Supporting the goals and ideals of the Intermediate Space Challenge in Mojave, California.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman yielding.

I also rise in support today of what this would mean to our young people in this country. In my old State Senate district I represented an area in Erie County near Plum Brook Station, which is a large NASA testing facility. Just to the east of there, we had NASA Glenn, which is in Cuyahoga County.

The things that we can do and achieve in this country through the space program are limitless. However, if we stand by what we are seeing happening across Congress today with this cap-and-tax legislation, we are in trouble.

One of the things I am proud of is the fact that in my Fifth Congressional District I represent an area where we manufacture solar panels with First Solar. We have another company coming on line this fall that will also be in solar manufacturing. We also in my district have wind turbines, ethanol, hydrogen, biomass, and we are doing all these things in the alternative.

Also though it is very, very important in this country that we have that base load capacity that we have to have to be able to manufacture, that we have to have if we want to continue to be able to be independent in this country, especially when we are talking about manufacturing in the new age of space. We have to make sure that we have these homegrown companies here today. It is going to be very, very difficult to do that if we don't have the manufacturing capacity and if we also don't have that base load capacity.

One of the things we have found, of course, is that we don't have that base load capacity in certain areas, and we also don't have the ability of being able to go out there on the nuclear facilities. I think 1977 was the last time that we had a nuclear facility permitted in this country. And the problem that we have today is if we want to have more nuclear, to be able to produce more power, to be able to keep our manufacturing capacity, it is going to be very tough to do, because a lot of these parts are no longer made in this country.

We have to go overseas to buy these if we can get them today. And some of the very large components are made in Japan. And there's a long waiting list because so many countries are out there wanting to build nuclear facilities and keep up that base load capacity. Why is it important?

Well, again, if we don't utilize that all-of-the-above policy of not only having the alternatives because we all want to make sure in this country that we have a clean environment, but we also want to make sure that we have nuclear, clean coal, oil, natural gas and geothermal.

We've all seen the headlines in the paper of course where, you know, CBO score saying that we're looking at $846 billion on this new cap- and-tax, which would be a massive energy tax on the American people. But at the same time, as the gentlelady from Tennessee was just talking about, is the tremendous cost on individuals.

One of the analyses from the Heritage Foundation shows that they're looking at around a $4,300 per year tax on an average family. And how do they get to that number? It says, our $1,500 number is just the direct impact of household energy bills. Your energy bill, your natural gas bill, your home heating bill, and of course the amount of gas you put in your tank, and that would be around $1,500.

But also, there is that ripple effect that goes through the economy that takes it up to $4,300. And in the year 2035 alone, the cost is $8,276, and the cost per family for the whole energy tax aggregated from 2012 to 2030 is $116,680.

And compare it if we did not have a cap-and-tax, the real GDP losses increase an additional $2 trillion, from $7.4 trillion under the original draft to $9.6 trillion under the new draft.

Compared to no cap-and-trade, the average economic or unemployment increases an additional 261,000 jobs, from 844,000 lost jobs under the original draft to 1.1 million jobs under the new draft.

Also, interesting enough in the paper today in the Washington Times is an article, ``GDP hit found with cap, trade.'' This is from the Brookings Institution. ``The Brookings Institution on Monday said cap- and-trade legislation to reduce carbon dioxide emissions would lower the Nation's gross domestic product in 2050 by 2.5 percent, compared with levels it would reach if the legislation is not implemented.''

It also says that, ``About 35 percent of crude-oil-related jobs and 40 percent of coal-related jobs would be lost in 2025.''

It goes on to say: ``It assumes that the majority of workers would find new jobs, but the net job loss would be 0.5 percent over the first 10 years that the legislation is in effect.''

I don't think that this country can afford it because, again, to go on, you know, when you're looking at reducing the aggregate gross GDP by $9.6 trillion, destroying 1.1 million jobs, raising electric rates, as the gentlelady from Tennessee just mentioned, by 90 percent after adjusting for inflation, seeing gasoline prices up to 74 percent, raising residential natural gas prices by 55----

I appreciate the gentleman for yielding.

--raising natural gas prices by 55 percent, raising an average family's annual energy bill by $1,500, and again, increase the inflation-adjusted Federal debt by 26 percent, or $29,150 additional Federal debt per person after adjusting for inflation.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania, and I do rise to support the Intermediate Space Challenge.

Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, many of the young people that are growing up and participating in this are going to find they are going to grow up in a very different America than we have grown up in because of the increase in taxes that are taking place every single day and the way this crowds out opportunity for young people.

Indeed, my colleagues across the aisle have become the party of punishment, and that is what I am hearing from my constituents as I traveled across the Seventh Congressional District this past week, and they are very, very concerned.

