Heinrich Opposes Confirmation Of Rick Perry For Secretary of Energy

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) issued the following statement opposing the confirmation of former Texas Governor Rick Perry, President Trump’s nominee for U.S. Department of Energy Secretary.

“I want – and we all need – Rick Perry to be successful as our next Secretary of Energy. But his past statements on eliminating the Department, an unwillingness to commit to the applied energy research and climate science done at our national labs and universities, and the transition team questionnaire that attacked the integrity of climate scientists all signal where the Trump Administration is headed.

"Given these troubling signs, paired with Trump nominees thus far having said one thing and the Administration doing another, I cannot give Governor Perry the benefit of the doubt. The people who work at the Department of Energy’s facilities and NNSA labs in New Mexico are among our nation’s greatest intellectual assets. With 25,000 New Mexicans contributing to these important missions, we cannot have any doubts about a nominee’s willingness or ability to defend the agency and its work.”