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76–428 PDF 2001

S. HRG. 107–193

DAN R. BROUILLETTE NOMINATION

HEARING

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON

ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES

UNITED STATES SENATE

ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION

ON THE

NOMINATION OF DAN R. BROUILLETTE TO BE ASSISTANT SECRETARY

OF ENERGY (CONGRESSIONAL AND INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS)

JULY 18, 2001

(

Printed for the use of the

Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

(II)

COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES

JEFF BINGAMAN, New Mexico, Chairman

DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii

BYRON L. DORGAN, North Dakota

BOB GRAHAM, Florida

RON WYDEN, Oregon

TIM JOHNSON, South Dakota

MARY L. LANDRIEU, Louisiana

EVAN BAYH, Indiana

DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California

CHARLES E. SCHUMER, New York

MARIA CANTWELL, Washington

THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware

FRANK H. MURKOWSKI, Alaska

PETE V. DOMENICI, New Mexico

DON NICKLES, Oklahoma

LARRY E. CRAIG, Idaho

BEN NIGHTHORSE CAMPBELL, Colorado

CRAIG THOMAS, Wyoming

RICHARD C. SHELBY, Alabama

CONRAD BURNS, Montana

JON KYL, Arizona

CHUCK HAGEL, Nebraska

GORDON SMITH, Oregon

ROBERT M. SIMON, Staff Director

SAM E. FOWLER, Chief Counsel

BRIAN P. MALNAK, Republican Staff Director

JAMES P. BEIRNE, Republican Chief Counsel

(III)

C O N T E N T S

STATEMENTS

Page

Bingaman, Hon. Jeff, U.S. Senator from New Mexico .......................................... 1

Brouillette, Dan R., Nominee to be Assistant Secretary of Energy (Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs) ............................................................... 6

Landrieu, Hon. Mary L., U.S. Senator from Louisiana ........................................ 2

Murkowski, Hon. Frank H., U.S. Senator from Alaska ....................................... 1

Tauzin, Hon. Billy, U.S. Representative from Louisiana ..................................... 3

(1)

DAN R. BROUILLETTE NOMINATION

WEDNESDAY, JULY 18, 2001

U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES, Washington, DC.

The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9 a.m. in room SD– 366, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Jeff Bingaman, chairman, presiding.

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JEFF BINGAMAN,

U.S. SENATOR FROM NEW MEXICO

The CHAIRMAN. The committee will come to order. The committee

has two hearings scheduled this morning. The first is on President’s Bush’s nomination of Dan Brouillette to be the Assistant

Secretary of Energy for Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs. Immediately following the hearing on Mr. Brouillette’s nomination, the committee will begin a second hearing on energy research and development legislation. Without objection, Mr.

Brouillette’s written statement to the committee, his answer to the

committee questionnaire, and his financial disclosure statements

will all be introduced into the record.

Let me call on Senator Murkowski to make any opening statement he wants and then we will call on Senators Landrieu and

Chairman Tauzin to introduce Mr. Brouillette.

STATEMENT OF HON. FRANK H. MURKOWSKI, U.S. SENATOR

FROM ALASKA

Senator MURKOWSKI. Thank you, Senator Bingaman. I appreciate

the pronunciation correction. We in Alaska would have probably

been a little more basic on the Brou side of it but nevertheless, I

don’t want to go into that. That’s how we would spell it. He is certainly an excellent selection and I want to congratulate those that

bear some responsibility, namely the gentlelady from Louisiana

and our good friend, Chairman Tauzin. I don’t know if this gentleman knows anything about duck hunting.

Representative TAUZIN. A little bit.

Senator MURKOWSKI. Well, then he’s had some good training. If

you can’t trust a duck hunter, I don’t know who you can trust. He

certainly will fit into the position of Assistant Secretary of Energy

for Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs. We feel a little

slighted over here, but Senator Landrieu is going to have to make

up for it because of the long association with the House.

