To authorize the Secretary of Commerce to sell or exchange certain National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration property located in Norfolk, Virginia, and for other purposes.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Democrat bill manager has I think sufficiently explained the particulars of this bill. I understand the parties involved in the land sale or exchange and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the City of Norfolk support the bill and its passage today. I think it is also an exceptional bill.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I once again commend the author of this particular bill. I think this is a good bill that has worked its way through. We have one of our Members, Representative Drake, who is on her way up here, from her district which is on the coast of Virginia, driving up in a very crowded parkway trying to get here as well, illustrating several of the problems that we face in this country, one of which is what do you do with that land off the coast of Virginia, as well as the entire coast of the United States, to try and help solve the problem of our parkways and driveways and highways, our freeways, as people are trying to go from one destination to another, especially with the overwhelmingly destructive high cost of gasoline that we have now.

A lot of people talk about these things as if what the Republicans have been saying is we simply want to drill now and drill everywhere, as if that were the only solution that we present to the situation. It is not the only solution. In fact, there are many who have said that you can't drill your way out of the problem.

We have found already by past efforts that you can't tax your way out of this problem of energy.

We can't regulate our way out. We can't ignore our way out. Drilling is not the only solution, but it has to be part of the real solution if we, indeed, are going to find something that helps the people of the United States.

We have lived, after 30 years now, and have seen the results of this much time of government regulation of our sources of energy. It is government rationing of our resources that has caused us to be in a situation where we are today, to the point that some people even seriously talk about having gas stamps again, which once again illustrates how the government truly is the cause of the problem, because it is the government that is doing the rationing and the regulation.

Drilling is an essential part. Drilling off the coast of Virginia, drilling off the entire Outer Continental Shelf is an important part, but it is not the only solution to our problem. We must have revenues that can be available to build alternative forms of energy. The royalties that could come from those offshore drillings, as well as onshore drillings, could be that solution if they were tied together into one comprehensive approach to it.

We failed to realize that the infrastructure we have in this country does not meet the needs of energy for its citizens. We do not have the capacity for moving energy from one part of this country to another.

We have forgotten for too long our refinery needs, our electrical grid needs, our corridor needs, to the point that we now are in a significant problem. That has to be solved if, indeed, we are going to meet the needs of American citizens.

We need to start reemphasizing conservations and rewarding Americans, not forcing Americans and mandating Americans, but rewarding Americans for their effort to help meet this problem by means of conservation. But none of the issues I have just mentioned, ticked off by itself, is a solution.

All of them have to be there at the same time, which is why, if we really are going to meet the needs of Americans in this problem of excessive cost of energy, it has to be an all-of-the-above solution.

We must drill in all of the Outer Continental Shelf, as we must drill in Alaska, as we must explore the trillions of barrels of oil found in oil shale in the States of Wyoming, Colorado and my home State of Utah. We must look at clean, coal technology, nuclear technology, oil shale, natural gas. We must ensure that States are a partner with us.

The idea that the United States can actually do any of this without sharing the royalties is an insult to the States of this Nation. Already, we have insulted them in this particular Congress when we took the existing split of royalties, which is 50/50, and decided unilaterally, without their consent, to change that to a 52/48 so that we got to keep 52 percent, and we allowed the States to have 48 percent, taking away millions of dollars that they had been counting on, that they had been using, to meet the needs of their citizens.

All of those issues have been there. If we now decide to come up to this floor with a solution that is not all of the above, that only looks at drilling in one part of this country and not all, that does not look at the infrastructure needs, does not look at the alternative needs, does not look at the other kinds of fossil fuel needs. It does not come up with conservation requirements that we have to have. It is going to be the same heavy hand of government, which has already brought us to the situation we have right now, where it is the government that is causing, by our actions over the past 30 years, nothing short of rationing of the resources that we have.

