To provide a new effective date for the applicability of certain provisions of law to Public Law 105-331.

Mr. Speaker, let me thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, but particularly the gentleman from Massachusetts for all his help in bringing this to the floor in such a timely fashion. Without his help, we certainly wouldn't be here today. And I also want to say that I look forward to when he is the chairman of the Financial Services Committee in the next congress. I introduced this bill with the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank) and my colleague from New Jersey (Mr. Frelinghuysen) to allow the Edison Memorial Tower Corporation additional time to raise funds to match a Federal grant.

The Edison Memorial Tower, in my district, is a 131-foot tower built in 1937 on the exact spot where Thomas Edison's original Menlo Park laboratory was located in New Jersey. And I think you know this was the place where the electric light bulb and so many inventions were made by Thomas Edison. The Tower was built to commemorate Edison's work and is connected to a museum displaying many of the inventor's creations.

Unfortunately, the Tower has suffered more than $3 million worth of water damage. The Edison Memorial Tower Corporation, which oversees the Tower, was designated as the recipient of Federal funds under the Thomas Alva Edison Commemorative Coin Act, which passed in 1998. That funding became available at the beginning of last year, but required a non-Federal match. After reading a document published by the Mint, the Tower Corporation originally thought they could use State funds to pay for the match. Unfortunately, they were informed recently by the U.S. Mint that they could only use funds raised from private sources.

Once they realized this, the Tower Corporation approached me for help,

since they were faced with the need to raise more than $300,000 by December 31 of this year, the statutory deadline. That is why I introduced this bill, which simply extends the deadline by 6 months to give them adequate time to raise private funds. The Board of the Tower Corporation has assured me, as well as Chairman Oxley and Ranking Member Frank, that they will be able to raise the necessary funds in 6 months and they would not request another extension.

Mr. Speaker, Thomas Edison's contributions to our society are too numerous to count, but by developing the modern light bulb, he is one of America's most recognized thinkers and inventors. The Memorial Tower helps celebrate his achievements and salutes the spirit of innovation that he fostered. This bill is critical to making sure that the Memorial Tower can be repaired and serve not only as memorial to a great man but also as a symbol of America's potential for technological innovation and achievement.

I want to again express my thanks to Chairman Oxley and Ranking Member Frank for their willingness to move this bill, and for the leadership on both sides of the aisle for putting it on the suspension calendar.

I also want to particularly thank Jamie Lizarraga, on the minority staff of the Financial Services Committee, for his diligence and very hard work to move this bill forward. Joe Pinder and Tom Duncan of Chairman Oxley's staff were also quite helpful, and of course, Eric Gordon of my own staff, here on the left. I want to thank them all.

Mr. Speaker, this bill will go a long way towards ensuring that we can preserve an important landmark saluting a great American.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6325) to provide a new effective date for the applicability of certain provisions of law to Public Law 105-331.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on this legislation and to insert extraneous material thereon.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I urge today that the House do pass H.R. 6325, introduced by the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone). It is a relatively simple bill in purpose, to accommodate one single intention, and that is to correct an honest misinterpretation of the law governing the distribution of surcharges on the sales of a commemorative coin that honored America's great inventor, Thomas Edison.

Legislation to authorize the coin was approved in 1998, and the coin issued subsequently in 2004. But owing to slightly contradictory information guiding recipients of the surcharges, the recipients did not understand requirements to raise matching funds from private sources, which meant that such funds must be entirely from nongovernmental sources. That misunderstanding now has been resolved, and I would like to introduce into the Record at this time a letter to that effect, and all agree that a short 6-month extension would then be sufficient to cure any pending problem.

Mr. Speaker, it was a misunderstanding, clearly not at the fault of any one party, but I believe that this remedy being posed by Mr. Pallone in a bipartisan fashion will cure the defect that we currently face, and I would urge the House to consider the bill and immediately adopt the underlying text.

Edison Memorial Tower

Corporation,

Edison, NJ, November 14, 2006.

Chairman Michael Oxley,

Committee on Financial Services,

Washington, DC.

Dear Chairman Oxley, The non-profit Edison Memorial Tower

Corporation is requesting a 6-month extension to our deadline

to raise $379,000 in private funds in order to secure a

$379,000 matching grant from the United States Mint. These

funds, available thanks to the sale of a Thomas Alva Edison

Commemorative Coin, will greatly assist us with our efforts

to restore Thomas Edison's Menlo Park laboratory site where

many of his most important inventions were made.

Our Board has made good progress in our fundraising efforts

and we are confident that the additional 6 months will allow

us the necessary time to raise the full required amount. We

understand that if this 6-month extension is approved, this

will be the only extension allowed for this grant. We

therefore commit that we will not ask you to consider a

further extension of time.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Nancy L. Zerbe,

Chairperson.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

It is especially appropriate for us at a time when we are celebrating or trying to give due recognition to the importance of innovation in our economy that we take this action to make sure that we properly memorialize Thomas Edison in whose honor this whole project has been conceived.

I appreciate very much the majority accommodating us in this, and I want to say especially that the staff on the majority side was particularly helpful. We had a little glitch in terms of how this was drafted and whether or not it was a private bill, and everybody worked very hard to make sure we could do this promptly, since, obviously, we don't expect or hope to be here a whole lot longer. So I am glad we are able to go forward.

Mr. Speaker, I now yield such time as he may consume to the author of the bill and the man who represents the area affected, our friend from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone).

Mr. Speaker, I just want to reiterate what he said, particularly about the staff members he named who really took care of this for us and made it very easy.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.