Jeff Bingaman United States Senator from New Mexico

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman today chaired a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing to consider the nomination of two New Mexicans to serve in the Obama administration.

Hilary Tompkins was nominated by the president to serve as Solicitor of the Department of the Interior. Tompkins, who is Navajo, served as chief counsel to Governor Bill Richardson and is well versed in the areas of environmental, natural resources, water, and Indian law.  She is also experienced in the areas of constitutional law, administrative law, and the legislative process.   

“Hilary Tompkins is perfectly suited for this key position in the Department of Interior.  She has already served our state very well, and I am glad she’ll now have an opportunity to serve our country.  I look forward to her swift approval by Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee so that we can get her nomination to the full Senate,” Bingaman said.

Inés Triay was nominee for the position of Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management at the Department of Energy.  Triay was born in Cuba, grew up in Puerto Rico and earned her Ph.D. in Chemistry at the University of Miami in Florida.  She worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory before being named manager of DOE's Carlsbad Area Office, which is responsible for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.  She was later named Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the United States Department of Energy’s Environmental Management Program.

“Inés Triay worked in both Los Alamos and Carlsbad for many years. We are fortunate the president has nominated someone to the DOE’s environmental management program who knows our state so well,” Bingaman said.