The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“Nomination of Asmeret Asefaw Berhe (Executive Session)” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Energy was published in the in the Senate section section on page S2392 on May 10.
The Department oversees energy policies and is involved in how the US handles nuclear programs. Downsizing the Federal Government, a project aimed at lowering taxes and boosting federal efficiency, said the Department's misguided energy regulations have caused large losses to consumers for decades.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
Nomination of Asmeret Asefaw Berhe
Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I come to the floor today in opposition to the nomination of Dr. Asmeret Berhe, who has been nominated to serve as the Director of the Office of Science at the U.S. Department of Energy.
The Office of Science is the Nation's largest Federal sponsor of basic research in physical sciences. Its mission is to advance the energy, economic, and national security of the United States. This job, this mission to advance the energy, economic, and national security of the United States is one that I view as very critical.
Dr. Berhe has been a professor of soil biogeochemistry--soil biogeochemistry--at the University of California Merced for over a decade. Now, she has focused her research on soil management and sequestering carbon in the soil. Her background and her experience have very little to do with the Department of Energy's main scientific focus.
A May 9, 2001, op-ed in the Wall Street Journal by a physicist whose expertise is theoretical physics has noted:
Ms. Berhe's research program on soil chemistry, exploring the capture of carbon dioxide, is relevant to climate-change policy. But her research expertise isn't in any of the Office of Science's major programs, and she has no experience as a scientific administrator and minimal experience with the Energy Department itself.
So not that there is anything wrong with her underlying experience to do other things, but for this specific position, the qualifications just aren't there. Dr. Berhe is clearly not the right choice to lead the Office of Science.
Certain positions Dr. Berhe has taken or endorsed are also concerning. On February 28, 2001, she retweeted this statement:
I'm just going to propose that a nation that can land an SUV sized rover in an ancient lake on another planet can build an electrical grid that is not [f---ing] useless--
This is her retweeting--
because of slavish devotion to the free market.
Apparently, we are devoted to the free market, and she doesn't like it.
On May 7, 2015, she wrote in Science that ``the practice of farming'' is to blame for climate change. ``The practice of farming'' is to blame for climate change.
Dr. Berhe is not the right person to serve as the Director of the Office of Science. I rise in opposition to her nomination. I urge my colleagues to join me in voting against this nominee.
I yield the floor.
