Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I was absent for the following vote. Had I been present, I would have voted as follows: ``yes'' on adoption of the rule for Energy and Water Appropriations.

personal explanation

I thank the gentleman from North Dakota. And I'm excited about the opportunity that we have in this country in a bright energy future. I can think of few areas that have held so much promise for job creation, for a new opportunity to impact so many areas of our economy as energy. And it really is energy policies that we're discussing this week that could create over a million jobs around the country, and the policies that we continue to pursue in committee meetings, through legislation and the work that we do to help bring a brighter energy future to this country.

And I'm pleased that the gentleman from North Dakota is leading today's discussion on energy. You know, I've actually seen in my district the benefits of the Bakken Development in Colorado.

Sixty miles away from my hometown is a brand-new business that located in Colorado because of so much activity in North Dakota. They were actually seeing so many people working in North Dakota that they moved to Colorado to expand their operation because they couldn't find enough people to work in North Dakota.

So they moved to my district to create jobs, and they're hiring. They're manufacturing. They've bought a manufacturing business because of energy development in North Dakota.

But the energy success in Colorado isn't reliant on other States around us because we have it in our State as well. In my district, the Fourth Congressional District, it is truly an all-of-the-above energy district. Not only do we have a coal mine in the Fourth Congressional District, but we have wind manufacturing, we have wind turbine manufacturing, wind blade manufacturing, we have solar manufacturing. We have biofuels and are home to one of the Nation's premier oil and gas plays anywhere in the world, the Niobrara shale play.

In fact, in Colorado, over 100,000 people are directly employed or indirectly employed by the oil and gas industry. The average pay of a worker in the oil and gas fields of Colorado is almost $100,000 a year. Average pay of almost $100,000 a year, with benefits. People are able to stay in their home towns to have jobs that they never thought were possible just a decade ago.

I come from a very small town in eastern Colorado; 3,000 people, 67 kids graduated in my high school class. And I can tell you, when I graduated there are only two or three of us that stayed there to work in our hometown. Everybody else moved away to find work elsewhere because they couldn't find work in that small, eastern plains community.

But thanks to natural gas development, thanks to the development that's taken place around the State, they're moving back, they're bringing their families back. They're actually finding those high- paying jobs with good health care benefits, and they're building our communities and making stronger places to live for themselves and their families; $10.2 billion in labor contributions, and contribution to the labor force as a result of oil and gas development in Colorado alone.

In Weld County, we've seen the impacts firsthand of what it means to have an all-of-the-above energy policy. Just two of the over-30 oil and gas companies that are operating in Weld County, just last month paid their 2011 property taxes. These two companies paid a combined property tax to Weld County alone of $150 million. Two checks, $150 million to one county; 40 percent of that $150 million went to the school districts and the community college. That's money that we're investing into the next generation of workforce in this country. That's money that is building a stronger education future for our children.

But it's also developing affordable energy opportunities for this country; and so I hope that as people participate in this discussion around the United States, that they go to Twitter and send their suggestions on energy affordability with the #affordable energy, #affordable energy to participate in a discussion about the future of energy in our country.

And so, Mr. Speaker, I think the opportunity that we have, really, today is to join a discussion about what we're going to look like as a Nation, how to encourage manufacturing, how to encourage new job creation, how to bring companies back to the United States who've left because of the cost of doing business. They can now afford to do business here because of our energy production and energy opportunity.

So join us at #affordable energy on Twitter, and I just appreciate your leadership and the opportunity to be here with you today.

I thank the gentlelady from Alabama for her leadership tonight on this very important issue about the energy future of the United States.

Mr. Speaker, she is right. The conversation that we are having isn't something that is just occurring tonight on the House floor. It's not a conversation that's just occurring inside the beltway of Washington, D.C. It's a conversation about energy that's happening in California, in Virginia, in my home State of Colorado. It's about a strong future for this country. It's about our children finding the kinds of jobs and opportunity that we know they deserve, a kind of country that is growing stronger each and every day with better jobs and a stronger and growing workplace.

