To direct the Administrator of General Services to install a photovoltaic system for the headquarters building of the Department of Energy.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 798) to direct the Administrator of General Services to install a photovoltaic system for the headquarters building of the Department of Energy.

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, H.R. 798.

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

Over 30 years ago, Mr. Speaker, as a second-term Member of the House and serving on the Public Works Committee, as it was called then, and the Subcommittee of Public Buildings and Grounds, I heard an extraordinary presentation about the use of photovoltaics in public buildings and how, as a result of this study, energy could be saved, burning of fossil fuels could be avoided, and the Federal Government could save enormous amounts of energy costs by using a then-new technology known as photovoltaics.

I was so enthralled by the idea, I drafted legislation which I shared with my then-colleague in the Senate from the State of Minnesota, Senator Hubert Humphrey, who introduced the companion bill in the other body; and together we got the legislation enacted, signed by President Carter, funding for the first 3 years of a 3-year investment by the Federal Government in converting Federal civilian office space to photovoltaic energy. Unfortunately, President Carter lost the election. President Reagan came in and decided that the alternative energy program was an unnecessary investment of the Federal Government, and the entire alternative energy budget was deleted.

Years passed. Interest in photovoltaic cells continued. Research and development and testing and application in the private marketplace, as well as by government agencies, continued and the cost of photovoltaics dropped from $1.75 a kilowatt hour in 1977 to about 25 cents a kilowatt hour today, compared to 7 cents produced by conventional fossil fuel power centers.

Well, I thought the time was ripe again for us to make another effort at having the Federal Government lead the way and being the template, being the exemplar in the marketplace for alternative energy use and deployment and reducing its cost.

So the bill that is before us today, it was reported, we had a hearing and markup in the subcommittee and markup in the full committee to use the Department of Energy headquarters as the exemplary facility for the Nation in use of photovoltaics. The Department of Energy building, just down the street from the Capitol, on Independence Avenue and what is also known as the Forestall Building.

In 1999, our then-Secretary of Energy, Bill Richardson, conducted a national competition to get the best architectural firms to develop a conceptual design for a photovoltaic system

to be installed on the south wall of the Department of Energy. Solarnet, the winning design, will transform that south wall, which was deliberately built in a solid face with no windows and no doors. It will transform that rather ugly, nondescript wall into this very attractive piece that is depicted in the panels before us in the well of the House. But that solar wall will generate 460,000 kilowatts of energy. It is 300 feet long, 130 feet high, will contain 24,750 square feet of power-generating panels.

The Federal Government is the largest single consumer of energy in the country. We are in a unique position to show the rest of the Nation how to conserve energy, how to be efficient in doing it, and to do so with our trust of management of Federal civilian office space.

The Department of Energy estimated in 2005 that the cost of energy consumption of all forms by Federal agencies was $14.5 billion; $5.5 billion of that was spent on buildings and facilities, meaning electricity.

GSA, General Services Administration, manages 387.7 million square feet of non-military, non-postal civilian office space. It ought to set the stage, it ought to set the standard for the Nation in being energy efficient and reducing the cost to the taxpayer of operating these Federal buildings.

We ought to, also, change our management of Federal office space both in the construction and in the leasing of those office facilities to life-cycle cost considerations, not just the lowest initial cost of construction; but we are going to be the tenant, we are going to be the owner of those facilities, tenant in the leased operations and owner in those that are outright owned by the Federal Government for as long as we are in there, and we ought to do the best that we can for the taxpayer, and we ought to set the stage and help create a marketplace for production of photovoltaics that will, in volume production, reduce their cost.

Photovoltaics are very simple devices. The sun strikes a panel that has lines of filament that create resistance, transmit that resistance across a grid and collectively produce direct current electricity that is then converted into alternating current electricity. It can run all the lights, the elevators, the escalators, everything, computers, everything that uses electricity in the Department of Energy building, and have excess power at the end of the day to turn back into the Potomac Electric Power Company grid so that the electric meter will run backwards at the Department of Energy at the end of the day. That is what we ought to be doing. We can do that.

