Click here to watch Ranking Member Barrasso’s remarks.  

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-WY), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources (ENR), delivered the following remarks at a business meeting to consider the nomination of Tommy P. Beaudreau to be deputy secretary of the Interior.  

To watch the full business meeting, click here. 

Senator Barrasso’s remarks: 

“Today, our committee is going to vote on the nomination of Tommy Beaudreau to serve as deputy secretary of the Interior. 

“If confirmed, he will play a critical role in managing 20 percent of our nation’s lands and natural resources, including our national parks and monuments, wildlife refuges, and the outer continental shelf.

“He will oversee the management of the largest water supply in the West, and our nation’s responsibilities to American Indian tribes, Alaska Natives, U.S. territories, and Freely Associated States. 

“He is going to oversee access to public lands. 

“This access is critical to Wyoming and the West. 

“It allows people to make a living from America’s abundant natural resources. 

“In Wyoming, that includes the ability to graze our livestock, to visit our national parks, and to develop traditional and renewable energy supplies. 

“Mr. Beaudreau’s experience at the Department of the Interior is extensive. 

“He served in important leadership roles at the department during the Obama administration. 

“As an attorney in private practice, he had regularly handled matters relating to the department, including conventional and renewable energy and environmental litigation.  

“As the son of a worker in the Prudhoe Bay oil field on the North Slope of Alaska, he has a first-hand appreciation of the benefits that energy production on public lands affords to millions of Americans. 

“Mr. Beaudreau’s background and experience qualify him to serve as deputy secretary of the Interior. 

“What concerns me is the Biden administration’s opposition to responsible resource development. 

“In the administration’s first 100 days, it has already unleashed a barrage of executive actions that threaten to destroy the livelihoods of oil, natural gas, and coal workers in the West. 

“States that rely on energy production on public lands will be the hardest hit. 

“This includes my home state of Wyoming, Mr. Beaudreau’s home state of Alaska, and Secretary Haaland’s home state of New Mexico. 

“During his nomination hearing, Mr. Beaudreau testified: ‘If confirmed, I commit to have an open door and an open mind on the important challenges before us. And I also commit to listen to and collaborate with this committee and with each of you.’  

“The department needs to listen and collaborate with the people of Wyoming and the West.

“Mr. Beaudreau can serve as a voice of reason in an administration that is waging an economic war on energy workers in my home state and across the country. 

“America needs an all of the above energy strategy that includes coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear power, and renewables. 

“I believe that Mr. Beaudreau understands this reality. 

“I will support his nomination.” 

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