Senate Committee Schedules Vote on Raimondo’s Nomination
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A U.S. Senate panel scheduled a vote to consider the nomination of Gov. Gina Raimondo to become the country’s next secretary of commerce.
The vote by the Commerce Committee will be held Feb. 3. Raimondo, a Democrat and the governor of Rhode Island, would succeed former Secretary Wilbur Ross if confirmed by the Senate after approval in committee.
At her confirmation hearing Jan. 26, the nominee said that focusing on climate change policies would help enhance the resilience of the country’s mobility networks.
Feb 3, 10 am: US Senate Commerce Committee considers nomination of Gina Raimondo to become Commerce Secretary — Eugene Mulero (@eugenemulero) January 29, 2021
“We need to recognize that tackling climate change goes hand-in-hand with creating good-paying jobs,” she said. “As governor, I expanded clean-energy jobs, oversaw construction of the nation’s first offshore wind farm and put Rhode Island on a path to 100% renewable power.”
During her gubernatorial tenure, Raimondo approved the RhodeWorks infrastructure funding program, consisting of trucks-only tolls.
An emphasis on climate change is a pillar of the Biden White House’s agenda. Recent executive orders that President Joe Biden signed directed federal agencies to purchase zero-emission American vehicles, identify how to promote clean energy and severe-weather-resilient infrastructure, and start halting oil and gas leasing on federal lands and waters.
“We can put millions of Americans to work modernizing our water systems, transportation, our energy infrastructure to withstand the impacts of extreme climate,” Biden said Jan. 27.
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