Jeff Bingaman: “This legislation has been in development for several years now.”

I would certainly like to thank Senator Bingaman, who just retired just very recently, for the strong support that he has shown me over the years, and including support for this nomination.

I'm honored to be here with Senator Udall to strongly support the nomination of Mike Connor for the position of Deputy Secretary of the Department of the Interior.

First we would want a person as Secretary of Energy who had a knowledge of science and engineering.

It's important that we have a person with substantial knowledge and many varied skills in order to succeed.