Tonight I hope that people, Mr. Speaker, around the country will send thoughts to #AffordableEnergy. Mr. Speaker, if they wish to join in that conversation, they'll be able to participate, and we can all see around the country what's happening with that conversation in their own homes, at their own dinner table tonight at #AffordableEnergy and what it is that they're seeing, whether their utility rates are increasing, whether they have a job in one of the shale plays booming around the country, or perhaps they're trying to find work. And energy presents an incredible opportunity for them to do just that.

Often times in Washington, D.C., you see this fight break down between the House or the Senate or Republicans and Democrats unnecessarily so. We ought to be focused on what's right for this country, not what's right for a political party, not what's right for this group or that group or favoring this special interest. It ought to be about what's good for the American people, the jobs that they're trying to keep and hold on to, the college that they're trying to pay for for their kids, to build a brighter future for their family.

The conversation is one that we know isn't just about left or right. That's not what energy is. Energy is about how we can produce it here in the United States, what we can do in our own backyards to create a more vibrant future. All of us have our own energy experience, whether that's as kids when we were told by our parents to make sure you turn the light off before you leave the house, go up and turn the light off in your bedroom before you go to school, or whether it's today trying to run a business, trying to make sure we're using efficient computers to lower the cost of our utility bill year after year.

I think that you bring up an excellent point about this issue of regulations, about how the President has spent all of this time developing incredibly onerous regulations that will increase the cost of electric generation. It will increase the cost to produce the electricity that each and every one of us use every day at home and at our workplace.

And yet, it has taken years for him to develop this. And concentrating on this, this big announcement today, which will hurt American jobs. It will, indeed, impact negatively the middle class of this country. And yet, there's a project out there, like the Keystone XL pipeline, that he could approve today. After mountains of paperwork have been completed, environmental impact studies completed, people could be put to work today on the Keystone pipeline. Instead of focusing on putting them out of work, instead of focusing on regulations that will hurt our ability to grow the economy, like the President announced today, his plans to disarm our energy plans in this country, the fact is we could have a Keystone XL pipeline putting people back to work.

People that I talk to back in my district strongly support the Keystone pipeline. There are people in Colorado that I've heard from who don't support it. And one of the questions they lead with is: You know, Representative Gardner, it's not really going to create jobs here in Colorado. Well, you know what? We know, thanks to research that's been done, done by a university, the impact of the Alberta oil sands development on U.S. State economies, in Colorado alone, the job increase, thanks to the Alberta oil sands development--and the Keystone XL pipeline is a major part of this--that we would receive about 11,200 new jobs as a result of further development of the Alberta oil sands in Colorado alone. That's 11,000-some jobs that we could benefit from because of the construction of the Keystone pipeline and further development of the Alberta oil sands.

In North Carolina alone, my colleague from North Carolina, 18,400 jobs could come from further development of the Alberta oil sands, the Keystone pipeline being a critical part of that.

And so today, the President announces a plan to make it more difficult to generate electricity, to increase the cost of coal-power generation. His top science adviser has said we need a war on coal. This is the President of the United States saying we need a war on coal--his administration saying that--and yet today we have an opportunity to say ``yes'' to a pipeline to create jobs in this country.

So instead of putting people out of work, why don't we put people into work by approving things like the Keystone pipeline.

And I don't think that there can be any doubt that that's the President's intention under his plan that he announced today. The talk, the conversation, the focus tonight is about affordable energy. And there are people sending tweets around the country right now with the hashtag to affordable energy, hashtag affordable energy, about that very subject tonight.

But if you listen to the pattern of statements the President has made over the past several years, from the time he was a candidate to his administration today, as a candidate, President, then-Senator Obama said: Under my plan, energy rates will necessarily skyrocket.