It is within our authority of this committee to set the stage for advances in technology. Already some 25 buildings of the Federal Government nationwide use photovoltaics in one way or another. The Department of Agriculture does, also just down the street, Independence Avenue. The Park Service, the Forest Service, NOAA, on their weather buoys, the space program all use photovoltaics to gather information, transmit. The Highway Departments, on traffic monitoring signs, use photovoltaics, gathering electricity during the day, storing it in batteries and run those signs at night off solar power.

We are only addressing one project today, but that could be multiples in the future. And we are here doing what we can within our ability. It is not going to solve all of the problems of global climate change, but we have an obligation to do our part and to do what we can within this committee.

Toward that end, I thank the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. LaTourette) for his participation through the subcommittee and then to the full committee.

I thank our full committee ranking member, Mr. Mica, for his support and initiative on this matter and moving us to this point where we could pass this bill in the House.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute.

I am very deeply touched by the gentleman's comments, Mr. Speaker. And I thank the gentleman for his thoughtfulness and for his very much appreciated comments about my service on the committee and my work over the many years.

I do recall the hearing that the gentleman chaired. He opened the hearing to the subject of photovoltaics. I remember that the gentleman did an enormous amount of homework, and he came to the hearing and surprised me

with a recitation of the evolution of photovoltaic cells and the different types of materials that go into the production of photovoltaic cells and their application in a wide diversity of uses.

The gentleman deserves enormous credit in his own right for his studious and thoughtful leadership on the committee and the several responsibilities that he has held, economic development and railroads and in the public buildings and grounds arena.

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

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

Again I thank the gentleman from Arkansas for his thoughtfulness. And I recall our very pleasant visit to his district on transportation and economic development issues many years ago when we saw so much of the progress that has been done through the Economic Development Administration, the need for highway investments, for which the gentleman has been a strong advocate. And I also remember a very special feeling, the presentation by the Fort Smith Chamber of Commerce of a unique award: a noose. I don't know what happened to it. I never did take possession of it to bring back with me, but someday I will make a return visit to Fort Smith. There is a long story we need not describe in this setting about Fort Smith and its role in the early days of territories and frontiers.

The sun wall design, as these posters describe it, will be a very attractive facility aesthetically but attractive energywise and more than a statement, a demonstration by the Federal Government, the leadership role that it can play and it should play in moving the Nation toward energy independence.

The Department of Energy conducted an analysis some time ago of the potential for photovoltaics and demonstrated that in a 100-mile by 100- mile square area of the Arizona desert, all the energy needs of the United States could be produced by photovoltaics. Well, we are making a start on that commitment with this legislation, moving in the right direction. It is long overdue, but we are making that step in the right direction.

I thank my colleagues on the committee, Chairman Mica for his willingness to move ahead with this legislation; and the gentleman from Ohio for his thoughtful and studious advocacy of the legislation; and Ms. Norton, the Chair of our Public Buildings and Economic Development Subcommittee, for their participation in bringing the bill to this point.

If there are no further speakers, if the gentleman yields back, we will yield back our time.

Mr. Speaker, I hope no raccoons will be caught in the energy wall because that is the sort of place that raccoons like to frequent.

Again, I thank my colleagues for their participation.

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

Madam Speaker, when you accepted the gavel, you pledged that the House under your Leadership would waste no time in addressing the pressing needs facing our nation. Your legislative initiative for the first 100 hours of the new Congress proved that you meant what you said.

In those first 100 hours, the House passed six major bills, including legislation to implement the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, raise the minimum wage, and help older Americans afford prescription drugs, and help their grandchildren obtain student loans. It also adopted Rules to help restore the people's trust in this Chamber.

In those hours, Madam Speaker, you showed America that you were going to waste no time in getting important things done for this country. I thank you and the Majority Leader, Mr. Hoyer, for your tireless efforts.

In that spirit, I would like to call your attention the accomplishments of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, which I am honored to chair.

Since the Committee held its organizational meeting January 17, our Committee has met 34 times in full or Subcommittee session. We have held 28 hearings, including two field hearings. In the first three months of 2007, we have met for nearly 80 hours, and gathered testimony from 165 witnesses. The Committee has initiated a series of hearings on reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration, which must be completed this year, and begun the hard work of considering the myriad issues of reauthorizing the highway, transit, and highway safety programs in 2009. We have begun to restore vigorous oversight to the programs, policies, and agencies in the jurisdiction of our Committee that is critical to ensuring that our transportation and infrastructure laws implemented effectively and efficiently.