This gentleman had, and he is responsible as I understand it, for

all congressional and intergovernmental affairs. I would emphasize

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that there is another body other than the House. I don’t want to

go into that at great length because it would take up the whole

morning. But while at the House he was responsible, as I understand it, for energy and environmental and health issues, all significant issues in the Department of Energy’s portfolio. He comes

with an association with the late Duffy Wall, and we all know his

reputation and contribution around here. He is a gentleman who

is certainly missed, and those who associated with him certainly

have my high esteem because Duffy was an extraordinary gentleman and his association with the Alpine Group as well. He has

worked on a number of issues, including utility deregulation. I

think that combination of practical experience and good solid Louisiana background, which is only perhaps second to Alaska, but I

don’t want to go down that pipeline this morning. The fact that he

has the support of the Louisiana delegation is good enough for me

and the strong endorsement of the Administration. I hope that we

can proceed with his nomination with dispatch and I’m very

pleased we could have Congressman Tauzin here this morning as

well as our Senator from Louisiana.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much. Let me start with Senator

Landrieu to make any introductory statements she wants to make

and then Chairman Tauzin.

STATEMENT OF HON. MARY L. LANDRIEU, U.S. SENATOR

FROM LOUISIANA

Senator LANDRIEU. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and I thank the

Senator from Alaska for those kind words of support to a wonderful

nominee. And welcome Dan and your family—the little one particularly who is particularly excited about his father’s nomination this

morning. And to his parents that are up here from Louisiana. We

welcome all of you to the committee. And my most able colleague

and chairman, Congressman Tauzin, will give more detailed remarks, so I will be very brief—only to say that Dan, you have my

full and complete support and confidences. It was clear that your

work with Congressman Tauzin in helping to draft some of the

most important pieces of legislation that have come to Congress

and through Congress in the last couple of years in the telecommunications side that you are most able to handle complicated,

difficult work and do it well. Your tenure was marked by very

many high achievements and several landmark pieces of legislation

in that area. In addition to the battles that he waged so ably on

behalf of this Congressman and many of our colleagues, he also, I

want to commend to my colleagues, he was a tank commander and

his performance in the service as a tank commander in one of the

Nation’s most decorated line units in the Army from 1982 to 1987.

So, his experience on Capitol Hill, as well as his experience in and

with our military, I think, completely arms him for the task that

is before him. So, I want just to honor again his family, his four

children, Julia, Danielle, Stephen and Samuel. His wife, Adrienne,

is also with us, and his parents, Ronald and Deanna are here. I

welcome them and I am confident that Dan possesses the necessary

ability, temperament and experience to service our country well.

Congratulations.

The CHAIRMAN. Chairman Tauzin, why don’t you go right ahead.

3

STATEMENT OF HON. BILLY TAUZIN,

U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM LOUISIANA

Representative TAUZIN. Mr. Chairman, thank you. This is our

first chance to officially congratulate you on your chairmanship and

to signify officially again what we have done privately and that is

to assure you and your Senate colleagues the close cooperation of

our House Energy and Commerce Committee and the vital work we

will do this year on energy.

But I am here on a much more pleasant and personal matter this

morning. And I say personal matter because Dan Brouillette is not

just an extraordinary public servant, but he is a close, personal

friend. When I was a young lad, I got invited to come to Washington, D.C. by a young man who is now a circuit court of appeals

judge in Louisiana, Randy Parreau, who was then an assistant to

then-Congressman Pat Caffrey. Mary, you might remember Pat

from New Iberia, one of my predecessors. Randy asked me to come

to Washington to get confirmed to practice before the U.S. Supreme

Court, which would be a high honor. And so I traveled to Washington back then from Louisiana in my double knit suit and met

Randy who was in a double knit suit and we showed up at the Supreme Court building with all our documents ready to get sworn

into the Supreme Court. Randy was handed a paper that contained

the words of introduction which basically said, Mr. Chief Justice,

members of the Supreme Court, I present to you the Honorable

Billy Tauzin. He is licensed to practice, et cetera, all the credentials. Randy read it once and said, I got it, and threw it away. He

had it memorized. And we walked into the chamber. It happened

to be the first day of the Burger court and Chief Justice Burger

and the entire court were assembled. It was opening day of the session—the most austere, most intimidating room I’ve ever been in

and every Philadelphia lawyer and New York lawyer was there in

tux and tails with their sons and daughters to get them sworn into

the Supreme Court. And Randy and I were standing in our country

double knit suits there, in complete awe of this operation, and they

called upon him and he completely blew it. He forgot his line; he

forgot what he was supposed to say and I’ll never forget his introduction because it was unique in the annals of the Supreme Court.

