It is a huge priority for me to ensure that all Americans, especially those who have been historically underrepresented in the energy field, have access to the employment, business, and economic opportunities that this industry provides.

I look forward to our discussions and our working together.

I was a little disturbed earlier when the fine gentleman from Louisiana, Mr. Scalise, would not allow you to complete your answers.

I believe you are heading one of the most important agencies in the Nation, as the field of energy will hold the keys to unlocking America's creativity and innovative spirit while also taking our economy to another level and providing an…

I look forward to working with your department in close collaboration to make sure that all Americans are afforded the opportunity to benefit wholly in the energy area.

I hope you choose nuclear policy as one of your priorities.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to announce my reintroduction of the State Ethics Law Protection Act. At a time when indictments and allegations of ethics violations of our elected leaders have become all too common, now more than ever we must…

Claiming that they are is a crude attack on civil society that pits Russia against principles around which European countries have rallied since the end of the cold war.

So my attitude is very much one of, we will put down our weapons when they put down theirs.

But I am afraid that the dreams of a pure and undistorted world economy are not met by the realities due to the asymmetry from subsidized credit by our foreign creditors.

The Russian Government cares about its reputation, and the United States should not give President Putin a free pass on repression.

Congress can take an important step in this direction by reviving consideration of a U.S.-Russia Civil Society Fund.

Russia's political course is for Russians to set. We may have our favorites, but we don't fund them.

And so my question is, in addition to specific comments on that situation, how do you generally handle this type of tradeoff, to understand whether a given transaction actually nets out positive for the U.S. economy?

Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to a generous, genuine Illinoisan we lost this week. Those of us who have watched and listened to Chicago Cubs' games for some time can easily recall Harry Caray. His booming voice was instantly…

if we slash our investments in infrastructure, like our roads and our bridges, we aren't really saving any money at all.

if we don't make investments now, we'll be stuck with a much bigger bill down the road.

investing in infrastructure creates jobs today; it makes our families safer and lays down a strong foundation for strong economic growth.