further artificially lower their prices. the challenge we have is that if when we make a car we start or a pickup, we start with a huge disadvantage in price and then compound that with currency changes, and then we wind up trying to sell more value-added units, in other words just like a house gets most of the profit from adding a bigger kitchen, bigger bedroom, we get value from making bigger cars. making bigger trucks. making s.u.v.'s an advance in order to pay pensions and health care. then all of a sudden the word shifts, we start to mandate that you are going to have to get higher mileage, and where are we to get the r&d dollars to do that? how will we reduce the cost to be able to compete as we look at the tap and tax bill -- cap and tax bill in my area, the number one manufacturing area, we are 85% coal and 15% nuclear. .

we don't have a lot of wind and solar that will employ many of these people, the american dream, because they worked hard at these different factories, they worked hard to upgrade them, they're doing every technique they can do in these companies, how are they supposed to keep their jobs if they raise the manufacturing cost? it's not an accident that the four districts hardest hit are my district, congressman donnelly's, congressman jordan's because of the energy use we have combined with the heavy manufacturing. then we look at additional health care costs on these companies. the question becomes, how to survive? they have no dollars to meet these demands. a bill like this becomes essential. we don't have money right now to spend, in case anybody hasn't figured out, we have incredible deficits. i don't believe this is are the -- really the role for the federal government to do. but i'm now left representing a

district that unless the federal government does this and having piled on the mandates and having allowed china to cheat international trade. -- trade, unless we don't do this, i don't know how we survive. this program authorizes $2.85 billion to conduct vehicle research and development. it has $1.75 billion to create a new demonstration program to ply commercial applications to eliminate petroleum emissions in vehicles. there's $1.1 billion to implement a similar program that applies to medium, heavy duty commercial vehicle. i forest want to thank my neighbor, friend and colleague who shows that you can do things in a bipartisan way, congressman donnelly, along with congressman defazio, for making sure that our -- r.v.'s were included in this. we have 58%, between joe and i and then congressman defazio has another chunk, of the r.v. industry in america. this is a huge challenge. guess what.

not only do you have these motor homes of which 12% of the american people own, but you have to have a big vehicle to tow them. you can't tow them with a little tiny car. we have to find out how we're going to deal with the mileage in that. i also have the largest puckup plant in the united states. a puckup plant that's getting a plus up, that is heavily robotic, but they need the technology even though they're some of the most efficient pickups sold by any company. if they're going to compete with the mileage standards and g.m.'s going to survive, they need to find new breakthroughs. nava star has just contracted to build electric delivery trunks in an abandoned r.v. plant in my district. al could hea in my district is working with aluminum to reduce the weight in the vehicles. i also happen to have -- the chair: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. hall: i gladly yield three more minutes to the gentleman, knowing of his interest in the r.v. industry and his support. the chair: the gentleman from indiana is recognized for

another three minutes. mr. souder: thank you. and as we heard in steel in my area i have two massive steel dynamics plants as well as a whole bunch of supplementry facilities from omny source and others who provide recycled steel for them. i have five facilities in my district that if our steel is going to compete and get the weight down and get different methods we're going to have to have more innovation and research. nava star also at this point has around 1,350 to 1,500 jobs in my area doing engineering and designing big trucks, military vehicles. we have a challenge in this in the military area, too, because the humvee is done in congressman donnelly's district but the engine blocks and hood and a lot of those parts that we're constantly struggling with weight on are in my district as well. so i rise in support of this bill even though i'm reluctant to have the government take over big parts of the r&d interest.

we're -- industry. we're seeing other countries do this around the world. i don't know how we're going to achieve our goals to become greener, to get more efficient vehicles, to help our -- save our industrial base of the united states if we don't do this. so i rise in support of this. it's why the manufacturing group supports it, it's why the chamber supports it, it's why the unions support it, because without some assistance it is not clear how in the world we're going to save the manufacturing jobs in america that are so critical to the industrial base and one last point, the industrial base that does the trucks that does the r.v.'s, that does the pickups also does our military and if we don't have the basic core manufacturing it is not clear how we stay an independent nation. i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: mr. holt. the gentleman from tennessee. mr. gordon: i yield such time as he may consume to the dean of

the united states house of representatives and my mentor, john dingell. the chair: the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. dingell: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. and i rise -- the chair: without objection. mr. dingell: to thank my friend from tennessee for his courtesy to me and the he can pedishes way in which he has handled this bill. the nation owes him a debt for this and many other things and i thank him. i also rise in strong support of h.r. 3246, the advanced vehicle technology act of 2009. i want to commend my colleague from michigan, mr. peters, for the superb work that he and his staff have done on this important piece of legislation. and i want to also thank my colleagues on the republican side, including the republican co-authors, my good friend the ranking minority member of the committee, the gentleman from texas, mr. hall. the bill we consider today is going to help america to grasp the new technology in automobile

manufacturing and save jobs and opportunities for our people in the future. it will augment the department of energy's ability to research and to develop advanced technologies which are necessary for the fuel efficient vehicles of tomorrow. i take no small degree of personal interest in this subject as several of the companies such as a-123 systems are located in my district. and they will produce new types of technologies under h.r. 3246 which will help them to foster these efforts which are so much in our national interest. not only do these technologies have the potential to reduce vehicle fleet emissions and national fuel consumption, freeing from us dependence on foreign oil, but also their production represents a growth industry, something of which my home state, michigan, and which the entire country is in great

need. h.r. 3246 is thereof both an environmental and an economic blessing. i urge my colleagues to vote in support of h.r. 3246 and i commend again my dear friend from tennessee and my friend from michigan for their authorship and for their leadership in this important matter. i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman from texas. mr. hall: mr. speaker, i continue to reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields. the gentleman from tennessee. the gentleman from tennessee. mr. gordon: mr. chairman, i yield a minute and a half to my friend from kentucky, mr. larsen. the chair: the gentleman from connecticut is recognized for a minute and a half. mr. larsen: thank you, mr. speaker, and thank you, mr.

chairman. i rise in strong support of h.r. 3246, the advanced vehicle technology act and want to especially applaud congressman peters and chairman gordon who i've had the honor to serve with on the science committee and the distinguished ranking member, mr. hall, for his continued and outstanding commitment to signs and -- science and technology and innovation. that's what moves the nation forward. it's where his political career has been invested in making sure that we continue to see america be the preeminent military, social, cultural and economic leader in the world and largely because of the embrace of technology and innovation like fuel cell technology. we know, for example, that every time we replace a gasoline-powered bus with a fuel cell bus it's equal to removing 77 cars from our roadways. hydrogen and fuel cell industries support in kentucky some 2,100 jobs.

with the vision that the chairman has laid out, that will only increase and expand across this country. we had a young visionary president in the 1960's who said we could put a man on the moon within 10 years. we actually did it in nine. with this technology, embracing the most abundant element in the universe, you can't tell me that we can't heat and cool our buildings and get people back and forth to their jobs if we make the appropriate investment. when you look at the certification from nasa of our ability to utilize fuel cell technology in flight and also in our space station, you understand the great potential that it has, but unless you have the backing of a visionary leader -- mr. gordon: i yield an additional 30 seconds. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for an additional 30 seconded. mr. larsen: again, mr. chairman, i would like to thank you and the committee for your commitment to this very

important technology that seeks to advance our country and wean ourselves from dependency on foreign nations and help bring our troops home. thank you so much. the chair: the gentleman from texas. mr. hall: may i ask how much time do i have? i continue to reserve and i want to see if i might let chairman have some of my time if he needs it. he apparently has half a dozen or so other speakers over there. the chair: the gentleman from texas has 21 1/2 minutes. mr. hall: i reserve the balance of my time. gourd grd thank you, mr. hall -- mr. gordon: thank you, mr. hall. the chair: the gentleman from tennessee. mr. gordon: mr. chairman, i yield two minutes to a member of our committee from new york, mr. tonko. the chair: mr. tonko from new york is recognized for two minutes. mr. tonko: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today in support of h.r. 3246, the advanced vehicle

technology act. h.r. 3246 supports the key public policy goals of improving our nation's energy security and our environment. specifically this legislation encourages research and development for a diverse range of near term and long-term vehicle electfication technologies. that will improve vehicle fuel efficiency, reduce emissions and support the united states manufacturing and american workers. we must address our energy problems as we continue to address our economic problems. by doing so, i believe we can ensure that while our economy recovers we will be competitive and secure in the energy sector as well. the passage of h.r. 3246 is indeed vital to addressing both of these concerns. as congress moves through this session of congress we must continue to pass policies that will promote energy efficiency. policies which drill and mind

efficiencies as we previously drilled for oil and mined for coal. we must continue to invest in research and development to ensure that our united states are at the forefront of the energy revolution. creating jobs, embracing intellectual capacity and promoting clean, domestic energy. i urge my colleagues to join me today in vote -- and vote in favor of h.r. 3246. i commend the sponsor for his vision and i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman from texas. mr. hall: mr. speaker, i -- mr. speaker, i yield the gentlelady from illinois three minutes. the chair: the gentlelady from illinois is recognized for three minutes. mrs. biggert: i thank the gentleman for yielding. mr. speaker, i rise in support of h.r. 3246, the advanced vehicle technology act and i'd like to thank the chairman of the committee, mr. gordon, abbleds the ranking member, mr. hall, and my colleague, particularly, mr. peters, for

bringing to the floor such a good bill. h.r. 3246 will advance technologies of the future by re-authorizing the department of energy's vehicle technology program and build on an existing energy infrastructure to demonstrate and deploy more fuel efficient automobiles and heavy equipment. over the years the department of energy has worked with the industry to develop, demonstrate and deploy vehicles -- vehicle technologies for automobiles and heavy duty vehicles. some of those research needs have been addressed through public-private research programs like it the 21 century truck partnership, the freedom car and hydrogen fuel initiatives. unfortunately in the past our research priorities have shifted inkeft consistently between passenger and -- inconsist lent -- inconsistently between passengers and heavy duty vehicles.

this offers the research, parity and focus to advance technologies all across transportation sectors by including medium to heavy duty trucks and nonroad equipment. while the total number of heavy trucks is small compared to passenger vehicles, their fuel consumption and emissions justify a consistent investment in basic research and development of hybrid models and other advanced truck technologies. there is no one-size-fits-all approach that will address the unique needs and demands on construction, industrial and agricultural equipment. thereof we must examine the full range of components within nonroad equipment systems to produce the greatest overall efficiency benefits at the least cost. in fact, i know everyone here recognizes the eye essential role nonroad equipment plays in improving our infrastructure. fuel remains a primary driver -- driver in the cost of major construction and infrastructure projects.

with advancements in nonroad technologies, we will further drive for efficiency and fuel savings beyond the engine alone so we see tremendous benefits in project productivity and energy efficiency. for these reasons, mr. speaker, i support h.r. 3246 and urge my colleagues to do the same. and with that i yield back. the chair: the gentleman from tennessee. mr. gordon: mr. chairman, i yield three minutes to the champion for cash for clunkers, the gentlelady from ohio, ms. sutton. the chair: the gentlelady from ohio is recognized for three minutes. ms. sutton: i thank the chairman for yielding the time, and i thank him for his strong leadership on this issue and so many initiatives that are moving our country forward. and i'd like to commend my friend, congressman gary peters for his work on this bill. the advanced vehicle technology act provides this congress with a great opportunity to help

create green automotive jobs for american workers. currently, almost all of the major components for advanced technologies vehicles sold in the united states are imported. that needs to change. we must ensure that our workers are assembling the vehicles of tomorrow and producing the components and next generation technologies right here at home. and the vabsed vehicle technology act invests in a diverse and comprehensive range of technologies and programs that will improve fuel efficiency and reduce harmful emissions. in my district, a startup company has been working on a process to convert into electricity to power the very same vehicle wastes. they could partner with the department of energy and other industry partners to further develop and commercialize this energy producing and saving technology. i'm pleased that this bill has the research, development,

commercialization of light-weight materials. mr. speaker, akron, ohio, is the polymer capital of the world. there is a strong support of polymers and last particulars for -- and plastics across the country. our workers in the domestic steel industry can build good steel while requiring less mass, increasing fuel economy. and recently with the overwhelming success of the cars program, americans demonstrated their desire to trade in their less efficient clunker for a more fuel-efficient vehicle. and thanks to the cars program, nearly 700,000 clunkers were taken off the road and replaced with vehicles that had an average 58% increased fuel economy. and the cars program brought thousands of workers back to work making autos and parts for more fuel-efficient vehicles. with this bill before us, we will take another step to help

our environment and grow jobs. and that's why this bill has earned the support of the u.a.w. as well as ford, g.m., chrysler and other industry and business groups. mr. speaker, i'm also proud that we worked on an amendment that was added to this bill, working with representative shelly pingree, and the chairman, mr. gordon, that is also supported by the u.a.w. requiring a report that will disclose where the successful technologies have been achieved. and if they are, where the technologies are going to be manufactured because we want those technologies to be manufactured. they are going to be implemented with tax dollars from this country, and we want them to be manufactured right here in the united states. and with that i yield back and i commend the gentlemen for their great work. the chair: the gentlelady yields back. the gentleman from texas. mr. hall: mr. speaker, i continue to reserve the balance of my time.

