Perry tours Y-12 nuclear weapons plant and Oak Ridge lab

Chron ^ | 22 May 2017 6:48pm | Erik Schelzig, AP

[blueplum]

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry said Monday that he will fight to keep jobs and boost funding for research facilities like Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

{snip}

Perry, who once called for the abolition of the Energy Department, has since become an outspoken proponent of the department's importance, particularly of the cutting-edge research conducted at the national labs.

Perry acknowledged he has "not been in the job long enough to go through the budget line item by line item" but said he is "doing my homework every day."

Perry was joined on the tour by U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn. and chairman of the energy appropriations subcommittee, who noted that he recently wrote the bill designating $3 billion for Oak Ridge programs.

"We have the same priorities that Secretary Perry saw and was so impressed by today," Alexander said. "I'm sure we'll come up with an appropriations bill that moves Oak Ridge and Y-12 forward."

[blueplum]

here's a twofer.

second article, wasn't sure about copywrite because I've never posted a Oak Ridge Today article, but it's a much longer article and much better photos (can you believe a 3-D printed SUV?):

http://oakridgetoday.com/2017/05/23/he-once-called-for-eliminating-doe-now-secretary-perry-pledges-to-be-an-advocate/

[palmer]

No surprise here. Always thought Perry was a panderer and weak link. The only saving feature is that the Energy Dept has some useful long lead time research that isn’t done elsewhere.