Murkowski Adds New Energy Committee Staff

photo credit: lsgcp

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), the top Republican on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, is adding old and new faces to the panel’s GOP staff as she gears up for the new Congress.

Brian Hughes is returning to the committee after leaving in June to work as a speechwriter for the Romney-Ryan presidential campaign.

“Brian is one of those rare staffers who has both a great grasp of public policy and is also a gifted writer,” Murkowski said. Hughes, who is from Alaska, will work on alternative fuels, biofuels and vehicles policy.

Kate Williams will join the committee staff to handle oil-and-gas policy. She previously worked in the Senate as legislative director and chief counsel for the late Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska).

Williams, also an Alaskan, worked at the Anchorage law firm Birch, Horton, Bittner, Cherot after leaving the Senate in 2008 and most recently was with the Alaska Oil and Gas Association, an industry group.

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