the chair: the gentleman from texas yields. the gentleman from tennessee. mr. gordon: mr. chairman, i yield two minutes to the gentleman from new york, mr. maffei. the chair: the gentleman from new york is recognized for two minutes. mr. maffei: thank you, mr. chairman, and thank you very much to the distinguished chairman of the science and technology committee, bart gordon. i also want to thank my colleague on the financial services committee, a very new distinguished new member of the house, as i am, gary peters, the sponsor of this bill. by increasing the power of alternative and renewable energy, we have the opportunity to break our addiction of foreign oil, reduce global warming and create millions of new jobs in the process. ones that cannot be shipped overseas. in my own region, we are doing research in alternative fuels such as butanol at the school of environmental service and forestry in syracuse. and we have hydrogen fuel technology going on at the rochester institutes of higher education as well as the delphi plant there.

we are' even already using these new fuel vehicles, the ones that have already come out. on monday i stood at an old train station in downtown syracuse creating an eyesore. by using stimulus money, they will turn this building into a charging station for electric cars as well as alternative fueling hub for an alternative fuel car sharing company in syracuse. using this bill, it can become a center for the research on the practical use of these advanced technology vehicles. our energy policy, mr. chairman, is heading in the right direction. and the advanced vehicle technology act ensures that we are charting the right course for our new energy future. i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields. the gentleman from texas. mr. hall: mr. speaker, i continue to reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from tennessee. mr. gordon: mr. chairman, i

yield two minutes to the gentleman from kentucky, mr. yarmuth. the chair: the gentleman from kentucky is recognized for two minutes. mr. yarmuth: i thank the gentleman. i thank the chairman for his work and his committee's great work on this bill. mr. speaker, i rise today in support of h.r. 3246. this bill is another example of congress' commitment to reducing our dependence on foreign oil, creating green jobs to revitalize our economy and re-establishing america as a global innovation leader. i've seen firsthand how our investments are paying off from my hometown of louisville, kentucky. there are 400 new jobs that are being created thanks to recovery act funding that incentivized general electric to move the production of an energy-efficient water hereto from china back to the -- water heater from china back to the united states to louisville. h.r. 3246 represents another step forward. this time by ensuring our nation's auto industry will drive innovation by developing clean and efficient

technologies for every type of vehicle. this important legislation establishes research and development programs that will lower petroleum usage and emissions in heavy-duty vehicles that are key to commerce but often recognized as some of the least efficient in operation. at the kentucky truck plant, also in my hometown, hardworking employees produce the f series heavy-duty truck. by developing new technologies to make heavy-duty trucks more energy efficient, more fuel efficient and therefore more in demand, ford will be able to expand operations and create new jobs. that's what this legislation is all about. investing in green technology to create good-paying u.s. jobs and to stimulate economic growth while continuing our efforts to ensure that america leads the world in the industry that will dominate the global economy for decades to come. we cannot afford to pass up this opportunity. i, therefore, urge all my colleagues to join me in supporting the advanced vehicle

technology act, and i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from texas. mr. hall: i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman from texas yields and reserves the balance of his time. mr. gordon: i tell my friend from texas that i have no additional speakers. mr. hall: i yield back the balance of my time. thank you, mr. speaker. mr. gordon: mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: all time for general debate has expired. pursuant to the rule, the amendment in the nature of a substitute printed in the bill shall be considered as an original bill for the purpose of amendment under the five-minute rule and shall be considered as read. no amendment to the committee amendment is in order except those printed in house report 111-255. each amendment may be offered only in the order printed in the report by a member designated in the report, shall be considered as read, shall be debatable for the time specified in the report equally

divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent of the amendment, shall not be subject to amendment, and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question. it is now in order to consider amendment number 1 printed in house report 111-255. for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee rise? mr. gordon: mr. chairman, amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the chair: amendment number 1 printed in house report 111-255 offered by mr. -- the clerk: amendment number 1 printed in house report 111-255 offered by mr. gordon of tennessee. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 745, the gentleman from tennessee, mr. gordon, and a member opposed, each will control 10 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from tennessee. mr. gordon: mr. chairman, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. gordon: the amendment i have offered has three parts. first, it makes a small

technical change at the request of the department of justice to clarify that the secretary shall report to congress on the medium to heavy-duty vehicle program. second, it incorporates an amendment by my colleague from maine, ms. pingree, to require a report on commercialized technologies from the overall vehicle technology program. and third, it incorporates the amendment offered by mr. hare of illinois to ensure that a range of nonroad mobile equipment is eligible for the pilot program in section 204. this is a simple amendment which incorporates a few small changes by my colleagues to make this bill even better. i urge adoption, and i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. hall: mr. speaker, i rise claim to -- i rise to claim time in opposition of the amendment. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for 10 minutes. mr. hall: i support the gordon

amendment with the caveat. i support the title 2 reporting requirement classification that the secretary shall submit the annual report to congress. in regards to the report requirement for title 1, i would prefer the reporting language that is in representative broun's amendment as it's more comprehensive and mirrors the report language requirement in title 2. perhaps, in conference, the two authors could agree to merge that language so that all bases are covered. the third part of mr. gordon's amendment deals with striking, quote, heavy duty, unquote, from the nonroad systems pilot program in section 204 of the bill and adding the word mobile so that we are now referring to nonroad mobile equipment. i understand that there are some concern that the term heavy duty has a different meaning in the nonroad world than it can you see in the onroad world. so i appreciate the addition of mobile in the section as well

as mr. hall's upcoming amendment that the pilot amendment will include agricultural and construction nonroad equipment. with that i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields and reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from tennessee. mr. gordon: i thank you, mr. chairman. let me say to mr. hall. i understand his concern about the additional accountability with mr. broun, and he has an amendment that we will be supporting later. hopefully those will be complementary and we will have additional accountability and transparency. if the gentleman from texas has nothing more to say, i don't either. mr. hall: i have a speaker on the way. i would like to reserve my time if you want to take two or three minutes to do or say. mr. gordon: if you want to

compliment me? mr. hall: i appreciate your trip to texas monday night. and i appreciate mr. broun's position on this. you know, we had -- we had amendments, and mr. broun's amendment, i believe, was voted down by a party vote on -- when we had the hearing. i may be wrong on that, but he's here to support the position that he's taken. i'd like to have some time for him to at least to talk about how the two could fit together when we hit any of the conference committees. mr. gordon: i say to mr. hall, certainly mr. broun is a constructive force certainly in our committee as well as here. he'll have an opportunity -- i think he has two amendments today. i would suggest this potentially to my friend, if whoever you have coming to speak, we could allow them to speak during another amendment if that would be consistent.

mr. hall: yeah, i ask unanimous consent that that be granted. mr. gordon: if that's the case, then i think we can complete this amendment now. the chair: the gentleman's request is not in order in the committee of the whole. mr. gordon: mr. hall and i know we can trust each other. if he has someone who wants to speak later we'll make that available on whatever amendment it might be. the chair: the gentleman from tennessee. mr. gordon: i reserve the balance of my time only long enough for mr. hall to have it. and i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from tennessee. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to.

it is in order to consider amendment number 2 printed in house 111-255. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. hall: i want to offer the broun amendment from georgia and i'll ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks and yield myself susm time as i may consume -- myself as much time as i may consume and designate -- the chair: does the gentleman rise as the designee for the gentleman from georgia? mr. hall: yes. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 2 printed in house report 111-255 offered by mr. hall of texas. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 745, the gentleman from texas, mr. hall, and a

member opposed each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. mr. hall: mr. speaker, i yield five minutes to the gentleman, mr. broun, for his amendment. dr. broun. the chair: the gentleman from georgia is recognized for five minutes. mr. broun: thank you, mr. hall. mr. chairman, i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks and have as much time as i may consume. i rise to support my amendment. the chair: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. broun: mr. chairman, my amendment is very straight forward. to be blunt, i'm asking this body to show the tiniest sliver of fiscal restraint to freeze the authorization levels that this bill outlines in next year's levels. as the bill is currently written, next year this body will authorize $550 million to advance vehicle technology.

this is money in addition to the billions of dollars in funding already authorized and made available to the auto industry in the energy independence and security act of 2007. and the millions more made available to them just this year in the nonstimulus bill. the start -- but starting in 2011, for the next three years this authorization calls for $10 million in increases for each ensuing year. surely, mr. chairman, we can all agree that with all of the money out there already and with the massive increases authorized in this bill, saving $30 million more is more than reasonable. additional because of all the money -- additionally because of all the money that is available to this program and similar programs, my amendments asks that we end this legislation's funding authorization after 2013. mr. chairman, we're spending money at record rates and with

the proposed health care reform bill, a potential highway bill, cap and trade a whole slew of other bills that will be considered in the near future, there does not seem to be any end in sight. surely we can all agree that showing just a tiny bit of fiscal responsibility is in all of our best interest. the american taxpayers of future generations on the hook for trillions of dollars in spending, borrowing and interest payments over the coming decades. i'm simply askinger us to show a modicum of restraint -- asking for us to show a modicum of restraint. isn't $550 million a year for a program that already has multiple funding sources enough? i think so. mr. chairman, i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from tennessee. mr. gordon: mr. chairman, i yield a minute and a half to my friend from michigan -- excuse me, i rise in opposition to the amendment and claim that time.

the chair: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. gordon: i yield 1 1/2 minutes to the gentleman from michigan, mr. stupak. the chair: the gentleman from michigan is recognized for a minute and a half. mr. stupak: thank you, meeg. i'd like to speak about the merits of this bill which is an important step forward for revitalizing the auto industry in my district, in michigan, and across our nation. this legislation will authorize $550 million in essential research funding with the emphasis on medium and heavy duty commercial trucks and trailers that have previously been overlooked. through federally funded directed research and development, the auto industry can move toward a better, more fuel efficient vehicle through applied research and development of materials and technology. this will directly benefit a number of existing companies in their transition toward new parts and technologies for the domestic auto industry. and encourage entrepreneurs with an innovative idea to enter the market.

this includes a number of existing and potential auto part suppliers and manufacturers in my district and throughout michigan. i'd like to thank chairman gordon for yielding me the time and i'd also like to thank congressman peters and congresswoman biggert for introducing this important legislation. i would encourage all my colleagues to support this bill and support the chairman on the amendments. i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields. the gentleman from texas. mr. hall: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i might consume. i rise in support of the broun amendment to reduce the authorization level in h.r. 12, 3246. as i mentioned during the full committee markup, i have concerns over the amount of money being authorized in this bill. $2.43 billion over the 23010-2014 period and $423 million after 2014, according to the congressional budget office.

