Chris Chocola

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6131) to permit certain expenditures from the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6131, a bill that would permit certain expenditures from the Leaking Underground Storage Trust Fund. I want to thank the Energy and Commerce Committee for their leadership in assisting to move this bill forward, and I urge my colleagues to join me in passing this legislation.

Moneys appropriated from the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund, which is often referred to as the LUST trust fund, are used for detection, prevention and clean-up of leaking underground storage tanks in order to reduce water pollution. This bill would codify within the Internal Revenue Code an updated list of permitted expenditures from the fund as sought by the Energy and Commerce Committee and the Environmental Protection Agency within the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

This bill should not be controversial, as it is in everyone's interest to keep our Nation's drinking water from being contaminated. In addition, the bill has no spending or revenue effect.

H.R. 6131 will allow the LUST trust fund to be used for expanding corrective action in response to releases from underground storage tanks, including those containing MTBEs, and will provide additional measures to protect groundwater.

It will expand Federal and State enforcement efforts, improve prevention measures and compliance, and expand inspections of underground storage tanks. Mr. Speaker, we have the opportunity today to join together and continue our efforts to keep our Nation's water supply clean. I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this legislation.

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

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I think the bottom line is that the Energy Policy Act of 2005 authorized an additional $400 million annually for inspection, prevention and cleanup of our water supply; and without passage of this legislation, none of that money can be spent, regardless if you agree with the level of appropriations or not.

So I think it is important that we pass this piece of legislation, and I encourage my colleagues to support it.

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

Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

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

Mr. Chairman, I think one of the greatest luxuries in life would be to own your own airplane. In fact, I think maybe one of the greater luxuries would be to have somebody else own the airplane and let you fly on it whenever you want and they pay the bill.

Well, Mr. Chairman, that is pretty much the arrangement that the senior management at the National Aeronautics Space Administration, better known as NASA, has. A recent GAO reports that, over a 2-year period, NASA employees took 1,188 flights on private jets at a cost of $25 million or five times the cost of commercial tickets.

I understand that at times NASA has appropriate uses for private jets, like when they do aeronautical research, but I do not think it is appropriate for routine visits, meetings, conferences and speeches. The GAO found that 86 percent of the trips taken on these private jets specifically are prohibited by Federal policy regarding aircraft ownership.

Mr. Chairman, that is 1,022 trips on private jets by NASA employees that are specifically prohibited and paid for by the American taxpayers.

Because NASA has been largely unresponsive to previous GAO recommendations to remedy this situation, the GAO has actually asked for congressional consideration of legislation to restrict NASA's ownership of passenger aircraft and funding for passenger aircraft services to those needed solely to meet valid mission requirements.

Mr. Chairman, this position is clearly indefensible. It is time to put an end to unresponsive management violating established policies, flying on private jets at the taxpayers' expense simply for personal convenience.

So I encourage my colleagues to support this amendment to achieve that result, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I thank Chairman Wolf for his support and for his hard work on this appropriations bill, and in an effort to not talk myself out of a sale, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. Chairman, not a day goes by that I am not amazed by the waste of tax dollars by Federal agencies. Sometimes the waste is a result of bad management. Sometimes it is the result of willful violation of established policies, but it is always inexcusable.

A recent GAO report reveals just how bad it can get. In March of 2006, the GAO found that the State Department is wasting nearly $100 million a year on unauthorized premium travel. In 2004, the State Department spent $140 million on premium travel; that is usually business class travel, and 67 percent of that travel was either not justified, not properly authorized or both. And that resulted in $94 million of taxpayer money wasted.

Not only is the fact that the money was wasted troubling, but the management practice of disregarding what it cost when it is not your own money is a cause for great concern. As an example, most of the authorizations for the premium travel came from subordinates of those that were traveling who told the GAO that they were afraid to challenge senior executives of the State Department for violating established travel policies.

It is not just an excusable practice of putting subordinates in intimidating positions at work here; it is also a lack of basic management practices. As an example, GAO also found that although government tickets that are purchased and not used are fully refundable, the practice of the State Department is not to bother to try to reconcile tickets that are purchased and not used, which resulted in a flat-out waste of $6 million of taxpayer money.

Mr. Chairman, my amendment simply requires the State Department personnel to follow established travel policies, and it is an understatement to say that it is unfortunate that I even have to come to the floor and offer this amendment.

I guess we have to send a clear message to senior State Department officials that when they are traveling on

their own dime, they can sit wherever they want on a plane, but when you are traveling on the taxpayers' dime, you should follow established policies and sit in the back of the plane.

Although I understand that flying coach can be cruel and unusual punishment, I think that those that willfully waste the taxpayer dollars for personal comfort are getting off easy if we pass this amendment.

I encourage my colleagues to support it.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Once again, Mr. Chairman, I thank Chairman Wolf for his hard work and his support.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to honor the memory of an exceptional young woman. Less than 2 months ago, the community of Michigan City, Indiana, celebrated when they heard the good news. Megan Jesse, one of their own, was selected as the Second District's first place winner in the Congressional Art Competition. Today, unfortunately, the same northern Indiana community mourns her sudden and tragic passing.

Megan had just completed her junior year at Michigan City High School where she was a member of the Wolves ladies' soccer team. She was on her way to soccer camp with fellow teammate Katherine Stoll on Friday when they were involved in an automobile accident. Katherine was seriously injured, and Megan tragically lost her life.

Just hours before, Megan and her parents were busy planning their visit to Washington, D.C. They were coming to Capitol Hill today to attend the Congressional Art Competition's dedication ceremonies. Photography was one of Megan's favorite hobbies, and it was her artistic photo project, ``Highlights,'' that was chosen from Indiana's Second District to hang here in the Capitol building.

When I attended the awards ceremony at Indiana University South Bend, Megan talked about her love of art and her inspiration for her winning piece. At first she was going to portray a towering lighthouse on the shores of Lake Michigan. But when she got to the beach, something else caught her eye, a simple picturesque lifeguard tower looking out over the water. Megan photographed this scene instead, and she was able to capture it with striking effect.

She said she chose the scene because of her love of the beach, and she wanted to express her feelings and emotions in a way that could be shared with others. I think it is truly fitting that her artwork will now hang in the United States Capitol where it can be enjoyed by thousands of visitors and passersby.

Sadly, Megan and her family will not be here for the Congressional Art Competition's ribbon-cutting ceremony this week, but we will still celebrate the accomplishments of a gifted young woman whose life was cut short by tragedy. To thousands of visitors to our Nation's Capitol and to my colleagues in Congress, the next time you walk through the tunnel in the Capitol, stop to consider the picture from the Second District of Indiana, Megan Jesse's picture, and remember this part of her life that she so graciously shared with us.

Mr. Speaker, I know I speak for all of my colleagues when I say that we honor her life and her work and that our thoughts and prayers are with Megan's family at this very difficult time.