In very broken and kind of nervous voice, he said Mr. Chief Justice

and members of the Supreme Court, I present to you Wilbur J.

Tauzin II. He’s a good guy.

[Laughter.]

Representative TAUZIN. Chief Justice Burger, they say smiled the

only smile he smiled in the years on the Supreme Court. And on

that criteria, I was licensed and introduced to practice before the

U.S. Supreme Court. I’m tempted to do that today. I’m tempted to

tell you Dan Brouillette is a good guy because he is. But I want

to illustrate that quickly for you. You have his vitae sheets. You

see the beautiful family he has and you can see from the background of his service to our country as a tank commander and, by

the way, he looked good in a tank helmet, in actually one of the

most decorated units he served as a drill sergeant in the Army Reserve in South Carolina, the great work he did introducing our

young men and women to the honor of serving our country.

4

But I thought I would illustrate for you the quality of this nominee very quickly. All of us who serve up here have the privilege of

meeting young people in the service of our congressional staff and

Senate staffs. We are very proud of those people. They come to us

from home; they come us from this community; they come from

around the country. Dan happened to have his roots in Louisiana.

He came to our office as an intern, and worked his was up to head

of our legislative staff. I will never forget when we first came to

review him for a position in our office and my chief of staff told me

that she recommended Dan for permanent assignment and we

talked about salary, and I said, well, I think you need to hire him,

and we need to give him a good boost to encourage him. And she

said, you better give him a good boost, because they’ve offered them

three times what you’re paying him and he’s turn it down. He

wants to work for you. That is his character. But here it is perhaps

more succinctly.

So, we bring these young people to Washington and they serve

our country and they work incredibly long hours. And they pass up

financial opportunities on this Hill right and left to stay with us

as Dan did so many times. And then they eventually move on and

we’re so excited and pleased and happy for them when they move

to some other work in life, as Dan did. He moved on to practice off

the Hill with Duffy Wall and Associates. And then every now and

then one of them calls us up and says, Congressman, Senator, I

would like to get a job somewhere else. I’ve got an application in

with the Department of Government or I’ve got an application in

with a law firm. Or I have an application in. Could you recommend

me? Well, that happens a lot and we recommend young men and

women for different positions as they move on. I got a very different call from Dan Brouillette. Dan called me to say—he always

called me boss. Boss, he said, I have a problem. I said, what’s your

problem? He said the White House is after me to come to work for

the Department of Energy and I said, that is a problem, Dan. I

know how well you’re doing; I know how your young family is excited about how well you’re doing in the private sector, and coming

back to public service would be quite a sacrifice. That is a problem

for you. He said, well help me because they’re pushing hard on me

and they want me to come real bad. So, he came and we counseled

and I advised him and he resisted. And the White House called me

up and asked me if I would please prevail upon him.

What I’m telling you is that here is a young man who was not

seeking my help in getting another job. Here was a young man

seeking my counsel because he was desired for this job so adamantly by the White House that they were calling me and asking

me to encourage him to consider the position. I guess what I’m telling you is he is a special person. He is an extraordinary and special

individual. For Dan Brouillette, honor is not just a word. It’s a way

of life. For him, loyalty is not just an asset. It’s a body appendage

and conscientiousness is not just, again, an asset for him. It is a

lifestyle.

This is an extraordinary young man. The Government of the

United States is fortunate that he yielded to all of these requests

to consider employment with the Department of Energy. The Department of Energy, this Government, this committee, as well as

5

mine, are going to be extraordinarily well served because he is

there assisting us all in making the right policy for our country.

