{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://www.cantwell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=74a110f3-caca-438f-bffc-999151c7e024", "Cantwell, Energy Committee Advance DOE Nominee Who Committed to BPA\u2019s Autonomy", "2013-12-17", "2013", "2013-12", "Democrat", "House", "WA", "Maria Cantwell", "C000127", "www.cantwell.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12.18.13\n    \t\t\t Cantwell, Energy Committee Advance DOE Nominee Who Committed to BPA\u2019s Autonomy \n    \t\t\t\n    \t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n        \n    \t\t\t\t Energy Department top lawyer nominee moves to full Senate for a vote, previously affirmed to Cantwell that he will respect regional control of BPA\n    \t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n    \t\t\t WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) helped secure key committee approval of the Obama Administration\u2019s nominee for the Department of Energy (DOE) General Counsel, who committed to Cantwell last month that he will respect the Bonneville Power Administration\u2019s (BPA) Pacific Northwest autonomy.\r\nThe General Counsel nominee, Dr. Steven Croley, cleared the Senate Energy and Natural Resources (ENR) Committee on a voice vote this morning. His nomination will now be considered by the full Senate.\r\nUnder questioning from Cantwell at a November 14 ENR hearing on Croley\u2019s nomination, Croley agreed to \u201crespect the regional control of BPA\u201d and not to \u201cmicromanage\u201d the general counsel at the BPA.\r\n\u201cPacific Northwest ratepayers deserve a Department of Energy that respects regional control of the Bonneville Power Administration,\u201d Cantwell said. \u201cToday\u2019s vote moves Dr. Croley one step closer to becoming the next top lawyer at the DOE. I appreciate his commitments to restore BPA\u2019s traditional autonomy and to work on a separate plan for defense nuclear waste \u2013 and I intend to hold him to these commitments.\u201d\r\nDOE is examining BPA\u2019s legal and hiring decisions after the DOE\u2019s Office of Inspector General found that hundreds of applicants to BPA jobs, including veterans, were discriminated against. On November 8, 2013, Cantwell along with every Senator and Representative from Oregon, Washington and Idaho sent a letter to Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz urging him to ensure that BPA remains independent.\r\nDr. Croley was nominated to the position of DOE\u2019s General Counsel by the Obama Administration on August 1, 2013. The General Counsel oversees DOE\u2019s legal affairs and manages more than 100 attorneys at the department.\r\n\u201cI fully appreciate BPA\u2019s autonomy,\u201d Croley said to Cantwell on November 14. \u201cIt\u2019s my understanding that the department has no interest in affecting adversely that autonomy. But rather simply to provide a kind of support to the extent that is necessary and to the extent that may be necessary in the future and may not be.\u201d\r\nAt the November 14 hearing, Croley also pledged to work with Cantwell to move forward on a plan to separate military and defense nuclear waste. As defense waste at Hanford moves closer to being processed, Cantwell stressed the need for a unique plan for the permanent disposal of defense nuclear waste.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \r\nCantwell asked at the November 14 hearing: \u201cWe are on a trajectory where we are going to have defense waste ready to go somewhere and we don\u2019t want to have that be nowhere because we have to come up with a solution. So will you commit to working with me and the DOE and the chairman on separating defense from civilian waste?\u201d\u00a0\r\nCroley responded: \u201cSenator, I would be happy, if confirmed, to work with you on that issue and any other issue.\u201d\r\nCantwell has been a leader in demanding the Department of Energy (DOE) stick to established deadlines and develop a comprehensive strategy to deal with the unique challenge defense nuclear waste presents. At an ENR hearing on July 30, 2013, Cantwell called for a new nuclear waste bill to include a specific plan for disposing defense nuclear waste.\u00a0\r\nDuring Dr. Ernest Moniz\u2019s confirmation hearing to be Energy Secretary earlier this year in April, Cantwell asked Dr. Moniz if defense nuclear waste should be addressed separately from commercial waste in any disposal plan, to which he said he would \u201cpush for that evaluation\u201d and \u201crelook\u201d at the issue if confirmed. Dr. Moniz noted that the issue was discussed extensively when he served on the Blue Ribbon Commission on America\u2019s Nuclear Future, but that the final report failed to address defense-related waste.\r\nToday, the ENR committee \u2013 with Cantwell\u2019s support -- also approved the nominations of:\u00a0 Christopher A. Smith to be an Assistant Secretary of Energy (for Fossil Energy); and Esther P. Kia\u2019aina to be an Assistant Secretary of the Interior (for Insular Areas).\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://www.cantwell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=74a110f3-caca-438f-bffc-999151c7e024"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.3530030846595764, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}