The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much, Senator Bentsen, and I know you have matters to attend to so we will release you to go as you please.

Next in the order of seniority is our distinguished colleague on this Committee from Kentucky, Senator Wendell Ford, and if I had to guess I would say it has something to do with coal.

Senator FORD. Mr. Chairman, since we are going to take the OSM director separate, why do I not just withhold and let these other Senators go first, since they can leave-I am going to be here-so we will expedite their time a little bit.

Senator GRAMM. What a wonderful thing.

Senator FORD. Coming from Phil Gramm it worries the hell out of me, though.

The CHAIRMAN. We will therefore hear from the distinguished Chairman of the Senate Agricultural Committee, Patrick J. Leahy from the great State of Vermont.

STATEMENT OF HON. PATRICK J. LEAHY, U.S. SENATOR FROM

VERMONT

Senator LEAHY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you Senator Ford for giving me this opportunity, because the Hastings trial on downstairs, it helps a great deal.

I am very, very proud to be here for John Easton, who, Mr. Chairman, you have already noted has been nominated for Assistant Secretary, International Affairs.

I have known John for a long, long time. He, like my good friend Jim Jefford, served as Attorney General of the State of Vermont. We knew each other and worked with each other during that time and he ran a spirited campaign for Governor of Vermont and one of the things that impressed me so much in that campaign, John made a point to go out and work on just about every type of job there was in the state for a few days, just to be with the people. From farmers, to trash collectors, diners, offices, you name it, he did it at some point during that campaign and I think had a very good and real interest not only in Vermont but in people who never get a chance, really, to be directly related to government and I applaud him for that.

I think he will take the same kind of hands-on attitude in this job. So I would say, Mr. Chairman, unequivocally I would strongly endorse him for this position and for confirmation.

Perhaps to paraphrase Senator Ford, I hope that that does not in any way create problems for John Easton, coming from a member of the other party in that regard, but I think that I can speak for Vermonters, both Republicans and Democrats. We are very proud of John Easton. We would be very, very proud of him in this position.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much, Senator Leahy. Next, we have my neighbor from Mississippi, my good friend Thad Cochran.

STATEMENT OF HON. THAD COCHRAN, U.S. SENATOR F MISSISSIPPI

Senator COCHRAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chai is really a great pleasure to be before your Committee this to recommend to you Jacqueline Knox Brown, who has bee nated by President Bush to serve the Department of Energ sistant Secretary for Congressional, Intergovernmental and Affairs.

I have had the pleasure of knowing Ms. Brown since abo when she was working as a member of a research team House side of the Capitol. When I was elected to the Senate ed her to join my staff as a legislative assistant and she per really beautifully in that capacity up until about two yea when she left the Hill to join the Commission directed by A Watkins, the so-called AIDS Commission, as a senior policy a During the time she worked for me she handled a wide va legislative issues, including health care, some of the more cated matters that we were dealing with in the Senate at th and did so with a great deal of skill, personal charm and gra She has unique abilities that she will bring to this job and dict that she will be one of the best assistant secretaries at t partment of Energy that they have ever had.

She is a native of Washington, D.C. She has a degree in Ec ics from Howard University. She took graduate courses whi was on my staff at night, at the same time being a mother wife, and she has a great deal of ability, a lot of intelligence, know that you will be pleased working with her in this cap

She is here today with some of the members of her family. Gaskins, her mother is here. Her daughter, Dee Knox, and members of her family are here, and I know they join me in ing her well and congratulating her on this wonderful opport that she will have with the Department of Energy if you see recommend her confirmation, and I hope you will.

I cannot recommend her any more highly than just to say think she is uniquely and especially qualified for this job and her my highest recommendation, Mr. Chairman.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much, Senator Cochran. W preciate your testimony. Next we are glad to welcome back t Committee Bill Armstrong from Colorado.

STATEMENT OF HON. WILLIAM L. ARMSTRONG, U.S. SENAT FROM COLORADO

Senator ARMSTRONG. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appre your courtesy and I am glad to have a chance to speak to the mittee for a moment and to introduce Mr. Michael Davis of I wood, Colorado, who has been recommended by the President appointment.

Without a doubt, Mike Davis would make an outstanding As ant Secretary for Conservation and Renewable Energy. He is tinguished and an expert in his field, not only in the private se but in the public sector as well. As the Committee gets to k him I think that members will feel, as I do, that he is pragma

that he has got a lot of common sense, and that he is a guy who can get things done.

Mr. Davis received his degree in civil engineering at the U.S. Air Force Academy and his master of science in civil engineering at the University of Illinois. Mike Davis possesses strong management skills and organizational leadership.

I mentioned that he has been active in the private sector. He has co-owned two energy businesses and is currently the president of Glocor, Incorporated-Glocor Colorado, Incorporated-which is located in Inglewood.

