mr. upton: madam speaker, i would yield two minutes to the gentleman from alabama, a member and good standing of the auto caucus, mr. rogers. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from alabama is recognized for two minutes. mr. rogers: thank you. i offer my reluctant support to the consumer assistance to recycle and save act. all of us have witnessed the devastation witnessed by the automotive sector. in my home state of alabama, as well as other states, workers have lost their jobs or had their hours cut. many hardworking dealers have simply had to be forced to close their doors. to stimulate the auto sector we must work to stimulate credit markets and restore consumer confidence. that's why i recently introduced my bill the consumer auto relief act. unlike the bill we're considering today my bill would help all sectors of the automotive industry. in addition to helping families, the bill will help incentivize lenders to finances new vehicles. the -- to finance new vehicles. unfortunately, my

mr. upton: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i congratulate my colleague from ohio and my colleague from michigan, mrs. miller. this is not the perfect bill but this is it. there is nplan b. this is not the original bill that ms. sutton and mrs. miller introduced, but this is the bill that passed our committee 50-4. one in 10 jobs in america are auto related. in the last couple of years now, particularly through this tough recession, we have lost one in five manufacturing jobs and certainly the midwest has been critically hurt. the auto sector, we've seen auto sales plummet from 17 million car sales just two or three years ago to probably what will be less than 10 million, not only this year but next year as well. not only the big three supports this but toyota, honda, the chamber, a whole number of different groups, the u.a.w., the auto manufacturers, the national association of manufacturers, the auto dealers as well. you know what this bill is? it's a jobs bill. but more important than that, it's an american jobs bil

caller: hello, mr. upton, i have two questions. first, the tennessee valley authority has the rate payers in the region paying interest on a $25 billion debt from the nuclear reactors they were attempting to build it in the 1970's and 1980's. this $25 billion we must pay interest on. now they're contemplating building new nuclear reactors. this time they say there will be no debt associated with them. one of the reactors they're planning to build it is an experimental live water reactor. i wonder how that will be paid for? we are already $25 billion in debt. your comment about dealers getting to keep parts of

you're going to get a letter from myself and mr. upton and other members from the minority later today asking that we consider those discussions to make sure that we make it absolutely clear that any citizen of this country can testify to whatever they believe is the truth as they know it without fear or retribution. buttious again, you and i have been friends for 25 years. i hope we're going to be friends for another 25 if we both live that long. i have nothing but the utmost personal and professional respect for you and your conduct. and i'm honored to sit on the same committee as you. i've sat as chairman of the sub committee. i think we can get this worked out. but it's a serious issue. you're giving it that serious consideration. with that, i yield back. >> i thank the gentleman very much.

mr. upton: thank you, madam speaker. this bill sure is an energy bill. this bill will turn out the lights on america. there was a chance we were going to have a bipartisan bill. but that chance melted away when the subcommittee failed to mark up a bill. we went right to full committee. we thought we might have a chance on the house floor, i can remember when speaker hastert was in your chair, madam speaker, because four years ago we had an energy bill on the floor and there werer more than 50 amendments that were offered under chairman dreier and the rules committee. many of them democratic amendments. we spent a number of days on this. and at the end of the day, both mr. dingell, the former chairman, and joe barton, the then chairman of the energy and commerce committee, were able to vote for a bill because in fact it was bipartisan. yesterday more than 200 amendments were filed up at the rules committee. many of them republican. many of them bipartisan. mr. hill, democrat from indiana, myself offered a bipartisan amendment on nuclear. nuclear is one is

barton: i yield three minutes to the the gentleman from michigan, mr. upton. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. upton: there is an old saying, will the last one out please turn off the lights. well, this bill turns out the lights for many americans. and no matter what you say, this bill does not have the job protections that will permit jobs leaving our country to prevent jobs from leaving our country and going to india and china. what do you tell that small refinery that came to our committee couple of weeks ago. it is going to cost $150 million to ramp up their changes that they are going to have to do and will end up going out of business. that petroleum is going to be made someplace else. what do you tell the small company i visited last month in niles, michigan. company figures out that their energy costs are going to increase by perhaps as much as $20,000. they are thinking they want to stay about business and thinking to tell folks not to come to work during the day but come at night. there are more coal-fired pl

mr. upton. >> like many members on this side i do value your friendship. realize that we're good adversaries on a number of fronts. and we've been together on a number of fronts. i know that it is very important that there is no intention to intimidate or pressure witnesses to testify in something that they perhaps don't believe in. i for one appreciate your zamt this morning. i appreciate you calling for the hearing on national transmission policy today. the electricity grid is of vital importance to the nation. we all know that. however it's an area often overlooked. as evidenced by the fact there was only minor mention of transmission in the waxman climate bill. and that today we're having our first really big transmission hearing. we do have a long and distinguished panel today. i would like to thanks all the witnesses for joining us. special recognition to two michigan-based companies. dave and joe. i know we don't exactly see eye-to-eye on the issue but hoping we can all work together. this committee passed a sizable renewable electricity mandate wit

