development needed to rebuild our economy.The Deputy Secretary’s job will be a critically important one in this effort,” Ranking Member Manchin said.

Mark Menezes praised Ranking Member Manchin’s and Chairman Murkowski’s bipartisan American Energy Innovation Act and commented on the important role of energy innovation in reviving the economy.

“It is innovation that will drive the breakthrough technologies that we will all need to be able to meet all of our goals as we go forward. A reading of that legislation clearly points to that this Committee clearly understands what’s necessary to set the stage for a very dynamic energy policy of the future. It includes … training for the workforce, which is very important. It captures the key industries, such as cyber-security, critical minerals, and smart manufacturing. It is a forward-looking bill,” Mr. Menezes said.

To watch the hearing in full, please click here.  

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