He said years ago that his energy plan was for energy rates to skyrocket. Just a few years later, when he nominated Secretary Chu to be Department of Energy Secretary, the Secretary of the Department of Energy said he'd like to see gas prices around $8, European level prices of gasoline, doubling what they are today. They're already too high, nearly $4 in Colorado. That's too high.

One of the most stunning things, of course, in the administration is their focus on regulations and a complete lack of focus on that regulation's effect on jobs.

We had an assistant administrator of the EPA come and talk to the Energy and Commerce Committee about whether or not a regulation on energy production was good. And I asked a very simple question, and the question was whether or not there was a jobs analysis that was performed when they issued the regulation; did they look at whether or not jobs would be impacted by this regulation.

And after 5 minutes of what can only be described as an Abbott and Costello ``Who's on First?'' kind of conversation, the answer was clearly no, that this administration did not take into account the impact energy regulations would have on job creation.

And so, as we have a conversation with the country about an all- American energy plan, we have got to realize that not only does it impact the coal-fired power plant or the nuclear plant or the wind farm down the road, but it impacts our families' ability to afford a brighter future.

In Colorado, the district that I represent, we really do have it all. We have a coal mine, and we have wind energy. Not only the wind farms, but we have wind energy manufacturing. We have one of the Nation's most promising oil and gas plays right now in the Niobrara in Weld County. In western Colorado, we have thousands of jobs that are being created and thousands more that could be created if the government would get out of the way and approve the permits that they're holding back on. In fact, the Bureau of Land Management, if they were just to approve a handful of permits waiting right now, it could create over a hundred thousand jobs that this country could put to work right now if these permits were approved.

And so we hear the President talk about an all-of-the-above energy policy and then see his actions go in a complete opposite direction.

One of those promising things about American energy development is not just the fact that it's creating thousands of jobs, but it's the side benefits of the revenue produced and what that revenue goes to. In fact, in Weld County, Colorado, in my district, it's probably the only county in the country that has zero bonded indebtedness because of the natural gas and oil production. They don't have any debt. If they need a road, they pay for it. They pay for it with the money that they've received out of severance tax payments from oil and gas development.

Two companies paid their 2011 property taxes a couple of months ago. They paid $150 million to one single

county. Forty percent of that revenue of $150 million goes to the school districts, goes to the community colleges. So not only are we able to develop affordable energy for the American people, not only are we able to put people to work but we're also doing better things for our schools and our community colleges because that revenue then turns around and goes to the core community institutions that make our country strong.

It is exciting, the energy future of this country. When you see studies that are being done--here's a study that I will cite right here, it says: ``America's shale oil revolution is loosening the grip of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries on global oil markets.'' OPEC. Because of the work that we're doing here in this country, we're loosening the grip of OPEC.

Daniel Yergin, a renowned energy expert, testified before the Energy and Commerce Committee talking about how the energy development in the United States is allowing our sanctions against Iran to work, that we're lessening their ability to sell and fund terrorism activities because we're able to produce it here in the United States, displacing around the world the sale of Iranian oil, the sale of Iranian energy.

So when our colleague from Arkansas talks about the optimism that we have in this country, the people of my district who see it each and every day in little tiny towns that used to have one stop light, that now have a new housing development going up because of the production in the energy field, or traffic that they never had before because they've got activity going to and from the worksite that never existed before. People who graduated from the local high school who for the first time in their lifetimes--maybe even their parents' lifetimes-- know they can stay there in that hometown with their family, with a good-paying job and benefits because of energy development.

We've talked a lot tonight about oil and gas and coal, but in Colorado we do have it all. We have wind energy and solar energy. And it's not just regulations that are blocking the traditional

fossil fuels; it's regulations that are holding up wind energy projects. The ability to site a transmission line, to get the power from the wind farm to the people who use it, is being held up because of governmental regulations.

And so there may be people out there who think that we're just down here talking about regulations on fossil fuels. Well, you know what? It's regulations that are holding up clean energy too. And if we truly cared about affordable energy, if we truly cared about doing something good for our country--which I believe we all do, and the American people are ready for it to happen--then we would get government out of the way and let America work. And our chance is this week.

