Nomination of Mark Wesley Menezes
Floor Speech
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Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I have come to the floor this afternoon to encourage Senators to support the nomination that is now pending before us. This is for Mark Menezes to be the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Energy.
I have had plenty of opportunity to be working with Mr. Menezes, as he has been with the Department of Energy for quite some time.
He originally hails from Louisiana. He earned his undergraduate and law degrees at Louisiana State University. He has, as I mentioned, considerable experience in the energy sector and here on Capitol Hill. He previously served as chief counsel for energy and environment on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. So he has been around for a fair period of time.
But more recently, for the past 3 years now, Mr. Menezes has served as the Department's Under Secretary of Energy, and in that role, he has been responsible for many programs that help drive the innovation within the Department, including for renewable energy, as well as nuclear energy.
Mr. Menezes also helped create the Department's cybersecurity office, which is dedicated to protecting our energy infrastructure from what has become very sophisticated and near-constant threats.
As Members may recall, the Senate confirmed Mr. Menezes to his current role by voice vote. I believe he has excelled as the Under Secretary of Energy. He has helped to set the policy direction of the Department. He has worked with many of us on issues that are important to our States and to the country as a whole.
I am also confident that Mr. Menezes will be a great second-in- command for Secretary Brouillette. We held Mr. Menezes's nomination hearing back on May 20. This was our first hearing that we had held after several months lost due to the pandemic.
Mr. Menezes did, not surprisingly, very, very well. He demonstrated his knowledge of the issues; he showed us that he understands what it takes to help lead the Department; and that enabled us to report his nomination to the full Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support.
So we are sitting here now--it has been nearly a 2-month delay--and I am very pleased that we are about to vote on Mr. Menezes's nomination. It is really key. It is very important that Secretary Brouillette has his leadership team in place, and Mr. Menezes has demonstrated that he has the knowledge and the experience needed to succeed as Deputy Secretary.
So I appreciate, and I have shared this with Mr. Menezes, his willingness to serve our country in a new and a higher capacity, particularly as we seek to harness the Department's capabilities to overcome and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
I thank the majority leader for bringing up his nomination. I would urge every Member to vote in favor of it on cloture today and on confirmation tomorrow.
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