mr. gardner: i believe we have the right to close. the chair: the gentleman from oregon is recognized for 30 seconds. mr. schrader: the people of oregon do not want or need drilling off our coast. this amendment is supported by all three members of the entire oregon coastline and our state legislature. we respect, i hope, this body would respect the people of oregon's right to determine their own destiny. we aren't talking about the state of alaska but the state of oregon and only talking about oil and natural gas permits. house members representing this coast are very passionate about its health and future vitality. we urge this body to pass this amendment and respect oregon's destiny. thank you. i yield back. the chair: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from colorado. mr. gardner: thank you, mr. chairman. and i oppose the amendment. we have an opportunity with the jobs and energy permitting act to get this country on a path towards a secure energy future. it's a matter of national interests, not just a matter of oregon,

mr. gardner: thank you, mr. chairman. i guess i'm getting confused by some of the arguments i'm hearing against this bill. because i hear that six months isn't enough time even though the average permitting time is five months, some will say. i hear that this is only dealing with two permits, although i hear that california, delaware, massachusetts are at risk with this legislation. and i will again, i hear the argument that some say this is ecosystem destroying. let me read a quote from the administrator of the e.p.a., lisa jackson, the administrator of the e.p.a. testifying before the united states senate. i believe that the analysis will clearly show that there is no public health concern here. i believe that the analysis will clearly show that there is no public health concern here. the assistant administrator of the e.p.a. did not rebut this testimony that was given by the administrator herself before the energy and -- before lisa jackson gave it before the senate, she didn't refute it before the energy and commerce

mr. gardner of colorado. at the end of the bill before the short title, insert the following new section -- section. the amount otherwise provided by this act for integrated activities is hereby increased by and the amount otherwise provided by this act for national institute of food and agriculture research and education activities is hereby reduced to be derived from amounts for competitive grants, 7 united states code, 22-450 ib by $400 million respectively. the chair: the gentleman from colorado is recognized for five minutes. mr. gardner: thank you, madam chair. this amendment moves funding over to the integrated activities account. i'm very concerned about our work when it comes to animal disease and food safety issues, especially when it relates to issues like f.m.d., chronic waste and disease, mad cao disease, other in-- mad cow disease, other infectious diseases. i'm trying to make sure we're not imperiling our livestock. if we would delay even four, five days in responding to an outbreak of f.m.d. i

mr. gardner: what is amazing about the argument, the president res the oil. people are arguing, no, no, no, we don't need more oil bringing on-line because that won't lower the cost of fuel. more supplies won't reduce the price of fuel. and it will reduce the price of fuel. a very confused argument. mrs. roby: thank you so much. mr. duffy: what does that do to the security of our country? whether it is tornadoes, floods or hurricanes, things happen in the golf, because our energy supply could be at risk and here for political purposes to drive prices down over the summer driving season, the president has tapped into that reserve. i think that is absolutely unacceptable for political purposes and real risks could come up that could cause us to go back to that reserve. >> they all relate to jobs, whether we are talking about reducing the regulatory burden, revising the tax code, passing trade agreements, working on energy development and becoming more energy dependent or paying down the debt, they relate to job creation where the private sector can create jobs.

mr. gardner: how they're going to make ends meet, how they're going to afford the car payment. i would make sure that every single person here tonight is to assure them that we have a plan for jobs that we have voted on for jobs and we'll continue to pursue policies to create jobs in this country, not because they're created by government, but because we get government out of the way and allow the private sector to flourish. this last week in colorado, i met with a number of businesses, toured a number of businesses in northern and eastern colorado, had an opportunity to talk to the leadership of those companies and to the people that work on the lines in the factories. and i was struck by one statement. one statement by an individual who said, it's time that we let loose the innovators and entrepreneurs in america. what are we doing to let loose the innovators and entrepreneurs in this great country? i know what the republicans have been doing to make sure we're reducing regulations. to make sure we have an energy policy that instead of strangling the american working family,

mr. gardner: we had an opportunity to discuss with some of the leaders of job creation and he made the observation and said there are a lot of businesses, exactly what you had said. there are a lot of businesses that have money on their roles, but not investing into our economy because of what he called and used the term, government activism, policies that relate to government activism. and i say said what do you mean by government activism? he said in terms of the policies that they are pursuing, whether it is a regulatory approach that takes away the certainty the business has for the tax structure, for business environment regulations. and the conversation he had was, if we could bring back certainty, if we could get this country back to a point that businesses know what's ahead, they can plan and won't be afraid to invest that money and start creating jobs now. one of the nation's leading economist is exactly what my colleague is saying tonight. mr. griffin: i think the debt is directly related to the issue of certainty or uncertainty. if you are an investor and you want to build a new plant,