Mr. Chairman, I seek recognition to offer an amendment at the desk.

I thank the chairman of the Agriculture Committee for the opportunity to be here and for his leadership on this amendment, and also Congressman Jared Polis from Colorado. We worked together on this Emergency Watershed Protection Program.

Over the past couple of years, we've seen incredible wildfires ravage the West in New Mexico, in Colorado, in Wyoming, in Montana, and the Northwest. Millions of acres have been lost. Just this past month alone, over 500 homes have been lost in Colorado in the Black Forest fire.

We know one thing occurs as a result of wildfires, and it's not just the event that occurs during the fire, and it's not just the impact of the burning itself of the fire to the homes, but it's what happens in the days, months and years following a forest fire that leads to millions of dollars worth of damage from a single incident.

In the case of the Hyde Park fire last year, in the case of the Waldo Canyon fire last year and indeed in the case of the Black Forest fire coming up in the coming weeks, we know that when there's moisture, when there's rain and when there's snow, erosion will occur. I'm holding a vial of sediment from a river. It looks like dirt. It's black. But it actually came from a river after a forest fire in Colorado. Millions of dollars of damage has been done to the ecosystem as a result of a fire making runoff destroy transportation systems, clog culverts and impact drinking water systems.

The Emergency Watershed Protection Program has been a critical program that helps communities prepare for and mitigate damage from natural disaster. As wildfires continue to hit the Western United States, this program will continue to do great good.

Last year was an unusually devastating year for wildfires in the United States. Across the country, 67,000 wildfires burned over 9 million acres. Significant wildfires occurred in almost every State of the Nation.

Our amendment today is simple. It requires the Secretary of Agriculture to give priority consideration for the use of the Emergency Watershed Protection funding for projects that prevent and mitigate the impacts of catastrophic wildfires. It does not prevent Emergency Watershed Program funding from being used for other types of disasters, but the EWP program has aided countless communities to protect public safety in the wake of the West's most destructive wildfires.

Before a wildfire, the Emergency Watershed Protection Program helps communities mitigate future wildfire damage by protecting critical watersheds. After a wildfire, EWP helps communities stabilize burned slopes to protect drinking water and infrastructure, prevent erosion and minimize potential hazards that cause immediate threats to people and property.

The amendment is supported by the entire Colorado House delegation, and I thank Congressman Polis for his support and work on this amendment. I urge a ``yes'' vote.

I reserve the balance of my time.

I thank the chairman, and at this point I yield 2 minutes to my colleague from Colorado (Mr. Polis). Congressman Polis and I have worked closely together over the past couple of years as wildfires have affected our districts. His district currently has a wildfire burning as we enter this debate right now.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Chair, today I rise in support of my amendment to

H.R. 1960, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014. This amendment gives the land owners and ranchers in the Pinon Canyon community of Southeast Colorado peace of mind and economic certainty by requiring Congressional approval in order for the Department of Defense to expand Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site (PCMS) near Fort Carson, Colorado. It also requires specific appropriation approval for PCMS expansion.

The passage of this amendment would represent a major step forward in providing assurance for the people of Southeast Colorado, who for the last several years have been subjected to a constant state of uncertainty over possible PCMS expansion into their lands. Despite an annual funding ban placed on the Department of the Army that effectively prohibits the expansion of the boundaries of PCMS, my constituents wonder every year whether the rules will change and the rug will be swept from under their feet. Today I ask my colleagues to come together to create a permanent fix. With the passage of this amendment, there would be stringent guidelines that restrict the expansion of PCMS, fully codifying that Congress must vote on PCMS land acquisition, that the appropriation must be authorized, and that the appropriation must be made.

Make no mistake, the soldiers at Fort Carson exemplify the finest and bravest our nation has to offer. By removing the uncertainty surrounding expansion plans for the PCMS, we believe relations with surrounding communities will stabilize and greatly improve. Our armed forces are focused on defending freedom, and the specter of PCMS expansion has served only as a distraction to those on base and those in neighboring communities.