He understands public service enough to know that occasionally

you have to sacrifice for it. And he is doing that, I think. And he

is putting his family at some sacrifice in order to come back into

public service.

Mr. Chairman, I think the least we can do is honor his commitment with a speedy confirmation. I present him to you, along with

my dear colleague Mary Landrieu, as one of the better products

Louisiana has every produced. And I can tell you unequivocally the

best product my office has ever produced. Mr. Chairman, I commend him to you.

The CHAIRMAN. Well, thank you very much. Thank you for your

strong endorsement and Senator Landrieu for her strong endorsement. Why don’t we get Dan to come up now.

Mr. Brouillette, let me first ask you to stand and raise your right

hand so that I can put you through this swearing-in-statement we

require of all nominees. Do you solemnly swear that the testimony

you’re about to give to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but

the truth?

Mr. BROUILLETTE. I do.

The CHAIRMAN. You may be seated. Let me ask you the three

questions we put to all nominees who come before the committee.

First, will you be available to appear before this committee and

other Congressional committees to represent departmental positions and respond to issues of concern to the Congress?

Mr. BROUILLETTE. I will.

The CHAIRMAN. The second question. Are you aware of any personal holdings, investments or interests that could constitute a conflict of interest or create the appearance of such a conflict should

you be confirmed and assume the office to which you have been

nominated by the President?

Mr. BROUILLETTE. I am not aware of any conflicts, Mr. Chairman.

The CHAIRMAN. The third question. Are you involved or do you

have any assets held in a blind trust?

Mr. BROUILLETTE. I do not.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much. If you would like to introduce your family at this point, we would be glad to know of their

presence.

Mr. BROUILLETTE. I would love to. Joining me today is my mom

and dad, Ronald and Deanna; my four kids, Danielle, Stephen,

Julia and Sammy outside in the hallway, having a blast, and my

lovely wife, Adrienne. And I have a lot of friends in the audience

as well. I won’t introduce any of them but I just want to say thanks

to all of them for showing up.

The CHAIRMAN. We welcome all of you here to the committee. We

usually clap for family members at this point, so I guess we should

do that.

[Applause.]

The CHAIRMAN. Why don’t you go ahead with any opening statements you would like to make and then we may have some questions.

6

TESTIMONY OF DAN R. BROUILLETTE, NOMINEE TO BE ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF ENERGY (CONGRESSIONAL AND

INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS)

Mr. Brouillette. Alright, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, and I am

honored for the opportunity to appear before you today testifying

as President Bush’s nominee for Assistant Secretary of Energy for

Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs. This is a great honor

and if confirmed, I will do my best to live up to the high standards

expected of those entrusted with public office.

I want to say thank you to Senator Landrieu for that wonderful

introduction. I am honored to be here before your committee and

I look forward to working with you on the Nation’s problems and

particularly those that are so profound in our own great State of

Louisiana. I look forward to that.

And I want to thank Chairman Tauzin and his lovely wife,

Cecile, who is also with us today. They took time out of an incredibly busy schedule today to be here. The chairman’s committee is

in full mark up today on various aspects of the President’s national

energy policy and the fact that he is here is only another indication

of the type of friend and mentor he has been to me over the years.

It is often said that the hallmark of a great career is not how

high you choose to climb a particular ladder but how many people

you choose to bring along with you on the journey. There is no

question in my mind that I am the larger beneficiary of my relationship with the Tauzin family.

Chairman Bingaman, members of the committee, as I seek your

approval for appointment to this office, I would like to take just one

minute to share with you two important experiences, or lessons,

that I think qualify me for this job. My experience in the Army

taught me how to be a leader. I learned early how to organize a

mission, how to motivate others, and how to lead by example. I

learned it well and I learned it with a singular purpose—to destroy

my opponent. I remember thinking as a young soldier that I had

reached the very pinnacle of public service and in a way I did. I

had. It was only later in the service of this very Congress as a staff

member that I had come to fully appreciate the importance of my

individual role in this service.

