mr. heinrich. mr. heinrich: i think this whole issue of research and development is absolutely crit cam because we have fallen behind the entire world in things that we were at the very front edge of just a few years ago. we can do so much better. when you look around at the american innovation in new york, new mexico, virginia, and colorado there is no more innovative people in the world than the american entrepreneur. i had the -- i was lucky to have the majority leader visit my district last year, so i took him out to sandia national labs. one of the places involved in the basic research and development that is rebuilding our energy economy and pushing us forward to the leadership position in the world that we deserve. and one of the things we looked at at sandia national labs was actually a process where they take solar energy and a carbon dioxide feedstock, what is currently a problem, it's

mr. heinrich: absolutely. and always better to be the leader that's creating jobs than the state or country that's following and watching those jobs go someplace else. mr. connelly: i might add to the point you're making, mr. polis. in my state of virginia, for example, we have a gubernatorial election going on now and one of the candidates has talked about, drill now, right off the shore of virginia. maybe that makes sense, maybe it doesn't. but the wind power potential off the shore of virginia dwarfs any he estimates of what possible oil and gas reserves there might be offshore. and could create jobs and could actually make virginia an enormous net exporter to the northeast and the midatlantic of a renewable source of energy forever. mr. polis: colorado's in this boat and new mexico, too, we are blessed with some natural resources, with natural gas and with oil and i have to tell you, it's a mixed blessing. first of all, it's highly cyclical. we've been through several cycles in colorado where there's been o

mr. heinrich? mr. heinrich: just to thank my friend from new york for really closing, i think, on the issue we need to think about. this is about independence. it's about seizing the moment and about providing the good jobs for tomorrow for the next generation, for my sons who are 6 and 2 1/2, i want them to grow up with the same opportunities i had and more. it's going to be up to us to be able to pass this legislation to be able to provide those kinds of opportunities for the future generations of our nation. . mr. polis: when people hear cap and trade and hear these, this is what they really mean. a lot of the things we talked about here today. we are talking about the future of the american economy. we're talking about creating green jobs. we're talking about saving american households $750 a year within 10 years and $3,90000 a year within 20 years -- $3,900 a year within 20 years. we're talking about making america the center of this technology, exporting this technology, to some of the very same c

mr. heinrich. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new mexico is recognized for two minutes. mr. heinrich: madam speaker, i rise today in support of this rule which includes an amendment i worked to draft with my colleagues, ms. titus of nevada, and ms. giffords of arizona. this amendment will make sure that the federal government leads by example on clean energy. in my district, kirkland air force base has tried for a number of years to contract with local clean energy producers to purchase electricity to help power the base. but there are several federal policies that stand in the way of these kinds of projects. new mexico is second in the nation for solar energy potential. and we have a thriving clean energy industry in albuquerque, creating jobs today. so this is a natural partnership. however many federal agencies have discovered that the 10-year limit on federal power purchase agreements made these kinds of agreements uneconomical for their private sector partners in the solar industry. our amendment will extend the length of these contracts to 20 years, allowing more federa