Few other places in the U.S. have this level of statutory protection. In fact, a Congressional authorization for a specific land acquisition is unique to this amendment. I am pleased to help provide assurance to the farmers, ranchers, and families of Southeast Colorado that there will be no expansion of Pinon Canyon without the deliberation and explicit approval of Congress.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding time.

I rise today in support of Senate Bill 622, the Animal Drug and Animal Generic Drug User Fee Reauthorization Act of 2013.

This legislation will reauthorize two very important programs at the Food and Drug Administration that will provide farmers, ranchers, pet owners, and veterinarians with speedy access to medications that they need for the treatment of herds and pets.

I would like to thank Senator Harkin for leading its passage in the U.S. Senate, and I would also like to thank Congressman Shimkus for his leadership with the House version of H.R. 1407.

These programs have been a success story at the FDA, and this legislation will ensure that drug approvals are done efficiently and to the highest quality standards. ADUFA and AGDUFA expire at the start of September, and we will need to pass this reauthorization today to assure there is no delay for animal caretakers and livestock producers. This bill will also help companies that develop and manufacture animal drugs by providing predictable time lines. It will also help them to benefit from a more stable review process so they can make decisions about where to invest research dollars.

Colorado has a thriving livestock industry which supports rural communities and economic strength for the entire State. I said this during the committee markup of H.R. 1407: there is more livestock in my district than people, or at least that's what I'm told. Colorado is also home to one of the Nation's premier schools of veterinary medicine at Colorado State University. Keeping livestock animals healthy, in particular, is crucial to ensuring our own health, not to mention the health of our family pets. The ADUFA and AGDUFA program keeps our food healthy and safe, while the application of animal drugs poses no risk to animal health.

I had the honor of introducing, with bipartisan support, H.R. 1408, the Animal Generic Drug User Fee Act, or AGDUFA. The bill was later incorporated into H.R. 1407. This program at FDA has achieved noteworthy success since first being authorized in 2008. The FDA has decreased a backlog of applications and reduced the review time for new generic drug applications. The reauthorization of this program will continue this success and allow our animal caretakers and livestock producers to utilize cost savings associated with generic medications.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor and in gratitude, for all of the fallen and their families this Memorial Day. I submit this poem penned in their honor by Albert Caswell.

The Greatest Gift

The . . .

The Greatest Gift!

As such as this,

is a many splendor thing!

To lay down ones life,

is but the brightest of all bright!

To go off to war,

all for your Nation . . . to so insure!

Our freedom to so bring!

As throughout the years . . .

As have so come here!

All of our most precious of all Daughter's and Son's,

who have so persevered!

With courage clear,

as the face of death upon them so appeared!

And for all of their lost loves,

we now hold so very high above so very dear!

The ones who so went off to war,

all for our freedoms to so insure!

To do what must so be done!

For these are the ones,

who so lived and so died and did so not ask why!

As the Angels up in heaven all for them so cried!

And, all of those families who so now live without!

As their pain and their heartache so seems to mount!

Until, up in Heaven again they all so meet on this you can

count!

As all of their loved ones tears now so fall to the ground!

The Mother's! The Father's! The Sister's! The Brother's!

The Son's and The Daughters!

Who together no longer so remain!

Who so gave all that they so could!

But For The Greater Good!

The Ones Who So Heard The Call!

The Ones Who So Stood So Very Tall!

To Do What Must So Be Done!

On Earth as it is In Heaven,

In Thy Kingdom Come!

To take up that flight,

in The Army of Our Lord to so overcome!

To so watch over us all day and night!

And This Is Their Blood,

that which now so runs!

And these are the tears,

that which your families have now so begun!

And these are all of their dreams that which will so never

become!

For this is The Day . . .

that which so all portrays . . .

America's very heart to so everyone!

So give thanks,

to all of those Yanks who lie now deep in the cold dark

ground!

