President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of Rick Perry to serve as secretary of energy was praised by U.S. Reps. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Mac Thornberry (R-TX) and Lamar Smith (R-TX).
House Majority Leader McCarthy said as Texas’ longest-serving governor, Perry created almost four times more jobs than the rest of the nation combined and he has a firm understanding of the importance of energy for U.S. security.
“Under Gov. Perry’s all-of-the above energy strategy, Texas outpaced the rest of the nation in the production of crude oil, natural gas, and electricity — an achievement aided by producing more wind energy than any other state in the country,” McCarthy said.
Perry has the experience to improve the nation’s energy production, update nuclear and energy infrastructure and weed out waste and incompetence within the Department of Energy (DoE), McCarthy added.
Thornberry, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, noted that much of the DoE’s budget and responsibility is focused on maintaining the nation’s nuclear deterrent.
“We are in a critical time when there is much work to do to ensure that the deterrent is safe, secure, reliable and credible,” Thornberry said. “The House Armed Services Committee will continue to be heavily involved in working with DoE and the new secretary to support this essential element of our nation’s security.”
Smith, the chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, called Perry a champion of energy development and an excellent choice to lead the DoE.
“As a former governor of Texas, Rick Perry has in-depth experience running a state with an economy that ranks 11th in the world. Texas is an ‘all of the above’ energy state and is the largest producer of oil and gas in the country as well as the largest producer of wind energy,” Smith said.
The Science Committee that Smith chairs has jurisdiction over the Energy Department’s $10 billion research and development budget.
“I look forward to working with the former governor and the Trump administration to develop less costly energy for the American people and to advance the Department’s core scientific missions,” Smith said.