Under the tutelage of Congressman Tauzin, I learned a fundamental lesson and it was that the interest of the American people are always, always our highest priority as a public servant and

that the second part of that is that it’s always in the interest of

the American people for us, as servants, to find the common ground

first rather than simply attacking our opponents.

If confirmed for this position, I pledge to bring both of these important lessons to the table every day. My approach has been, and

will continue to be, seeking out opportunities to build coalitions

wherever possible and to find common-sense solutions to complex

problems. It is in the interest of the public for me to do no less.

With regard to the functions of the office I seek, I feel strongly

that the key to a good relationship between the Congress and the

Department of Energy is an open line of communication. The Office

of Congressional Affairs is that line of communication. If you need

information about a particular issue, we will work to get you a

timely reply. If you need assistance with problems affecting your

7

constituents, we will act immediately to help you solve those

issues. My office will work aggressively to answer your inquiries

and it will be my policy that every request from Capitol Hill be

treated in an appropriate manner. Also important to that relationship with the Congress is our ability to keep you informed of departmental activity. The oversight function of this committee is

vital. I will make every effort to ensure that the Department will

provide witnesses for your oversight hearings, documents that comply with your requests, and cooperation with the committee in any

investigation or other matter. Also, it is important for this office to

serve the Congress by facilitating legislative matters. We will work

diligently to help committees and individual members obtain the

information necessary to draft or amend legislation. In addition to

this relationship with the Congress, the office of Congressional and

Intergovernmental Affairs is charged with maintaining an open

and free dialogue with State and local officials, tribal governments,

interested individuals, and organizations of all perspectives. This is

a critical responsibility that I take very seriously.

Finally, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I will

manage my office effectively. From the hiring of staff to the purchase of office supplies, I can assure you that the taxpayers will receive their money’s worth.

I want to thank you, Mr. Chairman, Mr. Murkowski, and other

members of the committee for allowing me to appear today. I look

forward to working with you closely in the future. And I would be

most happy to take any questions the Chairman may have or any

other member of the committee may have at this time.

[The prepared statement of Mr. Brouillette follows:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF DAN R. BROUILLETTE, NOMINEE TO BE ASSISTANT

SECRETARY OF ENERGY (CONGRESSIONAL AND INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS)

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee:

I am honored for the opportunity to appear before you today testifying as President Bush’s nominee for Assistant Secretary of Energy for Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs. This is a great honor, and if confirmed, I will do my best to

live up to the high standards expected of those entrusted with public office. I am

prepared for and excited about the tremendous challenges and responsibilities that

accompany public service.

Mr. Chairman, my experience in the United States Army taught me how to be

a leader. I learned how to organize a mission, how to motivate others, and how to

lead by example. I learned to do this well and with a singular purpose. My experience in a Congressional office taught me the real meaning of service. I learned that

the interests of the American people are always the highest priority for the public

servant. While these interests may manifest themselves in the form of partisan politics, a solution of compromise always yielded the most successful public policy.

If confirmed for this position, I pledge to bring both of these experiences to the

table. My approach has been and will continue to be seeking out opportunities to

build coalitions wherever possible and to find common sense solutions.

The key to a good relationship between the Congress and the Department of Energy is an open line of communication. The Office of Congressional Affairs is that

line of communication. If you need information on an issue, we will work to get you

a timely reply. If you need assistance with problems affecting your constituents, we

will act immediately to help you solve those issues. My office will work aggressively

to answer your inquiries, and it will be my policy that every request from Capitol

Hill be treated in an appropriate manner.

Also important to that relationship is our ability to keep Congress informed of departmental activity. The oversight function of this committee is vital. I will make

every effort to ensure that the Department will provide witnesses for your oversight

hearings, documents to comply with your requests, and cooperation with the committee in any investigation or other matter.

