Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), today named Rep. Phil Gingrey, M.D., (R-GA), Vice Chair of the Environment and the Economy Subcommittee. The subcommittee is led by Chairman John Shimkus (R-IL).

“Congressman Gingrey will play a key role as Vice Chair of the Environment and the Economy Subcommittee,” Upton said. “During his tenure on the Energy and Commerce Committee, he’s been a leader in promoting job growth , investigating wasteful government programs, and reducing burdensome regulations to protect small business owners. I am confident Congressman Gingrey will help further our record of accomplishment in the 113th Congress and I welcome him into his new leadership role.”

The subcommittee, with its oversight of key environmental laws and programs, has focused on the intersection of regulations and jobs. The panel works to ensure the safe, economically sensible management of energy byproducts, including a state-implemented regime for managing coal combustion residuals, and the long-standing challenge of storing spent nuclear fuel. Its work also includes chemical plant safety and modernizing waste data management. 

“I am honored to be named Vice Chair of the Environment and the Economy Subcommittee and I look forward to working closely with Chairman Shimkus,” Gingrey said. “Removing and reducing job-killing regulations has been a key focus of mine during my tenure in Congress. I will continue working diligently in this new role to protect job creators and taxpayers from government intrusion. As a long-time advocate of nuclear energy, I’m deeply committed to finding solutions to waste storage and management. Georgia is home to the first U.S. plant, Plant Vogtle, to win approval for construction of nuclear reactors in more than three decades. I am hopeful that our subcommittee’s work will lead to the approval and construction of more nuclear energy facilities across the country.”