mr. chairman. ranking member upton, members of the subcommittee. first, i have two preliminary issues and first i'd like to recognize and thank my colleague commissioner muller here today and i would request that my full testimony be placed in the record. >> without objection, so ordered. >> the fall into summary of the testimony. i appreciate the opportunity to appear before you today, discuss our nation's electric transmission grid. mr. chairman, your invitation for this hearing envisions, quote, a transmission system that will serve the goals of substantially reducing greenhouse gas emissions and developing we newable resources and improving energy efficiency while preserving and enhancing reliability. a transmission system that meets the goals you have articulated will assist in promoting field diversity and reducing greenhouse gas emissions and strengthening our national security and revitalizing our economy and enhancing competition and ensuring reliability. such a reliable and robust transmission grid is essential to allowing regions, states

caller: hello, mr. upton, i have two questions.irst, the tennessee valley authority has the rate payers in the region paying interest on a $25 billion debt from the nuclear reactors they were attempting to build it in the 1970's and 1980's. this $25 billion we must pay interest on. now they're contemplating building new nuclear reactors. this time they say there will be no debt associated with them. one of the reactors they're planning to build it is an experimental live water reactor. i wonder how that will be paid for? we are already $25 billion in debt. your comment about dealers getting to keep parts of clunkers they are buying -- for what purpose? they are clunkers, overweight, inefficient. guest: here is why. if you are driving them and their fuel pump breaks committee will not buy a new car. you would just want to buy the fuel pump chances are that new fuel pump is cheaper if you buy from a used car compared to buying a new one that has never been in a vehicle. it saves consumers money to buy a used part compared -- and you

i want to thank mr. upton, mr. inglis, both democrats and republicans that supported this particular amendment. at this time i'll yield to the chairman. mr. mollohan: i thank the gentleman and commend him for his efforts in this area. it's environmentally conscious and appreciate his amendment to the bill and we accept the amendment. the chair: the gentleman from texas. mr. cuellar: if there's not any other opposition, i stand with the chairman's recommendation and i yield the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back. if there's no opposition, the question son the amendment offered by the gentleman from texas. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. mr. price: i ask for a recorded vote. the chair: the gentleman asks for a recorded vote. further proceedings on the amendment will be postned. for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia rise? mr. price: i have an amendment made in order by the rule at the desk, number 96. the clerk: the clerk -- the

. >> good morning, mr. upton, and ranking subcommittee. i also served as the first vice president of the regulatory commissioners also known as neru. i offer a state view on transmission. i'd like to thank representative wells for his kind introduction and his service to our state. he is certainly my favorite congressman from vermont. at the state level, we deal with transmission planning and siding requests regularly and the issues and concerns are not policy or procedural, and do not lend themselves to a one size fits all solution. state commissioners are obligated to act deliberately to ensure that any new projects would benefit the public. this means regulators must determine whether demand respon response, energy efficiency or local energy source is more appropriate than putting transmission towers in the ground. a major impediment is a great difficult no getting public acceptance. as a country, we want our electricity to be affordable, reliable and increasingly clean, but we also want to ensure the transmission infrastructure does no

mr. upton: no, i plan to close. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. upton: it's time to get america moving again and that's what this bill does. the auto sector is so important to our country and virtually even single community. doesn't have to just be a community that has an assembly line. it's the communities that build parts, whether it's a gas cap or part or brake or side panel or piece of trim or a window. auto dealers are in virtually every commaint cross the country and they average about 50 employees per dealership. so this bill impacts every single community across america. no one here today has talked about what this bill also does. we will rely less on foreign oil because the average consumer, by taking advantage of this program, will save $780 in fuel costs because they're going to trade in that old car and have a more fuel efficient, better emission vehicle than they had before. $780 per household. for those that take advantage of it. we have fraud and abuse provisions in here so it won't be taken advantage of and to my good friend mr. fla

mr. upton: mr. speaker, can i have order for a moment? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan, for what purpose do you rise? mr. upton: as dean of the michigan republican delegation i have the sad duty to relay the news that our former california, carl pourcel from michigan passed away this morning. he was the ranking member on the labor-hhs appropriations committee for many years. he retired in 1993. and i would yield to mr. mccotter, who represents plymouth, michigan. mr. mccotter: i thank the gentleman. i grew up in carl's district. we watched as he went from a wayne county commissioner to michigan state senator and then into this illustrious body. and as a young person growing up getting interested in politics, carl's example was an inspiration. it showed that a fine and decent gentleman could come from the smalltown of plymouth, retained his main street dues and do the people's business in the people's house. the last several years had not been kind to carl. he is in a far be