NASHVILLE - U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., was elected by fellow Senate Republicans today to head a key subcommittee that will oversee funding for issues ranging from a new lock for Chickamauga Dam in Chattanooga to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
As the new chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, Alexander now runs the panel that oversees funding for national priorities, including energy research and nuclear weapons modernization, which is funded through the U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The subcommittee also deals with funding for Tennessee priorities, including ORNL, the Y-12 National Nuclear Security Complex and Chickamauga Lock, which are part of the Energy and Water Appropriations bill.
"If we're going to power our 21st-century economy, we need to pursue policies that don't pick winners and losers in the marketplace, and that instead enable innovation in our free enterprise system," Alexander said in a news release.
He said "that means unleashing nuclear power and other sources of the cheap, clean, reliable energy we need. It also means using our taxpayer dollars wisely: by supporting government-sponsored research that leads to innovation and jobs, and by controlling the costs of big construction projects in Tennessee and across the country."
Alexander also serves on the full Appropriations Committee and the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.