The Committee has held seven markups, including three Subcommittee markups and four Full Committee markups. The Committee has acted on 29 bills, including 24 bills that have passed the House--each with an overwhelming bipartisan majority. Among the many Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure bills, the House has passed:

H.R. 720, a bill to authorize $14 billion for the Clean Water State Revolving Funds and provide the necessary resources to help States address their critical wastewater infrastructure needs;

H.R. 569, a bill to authorize $1.7 billion for States and communities to control combined sewer overflows and sanitary sewer overflows to address public health and safety and environmental concerns with such overflows;

H.R. 802, a bill to reduce air emissions from maritime vessels and implement Annex VI of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships;

H.R. 1195, a bill to make technical corrections to the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users; and

H.R. 798, a bill to direct the Administrator of General Services to install a photovoltaic system on the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Energy.

The Senate has passed four of the 24 House-passed Committee bills and the President has signed each one.

Madam Speaker, such success cannot be accomplished without incredible effort and I thank each of our Committee Members, particularly Ranking Member Mica and the Subcommittee Chairs and Ranking Members, for their enormous bipartisan efforts to carry out the agenda of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

It also cannot be accomplished without a talented, dedicated staff, and I would like to recognize each one by name:

Staff Director David Heymsfeld, Chief Counsel Ward McCarragher, and Administrator Dara Schlieker. Also in the front office: Jimmy Miller, Sharon Barkeloo, Helena Zyblikewycz, Jennifer Walsh, Erik Hansen, Keelin Haddix, Elisa Yi, and Mike Obrock.

Our Communications staff: Jim Berard, Mary Kerr, and Julie Carpenter Lotz.

On the staff of our Subcommittee on Aviation: Stacie Soumbeniotis, Giles Giovinazzi, Jana Denning, Christa Fomarotto, and Pam Keller.

The Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation: John Cullather, Richard Hiscock, Lucinda Lessley, and lanta Summers.

The Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management: Susan Brita, Mike Herman, Elliot Doomes, and Alexis Barrios.

The Subcommittee on Highways and Transit: Jim Kolb, Art Chan, Amy Scarton, Jackie Schmitz, Kathy Dedrick, and Peter Gould.

The Oversight and Investigations staff: Trinita Brown, Clay Foushee, Leila Kahn, and Laurie Bertenthal.

The Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials: Jennifer Esposito, John Drake, Niels Knutson, Nick Martinelli, and Rose Hamlin.

The Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment: Ryan Seiger, Ted Illston, Ben Webster, Beth Goldstein, Rod Hall, and Mike Brain.

The Editorial staff: Tracy Mosebey and Gilda Shirley; and our Information Systems team: Keven Sard and Scott Putz.

Madam Speaker, the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure has a history of bipartisan cooperation, and our Committee staff on the other side of the aisle share in our success this year. I thank Chief of Staff Jim Coon, Counsel Charles Ziegler, Policy Director Fraser Verrusio, and the rest of the Minority staff for their hard work and cooperation.

The Committee has no plans to slow down. We are hopeful that the House will consider H.R. 1495, the ``Water Resources Development Act of 2007'', in the coming weeks. We have scheduled 11 hearings and 2 markups for late April and early May. We are just hitting stride.

Madam Speaker, in the words of Vaudeville entertainer Al Jolson, ``You ain't seen nothin' yet!''

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

Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate, again, the chairman of our full committee, Mr. Oberstar, for not only being the author of this legislation, but for bringing it to the floor in such an expeditious manner.

H.R. 798, introduced by Chairman Oberstar, directs the administrator of GSA to install a photovoltaic system at the headquarters building for the Department of Energy and authorizes appropriations to carry out the project. I know, when the chairman speaks of his passion, of what he speaks; and I know he has been committed for over 30 years to adding a solar energy component to the DOE headquarters building.