mr. gardner: in listening to the opposition for this statement, it makes it sound the elections assistance commission is a branch of the justice department that is there to enforce the right to vote. it doesn't do any of that at all. the primary goal for the election assistance commission was after the florida recount, the problems there in the 2000 election, that according to the help america vote act, the state such as colorado, that i was secretary of state in, we're going to have to have a voter registration system that would be interactive, interactive database to make sure there wasn't fraud or it wasn't -- there wasn't duplicative registrations and the e.a.c. would be the conduit for federal resources to be able to facilitate that and make sure that those -- that that was carried out by the states and that was for the 2008 presidential election, long since done. long accomplished. as to the e.a.c. which has no ability to mandate anything to states but as an advisory tool, elections officials across this country don't utilize it. there are associations that provide those best practic

mr. gardner not to over get what it's done so i think it is fair to say the gao report is a major topic of this hearing has really addressed that issue. >> you stated that it's likely that the termination of the project will significantly impact the department's environmental remediation liability which is currently estimated at $250 billion in the future cleanup cost. have you seen any value is a by the department regarding how the decisions will affect the liability? >> what we are anticipating i indicated in my testimony, my complete testimony the we will be looking at this as the department prepares its financial statements for the current fiscal year and they will be responsible for coming up with a revised estimate which will reflect their judgment as to the impact of the closure of yucca mountain on five liability and we will be reviewing that carefully at that time. skimming the the burden of energy recent actions to dismantle its stockpile will increase the volume of the defense nuclear waste. how has the department planned to accommodate the waist as it shuts down yucca mountain?

mr. gardner. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank our distinguished first panel. it is good to see you. we are glad that congressman hastings is back. just remember, this is the energy and commerce committee. no more shenanigans as you were trying earlier. our nation is sitting on 13,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel. our nation is sitting on over 65,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel from commercial power plants. there is 78,000 tons of nuclear fuel in many states. as you well know, we spent over $15 billion in taxpayer funds in 2009. it is clear that the safe and permanent storage of nuclear waste is a critical element of a long-term energy strategy. study after study has shown that yucca mountain is suitable for storage of that waste. we are here to discuss the decision to terminate being yucca mountain repository. this administration has, for what i think our political reasons, has determined that get the mountain is not a workable option. i think it is unsettling that the department of energy stopped short of characterizing yet the mountain as unsuitable. instead, it said un

mr. gardner: as we continue to focus on jobs and growing the economy, the only way this nation will be able to create long-term jobs and job growth is if we do everything we can to make sure we are cutting spending and reducing the size of government. in 2006, president obama talked about a failure of leadership. a failure of leadership to increase the debt ceiling and that he would vote against it. he did vote against it. he believed to continue to kick the can down the road. to continue to spend money. without a plan to reduce our debt, reduss -- address the deficit. ehe believed it was a failure of leadership. tomorrow we have an opportunity to visit the president at the white house. i hope we hear from him why he believed that in 2006, an $8.4 trillion deficit, excuse me, $8.4 trillion debt was too much. why it was a failure of leadership to go beyond $.4 trillion in debt. because the president is now asking us to go beyond $14 trillion in debt. to pass a bet ceiling that would allow congress to spend even trillions more than $14 trillion debt we have today. the people in my district ar

mr. gardner: yuma lies within the heart of agriculture. it is the leader in corn production. hailstorms, drought and wind. for a small town it seems like no matter where you go you find someone who's either from there, lives there or has family there. in many ways it's one of the biggest little towns of the nation. from the celebration in the fall and the yuma county fair, to high school sports and academics, it's an incredible place to live, to raise a family, to grow and to do business. i'm proud to call yuma, colorado, home. congratulations on 125 years and here's to wishing the people of that great town many more years of success. i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from delaware rise? mr. carney: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. carney: this week the republican and democratic caucus met with president obama to discuss the need to raise the debt ceiling. the president said we need to raise the debt ceiling soon and i agree. the -- defaulting