Prior to Mr. Davis' success in the private sector, he served for three years as a division manager of the U.S. Department of Energy and for two years as a senior manager at the Solar Energy Research Institute, and so Mike Davis brings to this assignment, should the Committee and the Senate confirm him, great expertise and background and I think he will do a great job. I recommend him highly.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much, Senator Armstrong. Next, we are glad to welcome back to the Committee Phil Gramm from Texas.

STATEMENT OF HON. PHIL GRAMM, U.S. SENATOR FROM TEXAS Senator GRAMM. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am happy to join my senior colleague, Senator Bentsen, in recommending Stephen Wakefield.

Stephen Wakefield is an outstanding attorney. He is a senior partner at Baker, Botts. He has the energy practice and that energy practice, of course, is one of the most important and largest in the country.

He has extensive experience in government. He has been Assistant to the General Counsel of the Federal Power Commission. He has been Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Interior. He has been Assistant Secretary of Interior for Energy and Minerals. He was Assistant Administrator for International Affairs at the old Federal Energy Office.

I cannot think of anybody that is better qualified by knowledge of law in the area that they are going to be practicing, or by experience in having worked in numerous Federal bureaucracies, than is Stephen Wakefield and I am glad, Mr. Chairman, to strongly recommend him to you.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much, Senator Gramm. Finally, we are glad to welcome our esteemed member of this Committee, Tim Wirth.

STATEMENT OF HON. TIMOTHY E. WIRTH, U.S. SENATOR FROM

COLORADO

Senator WIRTH. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much, and thank you for your expeditious handling of these appointments, particularly that of Mike Davis.

Mr. Chairman, you are very aware of my own deep concern about conservation and alternative energy programs, and fortunately this Administration has seen fit to bring in a real pro to take this one on.

Mike Davis has a lot of experience in this area. He has senior executive with the Solar Energy Research Insti Golden, Colorado, has his own company, and is a man who a great deal of administrative experience.

I think his priorities are where I think this Committee like to see them and I think he is going to bring to the Adm tion a very clear voice and a commitment, and will be a for all of those people out there who have a deep concern n for solar, as the Solar Energy Industry Association is de with his appointment and is strongly backing it, but also the realm of conservation interests that are going to become so i ingly important.

I know that we will enjoy working with Mr. Davis an Chairman, I am delighted to be able to be here to introduce the Committee and to advocate his rapid confirmation by th mittee and the Senate.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much.

Senator WIRTH. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

The CHAIRMAN. Now, if Mr. Wakefield-Senator McConne derstand is here. Yes, here he is. We would like to welcome tor McConnell from Kentucky to the-do you want to be from?

Senator FORD. Well, I waited.

The CHAIRMAN. I think we can go ahead and handle Mr. S at the same time as the DOE nominees.

STATEMENT OF HON. WENDELL H. FORD, U.S. SENATOR F KENTUCKY

Senator FORD. Fine. I have one eloquent statement here want you to hear it.

Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee, I am deligh be able to introduce the man I believe will prove himself to extraordinarily capable Director of the Office of Surface M Reclamation and Enforcement.

Harry Snyder is a native Kentuckian. He was educat Georgetown College and received his law degree from the Uni ty of Kentucky College of Law in 1966. He has had a distingu career as an educator and in public service in Kentucky. H also been successful in business. Those are the bare bones Mr. Chairman, and they are important.

But as usual, straight facts do not give the more essential i dients about how to judge a person's qualifications for servin interests of the people. I have come to know Harry Snyder man of conviction, of principle, and as a dedicated public ser His values are ones I honor and share. His ability to manage lead are qualities I admire.

He has been nominated by the President to take on a most cult task, and he will need all of the attributes I have menti and a few more, like a thick hide. He is up to the task, I know as he was up to the task when I pressed him into service as counsel and later as Executive Director of the Kentucky Counc Higher Education.

Some may have questioned why I, as a democratic governor, would appoint a Republican to such a critically important job. Mr. Chairman, the answer was simple. I needed, and the people of Kentucky deserved, the best person available to get our education system moving in the right direction. I trusted Harry Snyder to do the job, and he succeeded.

President Bush is trusting Harry with another important test of his abilities. I believe he will be as successful in Washington as he was at home and I believe we will all enjoy the opportunity of working with him.

Some may say his experience precludes concern for environmental needs. Just the opposite is true. Because of his intimate knowledge of the coal industry, Mr. Snyder is especially attuned to the views of all parties.

Indeed, Mr. Snyder in recent newspaper interviews has shown a sensitivity to those needs and has won favorable comments from editorial boards in Kentucky for his courage to listen to all those who are concerned about both the economic health of the coal industry and the preservation of our land for future generations.

I will support Mr. Snyder with all that I can. As shown by his impressive track record he will do the job that is necessary, but he will not be able to do it until he is confirmed. So Mr. Chairman, I urge that we expeditiously confirm Mr. Snyder so we can send his nomination to the full Senate before the August recess so he can be on the job as soon as possible.

I thank the Chairman.

[The prepared statement of Senator Ford follows:]