The photovoltaic system authorized by this bill to be installed at the Department of Energy building was chosen through a competitive process. In 1999 the U.S. Department of Energy National Renewable Energy Laboratory, in cooperation with the American Institute of Architects and the Architectural Engineering Institute, sponsored a design competition to select the winning sun wall design for the south wall of the new headquarters for the Department of Energy. The winning design, called the Solarnet, was selected from 151 entries. The winning design, as the chairman has mentioned, is 300 feet long, 130 feet high and incorporates 24,750 square feet of power generating panels. The DOE building was designed and constructed to include a solar energy system on the south wall, which was never constructed. Currently, the south wall is just a big expanse of concrete. H.R. 798 will complete what was left unfinished.

This project was previously authorized in the 109th Congress. Similar language directing the administrator of GSA to install a photovoltaic system for the headquarters building was incorporated into the energy policy act of 2005.

Mr. Speaker, one of the first things you learn as a new Member of the Congress, and I believe the current occupant of the chair is a new Member of Congress, is that some of our colleagues know a little bit about a lot. Some know a lot about a little.

When you join the Transportation Committee, what you know about our chairman is he knows a lot about a lot. And it is not a surprise, nor is it ever a surprise when I go to a markup or a hearing and hear Chairman Oberstar talk about the history of steel or the history of transportation, or the transcontinental railroad. One of my favorites is always his focusing on 1956 and the opening of the Wellend Canal and what that meant to those of us in the Great Lakes.

But what I didn't know until I had the pleasure of chairing this subcommittee two or three Congresses ago was that he was such an expert on photovoltaic electricity. And one of the most pleasant hearings that I can recall having in that subcommittee was a hearing on this subject matter and listening to the gentleman from Minnesota expound on his 30- year quest.

And what I came away with from that hearing, and again being the beneficiary of his great knowledge, was the fact that if we had made the investment that the gentleman is talking about in this bill today 30 years ago, we would be talking about comparable rates of electricity generation. We wouldn't be talking about 25 cents a kilowatt hour. Perhaps we would be down in the 3 to 7 cent range, and the opportunity that has been wasted by not, in fact, making that investment back when the gentleman first came forward with Senator Humphrey to make this a reality.

And so I hope that this becomes the first of many pieces of legislation that the gentleman offers. And I will tell him that I will be supportive, not only of his present endeavor, but his future endeavors as well.

Again, I congratulate the gentleman for his 30-year pursuit of this goal, and I urge all of our colleagues to be supportive.

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

Mr. Speaker, before yielding to our next speaker, I just yield myself such time as I might consume. And I would just tell the chairman of the committee that I learned 12 years ago that if I was going to be in the same room with the gentleman, I had to do my homework, and so it was something that I knew I had to do.

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield such time as he might consume to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Boozman).

Mr. Speaker, if I could just yield myself a moment to close before yielding back my time.

When the chairman was talking about Arkansas, I too had the pleasure of being in Arkansas, I think, before Mr. Boozman was elected to the Congress, when one of the Hutchinsons was in that seat, and I had the pleasure of meeting John Paul Hammerschmidt, whom I know that the gentleman knows and was fond of working with for so many years. Just to show how we all come from different places, I noticed that all the wildlife in Arkansas was nervous when we were down there, particularly the raccoons. And another one of our colleagues, Marion Berry, was with us on that trip for the opening of a new airport, and he indicated that his largest fundraiser was a raccoon roast. And I had not experienced that until he I had gone down to the gentleman's district as well.

I urge passage of the bill, and I thank the gentleman very much.

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

Madam Speaker, today I introduce a bill to direct the Administrator of General Services to install a sun wall photovoltaic system, known as the ``Solar Net'' on the headquarters building of the Department of Energy. There is no more appropriate or symbolic federal building with which to demonstrate the power and promise of photovoltaics than the Department of Energy headquarters building, known as the Forrestal Building, located in Washington, DC.

Our energy needs continue to increase, but as a nation we have not done enough to try to meet these needs with new technologies and alternative fuels. As a result, our dependence on fossil fuels--and foreign oil in particular--continues unabated.

As the nation's largest single energy consumer, the Federal Government is in a unique position to promote energy conservation and efficiency, particularly in the operation of Federal buildings. By applying the principles of sustainable, green design, agencies have the ability to reduce energy usage, reduce life-cycle costs, and reduce environmental impacts in the construction and operation of federal facilities.