On This Memorial Day,

forget not what they all so gave!

And the families who with their tears will all so pay!

As on your knees,

I bid you please to so say a prayer for all of these!

Who but with their fine lives so bought us peace!

The ones who so lived and so died,

while all of their families so cried . . .

Who so fought all of those Wars which were waged!

With but their fine lives that they gave,

was but the high price of Freedom paid!

Sadly,

for any Nation to so live free!

For any Nation to so find her most blessed peace!

Her most precious of all Son's and Daughters,

must lay down into the ground so very deep!

Is but the cruel and high cost of most precious liberty!

North, South, West, and so East!

On This Memorial Day,

please . . . please . . . Remember All of These!

And so say a prayer!

Amen!

I thank the chairman for yielding time and leading this great debate.

You know, we've heard a lot of talk today about job creation, about the number of jobs that would be created by the Keystone pipeline.

As somebody who actually lives above the Ogallala Aquifer, I hate to break it to people in this Chamber who apparently don't believe it, but we actually have pipelines already above the Ogallala Aquifer.

We have jobs being created right now because of energy opportunity in the United States and Canada. The fact that we can create 20,000 jobs is a good thing, the fact that the National Federation of Independent Businesses support this pipeline; The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, manufacturers, the labor unions support the construction of this pipeline.

It saddens me to think that this debate has come down to a debate over job snobs, people who believe that these aren't the kinds of jobs that we want, the kind of people that we want working on these jobs. It's not about whether this is a pipeline that is good

or bad for the environment. It's people who believe that these aren't the kinds of jobs that we want in this country. I think it's a shame that we're having that debate on the House floor right now.

These jobs are good enough for America. These are the kinds of jobs that we want--high-paying jobs to put people to work, to feed families, to present opportunities for the American people in a country that has seen unemployment far too high for far too long.

It's time the hijacking of this agenda ends. Let's develop our own energy in North America.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize 13 young Americans from my district that all received appointments to the prestigious U.S. military academies. As these young men and women prepare for their graduation from high school and look forward to the opportunities and challenges that they will face in the coming years, I would like to take a moment to pause and reflect on what they have already accomplished.

This year's group of appointees is made up of Eagle Scouts, team captains, talented musicians, and passionate stewards of the community. Their teachers, coaches, and neighbors have described members of this class as exceptionally hard workers, both in the classroom and on the playing field. Collectively, they averaged a 4.06 GPA.

Through all of their activities, two qualities have shined brightest: Leadership and Integrity. These qualities will serve them well as they grow into tomorrow's leaders in the Armed Forces and beyond.

The members of this group are truly among the best and brightest of our country. Their numerous achievements, dedication to America, and their limitless potential for future greatness have renewed my faith and belief that America's best days lie ahead.

Please join me in wishing these young adults success in all their future endeavors.

I thank the gentleman from California for his comments today and would point out that in just a little bit we're going to hear from one of the sponsors of a hydropower bill that will make a significant difference in this State. And something that we ought to be doing more of is taking advantage of that clean, renewable energy resource.

I would yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Mississippi, Alan Nunnelee.

I thank the gentleman from Mississippi.

I now yield to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tipton), who has been a sponsor of hydropower legislation to make this country stronger in terms of energy security.

I thank the gentleman from Colorado.

May I inquire of the Speaker how much time I have remaining.

I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Reed), the chair of the Natural Gas and Manufacturing Caucus.

I thank the gentleman from New York.

Mr. Speaker, the other night when I was driving home from a meeting in one of my rural counties--it was about 8 o'clock, 9 o'clock at night, it was dark outside--I drove by a field of windmills. At nighttime, you can see that red light flashing across 100 wind turbines, and then of course the natural gas development that's taking place right next to it. So, Mr. Speaker, this Nation has an opportunity for energy security. It's not next year; it's now.

I thank my colleagues for joining this debate on American energy today and look forward to continued conversations throughout this year.