What they are telling me is they know that clean air and clean water and clean energy are important, and, Mr. Speaker, I think we as politicians would say we are even for clean mud. We are just not for taxing people out of their house and home to pay for clean energy. And that is exactly what this cap-and-trade bill, or cap-and-tax, as we call it, cap our growth, tax our people, trade our jobs, and that is what it is going to do, as the Democrats put a price on the very air that we breathe.

The cap-and-trade bill that came out of the Energy and Commerce Committee last week, the Federal building standards that are in that bill are of concern to our Realtors, to our commercial property holders, knowing that there will be these standards that are going to be very, very difficult for them to comply with, knowing that there are going to be energy audits put on their houses, knowing that they are going to have to buy carbon credits if they don't have solar panels on their roof or a windmill in the yard, knowing that they literally are going to see the air that they breathe taxed.

As my colleague from Georgia had previously said, you know, groceries don't grow in a grocery store. They don't grow in a grocery store, Mr. Speaker; they grow out in the fields. They require this carbon dioxide in order to grow and be green and be healthy and provide the food and the forestation that we need here in the United States and certainly around the globe.

The cap-and-trade bill is something that is going to limit opportunity. It is something that we are going to see affect jobs and future jobs. We know that it is expected to cost us over 1 million jobs lost and that we are going to see our unemployment numbers rise substantially, and we are going to see our electricity rates go up by 90 percent.

When we were in committee, we offered an amendment that would have ended cap-and-trade if gas went over $5 a gallon. Mr. Speaker, our colleagues across the aisle sought to defeat that.

We said, let's end it if unemployment goes past 15 percent, and our colleagues across the aisle said no, they were not going to end it if employment went past 15 percent.

We said, let's tell everybody what this costs, how much is it increasing the cost of your electric power, how much is it increasing the cost of the gas you buy, how much is it increasing the cost of the food you eat. And our colleagues across the aisle said no, they were not going to disclose that and vote for and support that amendment.

We even offered an amendment that would protect the innovators of tomorrow who are going to solve the energy issues that we have before us, and they sought not to provide that intellectual property protection for all these young boys and girls, many who are going through the Intermediate Space Challenge now, many who will be the innovators of tomorrow, who will solve the energy issues for future decades, who will create the electric cars.

Indeed, when you look at the electric cars and the lithium ion batteries, the three States that hold the most patents for furthering this invention are California, Ohio, and my great State of Tennessee. Intellectual property protection should have been provided for those. Many of those innovators of tomorrow are in this program that we are celebrating. It is very sad that the party of punishment doesn't provide the protection that those young men and women need to be the innovators of tomorrow.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 411) supporting the goals and ideals of the Intermediate Space Challenge in Mojave, California.

Mr. Speaker, I request 5 legislative days during which Members may revise and extend and insert extraneous material on House Resolution 411 into the Record.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support the goals and ideals of the Intermediate Space Challenge in Mojave, California. The Intermediate Space Challenge Program captures children's imaginations as it relates to science, math, space, and experimental learning.

The competition began in response to the Ansari X Prize manned spaceflight contest in 2004, won by Mojave's own SpaceShipOne in 2004. In twin flights from the Mojave Air and Space Port, the spacecraft designed by Burt Rutan took pilots Mike Melvill and Brian Binnie to space and back, claiming a $10 million prize.

Marie Walker originally founded the Intermediate Space Challenge. She coordinated with Stu Witt, Mojave Airport's general manager, and they planned the first challenge in 2004. It has been a great success in the Mojave community. Now in its fifth year, students look forward to the annual competition, with younger students anticipating the time when they are old enough to participate.

The Intermediate Space Challenge hosts a student rocket launch competition, where fourth, fifth, and sixth-grade students compete to build a model rocket that reaches the highest point during launches. Points are awarded on rocket altitude, color, marketing strategy, and spirit. In some cases, the handmade rockets reach up to 600 before parachuting downward.

Individual awards are given in each category, with the overall winner announced at the end of the event. The challenge allows students to work in teams, create a team banner, craft an essay, and develop their small rocket. During the events, many of the students get a chance to view professional rockets and hear how they operate.

The Intermediate Space Challenge fosters great interest in science, in technology, in engineering, and in math among these students and certainly is expected to serve to develop the next great aerospace adventurer of our time.

Mr. Speaker, once again, I express my support for this resolution, and I want to thank Representative McCarthy for bringing this resolution forward. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, does the gentleman from Pennsylvania have any further speakers?

I reserve my time.

I reserve my time, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, decades ago, a global space race inspired all sorts of ingenuity and innovation. It enabled this country to stretch its thinking, provide for lofty opportunities, and emerge with a higher level of status in the global community because it had won that space race.

Providing many, many opportunities, it is indeed the inspiration for today's House Resolution 411, as witnessed through the Intermediate Space Challenge in Mojave, California. Today, we have that same opportunity to stretch our thinking, to provide that loftiness, to be able to emerge with an innovation economy driven by another sort of global race, one called an energy race, which will find the winner to be the exporter of energy innovation, energy thinking, energy ideas, and energy intellect.

