Statement of

**Steven J. Isakowitz**

Nominee to be Chief Financial Officer

United States Department of Energy

Before the

Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

United States Senate

March 20, 2007

Mr. Chairman, Senator Domenici, and Members of the Committee, I am
sincerely honored to appear before you today as the President's nominee
to serve as the Chief Financial Officer at the Department of Energy. I
am fully aware of the challenges that face the person who holds this
position, and I am deeply appreciative of the President's and Secretary
Bodman's confidence in my abilities to meet those challenges. I also
want to thank the Committee for holding this hearing and considering my
nomination.

I would like to introduce my wife Monica who has been a wonderful
companion in our 20 years of marriage and deserves my endless devotion
and thanks for taking care of our family and supporting me throughout my
career. Also with us are three of our four children: Jennifer a junior
at Chantilly High School, Rachel a seventh grader at Franklin Middle
School, and Sophie a sixth grader at Oak Hill Elementary. I also want to
recognize my son Matthew who could not be here today because of his
obligations as a sophomore at Princeton University. Monica and I are
very proud of all four of our children.

I would also like to recognize my parents for being a shining example of
hard work, honesty, and integrity. My mother and recently deceased
father are both survivors of the Holocaust. Indeed, their example has
ingrained in me the importance of freedom, justice, and tolerance, and
the desire to leave our children a better world. I share those
principals and am thankful and honored to serve a government that does
too.

My career ambitions were instilled in me at an early age. During my
childhood, I was inspired by the Apollo program as I watched in
amazement as this nation, galvanized by a President's vision, landed a
man on the moon. I was compelled by the notion of a nation undertaking
something that appeared impossible, yet by the ingenuity and partnership
of government and industry, made it happen. Starting with literally
nothing, hardly the ability to orbit a satellite, we achieved the
national goal of stepping on the moon. Consequently, throughout my
career, I have been driven and motivated by the desire to fulfill large
national goals. In particular, I am drawn to big goals that require the
innovative application of science and technology to get it done. Indeed,
after receiving engineering degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, my career has spanned 23 years across a variety of positions
both technical and financial in the public and private sectors in the
pursuit of major national goals.

I began my career in the private sector. Wanting to be a true rocket
scientist, I was engaged in the engineering design and business planning
of efforts to privatize and commercialize space launch vehicles as
called for by President Reagan after the failure of Space Shuttle
Challenger. However, I quickly learned that the success of such goals
can often depend on the government establishing the right policies and
conditions for enabling private industry to succeed. So, I decided to
join the government in 1991 and held positions that would enable me to
initiate and support major undertakings of national importance, applying
my interest and skills in engineering, project management and business
planning.

At the Office of Management of Budget, I had the honor of serving under
three different Presidents, overseeing a roughly \$50 billion budget of
science and technology across multiple Federal agencies, and supporting
the development of major interagency initiatives such as high
performance computing and nanotechnology research. I worked with various
agencies to establish appropriate funding levels and monitored their
financial and technical performance in getting the job done. I learned
to appreciate the importance of establishing clear policies, setting
budget priorities, ensuring the agencies have the wherewithal to execute
as planned, and working closely with the Congress throughout.

After OMB, I chose to work within agencies in pursuit of major national
goals, namely, space exploration and national security. At the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration, I was the Deputy Chief Financial
Officer and Comptroller responsible for directing the formulation and
evaluation of the agency's \$16 billion annual budget, developing the
agency's strategic plan, conducting independent cost analyses for major
programs, and managing first-in-government financial reforms to improve
program performance. At the Central Intelligence Agency, I am working
within its Science & Technology Directorate and am responsible for
devising innovative technical collection systems for use against
challenging intelligence targets, strengthening advanced research
capabilities within the Agency, and resolving high priority issues with
other agencies in the intelligence community. These experiences have
taught me the criticality of achieving success through strong agency
leadership, effective communications, capable workforce and
institutions, sound financial systems and acquisition management, and
the close partnership with private industry and academia.

If confirmed, I plan to apply my experience and excitement for meeting
national challenges as the Chief Financial Officer at the Department of
Energy. The Department stands at the nexus of economic, national
security and environmental goals that are at the top of the nation's
agenda. I am anxious to roll up my sleeves and join a team that is
focused on getting the job done. The Department has an impressive array
of world class labs, highly specialized workforce skills, major
multi-year programs, and unique industry and academic partners. Indeed,
it is an agency addressing national goals of paramount importance, as
ambitious as landing an astronaut on the moon. If confirmed, I will work
hard as the CFO to support the mission priorities of the Department. I
look forward to working closely with the Committee and the Congress and
will be fully available to address the critical issues important to you.

It is indeed a high honor and privilege to be considered for this
position and have the opportunity to so serve our nation.

Mr. Chairman, this concludes my prepared statement. I would be glad to
answer the committee's questions at this time.