8

And finally, it is important for this office to serve the Congress by facilitating legislative matters. We will work diligently to help committees and individual members

obtain the information needed to draft or amend legislation. When requested, we

will provide the appropriate Department of Energy witnesses and assist in the

drafting of appropriate provisions during the committee process.

In addition to this relationship with the Congress, the Office of Congressional and

Intergovernmental Affairs is charged with maintaining an open and free dialogue

with state and local authorities, tribal governments, and interested individuals and

organizations of all perspectives. This is a critical responsibility that I take very seriously.

Finally, if confirmed, I will manage my department effectively. From the hiring

of staff to the purchase of office supplies, I can assure you that the American taxpayers will get their money’s worth.

I want to thank you, Mr. Chairman, for allowing me to appear and I look forward

to working with you closely in the future. I would be happy to address any questions

that you or the Committee may have.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much for your statement and I’ll

be very frank with you. My only reservation in looking at your bio

is your time as a drill sergeant. I can remember the drill sergeants

that I encountered in the Army Reserve and the active duty I did

there, and those were not pleasant memories.

Mr. BROUILLETTE. Well, you’ve done a good job of intimidating

this drill sergeant, let me tell you.

[Laughter.]

The CHAIRMAN. I hope you have gotten that behind you.

[Laughter.]

The CHAIRMAN. Obviously, we’re anxious to be sure that your

prior association with Chairman Tauzin does not warp your view

of the priorities here on Capitol Hill.

[Laughter.]

The CHAIRMAN. Otherwise I have no concern about your appointment or confirmation to this position.

Mr. BROUILLETTE. Thank you very much.

The CHAIRMAN. Senator Murkowski.

Senator MURKOWSKI. Well, you know, looking back on basic

training, or boot camp, or whatever you want to call it, it was miserable but I think we were all better people because of it. And as

a consequence of your training, perhaps the Department of Energy

is going to be a better department as a consequence of what you’re

going to bring to it. I hope that’s the case.

Mr. BROUILLETTE. I certainly hope so as well.

Senator MURKOWSKI. We look forward to your confirmation, and

I trust we will be able to move this with dispatch.

Mr. BROUILLETTE. Thank you very much.

The CHAIRMAN. Senator Landrieu.

Senator LANDRIEU. I have no other comments to add other than

to say how proud we are of this particular nominee and how well

qualified he is, you can see the very special person that he is. And

I thank him for his agreeing to serve. As the Congressman said,

this government would be well served if we had more people, Dan,

like you, willing to make the sacrifices necessary. And particularly

at this time, Mr. Chairman, with this issue we need strong leadership, steady hand, good common sense, and a person who is going

to fight to find that middle ground, and I think we have such a

nominee before us. Thank you for your willingness to serve.

The CHAIRMAN. Senator Craig.

9

Senator CRAIG. Mr. Chairman, thank you. First of all, let me

turn to your former boss and let me congratulate you on the expeditious way you are handling the development of a national energy

policy. I don’t know of anything more critical that this Congress

could do this year for our country and for its future than to move

with our President and with the Congress to develop that, and

you’re well along the way. We trust this committee will move as

expeditiously as you have in accomplishing that.

As to you, Dan, my colleague and my ranking member here

opines that your roots are in the House. I have only one comment.

Your confirmation is in the Senate.

[Laughter.]

Mr. BROUILLETTE. Well understood, sir.

Senator CRAIG. Welcome. We look forward to working with you.

Mr. BROUILLETTE. Thank you very much.

The CHAIRMAN. Senator Burns.

Senator Burns. I have no statement. Just don’t lose your touch

on being a drill instructor.

Mr. BROUILLETTE. I will not.

Senator BURNS. You will need it.

[Laughter.]

The CHAIRMAN. Since that exhausts the questions of the committee, why don’t we let the members have until 5 o’clock this evening

to file any additional questions with the committee staff if they

have any for the record for Mr. Brouillette. And with that, let us

adjourn this hearing and proceed to the next. Thank you very

much.

Mr. BROUILLETTE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

[Whereupon, at 9:40 a.m., the hearing was adjourned.]

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