There are three great bills that have been presented, one we have asked a vote for on this floor, the American Energy Act. I have to admit there is another one the western States representatives got together, the Americans for American Energy Act. There is a bipartisan act sometimes called the Peterson-Abercrombie bill, 20 Members of this Congress, a bipartisan group, have all asked to be discussed on the floor.

All three of those are a comprehensive all-of-the-above approach. None of those have been allowed to have a hearing, to have a markup, to have discussions, or to have a vote on this floor. Yet today we are told that sometime this week the bill written in secret will be brought to this floor, like Moses coming down from Mount Sinai, and will be given to us as the law.

That process is a fraud. That resulting bill will be a fraud. Anything that takes anything off the table will be a fraud. Anything that does not allow an all-of-the-above approach will be a fraud. We will not do what we are supposed to do when we come here to this body, which is, in addition to passing good bills like the one in front of us, but also solving the problem of American citizens.

We are not doing that. We are derelict in our responsibilities, and we need to change that.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlelady from Texas (Ms. Granger).

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate, once again, our opportunity to talk about the many needs we have dealing with the environment and dealing with the energy situation that is so critical to Americans at this particular time.

I appreciate the gentlelady from Guam bringing up a problem that is, indeed, a problem, that we have known about since 2006. I am glad that the majority party has finally decided to hold hearings, after 2 long years, on that particular issue. I would hope that this week we can actually get to the bottom of that and make sure it never happens again.

But the issue of that has nothing to do with the fact that we are still rationing, through our actions, the opportunity of dealing with the resources that we do have.

Why, in Chukchi Sea, in February of 2008, were 487 leases allowed and immediately there were 487 lawsuits that took place? Why, in New Mexico in the spring of this year, were onshore drilling leases allowed, and immediately they were stopped because of lawsuits that are going forward?

Why, in my State, where we are ready to move forward with oil-shale production on private lands, was it stopped because of actions by this House that denied any funding going forward to move that process to its completion?

It is our actions that have actually been the regulatory stranglehold on moving this Nation forward, and those are the things that need to be completed. Hopefully, in the bill being written in secret that will be presented at some time, these actions will be addressed, these problems will be addressed.

These roadblocks will be addressed, but so far in the talking points that have leaked out, none of that seems to be even a topic of conversation. Yet if we indeed are going to solve all of the problems with an all-of-the-above solution, it has to be part of our discussion.

I have no additional speakers on this bill and would yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill

(H.R. 5350) to authorize the Secretary of Commerce to sell or exchange certain National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration property located in Norfolk, Virginia, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

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

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 5350 is noncontroversial legislation introduced by our colleague from Virginia, Congressman Bobby Scott, to authorize the Secretary of Commerce and the City of Norfolk, Virginia, to negotiate and complete a conveyance of Federal property located in the city that is under the control of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The purpose of this fair market value conveyance would be to enable the city to fulfill its plans for the economic redevelopment of the Fort Norfolk waterfront area.

I commend my colleague from Virginia, Congressman Bobby Scott, for his tireless efforts to assist the City of Norfolk as it revitalizes its downtown waterfront core. This legislation also was approved by our colleagues on the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The helpful revisions offered by Chairman Henry Waxman and his staff will protect the interests of NOAA and ensure that any future conveyance is consistent with standard terms of terms and conditions found in similar General Services administration contracts.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to support the passage of this bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott), the author of the bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, I commend the other side for their views and agree that we should consider energy legislation, and we will.

The difference is that when the Democratic majority brings up legislation this week, we will make very sure that the oil companies that are drilling for America's resources are held accountable. I would like to repeat that, accountable.

The gentleman raised the issue of government regulations. What regulations?

Last week we heard from the Inspector General and the GAO that the very office in charge of regulating the oil companies and the royalty- in-kind program were not doing their job, and here are some of the examples.

The Lakewood Marketing Group, a group of government employees who were in charge of selling the public's oil and gas at the highest price possible were, instead, were concerned with partying, dining, attending golf and ski junkets and a lot more.