the broun amendment would reduce the multiyear authorization by $650 million. where the bill authorizes an increase of $10 million over the previous fiscal year for sections 5-a and 5-b, the broun amendment keeps each fiscal year's authorization constant and removes the authorization for fiscal year 2014 in sections 5-a, 5-b and 5-c. with that i'd like to yield two minutes more -- or i reserve the balance of my time and we'll do that after the gentleman from tennessee. the chair: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from tennessee. mr. gordon: mr. chairman, i reserve the balance of my time to close. the chair: the gentleman from texas. mr. hall: to dr. broun an additional two minutes. the chair: the gentleman from georgia is recognized for an additional two minutes. broub broun -- mr. broun: i thank my friend from texas for yielding me some more time. mr. chairman, this legislation

has support from both sides of the aisle but was made perfectly clear in our committee markup back in july, there are some serious concerns with the amount of money being authorized and where exactly it will go. recent bills such as the wall street bailout and stimulus bill from earlier this year, we have provided a lack of appropriate oversight for the money being spent. i do not want to see us make the same mistake with this legislation. because most of us can agree that developing alternative fuel cell technology is a necessary precursor to taking control of our energy consumption needs. and all of us on both sides of the aisle have that philosophy and believe in that. simply removing -- but simply throwing money at a problem is never a solution. in my -- my amendment is just a good commonsense improvement. however minor to this otherwise very noble legislation. so i ask my colleagues to support this amendment, i thank

mr. hall and i yield back the balance of my time to mr. hall. the chair: the gentleman from tennessee. mr. gordon: does the gentleman, mr. hall, yield back his time? the chair: the gentleman from texas. the gentleman from texas has one minute remaining. mr. hall: mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from tennessee. mr. gordon: thank you, mr. chairman. when my colleague from georgia has another amendment which we will gladly support, i'm afraid we must reluctantly oppose this amendment on the grounds that it freezes funding for the bill at the 2010 levels and cuts the final year of funding. i appreciate the gentleman's effort to keep costs down. he has been a champion both in our committee and on this floor for trying to make the government live in a more frue gal way. however, in this situation i need to point out that the funds that are authorized in this

particular program are not -- do not duplicate any funds that were in the energy bill or the recovery act for this particular purpose. i also want to point out that the amounted authorized in this bill fall upon recommendations from the national academies of science review of the program as well as testimony of the committee and historic trends in the programs. the annual increases provided for in this bill were very modest and necessary for it to fulfill its goals and i think for that reason we have an unusual situation where this bill, or i should say this amendment, is opposed by both the national association of manufacturers and the u.a.w. again, mr. broun is doing nothing but trying to make us justify, i think, our spending as he should. he's been a champion for that. in this situation, i think that we have made that case and i think this will be -- that his amendment should be opposed and our good bill should move forward and yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the question is on the amendment offered by the

gentleman from texas. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the noes have it. the amendment is not agreed to. mr. broun: mr. chairman. the chair: for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia rise? mr. broun: i request the yeas and nays. the chair: does the gentleman ask for a recorded vote? mr. broun: yes, i ask for a recorded vote. the chair: pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from texas will be postponed. it is now in order to consider amendment number 3 printed in house report 111-255. for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia rise? mr. broun: mr. chairman, i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 3 printed in house report 111-255 offered by mr. broun of georgia. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 745, the gentleman

from georgia, mr. broun, and a member opposed each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from georgia. mr. broun: thank you, mr. chairman. mr. chairman, i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks and yield myself as much time as i may consume. the chair: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. broun: i rise in support of my amendment. mr. chairman, this amendment is very straight forward. it's just a small technical correction to the bill. as the bill is written there are two titles. the first is specific to commercial and capacity vehicles and the second is to medium sized and heavy duty vehicles. both sections, obviously, deal with advanced vehicle technologies. but only one has a reporting requirement in title 2. my amendment adds a reporting requirement to title 1 as well. if enacted, the secretary of energy will have to submit an annual report to the relevant congressional committees on the implementation, progress and long-term goals of this program. this legislation authorizes the

large amount of taxpayer dollars to a program that like every other government program is susceptible to waste, fraud and abuse. the easiest way to combat that is through diligence and a certain amount of oversight and transparency. my amendment fits both of these requirements. mr. chairman, we need to exercise more caution with where taxpayer dollars are being spent. that entails both doing more research about the programs that we are funding before we write and pass legislation as well as exercising oversight responsibilities after the money has been authorized. this amendment, very simple, simple technical corrections goes directly toward fulfilling the latter obtainive. at this point, mr. speaker -- objective. at this point, mr. chairman, i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves. for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee rise? mr. gordon: i claim time in

opposition to the amendment although i am not in opposition to the amendment. the chair: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. gordon: mr. chairman, i want to thank dr. broun for bringing this constructive amendment to our attention. i think the additional transparency and accountability will make this good bill an even better bill fofment that are reason i -- bill. for that reason i urge the adoption of dr. broun's amendment. the chair: does the gentleman yield his time? mr. gordon: i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields. the gentleman from georgia. mr. broun: i thank the chairman. he's been a great chairman for us and i enjoy working with chairman gordon on this issue, my dear friend from texas, our ranking member, mr. hall, would like to speak so i want to yield him two minutes and then i just very much appreciate the chairman's acceptance of my amendment. the chair: the gentleman from texas is recognized for two minutes. mr. hall: mr. speaker, i rise in support of the broun amendment.

the amendment would require the secretary to report to congress on a yearly basis on activities undertaken in the previous year under title 1 such as an active industry participant's efforts to recruit new participants, progress of the program and meeting goals and timelines and a strategic plan for funding of activities across agencies. the amendment allows the congress and the public to monitor the success of activities in title 1 and ensure that the money that's ultimately appropriated is being well spent. now while i realize the gordon amendment applied a title 1 report as stated earlier, i prefer the reporting language that's in representative broun's amendment as it's more comprehensive and mirrors the report language requirement in title 2. i agree again and i suggest again and i express again my hope in conference the altogether two authors could agree to merge their language so that all bases are covered. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields

and reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from georgia. mr. broun: i thank you, mr. chairman. i again thank chairman gordon for accepting my amendment and i greatly appreciate it. i think this is a commonsense amendment. it will offer more transparency and more accountability which i they we ought to do in all legislation we pass. unfortunately there's not a lot of that around here with multiple branches of the federal government and i thank the chairman for accepting my amendment and i urge a yes vote for everybody and i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from georgia. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to. it is now in order to consider amendment number 4 printed in

house report 111-255. for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan rise? >> mr. chairman, i rise as a designee for mr. polis and i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 4 printed in house report 111-255 offered by mr. peters of michigan. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 745, the gentleman from michigan, mr. peters, and a member opposed, each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from michigan. mr. peters: thank you, mr. chairman. my colleague's amendment that has been read recognizes that it takes many years for a technology to be fully integrated into the nation's vehicle fleet. and some technology may actually be appropriate for retrofitting of existing vehicles. automakers have expressed some very strong concerns about how

these after-market conversions are going to affect vehicles that are under warrant. and i share these concerns. however, i support mr. polis in the work that he's attempting to do with this amendment, support the amendment, but i look forward to working with the gentleman to perfect the language in krch -- conference. i yield back the remainder of my time -- reserve my time. the chair: the gentleman yields and reserves the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. hall: mr. speaker, i rise to claim time on the polis amendment and yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. hall: i support the polis amendment. the amendment would enable our constituents to continue driving the vehicles they currently own while taking advantage of technology that would enable them to reduce their repole yum used perhaps faster than if they were to wait for a new vehicle to make its way from concept to showroom.

with that i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from michigan. mr. peters: mr. chairman, i have no further speakers on this amendment but i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from texas. mr. hall: mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields. mr. peters: mr. chairman, i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from michigan. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to. it is now in order to consider amendment number 5 printed in house report 111-255. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida rise? mr. posey: thank you, mr. speaker.

amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 5 printed in house report 111-255 offered by mr. posey of florida. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 745, the gentleman from florida, mr. posey, and a member opposed, each will coal five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from florida. mr. posey: thank you, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. and yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. posey: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the chairman and the ranking member for their work on this bill creating advanced vehicles is important if we are to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and reduce emissions. i am pleased to be joined by my colleague from florida, mr. kosmas, in introducing this amendment. our amendment makes sure we explore all near-term options for increasing vehicle efficiency. there are very near-term technologies that can be applied to develop and produce very high mileage vehicles.

unfortunately, the possibility has not been a priority for the department of energy and has not been incorporated into the vehicle technologies program. the department has been doing some very good work, but that work is focused on longer term possibilities. i think we need nearer term solutions and interim advancements. our amendment would ask the department to give full consideration to these nearer term advances. i'm aware of companies that are close to demonstrating very high mileage passenger vehicles, a partnership with the department of energy could make this enough to be a reality in a short period. our amendment asks the department of energy within existing funds to create a competitive program for demonstrating very high mileage vehicles. these would be four-person vehicles that are affordable to the average family. we're talking about vehicles that get 70, 80, 90, maybe 100 miles per gallon or more which is in excess of the current cafe standards. if there is a vehicle that can get that kind of performance and could be made in america

and on the market within three years, i think we definitely should explore that. and our amendment makes sure that the department does explore that possibility. i urge you to support the posey-kosmas amendment, and i reserve the balance of my time. thank you. the chair: the gentleman reserves. for what purpose does the gentlelady from florida rise? mr. kosmas: mr. chairman, i rise to claim the time in opposition, although i do not oppose the amendment. i rise in support of -- the chair: without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for five minutes. mr. kosmas: i rise in support of the posey-kosmas amendment and this bill, 3246, the advanced vehicle technology act. our bill would direct the department of energy to have an automotive demonstrative program to have grants for the purpose of demonstrating and bringing to the market very high energy-efficient vehicles achieving at least 70 miles per gallon in the near term. creating opportunities such as this ensure that we are

utilizing the expertise of both the department of energy and those in the industry that have real world experience. this program will help to ensure that our nation remains competitive and the -- in the world automotive market. and here at home it will not only meet new emission requirements but exceed them. right now companies across the nation, including in central florida, are researching and developing vehicles that will use light-weight materials, highly efficient engines enabling them to potentially reach 100 miles per gallon. this program will help ensure that these companies are able to move pass the r&d stage to demonstration and full scale manufacturing in the near term. our nation can lead the world in innovation and technology achievements if we are willing to make the investment. i would like to thank my friend and colleague, congressman posey, for working with me on this important program that i think will be beneficial to consumers, will help us to reduce our emissions and dependence on foreign oil and

will lead to new jobs in central florida and across the nation. i urge my colleagues to support the bipartisan posey-kosmas amendment and the underlying bill, and i yield back. the chair: the gentlelady yields. the gentleman from florida. mr. posey: i yield to my colleague, the ranking member. the chair: the gentleman yields. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. hall: mr. chairman, i rise in support of the posey amendment. mr. posey's goal is to direct the department of energy to give the same consideration to demonstrating vehicles using fossil fuels that can achieve 70 miles per gallon or more as they are to alternatively fueled vehicles and hybrids. i support that, and with that i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields. the gentleman from florida. mr. posey: i yield back to my colleague to close. the chair: the gentleman yields. the gentlelady from florida. mr. kosmas: thank you, mr. chairman. i yield to chairman gordon.

the chair: the gentlelady yields. the gentleman from tennessee. mr. gordon: thank you. i appreciate your hard work on this amendment as well as mr. posey. you brought us an amendment that is consistent with the overall goals of the bill, but will require some fine tuning as we move through the conference process. with that understanding we would still like to work with the gentleman and the gentlelady in perfecting the language as we move forward and i support the amendment and urge its adoption. the chair: the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from florida. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to.

it is now in order to consider amendment number 6 printed in house report 111-255. for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee rise? mr. gordon: mr. chairman, i rise as the designee for mr. kennedy and amendment at the desk. -- and i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 6 printed in house report 111-25 a offered by mr. gordon of tennessee. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 745, the gentleman from tennessee, mr. gordon, and a member opposed, each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from tennessee. mr. gordon: thank you, mr. chairman. mr. kennedy's amendment seeks to recognize that the nation's vehicle fleet encompasses more than just four-wheel passenger cars and large commercial trucks and that the ultraefficient two-wheeled and three-wheeled vehicles should also be considered eligible for federal resource activities.

and i support my colleague's amendment and urge its adoption. and i yield back the balance of my time. i reserve my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves. for what purpose does the gentlelady from illinois rise? mrs. biggert: mr. chairman, i rise to claim time in opposition to the kennedy amendment even though i am not necessarily opposed to the amendment. the chair: without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for five minutes. mrs. biggert: thank you, mr. chairman. i just have a question of the designee, mr. gordon. i'm not sure that this amendment is necessary. a qualified plug-in manufacturers is considered. there needs to be something written in to the amendment saying that a qualified plug-in electric vehicle manufacture is an auto --

mr. gordon: mr. chairman, if you'll yield to mr. kennedy. the chair: the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized -- mr. kennedy: rhode island. the chair: sorry. mr. kennedy: love massachusetts. rhode island is where it's at. thank you, mr. speaker. yes, to answer the gentlelady's question, obviously with advanced technology and energy efficient vehicles, we're looking at all sorts of modes of transportation. and, of course, in europe, these modes of transportation for the most part are the small motor scooters. and in fact if we're looking to become energy independent and efficient and we're trying to incentivize in this country the production and manufacturing of vehicles that are going to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and promote energy

efficiency, we cannot do this and miss a large part of the market that the rest of the world is utilizing in order for themselves to become more energy independent and more energy efficient. and that's why it is important that we actually put this in the language of the bill because otherwise they will not be eligible for the incentives that we make available for four-wheel vehicles. in fact, if the whole idea is to promote all of these kinds of vehicles, we ought to make sure that it says distinctively in the language. mrs. biggert: thank you. reclaiming my time. the chair: the gentlelady from illinois is recognized. mrs. biggert: as i said, i am not necessarily opposed. i just want a clarification whether you thought these vehicles would not be included in this bill if they were not addressed here. mr. kennedy: we have found already that these vehicles have not been able to garner

those loan assistance that has already been available in other pieces of legislation and in the stimulus bill in previous legislation because they don't come under the strict definition of a four-wheel vehicle. we have tried to make the regulations flexible enough to say that they are two and can be retrofitted to become four. but, of course, that's kind of a stretch in the fact that the manufacturing process can be expanded to make, you know, four-wheel vehicles out of these two-wheel kind of systems. but it's not the intended purposes of these manufacturing facilities. that's why we want to put it specifically to mention two or three-wheel vehicles. mrs. biggert: reclaiming my time. then, i would -- the chair: the gentlelady is recognized. mrs. biggert: i would not oppose the amendment and yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentlelady yields.

