mr. tipton of colorado, mr. gosar of arizona, and mr. cox of california for their tremendous work on this bill and being strong champions of small-scale hydroproduction. with that, mr. chairman, i reserve my time. the chair: the gentleman from washington reserves his time. the gentlelady from california, mrs. napolitano, is recognized. mrs. napolitano: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself five minutes. the chair: the gentlelady is recognized for five minutes. mitts napolitano: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in support of the general premise of this bill but oppose the legislation as is due to the inclusion of the nepa waiver. today we are debating h.r. 678, a bill that should be noncontroversial. it should have already been enacted into law. we all agree small condue due it hydropower, adding that to the project, is a great idea. it's really a wonderful idea. h.r. 678 could easily have been passed through the house with overwhelming bipartisan support. but unfortunately my esteemed colleagues on the other side have chosen to turn this

mr. tipton. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado is recognized -- mr. bishop: for as much time as he may consume. the speaker pro tempore: is recognized for as much time as he wishes to consume. mr. tipton: i thank chairman bishop for yielding and, mr. chairman, thank you for this time. i think it's worthy of note when we're talking about job creation in this country, i just traveled through the third congressional district of colorado, visiting with people rom pueblo, durango, cortes, steamboat. one of the greatest challenges that they face is regulations coming out of washington when it comes to job creation. the fact of the matter is, we're spending $1,750,000,000,000 per year out of businesses to be able to comply with government mandates. is it a sensible approach, seansble approach to be able to look -- a sensible approach to be able to look at regulations that simply don't work and are inhibitting job creation and our ability to achieve the most carb--- carbon-free, environmentally friendly regulation we can have? that's hydropower. that is a sen

mr. chairman. the speaker pro tempore: i thank the gentleman from mississippi. i would now yield such time heas may consume to the gentleman from colorado, scott tipton, who has been a sponsor of the hydropower legislation to make this country stronger in terms of energy security. mr. tipson: i thank my colleague from colorado for the time. we have a simple goal as americans. when we look at young families being able to pay bills, senior citizens on fixed incomes, wondering how they'll be able to make that next payment to be able to heat their homes or cool them when summer aprofes, is it an appropriate time for this nation to seek what jimmy carter in this very chamber in 1976 challenged this country to do, to be able to achieve energy self-sufficiency. the answer can only be yes. the time is now for this nation to be able to act. we see americans struggling to be able to pay those bills. we're seeing americans right now that are worried about being able to hold on to their jobs. this is an opportunity to be able to put americans back to work and to be able to achieve true energy receive sufflecy in the nation. and it can be all of the above. in this last year, w