There was a Mr. Gregory W. Smith, the head of the royalty-in-kind program, who was also doing illegal things.

One of the top officials at the Minerals Management Service arranged for her assistant to be able to retire and then win a lucrative contract with the agency for his new consulting firm. Not only did the assistant help write the contract before leaving MMS, but another top MMS official in charge of overseeing that contract later retired and joined the consulting firm.

On top of these serious ethical violations, we also learned from three Government Accountability Office, GAO,

reports, that MMS is not carrying out its most fundamental mission, making sure the American taxpayer gets a fair return for the use of the public's oil and gas resources.

There is an inadequate Federal royalty system. The GAO found that the United States, one of the safest and most lucrative areas to operate, receives one of the smallest shares of oil and gas revenues in the entire world. Not only that, the Interior Department does not even evaluate how the United States compares to other countries, to ensure we remain competitive while still keeping the taxpayers from being cheated.

There is no diligent development, despite industry false claims that they are diligently developing the 68 million acres of Federal land they hold leases on. GAO found that over a 10-year period, only 6 percent of nearly 48,000 onshore Federal oil leases were actually drilled. While States and private landowners use a number of strategies such as shorter lease terms to encourage faster production and payments, the Federal Government lets the industry sit on valuable resources for years.

There is sloppy royalty collection. The GAO found that the Department of Interior utterly fails in providing certainty that companies are paying the royalties that they owe the American people. Due to an inadequate computer system, a reliance on company self-reported data and an insufficient number of field inspections, these reports indicate that this administration has been absolutely derelict in its duty to the American people and that serious reforms are needed to the Federal oil and gas royalty program.

This, then, should be a part and parcel of any energy legislation to ensure that American interests are represented in American resources, and that will be part of our energy bill on the floor this week.

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

Mr. Speaker, I again urge all Members to support the bill.

I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5350, a bill authorizing the Secretary of Commerce to sell or exchange certain National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration property in the City of Norfolk, Virginia. At the request of the City of Norfolk, I introduced this legislation in February of this year, along with my colleague from Virginia's Second Congressional District, Thelma Drake, who also represents part of the City of Norfolk.

Over the last decade, the City of Norfolk has experienced tremendous economic growth. Downtown Norfolk has reemerged as the urban center of the Hampton Roads region through revitalization and new commercial and residential development.

For several decades, NOAA has been an important Federal partner in downtown Norfolk's development. NOAA's Atlantic Marine Operations Center and NOAA's Chesapeake Bay office are both located downtown in an area referred to as the Fort Norfolk district, which is one of the last remaining undeveloped waterfront areas of downtown Norfolk.

Nearly a decade ago, the city recognized the strategic location of the Fort Norfolk district for development and revitalization and the city began discussions about its desire to purchase a parcel of property from NOAA located at 538 Front Street, directly across from NOAA's primary Norfolk facility. NOAA currently uses the property for storage and staff space for the Norfolk field operations office of NOAA's National Geodetic Survey. These discussions stalled when NOAA ascertained that congressional authorization was required to proceed.

H.R. 5350 simply authorizes, but does not require, the Secretary of Commerce to sell or exchange the NOAA property located at 538 Front Street in Norfolk to the City of Norfolk. The bill clearly states that NOAA may only sell or exchange the property if the Secretary of Commerce determines that the conveyance would be in the best interests of the Federal Government. The bill also requires that the property be sold at a value not less than the fair market value, as determined by the Federal Government.

The bill does not delineate or support any particular agreement or contract. The details of any future agreement between NOAA and the City of Norfolk would have to be worked out. This legislation would simply permit that process to move forward, and if a mutually agreeable contract is decided upon, this land sale or exchange would allow Norfolk to continue its tremendous economic growth by developing the land for commercial and residential purposes. The authority granted to the Secretary of Commerce to enter into this agreement with the City of Norfolk will expire 2 years after the date of enactment of H.R. 5350.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the chairwoman of the Fisheries Subcommittee, Ms. Bordallo, and the ranking member, Mr. Brown, as well as the Natural Resources Committee chairman, Mr. Rahall, and ranking member, Mr. Young, for getting this bill to the floor.