the gentleman from tennessee. mr. gordon: first, let me thank mrs. biggert for the work she's done in bringing this bill to us as well as those legitimate questions that i think need to be answered and i think mr. kennedy did answer. i will now yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from rhode island. mr. kennedy: thank you very much. the chair: the gentleman from rhode island is recognized for the balance of the time. mr. kennedy: thank you. and i appreciate the gentlelady and the gentleman from tennessee yielding me this time. and i won't go on any further than i've already explained except to say obviously there are good green jobs. we talk about good green jobs in this bill. this is about good green jobs. these vehicles are already being sold to police departments and public safety -- as public safety vehicles all across america. these vetrix vehicles that are made in my state are electrical vehicles that have enormous, you know, capacity in the

metropolitan areas. and, frankly, they are obviously great for the environment but they are also fuel efficient and they provide a great alternative to vehicles that we have since relied on that create such pollution in our air. . if we provide the loans then we can keep these manufacturing jobs here at home. and roughly 16,000 jobs are anticipated within conservatively within the next five years as a result of just loans that can be made through the department of energy as a result of this amendment. so i would ask that my colleagues favorably support this amendment. i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields. the gentleman from tennessee. mr. gordon: i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from tennessee. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no.

in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to. the chair: it is how in order to consider amendment number 7 printed in house report number 111-255. for what purpose does the gentleman from temperaturetown rise? mr. gordon: i rise as the designee for mr. holt. i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 7 printed in house report number 111-255, offered by mr. gordon of tennessee. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 745, the gentleman from tennessee, mr. gordon, and

a member opposed each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from tennessee. mr. gordon: thank you, mr. chairman. mr. holt's amendment would further clarify that the pilot program for nonroad equipment is meant to include large mobile equipment as found in sectors such as agriculture and construction. the technologies used in these sectors are analagous to those found on on-road medium to heavy duty trucks and greater transfer of technologies between sectors will benefit all. this is a good amendment and i urge the adoption. i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves the balance. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from illinois rise? mrs. biggert: i rise to claim the time in opposition to the holt amendment even though i am not opposed to the amendment. the chair: without objection. the gentlelady is recognized for five minutes. mrs. biggert: thank you, mr. chairman. i support the holt amendment.

i think that this amendment makes clear that the pilot program was intended to include agricultural and construction nonroad equipment. and therefore i do support the amendment w that i reserve the balance of my time. -- amendment. with that i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. gordon: we have no more speakers. i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves. the gentlelady. mrs. biggert: i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. mr. gordon: i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yield back the balance of his time. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from tennessee. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the aye vs. it. the amendment is agreed to. it is now in order to consider amendment number 8 printed in house report number 111-255.

for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia rise? mr. marshall: i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: amendment number 8, printed in house report number 11-255, offered by mr. marshall of georgia. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 745, the gentleman from georgia, mr. marshall, and a member opposed each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from georgia. mr. marshall:00 thank you, mr. speaker -- mr. marshall:00 thank you, mr. speaker. the bill provides that the secretary shall conduct research. it actually mandates that the secretary conduct research that's designed to improve the efficiency of vehicles that are used in transportation and the infrastructure that refuels or recharges those vehicles. and, mr. speaker, it does not specifically as it now stands, specifically direct the speaker to krt unique challenges that face rural areas with regard to these issues, the population is not as dense, it can be more

expensive to develop the infrastructure. the distances typically that have to be covered by those using vehicles are greater. the infrastructure is probably going to have to be a little denser to take that into account relatively speaking. in rural areas you'll find that many people use larger vehicles, pickup trucks are very common. and it's not simply because folks like pickup trucks it's because folks have heavy things to carry, large loads fairly regularly. and these are unique challenges that face rural america and rural america is also, that portion of america that really doesn't have a lot of extra money in its pocket to meet transportation costs. so i think it's particularly appropriate that we specifically direct the secretary to take into account the unique challenges facing rural america when it comes to transportation issues generally and then when it comes to our attempts to improve, make more efficient, make more cost efficient, make cleaner our use of

transportation across the country. i think the amendment should be noncontroversial. i certainly hope so. i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlelady -- for what purpose does the gentlelady -- mrs. biggert: i rise to claim the time in opposition to the marshall amendment even though i am not opposed to the amendment. the chair: without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for five minutes. mrs. biggert: thank you, mr. chairman. i am supportive of the marshall amendment. as the amendment states there are unique challenges facing rural areas, especially regards to refueling and infrastructure for alternative fuel vehicles such as those that run on natural gas and hydrogen and leak trick or plug-in electric hybrid vehicles that require an electrical outlet. i thank mr. marshall for trying to ensure that rural americans have the same benefits in this area as their urban counterparts w that i support this amendment -- counterparts. with that i support this

amendment. i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman from tennessee. mr. marshall: i thank the gentlelady for her support. i think all rural americans thank the gentlelady for her support. what i'd like to do right now, mr. speaker f. i could is yield some time to the gentleman from new jersey, mr. holt, whose amendment was just considered and adopted. mr. holt couldn't be here at the time the amendment was considered. i know he wants to speak a little bit about his amendment. if i could yield time now to mr. holt. the chair: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. holt: mr. chairman, i thank my respected friend from georgia. and also the chairman for their support of my legislation. this amendment that is really quite simple. and i appreciate their support of it. there is nothing in the bill that would prohibit the use of funds for advanced agriculture vehicles. my amendment as adopted simply underscores the importance of research and development in this

arena. rising food costs have been one of the greatest burdens of america's struggling families and the cost of fuel in producing and transporting agricultural products has been a major factor in these cost increase. according to the u.s. department of agriculture, prices for what the department calls food at home, which includes grocery stores, convenience stores, and food at farmers' markets, will rise 2% to 3% this year following an increase of 6.4% last year. they say the highest jump in nearly two decades. increased food prices are expected to outpace increases in the consumer price index. granted the cost of fuel is only one factor in these increase, but everything we can do to ease the burden of high fuel costs of agricultural products certainly will help. coming from the garden state which has a long agricultural tradition, i feel that this is an important issue for my constituents as for those in the

other 48 -- 49 states. i'll continue to work to find ways to make agricultural production less costly, more sustainable. i thank my good friend from georgia for the time. the chair: the gentleman yields back his time. the gentleman from georgia is recognized. mr. marshall: i'd like to yield 30 seconds to the chairman of the committee who continues to regularly beat me in every running race we have. the chair: the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. gordon: more importantly i want to thank you for this very excellent constructive amendment. it seeks to recognize the unique challenges face bide rural communities as we move toward greater electrification of the transportation sector. i, too, share the concern for my constituents. this is an excellent amendment and improvement to a good bill. i urge its adoption. i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman from georgia is recognized. mr. marshall: if i could just wrap up. i'm no expert in this area, but

i do know rural areas. with the distances, the weights of vehicles it seems to me that natural gas and natural gas distribution facilities and hybrid engines are what we are going to need in rural areas more than anything else and pure electric isn't going to work very well. that's for the experts to figure out. what this amendment does is direct the secretary to make sure the experts do know cuss on questions like this. with that, mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from georgia. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to. it is now in order to consider amendment number 9 printed in house report 111-225.

for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee rise? mr. cohen: mr. speaker, i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 9, prohibitsed in house report number 111-255, offered by mr. cohen of tennessee. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 745, the gentleman from tennessee, mr. cohen, and a member posed each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from tennessee. mr. cohen: thank you. i yield myself such time as i may consume. i first would like to demend representative peters -- commend representative peters of the science and technology committee for proposing this forward-looking piece of legislation and congressman, chairman gordon, for his outstanding work in bringing this to the floor. for more than a century the united states has been the home of automobile innovation. this innovation made the u.s.a. the world leader in automobile production, automobile design. cars in the united states were almost synonymous. however in recent years the united states has fallen behind asia and european union auto

makers with countries there with regard to vehicle innovation, especially when it comes to fuel efishency. as gas process continues -- prices continue to rise and americans become more concerned about global warming, they have responded by purchasing more fuel efficient vehicles. the american car manufacturer must meet that demabbed to -- nand to stay active and viable. finding safe, affordable, and clean alternative to oil will not be cheap. public and private entities will have to work cooperatively to solve this problem. old-fashioned american entrepreneurship will need to be working on the cutting-edge of technological advancements to keep our automobile industry alive. from hydrogen to fuel cells to electric cars, these innovators are leaving no stone unturned when it comes to finding energy solutions. with such an array of technologies holding so much promise, we cannot afford to ignore any promising technology. with this in mind, this amendment which i offer, amendment 9, assures the electromechanical storage technology are also allowed to

be researched under this department of energy program. these technologies hold tremendous promise and need to be explored as energy attorneys. -- alternatives. for example existing air prissed cars average more than 115 gas equivalent miles per gallon. most importantly these cars have been almost zero carbon dioxide and cost $2 to $3 to fill up. technologies such as compressed air are not perfect. with the passage of the advanced vehicles technology act, these technologies can receive the funding they need to transform a novel fuel source into an energy solution of the future. . doing so will spur development. one memphis bioworks in my district might engage in this as well as in the massive grounds of general motors, ford and other american manufacturing plants. the economic competitiveness in the united states depends on the entrepreneurs. in order to ensure our further

security, we must make a down payment to invest in serious alternative research. i strongly urge passage of this amendment to the advanced vehicle technology act which gives another alternative to the department of energy to move us into the future in a progressive and sound way. thank you. thank you, mr. speaker. the chair: for what purpose does the gentlelady from illinois rise? mrs. biggert: mr. chairman, i rise in opposition to the -- claim the time in opposition to the cohen amendment even though i am not opposed to the amendment. the chair: without objection, the gentlelady is recognized. mrs. biggert: mr. chairman, i do support the amendment. i think it simply lays out examples of electromechanical storage technologies to make sure they are included within this bill. with that i would yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. cohen: i yield to the honorable bart gordon, chairman of the committee. mr. gordon: thank you, mr. cohen.

the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. gordon: thank you, mr. cohen. i want to thank you for giving this amendment to us. this bill could be incorporated into vehicles, even beyond batteries. we worked with mr. cohen in perfecting the language. it's a good amendment and i urge its adoption. the chair: the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. cohen: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back the balance of my time and urge a positive vote on the amendment. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from tennessee. those in favor, please say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it the amendment is agreed to. it is now in order to consider amendment number 10 printed in house report 111-255. for what purpose does the gentleman from indiana rise? mr. donnelly: mr. chairman, i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will

designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 10 printed in house report 111-255 offered about mr. donnelly of indiana. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 745, the gentleman from indiana, mr. donnelly, and a member opposed, each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from indiana. mr. donnelly: thank you, mr. chairman. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: without objection. mr. donnelly: americans across the country have for decades taken their families and recreational vehicles to national parks, historic battlefields and other tourist sites and towns that are uniquely american. despite the economic downturn and increasing gas prices, thousands more r.v.'s will continue to be sold each year. my amendment is simple. include r.v.'s as eligible for vehicle technologies research at the department of energy under section 201 of the bill dealing with medium and heavy duty and transit vehicles. the r.v. industry has been moving in the right direction with fuel efficiency research. however, just as with medium

and heavy-duty vehicles, the costs of such research for r.v.'s is high. high costs in a tough economic climate, slow progress by making it difficult for companies to set sufficient research funding aside. including r.v.'s among medium and heavy-duty vehicles makes sense because of their similar size, weight and power train. h.r. 3246 prioritizes making our vehicle fleet in the united states as fuel efficient as possible by developing and promoting new technologies, and our amendment clarifies that recreational vehicles should be part of these efforts, ensuring that the thousands of new r.v.'s that drive onto america's roads each year are using the least amount of fuel possible. i strongly for h.r. 3246 and believe this amendment to include r.v.'s will make the program more successful in ensuring medium and heavy-duty vehicles are more efficient energy users. mr. chairman, i strongly

support this bill and i thank chairman gordon and mr. peters for their work on this legislation to help make the vehicles on our roads more fuel efficient and our auto industry more competitive for the industry. i'd also like to thank my good friends and colleagues, mr. souder and mr. defawsio for their support of this -- defazio for their support of this amendment. i urge my colleagues to support this amendment and also the underlying bill. i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentlelady from illinois rise? mrs. biggert: thank you, mr. chairman. i rise to claim time in opposition to the donnelly amendment. the chair: the gentlelady is recognized for five minutes. mrs. biggert: i have some real concerns with this amendment. i just wonder if this bill is really the proper place for this amendment that includes recreational vehicles in a title of the bill that is

intended to provide research, development, commercial application on medium to heavy duty commercial and transit vehicles. and i'm afraid that this amendment would divert funds from an area of research that would be more beneficial to the population at large. and i would have a question to ask of the sponsor for clarification. there's a definition of the recreational vehicle. does this -- would this include -- not just vehicles that have a truck -- a commercial truck or bus type of vehicle but does this include all r.v.'s that would be -- could be a pickup or a van that they would be attached to? mr. donnelly: this includes some bus-like vehicles but not -- the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. donnelly: to my colleague, this includes bus-like vehicles. it does not include pickups.