And so I think the moves forward by this House can perhaps inspire another

saga of intermediate space challenge. But today we recognize and support the goals and ideals of that great Intermediate Space Challenge through House Resolution 411.

I would encourage our colleagues to support this resolution. It is most meritorious.

I yield back my time, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution, especially in light of our critical need for additional scientists, mathematicians, engineers and related professions. This program that we are recognizing through this resolution is so important to encouraging young people to pursue study in these fields.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 411, a resolution supporting

the goals and ideals of the Intermediate Space Challenge that takes place every year in Mojave, California.

Each May 4th, 5th and 6th graders from school districts around the Mojave Air and Spaceport gather at the Spaceport to show off their homemade rockets and compete to see how far the rockets can actually fly. Points get awarded based on altitude, color, marketing strategy, and spirit of the final product. The Challenge was designed to spark interest in the science and engineering career fields early in a student's educational career. The hands-on nature of the event allows students to see how the concepts they learn about in the classroom can be applied to actually make a rocket soar.

We have all heard about the critical need for American scientists, mathematicians, engineers and other professionals in the Science, Technology, Engineering or Math--STEM--fields for short. For that reason, we passed the America COMPETES Act last Congress. We have also continued to think about the importance of STEM throughout the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act and I expect it to be a big topic of conversation when we start on the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind. with several leaders in the area of STEM education on our Committee, such as Representatives Ehlers, McMorris-Rodgers and Holt, we have ensured that programs such as the Adjunct Teacher Corps got incorporated into our education laws. Through the Adjunct Teacher Corps, we allow professionals in STEM fields to come into the classroom to teach or to provide ongoing professional development to classroom teachers who do not have that subject matter expertise. Programs like this and the others included in both the Higher Education Act and the America COMPETES Act demonstrate the federal government's commitment to trying to help fill the shortfall that currently exists in the STEM pipeline.

Programs such as the Intermediate Space Challenge show what local communities are doing to try and light that spark at an early age for students to become interested in STEM subjects. We should recognize these efforts and encourage other communities to utilize their own resources to develop hands-on projects. These types of projects show students how their classroom knowledge can be translated into real life applications. I support the goals and ideals put forward by the Intermediate Space Challenge and I encourage my colleagues to vote in favor of this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the prime sponsor of this legislation, the distinguished gentleman from California (Mr. McCarthy).

I do have additional speakers, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from Tennessee (Mrs. Blackburn).

Mr. Speaker, I have one additional speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Latta).

I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 411, a resolution I introduced that honors the goals and ideals of the Intermediate Space Challenge at the Mojave Air and Space Port located in my district in Mojave, California.

Mojave Air and Space Port has a long history of firsts, from Burt and Dick Rutan's collaboration on the Voyager around-the-world flight in 1986 to 2004's flight of SpaceShipOne, the first privately funded manned spacecraft.

Nearby are Edwards Air Force Base and China Lake Naval Weapons Center, which are cutting-edge research and testing facilities that are continuing to push the envelope. In fact, when I visit the National Air and Space Museum here in Washington, D.C., I feel at home. There are so many aircraft from my district, like SpaceShipOne, Voyager, Chuck Yeager's Glamorous Glennis that broke the sound barrier, and the X-15, which, incidentally, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the X-15's first flight yesterday.

The Intermediate Space Challenge started in 2005 under the direction of Marie Walker. Marie is the CEO of Fiberset, a Mojave company that manufactures composite products and components. She saw an opportunity in and around Mojave to bring together fourth, fifth and sixth-grade students with aerospace leaders to educate them and inspire them to become the next generation of aerospace pioneers. I am proud to recognize their hard work on this fifth anniversary year of the program, and I appreciate being able to participate.

Marie Walker and all those who have been instrumental in organizing and executing the Intermediate Space Challenge recognized the opportunities to grab the attention of our students through the Intermediate Space Challenge and get them interested in science and engineering.

Students work in teams to write an essay, create a banner, and then build and design a rocket. They get assistance from high school students as mentors, so the program engages students from multiple age groups. The teams of fourth, fifth and sixth-graders then compete both on rocket performance and on a team spirit. Paralleling the X-Prize's requirement for a privately funded manned spacecraft to go up into space twice in two weeks, students' rockets make two flights.

During the course of the events, the students hear from special guest speakers. Students have heard from aviation pioneers Burt and Dick Rutan and the SpaceShipOne astronauts in past years. Through the words and actions of these real, live aerospace heroes, students can see that the opportunities are limitless.

I appreciate the support of Chairman Miller and Ranking Member McKeon, who are also original cosponsors, and my colleague Jim Costa, who has always been supportive of the activities at the Mojave Air and Space Port.

Congratulations to all the students who have participated in this event. I look forward to many more years of successful student rocket launches, and with that, I am proud to support and bring this resolution to the floor.