I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan legislation that protects both the interests of the Federal Government and the citizens of Norfolk.

Mr. Speaker, last week on Thursday we finished our week and our voting. Like most Members of the House here, I went back home to my district in Fort Worth, Texas, and there I spent the weekend talking to people, listening to people, receiving telephone calls. The question was, time and time again, Kay, what are they doing about energy? The answer was nothing.

In addressing this crisis and the solutions to this energy crisis, a key to increasing the American production of energy is to increase our refinery capacity.

As you know, it has been over 30 years since a new refinery was built in the United States. The refineries we do have are operating at near capacity, but we are not able to keep up with consumer demand.

The United States consumed over 15 million barrels per day of petroleum products in the year 2004, and consumption is expected to increase to nearly 26.1 million barrels per day by 2025. That's why increasing refinery capacity is a key piece of the American Energy Act.

Through many innovations, technology has changed a lot since the last U.S. refinery was built in 1976. We should use the advances we have made over the years to build new state-of-the-art facilities that can refine the oil and gas that we need. We need to cut the red tape that has prohibited us from moving forward.

That is why I am proud of my colleagues, Heather Wilson and Joe Pitts, who have legislation, the American Energy Act, that would take the necessary steps to remove the bureaucratic roadblocks that have hampered new efforts to build new refinery facilities. Our country has the resources and the space available to increase our capacity and to do so in environmentally safe ways.

An important part of our plan to increase our refinery capacity is using closed military installations to build new refineries. These bases provide the space we need to build refinery infrastructure quickly and get more refineries online as soon as possible.

We have seen the impact of Mother Nature on our refinery infrastructure. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita wreaked havoc on our refineries. During the current hurricane season, as much as 25 percent our Nation's refinery capacity has been taken offline in the wake of these terrible storms in Texas and along the gulf coast. We could greatly reduce the impact of these service interruptions if we had more refineries in this country.

I completely understand increasing our refinery capacity is not the only answer to the energy crisis. I understand the need to look to the future toward alternatives, such as solar and wind. My home State of Texas is doing just that. But in the short-term, increasing our refinery capacity will give us the time to improve and increase these alternative forms of energy.

Until we are able to rely more on these energy sources, we need to boost the source of energy that has powered this Nation in the 21st century. That's why I call on this body and the Democrats in this body for a vote, an up-or-down vote on the American Energy Act, a comprehensive solution that has the support of the American people.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be standing today in support of H.R. 5350, legislation that I sponsored along with Congressman Bobby Scott, which authorizes the sale or exchange of a specific tract of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) property located in Norfolk, Virginia. The sale of this NOAA land is something the City of Norfolk has been working on since 2005. I am proud that this legislation is being considered today, as it will have a significant impact on the economic development of Norfolk.

Over thirty years ago, the federal government purchased 3.78 acres of land located at 538 Front Street in Norfolk for $47,300. From this time forward, this prime, waterfront location has remained under-utilized-- when the original intention for this land was to be the future site of NOAA's regional headquarters.

Allowing the City of Norfolk to purchase this land for fair market value gives Norfolk a new area to continue redevelopment efforts that will foster job growth and economic opportunities for citizens in Hampton Roads. As Norfolk has experienced substantial economic growth since the time of the original purchase, I appreciate that this sale will finally be permitted

to further ensure Norfolk's future economic development efforts.

I am grateful for Representative Scott's work on helping to bring this bill to the floor, as well as the work of the Committee on Natural Resources and I look forward to the great benefit this redevelopment effort will have for the people of Hampton Roads.

Ms. BORDALLO I yield back the balance of my time.