Expressing support for the designation of a "Public Radio Recognition Month".

Mr. Speaker, I offer a motion to recommit.

I am in its current form.

Mr. Speaker, there is no Federal agency that has risen to the challenge of innovation over the last 50 years like NASA. When the Soviets put a man into orbit, NASA put men on the moon. We, as a Nation, are today the fortunate heirs of NASA's legacy: conviction, resolve, and achievement. As a Congress, we owe it to NASA to create an environment that promotes creativity rather than one that prevents innovation.

Unfortunately, I deeply regret this House has not fully empowered the men and women of NASA to meet the challenges of our Nation in the 21st century. Instead of providing it the tools needed to thrive in energy innovation, the Democratic majority chose to handcuff NASA when it enacted section 526 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.

Section 526 placed an artificial limitation on the ability of Federal agencies, including NASA, to utilize alternative fuel sources for their energy needs; even if they could be safely developed within the United States. These domestic energy sources would reduce the cost of fuel and save the American taxpayers billions of dollars.

While families across the Nation pay higher and higher prices for their own fuel needs at the pump, section 526 ensures that they will also bear the full cost of the Federal Government's fuel needs, no matter how high they may go. That, Mr. Speaker, is an inconvenient truth that even politicians turned documentary filmmakers can understand.

This motion to recommit will provide a waiver for NASA from this misguided provision. It will also foster the American innovative and competitive spirit by putting in place prizes for the private sector to work with domestic sources of energy that are readily available--coal, oil shale, tar sands, and biomass--to develop liquid fuels that will reduce costs.

Mr. Speaker, today nearly a year and a half after Speaker Pelosi promised the American people a ``common-sense plan'' to bring down gas prices, the price of a gallon of gasoline is $4.08. This marks an increase of $1.75 since the beginning of the 110th Congress, a nearly 75 percent increase since the Democrats took control. Indeed, a Pelosi premium that is wrecking this economy.

Since we are the people's House, one might presume that the Democrats would listen to the American people. However, the 20 percent of Americans who favor suing our way to lower gas prices have trumped the nearly 60 percent of Americans who favor domestic drilling. Perhaps this is motivated out of a deference to the trial lawyers and environmental extremist groups who are, shall we say, ``closely tied to the Democratic Caucus.''

Mr. Speaker, this same establishment is preventing us today from extracting oil shale in the western United States in which an estimated 1.2 trillion barrels of petroleum is trapped in porous shale rock, of which 70 percent is on public Federal land. That is exactly where it is going to stay, trapped as long as section 526 remains intact.

Whatever action this Congress does take, a repeal of section 526 is in order--or at the very least a waiver, grant a waiver as this motion to recommit proposes--so we do not hinder progress at the very agency that has been on the cutting edge of technology for these last 50 years. But time after time, in the committee rooms of the House, in the Rules Committee and on the floor of this body, my Democratic colleagues have refused to address section 526 in any meaningful way.

And let me point out, Mr. Speaker, the Lampson amendment does virtually nothing. It only allows us to continue importing oil from Canada, our largest source of imported oil because it might contain just a little trace of petroleum that was obtained from tar sands. That's all that does.

If this Congress insists on sacrificing American competitiveness and innovation on the altar of environmental extremism, then it will be one small step for NASA, but one giant leap for Greenpeace.

Mr. Speaker, this is about more than the pain at the pump. It is also about the spirit of discovery and innovation that is the backbone of our great Nation. The decisions we make today will not only impact this generation, but generations to come. We can either provide American engineers and innovators the tools they need to realize limitless opportunities for the American people, or this majority can continue to put up arbitrary roadblocks that stymie their potential.

Now, while I believe that many on the other side have good intentions, I cannot sit idly by while the Democratic Leadership seems to care more about a carbon footprint than an American footprint on Mars. I cannot sit idly by while this Majority continues to say ``no'' to American entrepreneurship in energy exploration. I cannot sit idly by while this Majority seems content to blame the President or the previous Republican Congress.

Blaming the past while ignoring the future is not leadership; that's not why the American people award Majority status to one party or another.

The American people awarded you the leadership reins to solve the problems our country faces on a daily basis, and nothing is more important than our energy independence. I therefore challenge the Democrats and all of my colleagues to start solving the biggest problem facing our country today, energy independence, by supporting this Motion to Recommit with its instructions to relieve NASA of the shackles of section 526.

Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

I urge my colleagues to oppose this motion to recommit. For the last 8 years, our Nation's energy policies have been a fiasco. Gasoline prices are skyrocketing, our dependence on foreign oil is growing, and we are fueling dangerous global warming.

Yet when the Democrats passed even modest reforms that say we need to invest in cleaner fuels, not dirtier ones, the Republican leadership brings forth a motion to repeal them.

This motion would repeal a provision in the energy bill, the Energy Independence and Security Act, that Congress passed last year. In that bill we included a provision that said tax dollars should not be used to purchase new

types of fuels that would cause more global warming than conventional gasoline and diesel fuels. This provision was not controversial. It had broad support, and it would be foolhardy to invest our tax dollars in new fuels that would make us face a greater global warming problem.

Now there have been misconceptions about all of this, and that is why I was pleased the House just adopted overwhelmingly the Lampson amendment. Some of the misconceptions about section 526 say that it would affect the oil companies. But, in fact, the oil companies and other energy companies can do what they want with their own money. If they want to invest in dirtier fuels, they can. This just says the taxpayers are not going to be used to subsidize them.

