Funding Statement from Secretary Moniz, Dept. of Energy
Dear Colleagues,
As you know, the President has now signed H.R. 2775 into law, providing funding for the federal government to January 15, 2014 and extending the debt ceiling to February 7, 2014. After more than two weeks of disrupted mission, stress to families, furloughs, and uncertainty, Congress has finally provided funding for the start of fiscal year 2014 (FY14).
This has been a challenging time for all of us. While the nature of DOE funding enabled much of the Department to continue operating for a short period of time into FY14, we felt major impacts on our operations, from the EIA being shuttered briefly to large workforce reductions at nuclear cleanup sites and scaled down operations in the nuclear weapons production complex. Throughout all of it, everyone in the DOE family across the country handled this difficult situation with patience, professionalism, and an unparalleled commitment to safety and security. We are tremendously proud of all of you for your dedication to mission and country through this stressful period.
The good news is that the federal government can finally get back to work for the American people. Unfortunately, Congress has only provided an interim solution. In the coming days, we will be working closely with our partners across the complex — Assistant Secretaries and Office Directors, lab directors, site office managers, et al. — to learn from the preceding weeks so we can better prepare in case we have to go down this difficult road again. As always, we hope it does not come to that, but this recent experience has shown that we must do contingency planning in order to make sure we can safely and securely protect our people and property even in the absence of funding.
Again, we want to thank all of you for your patience and positive attitude during this trying time. Many people worked extraordinarily long hours to manage the Department's effort during this lapse in appropriations. We in particular want to recognize the leadership and staff in CFO, GC, HC, and MA for their dedication, energy, and coordination during this time. Many others deserve our thanks, and as always, it is an honor to work with all of you.
Sincerely,
Secretary Moniz and Deputy Secretary Poneman
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)