mrs. biggert: so reclaiming my time. so in other words, this would be the same kind of chassis that would be the commercial truck? mr. donnelly: it would be very similar to those chassises to fit in with the spirit of this section. mrs. biggert: again, another question. you know, another concern is that this is for recreational vehicles and this is, you know, limited taxpayer money. do you think that this -- the american people would like to see this included as the type of research and development that we would be asking -- mr. donnelly: would the gentlelady yield? mrs. biggert: i yield. mr. donnelly: i think the american taxpayers will be in support of this because it creates jobs and it creates opportunity. so, yes, i do. mrs. biggert: then, you know, mr. chairman, the r.v. is an

optional, you know, purchase for a consumer, used for vacation purposes. again, i really have some real concerns about using -- spending limited taxpayer funds on research and development. if the gentleman can convince me if this will lower the fuel consumption so much that would save -- do you have any idea how many recreational vehicles there are that would benefit from this research? mr. donnelly: would the gentlelady yield? mrs. biggert: yes. mr. donnelly: we would have a lot more sold if we would have better mileage. we are trying to save millions of gallons of gasoline and diesel each year and to create thousands and thousands of additional jobs and strengthen our economy. very much the same type of goals that we had in the other programs that are part of this. mrs. biggert: ok. i thank the gentleman, and i'm afraid i must still stand in opposition to this amendment.

and i would yield back. the chair: the gentlelady yields back. the gentleman from indiana is recognized. mr. donnelly: i'd like to yield the chairman 30 seconds, the gentleman from tennessee. quhoip the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. -- the chair: the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. gordon: thank you, mr. chairman. my colleagues seek to recognize the unique requirements of the types of vehicles commonly known as recreational vehicles. they've highlighted an important industry within the medium to heavy-duty truck sector. i point out these are heavy users of fuel. as we can reduce their -- if we can make them more fuel efficient we certainly are going to make our country less dependent on foreign oil. i think that this is an excellent use of these research dollars, and i support the amendment. the chair: the gentleman from indiana is recognized. mr. donnelly: i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is on the amendment offered by mr. the gentleman from indiana. those in favor say aye.

those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. mrs. biggert: mr. chairman, i would ask for a recorded vote. the chair: pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from indiana will be postponed. it is now in order to consider amendment number 11 printed in house report 111-225. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania rise? mr. sestak: mr. chairman, i rise as the designee of congressman sestak, the author of amendment number 11. the chair: does the gentleman offer the amendment? >> i offer the amendment. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 11 printed in house report 111-255 offered by mr. altmire of pennsylvania. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 745, the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. altmire, and a member opposed, each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the

gentleman from pennsylvania. mr. altmire: mr. chairman, the legislation before us would re-authorize the department of energy's vehicle technology's program, which invests in advanced research and development. this program taps american ingenuity to create good-paying american jobs and importantly, reduce our dependence on foreign oil. the advanced vehicle technology act requires the energy secretary to research and develop advanced automobile battery manufacturing. automotive batteries for plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles are promises, but they are not yet fully competitive in the mark. congressman sestak's amendment would require the secretary to consider two additional factors in bringing advanced batteries for plug-in vehicles and electric cars to market. first, electric vehicle batteries are limited by the number of times they could be charged and depleted before the battery fails entirely. to extend battery life cycles,

vehicle manufacturers oversize the batteries often extending battery life but then sacrificing cost and efficiency in the process. the gentleman's amendment would require research and development of technology to efficiently increase battery life. second, vehicle battery manufacturing is an energy and emissions intensive process which ultimately contributes to an electric vehicle's carbon footprint. congressman sestak's amendment would require the energy secretary to research and develop new technologies to increase efficiency in the battery manufacturing process. thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, mr. chairman gordon as well. i urge support for mr. sestak's amendment and i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlelady from -- for what purpose does the gentlelady rise? mrs. biggert: mr. chairman, i rise to claim time in opposition to the sestak

amendment even though i am not opposed to the amendment. the chair: without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for five minutes. mrs. biggert: i rise in support of the sestak amendment. as we produce and manufacture advanced batteries, it's good to look into ways to not only reduce waste streams, emissions and energy intensive but also to improve the calendar life and cycle life of these advanced batteries. with that i would yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. the gentleman is recognized. mr. altmire: i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from pennsylvania. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to. it is now in order to consider amendment number 12 printed in house report 111-255.

for what purpose does the gentleman from new york rise? mr. massa: i have an amendment at the desk made in order under the rule. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 12 printed in house report 111-255 offered by mr. massa of new york. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 745, the gentleman from new york, mr. massa, and a member opposed, each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new york. mr. massa: thank you, mr. chairman. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: without objection. the gentleman is recognized. mr. massa: the importance of this bill and the support for critical new technologies in the united states simply cannot be overstated. the future of the automobile industry and its accompanying tens of thousands of american jobs rests on the ability of domestic car companies to research, develop and have clean technologies that will be the backbone of a new u.s. automobile industry for the future and for future generations. we have achieved many break throughs in advanced vehicle

technologies and i am certain that with the continued support from congress and the american people this progress will continue. taking these breakthroughs from research to reality, however, has been an ongoing challenge for american innovators. facing many barriers that prevent breaking new -- bringing new technologies to the marketplace, automobile companies have always had challenges commercializing advanced vehicles to help reduce our nation's dangerous if not critically dangerous dependency on foreign oil, should i say hostile foreign oil. many of the past efforts from the federal government has been on the research side. with this amendment the equally important commercialization part will now receive attention. my amendment will help change this by emphasizing the importance of those barriers to commercialization, and by supporting new ways to help our domestic car companies bring advanced vehicle technologies online. beyond support for research and development, we must develop real solutions to our growing energy crisis. we cannot be satisfied with

abandoning new technologies every time they leave the laboratory. we must help our automobile makers carry these technologies across the finish line or face the alternative. as we have had in the past and seen time and time again where u.s. innovation and research is picked up and developed by foreign competitors, thus, we lose our market share and our advantage in the marketplace. to support true real change and to bring about a serious new change for new generation of advanced technology, vehicles in the united states must be focused on basic research and on public-private partnerships that utilize the expertise of industry to conquer the many impediments to commercializing these promising technologies. i reserve the balance of my time. . the chair: for what purpose does the gentlelady from illinois rise? miss biggert: i claim time in opposition to the massa amendment. i'm not necessarily in opposition to the amendment. the chair: the gentlelady is recognized for five minutes. mrs. biggert: thank you, mr.

chairman. i do have some concerns about the gentleman's amendment. as i read the amendment i note that mr. massa is adding language that would support public-private partnerships dedicated to overcoming barriers in commercial application of transformational vehicle technologies that utilize such industry-led facilities. perhaps the gentleman could explain a little more -- in a little more detail who would be able to take advantage of this change? and what type of activities it would allow? i yield to the gentleman. mr. massa: the question cuts to the core of what public-private partnerships can do to help american industry. first this is targeted at the domestic american automobile industry. and as we have seen over and over again as our competitors around the world, do everything they can to lower barriers to business competition and business commercialization. i seek to give that opportunity

to our industries as well. having spent some time in business, running a factory line, i understand what it means to get to the finish line, have a great product, and then face barrier upon barrier of unnecessary regulation when all i need is an open line of communication to be able to overcome these. this is the spirit in which this amendment is offered. to offer the maximum amount of opportunity to our domestic industry. i think that not only the american people but my colleagues and good friends across the aisle can join me in that spirit. mrs. biggert: reclaiming my time. can you give me an example of a barrier? i yield. mr. massa: as a specific opportunity, we all know that state and federal governments have a tremendous amount of data capability to be able to do market research and understand how the marketplace operates, yet many times because a corporation or company or private manufacturer is private, they cannot readily access that information.

that is a key example of the kinds of barriers to commercialization that we must remove. these are lessons that our good friends and allies across the world who frankly are economic competitors have already realized and moved forward on. i seek to give our domestic manufacturers the exact same advantages. mrs. biggert: reclaiming my time. can you tell me -- you said it would help the american manufacturers. is it one specific -- who would this benefit? i want to make sure it's not just a specific -- i yield. mr. massa: certainly the context of this amendment is offered with the specific focus of assisting domestic automobile manufacturers. but as i'm sure the gentlelady would agree with me, automobile manufacturing is such a large and encompassing industrial activity that this will not only go from the factory floor in detroit but may in fact help the small mom and pop manufacturers

that support that activity. so this will have very broad benefit across a wide spectrum of economic activities ultimately focused on helping advance vehicle technologies. mrs. biggert: i want to make sure -- reclaiming my time. that we all understand that the intent so we can make an informed decision as to whether it's appropriate to this bill. could you give me a little bit more on who benefits from this and the barriers? i yield. mr. massa: can i certainly do that perhaps with your concurrence by offering a specific example. as we face new technologies be they be hybrid, be they be new fuel sources like second generation ethanol, or hydrogen those technologies as they mature across a pilot production line will ultimately produce a vehicle that will be offered to the american people.

the business model of going from the laboratory to the actual show room floor is as complex as the research and development. this amendment seeks to recognize that and lower those barriers. so this happens, visualize it if i might offer this, as the vehicle rolls out of the laboratory, and we have all raised children, i have a teenager, i now have to get that teen ager through college. that's what this concept does. it makes that vehicle, helps it stand on its own so it can be proudly purchased by americans. mrs. biggert: i know you are talking about the commercialization which is what we sometimes call the valley of death for companies to get out beyond the demonstration to the marketplace which is probably the hardest for so many companies. and you think that this will help a lot of different companies be able to do that?

mr. massa: would the gentlelady yield? based on my personal experience of having run production lines in factories, i am certain that this will help in the commercialization of american-made products and thus help the american manufacturing sector. mrs. biggert: with that i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. massa: i would like to yield 30 seconds of my time to the chair and the individual who is responsible for allowing me the honor of presenting this amendment, the gentleman from tennessee. mr. gordon: thank you very much. the chair: without objection, the gentleman from tennessee is recognized for 30 seconds. mr. gordon: if it could be maybe a little more than that. a minute. let me thank mr. massa for bringing this excellent amendment to our attention. it makes a good bill better and i support it. let me also if i could conclude by saying that this bill moved relatively smoothly today. we are working through, this is

a very important bill, but it didn't happen by accident. i want to thank mrs. biggert and mr. hall for working with mr. peters in a collegial way to bring this important bill before us. but as all members of congress know, if it wasn't for diligent dedicated staff, we could not bring this type of important legislation before us. i want to thank chris king, who is the staff director for the energy committee, subcommittee on the science and technology committee, for leading a good team of john, hillary, elizabeth, and for working with jonathan from mr. peters' office. without your work we could not have brought this bill. i thank you for it. i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. massa: thank you, mr. chairman. i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from new york. so many as are in favor say aye.

those opposed, no. in the opinion opinion of the ce ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to. the gentleman from new york. mr. massa: i would like to request a recorded vote. the chair: pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from new york will be pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, proceed also now resume on those amendments printed in house report 111-225 on which further proceedings were postponed in the following order. amendment number 2 by mr. hall of texas. amendment number 10 by mr. donnelly of indiana. and amendment number 12 by mr. massa of new york.

the chair will reduce to five minutes the time for any electronic votes after the first vote in this series. the unfinished business is the request for recorded vote on amendment number 2 printed in house report 111-255 by the gentleman from texas, mr. hall, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 2, printed in house report number 111-255, offered by mr. hall of texas. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. so many as are in favor say aye. -- those in favor will vote aye. those opposed will vote no. members will record their votes by electronic device. this shall be a 15-minute vote.

[captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 179, the nays are 253. the amendment is not adopted.

the committee will be in order. the committee will be in order. the gentleman from california. for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house out of order. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. baca: thank you very much, mr. speaker. this weekend on monday we had a match which is the roll call cup between the democrats and the republicans which is called the ryder cup that we've had a series of matches. and in the past the republicans have won it four years in a row. this year the democrats won it to make it three years in a row by winning series of 12-5.

i want to thank both of the team captains that have worked real hard on the ryder cup and that's zach wampa -- wamp on the republican side for doing a good job on john tanner who has been the representative for us. but the real winners here are first t and roll call because it this goes out to help many of the kids here in washington, d.c., many underprivileged kids, the ability to play golf. so again, on behalf of the democrats who retain the cup for the fourth year in a row, thank you very much. at this time i'd like to yield some time to zach wamp. mr. wamp: mr. chairman, i just would like to add that we want to thank dantate sr. with the p and g. we want to thank the first tee program which is much more than government. it's a leadership and training program for young people. they he have first tee facilities compliment of frankly the congress at military bases all across the country and in 19

foreign countries. the only highlight of this year's loss was that our three freshmen, mr. roe of tennessee, mr. roony of florida and mr. hunter of california, performed admiraly so there is home for -- admirably so there is hope for next year and the future. it is now 4-4. we look forward to raising money for the first tee in the future this year and in previous years this event in seven years has raised well over $1 million for the first tee program and for that we should all be grateful and i yield back to the gentleman from california. mr. baca: thank you very much. mr. speaker, if i may thank the democrats who participated, that's john yarmuth, chad edwards, jim clyburn, jim cooper, mike doyle, burt stupak, and ed perlmutter, i want to thank the ryder cup team for their participation. thank you very much. i yield back the balan of my time. the chair: without objection, five-minute voting will continue. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on amendment number 10 printed in

house report 111-225 by the gentleman from indiana, mr. donnelly, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the ayes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 10 printed in house report 111-255 offered by mr. donnelly of indiana. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a record vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this shall be a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 369.

the nays --

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 369. the nays are 62. the amendment is adopted. for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois, mr. shimkus, rise? the committee shall be in order. the committee shall be in order.

without objection, the gentleman from illinois, mr. shimkus, is recognized. mr. shimkus: thank you, mr. speaker. and i'll be brief, my colleagues and friends. last night -- you see the trophy here. it's in the middle of the chamber because this was one of the events where it's a bipartisan game where last night the members of congress defeated a team from the american league of lobbyists to defeat them in the 11th annual hoops for hopes charity basketball game. after being pummeled last year, we came roaring back with a surprising 52-39 win. this could not have been possible without -- the chair: the committee will be in order. mr. shimkus: i thank my colleague and friend from michigan. this could not have been possible without the assistance of my co-captain, brad ellsworth, and members, jeff flake, frank kratovil, member

amayor tuss kenny holsoff. i want to thank georgetown high school. coach karl hbo from george washington. dave -- karl hobb from george washington. the american league of lobbyists, especially dave miller and dave winegold. over 1 is years of ch charity event, we -- of this charity event, we raised over $400,000 and money going to horton's kids, servant christian foundation, st. anthony scholarship fund, washington jesuit academy and the luke tiahrt foundation. the chair: the gentleman will suspend. the committee will be in order. mr. shimkus: and i want to thank my colleagues for their support. i yield back my time. the chair: without objection, five-minute voting will continue. the unfinished business is the

request for a recorded vote on amendment number 12 printed in house report 111-255 by the gentleman from new york, mr. massa on which further proceedings postponed and on which the ayes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 12 printed in house report 111-255 offered by mr. massa of new york. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this shall be a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the

u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 416 and the nays are 14. the amendment is adopted. the question is on the committee amendment in the nature of a substitute as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the amendment is adopted. accordingly under the rule, the committee rises. the speaker pro tempore: mr. chairman. the chair: on the state of the

union has had under consideration h.r. 3246. pursuant to house resolution 745, i report the bill back to the house for the amendment in the committee of the whole. the speaker pro tempore: the chairman of the committee of the whole house on the state of the union says that the committee has had under consideration h.r. 3246 and pursuant reports the bill back to the house with an amendment acosmopolitan -- adopted in the committee of the whole. under the rule, the previous question is ordered. the question is on adoption of the amendment. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it the amendment is agreed to. the question is on engrossment and third reading of the bill. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. third reading. the clerk: the bill to provide for a program of research, development, demonstration and commercial application in vehicle technologies at the department of energy. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does -- for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia rise? mr. broun: mr. speaker, i have a motion to recommit at the desk. the speaker pro tempore: is the

gentleman opposed to the bill? mr. broun: in its current form, i am. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman qualifies. the clerk will report the motion but first we'll have order. the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: mr. broun of georgia moves to recommit the bill, h.r. 3246, to the committee on science and technology with instructions -- the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will suspend. for what purpose does do you rise? mr. broun: unanimous consent to disperse with the reading. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia is recognized for five minutes. mr. broun: thank you, mr. speaker. my motion would seek to improve this legislation by allowing it to take effect at a time when our fiscal house is more in order and at a time when no other taxpayer dollars are being spent on the same activities that are authorized by this bill. the motion specifies that no money may be spent for the

activities authorized in this bill until such time as the funds which are already being spent for these same types of activities under authorization such as funds from the energy independence and security act and the american recovery and reinvestment act are expended. additionally, the legislation specifies that $2.83 billion authorized thunderstorm act is only authorized to be appropriated if we are able to reduce the current deficit to $500 billion. mr. speaker, the house is not in order. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman makes a point of order the house is not in order. the house is not in order. the gentleman will continue. mr. broun: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, it is time to get a fiscal house in order. the american people deserve that. mr. speaker, there are at least five major funding programs related to advanced vehicle technologies that the department

of energy has announced just in the past nine months. the energy independence and security act alone has three specific authorized programs that allocate taxpayer dollars in the form of grants or loans for advanced vehicle technologies. additionally, the stimulus bill passed earlier this year allocated to the department of energy, hundreds of -- energy hundreds of millions of dollars for fuel cell production as well as the production of high efficiency passenger vehicles and trucks. clearly there is a lot of money out there for programs like this already. mr. speaker, the house is not in order. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is correct. the gentleman from georgia. mr. broun: thank you, mr. speaker. maybe we should look now to take a step backward and remember

that we really cannot afford to keep up this level of spending. the consequences for spending without heeding the consequences are staring us right in the face. and by adopting this provision i've just laid out for this body we wlly start to act seriously, start to act seriously about bringing down our deficits and addressing this country's long-term debt. mr. speaker, everybody in this body agrees that energy independence is a key economic and a strategic goal. but of even more vital interest to our economic and strategic prospects as a nation is our ability to show fiscal discipline. and to be the stewards of the people's money that they elected us to be. these commonsense changes, mr. speaker, to this bill will allow us to exercise some fiscal constraint at a time when we

have been literally mortgaging our children and grandchildren's future. their future depends upon us being fiscally responsible. and my motion to recommit will help move us in that direction. i urge my colleagues to support this commonsense motion to recommit. mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from tennessee, for what purpose do you rise? mr. gordon: i rise in opposition to the motion. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. gordon: mr. speaker, i share my friend, dr. broun's, concerns about the deficit. that's the reason that i voted for a pay-as-you-go amendment and we passed that here in this congress. dr. broun wasn't here back in the early 1990's, but to remind him, at that time we had the world's largest deficit. in 1993 we passed a pay-as-you-go amendment which helped turn that deficit into a surplus, we were paying down the

deficits. so hopefully when that bill comes back -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will suspend. mr. gordon: so i hope when that bill comes back, pay as you go, from the senate, that dr. brown will -- broun will help us pass that. it will do something about our deficit. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will suspend. mr. gordon: again, i share dr. broun's concerns about duplicate programs and that's the reason in this bill we make sure that would not occur. if you'll turn to title 1, section 101, section e, paragraph e, coordination in nonduplication. in coordinating activities of the -- the secretary shall ensure to the maximum extent practicable that the activities do not duplicate those of other programs within the department or other relevant research agencies. this was further laid out on page 17 of the report language. so duplication, don't have to worry about it. this bill is a bill as an

investment in our energy independence because another threat that this country faces are foreign energy cartels. let me point out just a couple of things. for every 1% efficiency gained in the nation's vehicle fleet translates into more than two billion gallons of fuel saved annually. for that reason this bill is supported and scored by the u.s. chamber of commerce. the national association of manufacturers, also supported by the general motors, ford motor company, chrysler, united auto workers, the motor and equipment manufacturer association, dimer, delphi, caterpillar, the energy manufacturers association, the alliance of automobile manufacturers, the national resources and defense council and the sierra club because this is a good bill. let me give you just one example of what we're trying to do here. there really isn't much research at all in heavy duty vehicles. this is an area that we can make

enormous savings. again, one example, there are approximately 900 garbage trucks in the country. but their fuel consumption is equivalent to roughly 2 1/2 million passenger vehicles. 90,000 garbage trucks, 2 1/2 million passenger vehicles. it's estimated that if we can just put as little as 100 hybrid electric garbage trucks on the road that would reduce diesel fuel consumption by 7.2 million gallons which amounts to 1 billion barrels of oil. so this bill is a bill for an investment in energy independence which is a threat to this country and we've made sure that there's no efforts to duplicate research in any other way. with that, mr. chairman, mr. speaker, i yield back my time and suggest that we vote down

this motion to recommit and stand with the chamber of commerce, with the national association of manufacturers and so many other companies in this town. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. without objection, the previous question is ordered on the motion to recommit. the question is on the motion. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the noes have it. the motion is not agreed to. mr. broun: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia. mr. broun: i ask for a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: a recorded vote is requested. those favoring a recorded vote will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. pursuant to clause 9 of rule 20, the chair will reduce to five minutes the minimum time for any electronic vote on the question of passage. this shall be a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the

united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 180. the nays are 245. the motion is not agreed to. the question is on passage of the bill. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the gentleman from tennessee. mr. gordon: mr. speaker, i ask for the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. those favoring a vote by the yeas and nays will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this shall be a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: the yeas are 212 the nays are 114, without objection, the bill is passed and the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause of rule 20 the chair will postpone further proceedings today on the motion

to suspend the rules or a recorded vote are ordered or on which the vote incurs objection under clause 6 of rule 20. any record vote on the postponed question will be taken later. for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia rise? >> i ask unanimous consent that my name be taken off as a co-sponsor of h.r. 648. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. westmoreland: thank you, ma'am. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from indiana rise? >> madam speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass the bill house resolution 1713. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 1713, a bill to

name the south central agriculture resource lab rah tear in lane, oklahoma, as a facility of -- and the facility of the united states postal service located at 310 north perry street in benington, oklahoma in honor of former congressman wesley "wes" watkins. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from indiana, mr. else worth and the gentleman from oklahoma, mr. lucas, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from indiana. mr. ellsworth: i ask that all members have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on the bill. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. ellsworth: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. ellsworth: house resolution 1713 would name the south central research laboratory in lane, oklahoma as the u.s.

postal service in benington, oklahoma, after congressman wesley watkins. after graduating with two degrees from the university in oklahoma he worked at an administrator at his alma mater before beginning a life of public service first in the state and then the house of representatives. i'm pleased that this facility that develops research that will affect all of the united states every day. i encourage my house colleagues to support this here today and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from oklahoma rise? mr. lucas: i yield myself such

time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. the gentleman is recognize. mr. lucas: i want to take a moment to discuss h.r. 1713 which would name the southern agriculture research laboratory in lane oklahoma and the united states post office facility in benington, oklahoma, in honor of my friend and predecessor wes watkins. wes has enjoyed a long and distinguished career in public service. first as a member of the oklahoma state senate, then as a united states congressman from oklahoma's third district for 20 years. during hi tenure, wes had the honor of serving on three of the house's most prestigious committees, including appropriations, budget, and wavepls. before wes, no other congressperson had ever served on all three of the house's major committees during their career. beyond his committee work, wes was attuned to the financial needs of the constituents back home in oklahoma.