A photovoltaic system turns light energy into electricity. Photovoltaics reduce the consumption of fossil fuels and offer distinct advantages over diesel generators and primary batteries. These systems are highly efficient panels and have no moving parts, so the need for maintenance is virtually non-existent. Photovoltaics have tremendous potential. As an example, estimates have shown that the electricity needs of the entire U.S. could be met by installing photovoltaic panels in a 100-mile by 100-mile area in the Southwest.

The Federal Government owns or leases approximately 500,000 buildings. According to U.S. Department of Energy estimates, in FY 2005, the cost of energy consumption by Federal agencies totaled $14.5 billion--more than $5.5 billion of which was spent on buildings and facilities. The General Services Administration, through its Public Building Service, manages 218.9 million square feet of owned office space and 168.8 million square feet of leased space. Imagine the benefits if this space utilized photovoltaics and solar power.

More than 25 Federal buildings nationwide already utilize photovoltaics in some capacity. These projects have demonstrated that we have the technology and ability to provide electricity for the Federal Government office buildings with photovoltaic rays. We have the ability to keep our public buildings running on clean and quiet sources of energy, and still produce extra electricity to put back into the power grid.

The bill I introduce today addresses only one project, but it is a necessary and important step in the overall effort to increase energy efficiency in public buildings. Located in our Nation's capital, the Solar Net project will serve as a model for the entire country, as the largest building-integrated solar energy system on any federal building in the country. The design for the sun wall project was selected in 2000 after an open competition. It is an attractive and energy- efficient design that can generate a maximum of 200 kW of electricity and includes a solar thermal installation for hot water and hot air.

A similar provision to this bill was enacted as part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Pub. L. 109-58). While the Energy Policy Act authorized funding for fiscal year 2006, no funding was appropriated for that year. Today, this bill specifically sets aside federal building repair and alteration funding for construction of the sun wall project in fiscal year 2007.

The time is long overdue for the Federal Government to lead in the development and promotion of energy-efficient technologies and alternative and renewable fuels. The plans are ready to go. The needs and the potential impacts on our nation's energy use are great. All that is left is to do is to provide the funding needed to purchase and install the proper equipment. This bill does just that.

I thank Mr. Mica, Ranking Member of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and Ms. Norton, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management, for joining me on this critical, bipartisan initiative. I urge my colleagues to join us in supporting H.R. 798.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on June 6, 2007, at 10 a.m., to conduct a hearing entitled ``Paying for College: The Role of Private Student Lending.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Environment and Public Works be authorized to meet in order to conduct a business meeting during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, June 6, 2007 at 10 a.m. in Room 406 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

The business meeting will consider the following agenda:

S. 506, the High Performance Green Buildings Act of 2007;

H.R. 1195, SAFETEA-LU Technical Corrections Act;

H.R. 798, a bill to direct the Administrator of General Services to install a photovoltaic system for the headquarters building of the Department of Energy;

S. 635, the Methamphetamine Remediation Research Act of 2007;

S. 1523, the Capitol power plant carbon dioxide emissions reduction demonstration project bill.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Finance be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, June 6, 2007, at 10 a.m., in 215 Dirksen Senate Office Building, to hear testimony on ``Trade and Globalization: Adjustment for a 21st Century Workforce.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Senate Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet to conduct a hearing entitled ``Patent Reform: The Future of American Innovation'' on Wednesday, June 6, 2007 at 10 a.m. in Dirksen Senate Office Building Room 226.

Witness list

Panel I: The Honorable Jon W. Dudas, Undersecretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Department of Commerce, Alexandria, VA;

Panel II: Mr. Bruce G. Bernstein, Chief Intellectual Property and Licensing Officer, InterDigital Communications Corporation, King of Prussia, PA; Ms. Mary Doyle, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, Palm, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA; Mr. John A. Squires, Chief Intellectual Property Counsel, Goldman, Sachs & Co., New York, NY; Ms. Kathryn L. Biberstein, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, and Chief Compliance Officer, Alkermes, Inc., Cambridge, MA.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Water and Power of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be authorized to hold a hearing during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, June 6, 2007 at 2:30 p.m. in room SD-366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. The purpose of the hearing is to receive testimony on the impacts of climate change on water supply and availability in the United States, and related issues from a water use perspective.