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

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that H.R. 763 be rereferred to the Committee on Ways and Means and, in addition, to the Committee on Energy and Commerce.

I thank you for your leadership on this issue tonight, and I thank you for appealing to the American people so we can hear from them so that we can have conversations with people who are struggling to make ends meet, people who are finding innovations to make our economy work, to find those things that are going to lead our country forward. It is a great opportunity and privilege to be here with you talking about ideas from the Working Families Flexibility Act that you mentioned that you're working so hard on--I am a proud cosponsor of that bill--but also ways that we are going to find solutions for people across this country who are raising families, trying to pay for college, trying to pay the energy bill for the month, and I think we in Congress have an incredible opportunity to get government out of the way and let America work, to unleash the innovators and the entrepreneurs around this great Nation.

Over the past couple of years, we've held dozens of town meetings, whether they're in southeastern Colorado, northeastern Colorado, the Denver metro area, the new parts of my district, talking to families who are struggling to make ends meet, people who have had to pick up a second job just to try to pay the bills.

As we talk about making life work--and I believe you said the hash tag was #makinglifework--I would love to hear from you, Mr. Speaker, and people around the country on what really does make life work for them and how we can help be a part of these solutions.

So, as a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee from a district in eastern Colorado, I have been working on policies like energy to make sure that energy continues to be an affordable option for families, an affordable commodity, whether it's manufacturing, whether it's simply going home after work to turn the heat on during a cold winter.

I drove this morning from Yuma, Colorado, all of the way to Denver. It usually takes about 2 hours. This morning it took about 4 hours thanks to another big snowstorm. Here we are late April, and the heat is on, and what we're doing to make energy affordable so families can afford that, so that families in the middle of summer can afford to run their air conditioner and drive to the family baseball game. It is about creating opportunities for families.

We have an incredible energy renaissance in this country, a revolution, really, when you're talking about energy.

In eastern Colorado, we have seen new technologies that can produce American resources that must and have to be a part of an all-American energy plan, an all-American energy plan that will rely not on somebody thousands of miles away from us, not on somebody overseas, but right in our own backyard--our neighbors, maybe other family members, people in our communities who can produce the energy that we use each and every moment of our lives to better the lives of our families, to create the next product that will ignite an entire economy. But we can't do that unless we have an affordable energy policy. That's why an all-American energy plan is so important, and that's why it's an absolute

and fundamental key to making life work for so many people across this country--what we can do with natural gas, a clean burning fuel developed and extracted right in Colorado, what we can do to use the oil, the wind power, the solar power that we are utilizing in Colorado to make life work for families.

And how does life work? I think we're all facing that each and every day. I have two kids, struggling to get from place to place, trying to make sure, whether it's our daughter's schoolwork, whether it's our son, trying to teach him how to ride the tricycle. He's young enough, we're trying to teach him that. But we all struggle each and every day, how we are, indeed, going to make life work. And part of it is energy, what we can do to create a policy in this country that will develop a cheap, abundant, affordable policy that allows businesses to grow. It's an exciting future that we face, knowing that we can do that right here in our own backyards.

I thank the gentleman from Indiana for coming and joining us on the floor tonight.

Mr. Speaker, as we said, there are people across the country who are joining the conversation about making life work. They're sending tweets with #makinglifework. In fact, we're hearing from people who are indeed talking about tax reform on this very issue, talking about what it means to work under a Tax Code that can be pro-job creation, that can actually lift the burden on American families by creating a fairer, flatter system.

And so whether you're a small business who's just getting started, or you're a small business that's been around for a while, the fact is the more the burden that you pay from the government, whether it's a higher income tax, or you're a subchapter S, and you're paying at the individual level, that's less money that you get to spend investing into job creation, into expanding your employees, the number of people you have working for you, the salaries that you can provide for them, the insurance, the benefits that you can provide.