recognizing the hardships oklahoma families had to endure on a daily basis he used his committee assignments to steer resources back to the third district of oklahoma. as part of his efforts to restore financial security to his constituent he is took a particularly strong interest in economic development interest which no doubt changed the economic landscape of oklahoma's third district for the better. let there be no doubt, had it not been for wes' dedication and strong leadership, oklahoma's third district would not have been what it is today. on behalf of wes watt kintz and my constituents back home in oklahoma, i urge all of my colleagues to support this bill and i reserve the balance of my time, madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from indiana. mr. ellsworth: i'd like to yield five minutes to the gentleman from oklahoma. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for

fiver minutes. mr. bo rat: i'm -- -- mr. boren: i'm pleased to honor -- to support this legislation. it would name the usda lane agricultural research laboratory in lane, oklahoma, and the united states post office in benington, oklahoma, after cookman wesley "wes" watkins. his story is uniquely american. born in arkansas and raised and schooled in a working class oklahoma agricultural family he would grow and develop into one of oklahoma's most prominent political figures. following his graduation from benington high school in the spring of 1956 a young watkins would move to stillwater, oklahoma, and enroll in oklahoma state university. five years later, watkins would

earn bachelor's and master's degree with honor and distinction. after graduating from college he did what many oklahomans have done he decided to serve his state and country by joining the oklahoma air national guard. in the sum over 1975, he felt he had a higher calling and that was public service. that fall he would successfully run for his seat in oklahoma state senate, representing the same little dixie region of the former speaker carl albert called home. two years later, when speaker albert announced his retirement, state senator watkins announced he'd run for the speaker's former seat. after winning a competitive primary against the speaker's former chief of staff, he went on to win the general election with more than 8 o% of the vote and for the better part of four decades, congressman wes watkins would represent eastern oklahoma in the united states house of representatives. as a member of the house of

representatives, congressman watkins would go on to become the only oklahoma congressman to serve on all three major house financial committees. madam speaker, i was fortunate enough to not only be represented by wes watkins in congress, i was lucky to have the opportunity to serve on both his d.c. staff and his district staff. first as an intern in his washington, d.c., office, then as a field representative in his eastern oklahoma district. without congressman watkins' guidance and inspiration, i probably wouldn't be here today representing oklahoma's second congressional district. wes watkins' record serving the state of oklahoma is one filled with leadership, compassion, and self-s will service. the lane agriculture research laboratory and the united states most office that this legislation will name in his honor will serve as a permanent reminder of all he's given to oklahoma.

i ask that all my colleagues support this bill and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from oklahoma rise? mr. lucas: i would like to yield what kime he might consume to my fellow member of the oklahoma delegation, congressman cole. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for such time as he might consume. . mr. cole: it's a great privilege to be honoring wes watkins. when you come down on the floor, you are armed with prepared remarks and lay them out, but i'm going to talk about my friend spontaneously and from a rather unique perspective because i have run races against him and for him. i never beat him when i ran against him. he is an extraordinary political figure in his own right. as congressman borrowen mentioned, he served as a state

senator. he ran for governor twice. nearly getting the democratic nomination in 1990. if he got that, he would have been the governor of our state. he ran again in 1994 as an independent, very unusual. and by the way his congressional district voted for him as a democrat, voted for him as an independent and later voted for him as a republican. i never seen loyalty directed toward an individual that way. in the course of his 1990 campaign, he got to be good friends with my client frank keating and he thought so much of wes watkins, that he offered him a position in his cabinet as a secretary for international trade, because wes was so passionate about bringing jobs and opportunity to the people of oklahoma. that says a lot about you as an individual that one of your

nopets thinks so highly of you that they want to move you over into their administration. unfortunately, some of wes' colleagues in the state senate in oklahoma decided that having run as an independent, they were not inclined to do that. but a number of years later, an opportunity came up when the seat that he won came open again. our good friend bill decided to retire and wes was still registered as an independent. it was 17 days before the utahoff when you had to choose your party. when the governor saw that the congressional seat was open, he called wes watkins and said, wes, i want you to run for congress, i don't care if you run as an independent or a democrat. i'm a republican. that doesn't matter. we're go to go do everything we can, we need you back in the congress of the united states. we need your passion and

commitment for economic development and to help the people of this state. and wes honestly made a tough political call, because he would have won as a democrat he chose to become a republican for a lot of reasons but partly because he thought we were in the majority then and he would be very effective in that role. and he was. he was an extraordinarily effective congressman for his state. when i think about wes, you can't think about wes and not think about lou watkins. his partner, his only real political consultant and now a regent at oklahoma state and one of the best classroom teacher i ever saw in my life. i used to deal with her students and incredibly fair. together, they have done so much good for our state that they have just are deep in the hearts

of the people they manage to serve. i want to say one polling story and media story. when he first decided to run as a republican, first thing you do, the district is literally over 80% democrat at that time. we did a survey and the survey, you asked what are called open-ended questions, what do you like most or least about this individual. 97% of the people could tell you something specific about wes watkins. he helped my father get a job. he helped bring this business to our community. it was the most incredibly impressive testimony for an individual's good deeds and using public office in an appropriate way to help people that i have ever seen in my life. we sent the media consultant to travel around the district with him for three days. i said what did you think? she said in three days, i only

met one person who didn't call him wes and in every little town and she said it was a young lady probably about 16 years old and said, mr. watt kins, could i please shake your hand and thank you for something you have done for my family and the consultant said, he said, honey, just call me wes. he is a remarkable human being and i thank both my colleagues for this recognition, particularly my good friend, dan borrowen, who worked with him. wes watkins has done as much for our state as anybody i have seen in my political lifetime and copts to do it and so does lmp ou and this is a fitting and appropriate honor. i'm happy to join my friend as a co-sponsor and look forward to voting on this particular piece of legislation. and with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from indiana.

mr. ellsworth: we have no further speakers but i reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from oklahoma. mr. lucas: we have no further speakers. i would like to make a few brief comments and yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. lucas: as you have heard my colleagues in the oklahoma delegation address today, wes is a unique individual. he is a self-made man. in the world where the american ideal is coming from nothing to becoming something is the ideal goal of all of us. wes represents that. he was born just across the law ifferl the line in arkansas and lived his life in oklahoma. he was born in the great depression period, a time of economic challenges for all the people in oklahoma. he came from a family that had tremendous challenges but he and

his mother and brother overcame those. he put himself through oklahoma state. he was southeast district. vice president, state president of what was then the future farmers of america. he made himself a home builder. he got himself elected to the state senate over tremendous political opposition. he got himself elected to the united states congress. this individual that we know as wes and many members on the floor remember as our colleague congressman watkins, he is an amazing fellow from the absolute most humble beginnings and in a great little community called bennington to accomplish for his friends and neighbors back home, because everyone was his friend and everyone was his neighbor, what he did is a testament. that's why we are so pleased on this side of the aisle to name these facilities in his honor

because he worked incredibly hard for the good folks of the 3rd district of the state of oklahoma oak and the actions he took improved for all of us across america. i yield back the balance of my time. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from indiana. mr. ellsworth: i yield one more minute to mr. borrowen from oklahoma. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. borrow borrow i wanted to -- mr. boren: i wanted to add a couple things as a former staffer to congressman watkins and congressman cole is very eloquent in his remarks and my good friend frank lucas. there are so many of us, not just myself, but many of us in congressional offices across washington, d.c., people in state government in oklahoma, a lot of folks involved in agriculture who can trace back their start to wes watkins. i can tell you that when i was

starting out and i was looking for a job, he's the first person that gave me an opportunity. and there are so many countless people that could say the same thing. so his legacy isn't necessarily his name on a building. it's also all the people and all the families that he has touched and also i wanted to say and tom cole brought this up, lou watkins, she has been his partner for so many years and a state regent at oklahoma state university and constant mentor to all of us. i would hope my colleagues would support this legislation, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from indiana. mr. ellsworth: i did not know congressman watkins, but after moving this testimony, i would encourage our colleagues to pass h.r. 1713 and i yield back the

balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 1713. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? mr. miller: madam speaker, i have a bill at the desk. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material on h.r. 3221. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. pursuant to the house resolution 746 and rule 18, the chair declares the house in the committee of the whole on the state of the union for the consideration of h.r. 3221. the chair appoints the gentlewoman from texas, ms. jackson lee, to preside over the committee of the whole. the chair: the house is in the

committee of the whole house on the state of the union for the consideration of h.r. 3221, which the clerk will report by title. the clerk: a bill to amend the higher education act of 1965 and for other purposes. the chair: pursuant to the rule, the big is considered read the first time. the gentleman from california, mr. george miller and the gentleman from minnesota, mr. kline, each will control 30 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from california. mr. miller: thank you, madam chair. i yield four minutes to the the gentleman from texas, mr. hin hosta, chairman of the subcommittee. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for four minutes. >> as chairman of the subcommittee on higher education, lifelong learning and competitiveness, i rise in support of h.r. 3221, the student aid and fiscal responsibility act.

i congratulate chairman miller for his great leadership in bringing this historic legislation to the house floor. i want to thank my colleagues from the education and labor committee on both sides of the aisle for supporting the largest investment ever in higher education. the bill embraces president obama's educational priorities by helping us to produce the most highest college graduates in the world by 2020. this bill will provide much needed relief to families who are struggling to pay tuition as well as students and workers who access high skilled sustaining jobs. the legislation will increase affordability, accessibility and college completion rates particularly for first generation college low-income, minority and middle-class students. it invests $40 billion to increase the maximum annual pell

grant scholarships to $5,550 by 2010 and 2019, $6,900. and provides low and middle income families with affordable, direct federal student loans and simplifies the application process for financial aid. h.r. 3221 strengthens our nation's minority-serving institutions, particularly in the area where students can stay in school, graduate and succeed in our global economy. it invests $2.55 billion in our nation's minority-serving institutions over a 10-year period. this funding will reach at least 500 institutions of higher learning. this investments will expand educational opportunities in the stem field and support students staying in school and graduating at our nation's historically bladge colleges and

universities, hispanic institutions, predominantly black institutions and asian american native american. these investments will create a new generation of minority workers in stem fields, professions that our country desperately needs to remain competitive. for decades, they have provided educational opportunities for tens of thousands of minority, low-income and first generation college students due to their accessibility, affordability and close proximity to the communities they serve. if we hope to reach president obama's goals, we must make sure more minority students are completing advanced college degrees. this bill invests $10 billion in our nation community colleges to support president obama's 3

this historic investment in higher ed. i thank you and i yield back the ball answer of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman rise? >> i rise to claim the time in opposition. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. >> thank you, madam chair. i do rise in opposition to h.r.

3231. government takever. -- takeover. we've seen and heard a lot of those two words lately in the credit markets, the banking sector, the automotive industry and the building of schools. we're not talking about health care today but perhaps we should be. the vote we'll take on student lending is the cullmy nation of a plan set in motion more than a decade and a half ago and one that bears a strong resemblance to the health care debate. in 1993, the government created a government option for student loan the idea to have competition and hold down cost. 16 years later, we would vote on a plan to completely and permanently eliminate the private sector's role of

student loans. in its place a one size fits all student loan model that requires the u.s. treasury to directly lend tens of billions of dollars each year, tens of billions we don't have and will be forced to borrow. why is congress intervening to declare one program the win her if it's truly about competition, the best program ought to win in the marketplace. in fact, one program has won. the public-private partnership of the federal family education loan program, which is the choice of 3/4 of colleges and universities today. by eliminating the program, we'll lose the choice, competition, and innovation of the private sector. that includes everything from technological innovations to loan discounts and borrower services. we'll also lose jobs, an estimates 30,000 or more -- an estimated 30,000 or more across the country.