Some people say section 526 would prevent NASA and other agencies from buying generally available fuel that contains small amount of fuel from tar sands. Well that's not accurate, and the Lampson amendment makes it clear that we could continue to import fuel from Canada. And in all of the acres that are not being drilled on now throughout the west, they can be drilled and this section is not keeping them from drilling. They could be drilled if the oil companies wanted to do it.

Section 526 does not prohibit investments in coal-based fuels so long as the fuels would be as clean as conventional gasoline and diesel fuel.

Global warming is real and it is dangerous and threatens our health, our environment, our economy and our national security. We have to stop making things worse before they will get better. That is a philosophy that makes no sense. And what's worse is this motion to recommit would be a motion that says ``promptly'' and that means that it would kill the legislation by sending the bill back to committee. The bill gives NASA the resources it needs to ensure that those investments are effective. It will enhance NASA's work, and we should not vote for this motion to recommit that would kill the legislation.

Parliamentary Inquiry

Madam Speaker, I too rise in support of the resolution. National Public Radio is important. KPBS in my hometown represents a voice that provides a plethora of information that would not otherwise be available.

Some of the information that I hope they would provide would be to get to the true causes of our high oil prices. In San Diego, Public Broadcasting is playing a role in saying that $5 gas is unacceptable. Unfortunately, Madam Speaker, public radio is not yet making us aware of just why it is so high.

The fact that over 2 billion acres are not available for exploration of oil and gas in California is part of the reason that last weekend I paid $5-plus for a gallon of gas in my home district. That, Madam Speaker, is in fact something that we need to take care of. We need to have public radio and all of our communications systems running on full bore.

I do note, Madam Speaker, that this is an April resolution. This is a resolution that we are so far behind in the important business of the House, we are only getting to now celebrating April of 2008 for Public Broadcasting. I find it interesting that we were so busy, and yet we didn't have time to find out what were the real causes of high oil and gas prices, why America is importing half a trillion dollars a year of other people's oil and a similar growing amount of natural gas and other resources.

So I would hope that when we get this April legislation off our plate, we would turn to the important issues of the day, certainly the incredibly high price of gas in my home district, caused by a lack of domestic exploration.

And if we have just a little time, perhaps we could find out why in the midst of the sub-S meltdown, we discover that Members of this body and Members of the body on the other side of the dome were in fact getting special deals that saved themselves tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars on their home mortgages. These investigations need to happen, because we need to solve the problem of how America finds itself with financial meltdown. We need to find out what it is going to take to get American oil and high-paying American jobs flowing again.

Madam Speaker, I would yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

I think all of you have been watching the news the last few days out in the Midwest and Iowa. This is the Iowa delegation here, of course.

It's been tough, it's been really rugged, and I think you know that, because you've been watching the news. It's devastating to communities to see what's going on when you have a flood. I know last Saturday, for example, all of us have been in and out of the emergency operating centers, and I flew over the district, flew up to Vinton, Iowa, those of you know. I went close to Waterloo and then down to Belle Plaine, around up to Vinton and then down over Iowa City, Cedar Rapids. It was really tough.

When you see a little town where all you see is rooftops, you know that there is a lot of pain there, fields flooded and so on. We are just very appreciative that the people have really bonded together.

I will just say this, and I would guess every one of us could bear testimony. For example, I was talking to some of the folks in one of the emergency operations centers, and after he told me all the things that were going on there, losing their power plant, this, that and many things, I said, how are you feeling?

They said, you know, we're like family. It's bonded us together, and we're going to conquer this. We hope that we could, of course, have some help.

I was reminded of that just yesterday when I was here for a moment of personal privilege, or the 1-minute, as we call it, and was asked to give the Pledge, and so I did. Of course, the part of the pledge that says ``one Nation, under God, indivisible,'' and that word ``indivisible'' all of a sudden meant so much to me, because we are a great country, and we won't have to face this alone. We know that.

I wanted to appreciate that to all of you. All the damage to businesses and homes and everything else is tough, and that's all up and down the whole way from Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana or Illinois, Missouri, right on down the river. That whole area is under this. Businesses and homes can be rebuilt, but lives are lost and suffering takes place. Over 20 at this point that we know about.

If I could, Madam Chairman, I would like to ask us to take a moment of silence in memory of those that are suffering at this time.

Madam Chairman, I rise in strong support of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2008.

The bill supports NASA's missions and goals in space with a $20 billion authorization that, in addition to funding such important programs as the Hubble Space Telescope and the International Space Station, will also enable NASA to inspire a new generation of Americans through its plans for additional manned space exploration.

The bill continues other important NASA programs including its climate research programs which help us understand how solar radiation and human activities are affecting the Earth's climate; the Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station to deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (an instrument that measures cosmic rays and particulate matter in space); NASA's Science Directorate, which studies Earth and the solar system; and NASA's many inspirational educational programs.

The educational programs are of particular importance as current science and engineering workers across the country begin to retire. To help ensure that the U.S. continues to meet the growing demand for scientists, mathematicians and engineers, it is important that Congress supports programs that encourage more young people to pursue careers in the sciences.

I want to especially acknowledge one such program--the NASA Goddard High School Internship Program which has educated and inspired students across this country--including some from my district. The NASA Goddard High School Internship Program is a research intensive program allowing interns to apply science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines to ``real time'' research. The program enables students to work on projects relevant to NASA's goals and then share the results of their research with NASA management, personnel and fellow interns.

I commend NASA for the role it continues to play in helping maintain and strengthen the vitality of science and engineering in the United States and for its ongoing efforts to inspire, educate and engage our young people.