And so, really, tonight's discussion about making life work is what we're doing to create a fair system that looks out for everyone and that looks out for people who are making minimum wage so that they won't be making minimum wage for long. They'll actually be getting a pay increase because their business is growing, because their salaries are able to go higher, because they're more successful in developing a product and manufacturing. And so a Tax Code that is pro-growth. Pro- growth economics can lead to that. And I know you're in a great position to lead that discussion.

I think making life work boils down to what you're talking about, which is the issue of fairness. What's happening to our families, our businesses, our neighbors as the debt grows, as taxes grow. The fact is it is absolutely unfair to pass on so many unanswered problems to the next generation, to pass on $52,000 worth of debt to our kids and our 18-month-old son or a 9-year-old daughter. It's unfair to them and to future generations.

One of the things that I hear constantly from people around my district and around the country about Making Life Work is, what we are doing to get credit to businesses who are hoping to expand and the challenges that they may face. I just, in fact, heard this through some comments on #makinglifework, people responding to the conversation that we were having, worried about credit issues, worried about what's happened to their small businesses.

I've introduced legislation that would create a small business savings account to make sure that we can incentivize people to save money and to put it directly into job creation so that they will be able to save and have some benefit for that savings by actually not paying a tax on the gain when they invest it into a savings account or some other kind of savings or investment vehicle. But it's a way to save money and put it directly into job creation.

Other people have contacted us about regulations. You mentioned regulations. And I think it goes back again to that very issue of fairness, of what we are doing to look out for people who don't have a voice and to look out--

I'm hearing from people who just want more independence, they want more say over their own lives. This isn't a top-down government approach, this is a bottom-up people approach, what we can do with technology to make sure that we're allowing innovation to occur and economies to grow.

And I hope that tonight's conversation will continue; that it's not just an hour before the House of Representatives. But this is a conversation that people will be able to talk about and continue. And that the feedback that they provide through #makinglifework will continue to come to us to talk about ways and ideas that we can truly move this country forward.

And so, Mr. Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to do this as we talk about these ideas. We've mentioned several of them here as feedback has rolled in from around the country.

Mr. Speaker, I was absent for the following votes due to a family funeral. Had I been present, I would have voted as follows:

Yes: Previous question

Yes: Adoption of the rule for H.R. 803 the SKILLS Act

No: Approval of the Journal

No: Tierney Substitute Amendment

No: Democrat Motion to Recommit

Yes: H.R. 803--Support Knowledge and Investing in Lifelong Skills (SKILLS) Act

Personal Explanation

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Lori Bell, a forest ranger with a strong dedication to her community and to the preservation of the grasslands. As the district ranger of the Pawnee National Grassland, Lori has established lasting relationships with the Weld County Commissioners and grazing associations.

Growing up in northern Wisconsin, Lori developed a love of the forest and joined the United States Forest Service as a forest ranger. She has worked in South Dakota, Idaho, California, Florida, Wyoming, and Alaska before settling in eastern Colorado.

As the district ranger, Lori has focused on building relationships with officials in Weld County. Her passion for her work and dedication to continuously improving relationships with the various organizations in Weld County have earned her praise from those who work with her. She was recently profiled in the Greeley Tribune for her efforts to balance the needs of the many groups that make use of the land.

Good stewardship of our lands is everyone's duty. Lori's leadership has provided an excellent example for all of us.

I am pleased to recognize Lori Bell for her hard work and dedication. I wish her continued success as district ranger of Pawnee National Grassland.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the Intermountain Jewish News on its 100th year of continuous publication.

The Intermountain Jewish News has served as an important conduit of information for people of the Jewish faith across the Rocky Mountain West. With insightful reporting and a keen eye to the stories that matter most to its readers, it has provided the Jewish community with relevant news and a constant connection to the community.

Freedom of the press and freedom of religion are two of the pillars that have made the United States the beacon of light across the world. The Intermountain Jewish News is more than just the product of these freedoms; it is the medium through which these freedoms live on today.

I applaud the hard work and dedication of all who have contributed to this publication's success over the past 100 years and I wish them continued success in the future.