Energy Policy Modernization Bill

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I thank my colleagues for their support of the Energy Policy Modernization Act. I think the vote we have just concluded is indicative of what I have been saying for years now. I have a relatively lengthy policy manual or handbook, if you will, of how I view the energy space and how we can work to advance our energy policies, but, as with so much nowadays, if you put down a 115-page book or if you have a multipage white paper, it kind of goes by the way. So I have framed my energy policy into three simple words. I don't have it on a chart this afternoon, but it is basically pretty simple: ``Energy is good.'' I think that is what we have concluded with passage of the Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2016, with 85 Members supporting us in this effort.

I thank my ranking member, Senator Cantwell, for working with me throughout this very collaborative process. The way we built this bill was not just the two of us as colleagues on the Energy Committee but working with Members on the committee across the aisle, working with other Members of this body in a very open and transparent manner. And it was not just colleagues here within the Senate; it was the outreach we did with numerous listening sessions and the administration. I thank Secretary of Energy Moniz for his assistance in what we built. What we have in front of us and what we are recognizing today is truly a strong, committed process that yielded a strong product.

I wish to acknowledge the very, very hard work of our staffs. We all know we cannot do what we need to do as Senators without good people backing us at every turn. I am extraordinarily fortunate as chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee to have a team on the majority's side that is not only extraordinarily hard-working, but they are all amazing experts when it comes to the energy space.

I wish to particularly recognize my staff director, Colin Hayes. Colin came into this Energy bill midway. He came on as my staff director at the first of the year after my previous staff director, Karen Billups, who had served on the Energy Committee for close to 25 years, retires. So we had that experience and expertise leaving--and Karen worked so hard to help craft so much of this bill, but then we needed the technician to move it through this process, and Colin Hayes stepped up in an extraordinary and remarkable way, and I thank him for all he did to guide us here.

I wish to recognize the others on my Energy Committee staff: Pat McCormick, Brian Hughes, Kellie Donnelly, and Lucy Murfitt.

I want to give a special shout-out to Lucy because she was able to help navigate some of the issues that perhaps were not seen upfront and in person, but behind the scenes were very important, not the least of which was the amendment we took a voice vote on yesterday relating to the wild horses in North Carolina. Managing interesting issues and doing it deftly was Lucy's strong suit.

I thank Severin Randall. I also thank Annie Hoefler, who made sure anything I needed in my book was there, Michael Tadeo, Tristan Abbey, Chester Carson, Isaac Edwards, Heidi Hansen, Chris Kearney, Chuck Kleeschulte, Kip Knudson, Brianne Miller, Jason Huffnagle, Ben Reinke, Krystal Edens, Melissa Enriquez, Deanna Mitchell, and Karen Dildei. They are all members of our team on the Republican side who have been working day and night for weeks and months now.

But we can't work a bill as successfully as we have today without working hand-in-glove with your counterparts on the other side. Just as Senator Cantwell and I worked together, our staffs worked together, and they were led very ably by Angela Becker-Dippmann. Angela came to the committee after being pulled out of another place at the request of Senator Cantwell, and her guidance has been extraordinary. I greatly appreciate her work.

I wish to recognize the other members of the minority Energy Committee staff as well. Sam Fowler has been around since time immemorial guiding us. I thank Rebecca Bonner, David Brooks, John Davis, Benjamin Drake, David Gillers, Rich Glick, Spencer Gray, Sa'Rah Hamm, Aisha Johnson, Faye Matthews, Scott McKee, Casey Neal, Bryan Petit, David Poyer, Betsy Rosenblatt, Samantha Siegler, Bradley Sinkaus, Carolyn Sloan, Rory Stanley, Melanie Stansbury, Al Stayman, Nick Sutter, Stephanie Teich-McGoldrick, and Brie Van Cleve.

This is kind of a list of Emmy Award winners in my book. But as good as our teams are, we need help here on the floor. The folks on the floor staff have been fabulous and extraordinary, and we thank them for their efforts. Laura Dove and Gary, thank you for what you have done. The other members of the Republican floor staff--Robert Duncan, Chris Tuck, Mary Elizabeth Taylor, Megan Mercer, Katherine Kilroy, Tony Hanagan, and Mike Smith--are great people to work with, and we appreciate their guidance.

We had good, strong support from the leader's office. Neil Chatterjee was a kind of energy whisperer for many of us and was a great help, as well as Kate Sterne and Monica Popp with Senator Cornyn's office, Eric Ueland and Becky Cole on the Budget Committee, Heather Burnham and Christina Jacquet at Senate Legislative Counsel, and Megan Carroll and Kathy Gramp at the Congressional Budget Office.

I am proud of the work so many have done in getting us here. We are looking forward to sitting down with our counterparts on the House side and getting to work to make sure the benefits we have achieved today in the Senate are replicated with our colleagues in the House so that we can see passage of an energy bill by both bodies and signed into law by the President.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source