my colleagues tout this as being fiscally responsible, but i beg to differ. it's awash with new entitlement programs, including an early childhood program, a new program to build and renovate schools and bolster community colleges and involve the federal government in developing online curriculum. add to these new programs the cost of ex-pabbeding pell grants, funding for minority service institutions and we have on our hands a massive entitlement spending spree. this spending is allegedly paid for by $87 billion in so-called savings from elimination of a program. the numbers don't add up. the c.b.o. tells us it will require $13.5 billion in new discretionary spending, money that isn't counted in the score. c.b.o. tells us that the pell grant expansion will cost $11.4 billion more than scorekeepers

originally predicted, a cost not accounted for in the original score. that mean this is bill will cost closer to $15 billion over the next 10 years and when market risk is factored in, the cost spikes to nearly $50 billion more. madam chair, there's a better way. later in the debate, i'll join the ranking member on the higher education subcommittee, mr. guthrie, and offer an amendment to stabilize student lending with a program approved on a bipartisan basis last year. with this plan, we can put $10 million in deficit reduction and study long-term structural changes to our system. it's a thoughtful, reasoned approach to determine what's best for students, schools, and taxpayers alike. i urge my colleagues to slow down, take a breath and ask yourself whether another government takeover is what we

need right now. i think the answer is a clear no. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? mr. miller: i yield myself 30 seconds. i appreciate the gentleman wants to make this comparison between public option and private sector. let's run down what happened over the last 10 years. the private sector took $100 billion in subsidies and became the most profitable sect juror of the economy they couldn't give back subsidies. while they were getting $100 billion in subsidiesering they were engaged in price fixing, anti-competitive practices, improper disclosure, and at the end of that, they needed a bailout. sound familiar? want to invest again? or you can go back to -- i yield myself 30 additional 30 seconds. you can look at the public option here. the public option offered a product of equal value, low

cost, easy to administer, attractive to the people who used it. major universities have used it for years with no problems, very complimentary about it and it's saving the loan industry at this time because the private system has collapsed. i yield four minutes to the geneman from new york, mr. bishop a member of the committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york -- the chair: the gentleman is recognized for four minutes. mr. bishop: i thank the gentleman for yielding and i thank him for bringing this to the floor. i want to thank the gentleman and i think it's important to bring this to the floor, the way the ffel program works now is the federal government is providing approximately 60% of the capital private lenders provide to staunts. we do so because of the lack of liquidity in private credit markets. what we are doing is we are paying private lenders a subsidy so that they will have

the privilege of lending federally originated money to their borrowers. we guarantee repayment of that money to the tune of 97% of the amount outstanding and the private lenders reap whatever interest payments are paid by the borrowers. this is a really, really good deal for private lenders. it is a deal that costs the american taxpayer approximately $8 billion to $9 billion a year that we don't need to spend in that fashion. we can provide, we, the federal government, can provide the loan capital that students need. in fact we now provide approximately 30% of the schools in the country that participate in the guaranteed student loan program participate in the direct loan program. i used to work at a school that participated in the direct loan program. we made the transition from private lending to direct lending early on and it was an

absolutely seamless transition, we did not have to add a single staff person. our students felt very advantaged by the change that we immediate and -- made and we are now asking that all schools make that change. we are doing so so we can redirect that $8 billion or $9 billion that right now goes to pad the profit margins of the private lenders and direct that money primarily to needily students. let me put that in context. we, right now, are the sixth -- ranked sixth in the world in terms of the college-going rate for our population. we used to be first. approximately only one out of every two students that enter college ever graduate. those are two pretty daunting statistics if we are going to remain competitive in a very difficult global marketplace. we need to have an educated work forest. we need to have a work forest

that can be competitive and the pathway to that is access to college and not just access to college but degree attainment. this bill provides at least the financial mechanism for students to be able to achieve that goal. we dramatically expand the availability of the -- of pell grant and increase the pell grant maximum in a way that keeps pace with inflation so it maintains its buying power. we guarantee access to capital in the guaranteed student loan program, a subject i just talked about. we dramatically expand the availability of perkins loans. right now students borrow about 1.5 billion a year in perkins loans, we'd increase that $6 billion a year. dramatically increasing the number of students that can benefit and the schools that participate. we simplify the financial aid process.

it's a process that has proven daunting to many students. i used to administer that process and recognize firsthand how daunting it can be. we simplify the financial aid process, particularly the so-called fafsa form, and remove that roadblock that prevented many students from pursuing their dreams. we do all of this by not adding a dime to the bill that the taxpayers will be asked to carry. we redirect money, as i say, from the banks and we do so in a fashion that helps needy students. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota rise >> i'd like to yield three minutes to the raking member on the subcommittee, mr. guthrie. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. guthrie: i rise in opposition to h.r. 3221 because i believe there's a better way to protect colleges, students, and taxpayers.

the proponents of this will say the purpose is to stabilize student landing they claim the federal family loan program is on life support. the program has been a stable, reliable source of reliable capital for student loans for more than 40 years. it provides the choice of loan providers from large national lenders to small local providers. colleges and universities are over-- overwhelmingly prefer the pell with 78% of schools opting for the array of benefits and services. the president of western kentucky university told me at the end -- that the end of the ffel program would men e-- mean the end of many programs and borrowing support programs. further, the president of st. catherine college, a small, independent college in my district, shared his concerns

about the impact it will have on colleges of his size. it would mean investing staff time and money to to the change processes when budgets have been cut to the core. clearly it will have a major impact on schools and students. it is true the ffel was hit by global market collapse that rocked our economy last year. when that happened student loan capital dried up, along with capital across all sectors and the stability was needed and congress stepped in. last year, congress passed the ensuring continued access to student loans act which provided a temporary federal back stop to protect borrowers from loan disruption. it's worked exceedingly well and not a single borrower has been left without a loan. if our goal is simply to stabilize student lending, there's a simple solution. we should extend it to -- it

until the economy rebounds. that means no confusion for schools and no uncertainty for borrowers if we were to extend the program while the market remains turbulent. republicans have offered a plan that would do that. later today, i'll join ranking pleb kline to offer an -- ranking member kline to offer an alternative to this. in the meantime, we're calling for a commission to study student loan programs and propose alternatives to protect borrowers and taxpayers alike. our plan is a way to slow down and take a more thoughtful, reasonable approach to long-term student loan reform. instead we'll vote on a plan that will shape the way students pay for college and radically expand the federal government in the process. proponents of the bill claim it saves $87 billion for taxpayers. in reality that $87 billion -- the chair: the gentleman's time has ex-pired.

mr. kline: the gentleman -- yield the gentleman an additional minute. mr. guthrie: this comes because the government charges student interest more than it costs to borrow, turning it into a profit-making venture. we're taking student money and spending it on -- much of it, on an array of new government programs. students and schools lose the value of choice, competition, around innovation and taxpayers will be on the hook for massive new entitlement spending and a huge expansion in government borrowing to finance the loans that will need to be made directly from the treasury. i urge my colleagues to join me in voting no. i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from california. . the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for two minutes. ms. hirono: as a member of the house education and labor

committee and as an orange co--- original co-sponsor of this bill i rise in support of this bill. i thank chairman miller on his leadership on this as well as on so many other important measures. while this bill includes many significant provisions, the part of the bill that i'm excited about is the creation of the early learning challenge fund. like the pre-k act i introduced earlier this year, the fund would establish a competitive grant program to support, not supplant state efforts to improve the quality of their early education programs. evidence shows that quality early education is the best foundational investment we can make in our children. last night, i had the opportunity to meet with members of the fill and thropic community who -- fill and thropic community and to quote

these people, this quality early education is the most powerful investment america can make. they not only understand the value of quality early learning but support successful programs all across the country including in hawaii and they are not alone. educators, economists, brain development researchers, police chiefs, chambers of commerce, retired military personnel all have emphasized the critical need for quality early education to prepare our children for success in school and in life. this bill is an important step in preparing our children for such success. i urge my colleagues to support this measure, a bill that makes important investments in education for all our children from birth through college. thank you and i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentlelady yields back.

the gentleman from minnesota. mr. kline: at this time, i'm pleased to yield three minutes to the distinguished the gentleman from indiana, mr. souder. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. souder: i thank our ranking member. the loud sound you hear is the big gulp. public option swallowing the private option. we hear excuses why it's not the same. but here are some of the key business points to remember here. there has been confoogs in the quotes here on the floor what in this 7% that the private sector has between revenues, which is the loan income that the banks receive and their profits. there is also confusion between the net profit and the gross profit. the gross profit has all the expenses to come out, whereas the net profit is the bottom line, which is a relatively small number. and the reason this is important is that government, if they take this over and swallow the private sector into the public

option, we'll have basically the same costs. when you compare cost to cost, the government can't deliver it at the same price as the private sector, never has and never will . now this expense question and we have argued about this for years and one of the things that's clear is the federal government doesn't deappreciate. so fixed expenses like buildings aren't counted that come off the net expenses. we do buildings in one appropriations bill in one lump sum. it is not something you would ammortize over time. the expenses at the department of education, such as lighting in the building, even many cases, staff aren't assigned to the student loans, they're assigned to the department of education. but even then when you ask the private sector to compete, even paying that profit, 80% of the colleges chose the private

sector because the service delivery was better. in fact, hopefully the government is going to be wise enough here that they're going to contract out with the private sector at the end of the day to deliver much of these services because there is no capability in the federal government to deliver this. the proposal on the face of it isn't even plausible, that we're hearing about all these new funding programs when the net profit out of the private sector is minimal compared to the new programs. so where does the money come from? the best i have been able to determine, it's a different method of borrowing. we apparently are going straight to the fed and treasury. that is merely a transfer of federal funds. it still reclueses the liquidity in the banking system and being used to subsidize the new programs in the student loans. why does this become important? because s.b.a. goes directly

into the same fund. there's no reason to use the bank. on what grounds do we use banks for farmers' loans? they can borrow cheaper than any bank and should eliminate any loans that are going anywhere in the private sector. mr. kline: yield an additional 30 seconds. mr. souder: the key question here is the constitutional authority of the federal government is to regulate interstate commerce. then we have the federal reserve system that was set up to provide a balance and stability in the funding of the united states. what we did not create is a national bank and this bill is the beginning of the creation of a national bank and no reason why every other leapeding category won't become a national bank too. that's what we are hearing. a massive government takeover in category after category. i yield back.

the chair: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from california. mr. miller: i yield two minutes to ms. titus. ms. titus: i rise in strong support of h.r. 3221. nevada has been hard hit by the economic downturn and facing record unemployment. the investments in this bill will help nevada's students and dislocated workers obtain the education and training they need to compete in the workforce and will do so in a fiscally responsible way. specifically, this bill invests more than $60 million in pell grants for nevada's 3rd district, making more than 13,000 students eligible for aid. it provides $1 million a year for the next five years to bolster college access and completion support programs for students in nevada. it strengthens our community colleges by ensuring that nevada receives nearly $19 million to help finance projects to

renovate and construct state-of-the-art facilities and invests in 21st century green schools by performing nevada's school districts with $21 million for smool modernization, renovation and repairs to create more energy-efficient teaching and learning climates. the implementation of which will put the people of nevada to work. this bill includes an amendment that i offered to establish an advisory counsel to the secretary of education. quality education is the key to prosperity for individuals and for our country. so i urge your support and i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentlelady yields back. the gentleman from minnesota. mr. kline: i yeed three minutes to the gentlelady from illinois, mrs. biggert. the chair: the gentlelady is recognized for three minutes.

mrs. biggert: i rise in opposition to this bill. 60 years ago, the only student loans available were private loans. unfortunately, the system left out many students with either limited financial resources or poor or nonexist ent credit. in 1965, congress created the family education loan program which has been successfully administered and regulated, federally-backed student loans. but president clinton decided to create a new federally run program to provide student loans at public option. just under one-third of colleges have chosen the public option, also known as the direct loan program. democrats have decided that by leveraging the borrowing power of the federal government which congress has more aptly demonstrated they can score it by c.b.o. the government's size and ability to raise taxes at any time to pay off its debt, it can borrow money at a cheaper rate

than private banks by requiring all students that use student loans to borrow directly from the government, this bill allows the government to make a greater profit while students count it as a cost savings and then spend it on other educational priorities. it's interesting that after the government student loan public option failed to gain widespread acceptance, the other side proposes to eliminate all other choices so students are forced into the public option. the other side of the aisle has proposed another public option that will supposedly save money to underpay doctors and hospitals which forces private plan owners to make up the difference. in a few years, the public plan may be the only affordable option available to most americans. i don't want a single-payer health care system nor student loan program.

83% of americans are satisfied with their current health care, over 2/3 of all colleges have elected to go with the privately administered program. we should let colleges continue to select the student loan program that works best for their students not the ones chosen by the bureaucrats in washington. i urge a no vote to make sure that student loan public option is not the only option. and i yield back. the chair: the gentlelady yields back. the gentleman from california. mr. miller: i yield two minutes to ms. chu. ms. chu: as a professor for over 20 years, i know firsthand how important community colleges are to helping hard working americans achieve their dreams. about one out of every two college students attends a

community college and they are some of the hardest workers i have ever met. my students came from all walks of life. they were immigrants, single moms and laid-off workers and many of the students were the first in their families to go to college. community colleges are the backbone of our nation's workforce, providing students with technical training to fill our nation's most critical fields. they fit the needs of all students and backgrounds. the investments truly reflects the role community colleges play in our economy. $7 billion is provided to re-invigorate the community college experience to improve instruction, initiate job counseling and create programs for students on the weekends, evenings and online. $2.5 billion is provided to renovate community college facilities and allow them to accommodate growing enrollment and provide students with modern

facilities so they are better prepared when they graduate. in an increasingly competitive world economy, america's economic strength depends upon the education and skill of its workers. this bill will help us to meet that challenge. thank you. i yield back the remainder of my time. the chair: the gentlelady yields back. the gentleman from minnesota. mr. kline: may i inquire as to how much time is remaining, please? the chair: the gentleman from minnesota has 16 1/2 and the gentleman from california has 15 1/2. mr. kline: thank you. at this time, i would like toll yield three minutes to the distinguished the gentleman from california, mr. mcclintock. mr. mcclintock: this is a case study on how a public option becomes a publmo