Floor Statements

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The opportunity for us to address several crises facing our Nation allows us to respond, I think, in very bold measure to opportunities that speak to an energy crisis, to an economic crisis and to a climate crisis in our Nation.

There is no mistaking that, as we work through this very tough economy under the leadership of the new President and his administration and Speaker Pelosi in this House and in Congress in general, the leadership is advised by several that we need to think in terms of an innovation economy--one that allows us to grow boldly into the future by addressing the basic core needs of not only our economy but of our climate, of our environment and certainly of our energy solutions.

As we look at the potential that exists out there for growing clean energy jobs--American jobs--that can generate American-produced power, we have the awesome opportunity to go forward in an innovative and creative way to provide for a response that reduces our energy dependency on fossil-based fuels that are oftentimes imported from some of the most troubled spots in the world.

We're given the opportunity to embrace our intellectual capacity as a Nation as we go forward with research and development investments-- dollars that can invest in prototypes of design and that speak to the energy independence of this Nation--and to do it in a way that takes that prototype and further develops that technology into the manufacturing sector, deploying it into the commercial sector.

We see that today as work came forward to me in NYSERDA--the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. I was able to witness firsthand the soundness of the investment in R&D, making certain that we could take these projects that were coming through R&D investments and could grow them in a way that created American jobs, that embraced intellectual capacity--the brain trust of this Nation. It was greening up our economy and our thinking in terms of energy generation and energy emerging technologies.

That's what the measure about energy reform here in our House is all about. It's about making certain that we grow our energy independence and our energy security and, in so doing,

grow our national security. This strikes as a win across the board for us as consumers, for us as job seekers, for those of us striking to plan a comeback with this economy, and certainly for generations to follow in terms of a better environment that will be shared and passed on for other generations, coming generations, to steward.

So we are at that cutting edge, at the opportunity of ushering in a new era of thinking where we're able to invest not only in generation opportunities for energy's sake but to invest in those transmission opportunities.

I saw what happened just in my district, in the 21st Congressional District of New York, when we invested in groups like Superpower. Superpower is breaking its own records in producing a superconductive cable that allows us in the future to think of transmitting electrons in a way that provides far more opportunity and much greater efficiency as we wheel those electrons over a cable that can transmit far more electricity than can traditional cable of the same size. That's just one example.

We look at the opportunity with kinetic hydropower, that power that is produced by the turbulence of water flow. Just in the area of New York State, along the island of Manhattan, in the East River, we have seen the successful demonstration of kinetic hydropower. It is thought that some 1,100-megawatts' worth of power could be the solution just in one State by dealing with this innovation, by taking this cleverness of the intellect of energy reform and transitioning our economy into one that is based on far greater potential by investing in those sorts of designs.

So, as we move forward, we talk about clean-energy jobs, clean-energy jobs that cannot be shipped overseas. We talk about saving money for our families and for our businesses through efficiency. I saw what the investment of efficiency meant for many businesses, for many farms, for agriculture in the State of New York through NYSERDA. The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority was there as a partner, working with the business.

That's what this is about. It's investing in our future. It's investing in new technology. It's investing in the opportunities to grow a better climate, to grow and to address the environmental needs, not only of this country but of the world, to make certain that we address climate change, that we address that carbon footprint that needs to be reduced. As stewards of the environment, we all have that responsibility, and it does a great deal to reduce that glutinous addiction that we have to foreign oil that is imported from some of the most unstable governments around the globe.

So here is a golden opportunity for us to turn green, to turn green in our energy outcomes and to grow a stronger American economy that finds us controlling our destiny in much more bold expression.

You know, as we look at some of the opportunities here, we're looking at investments that could be made in not only the grid but with smart metering, making certain that we embrace new technology, cutting through some of the traditional patterns of the past and making certain that new choices, new cleverness, is incorporated into our energy thinking. Clean-energy jobs--it's calculated through the renewable electricity standard--can create some 300,000 new jobs, and in the area of efficiency, the talk is some 222,000 projected jobs. This is just in those two areas alone. That then equates to billions that are saved-- $100 billion with the opportunities for renewable electric standards and certainly some $170 billion in efficiency savings.

We need to see efficiency measures as our fuel of choice. It is shelf-ready today. There are emerging technologies invested into through R&D today. There is the potential of growing countless other options, but the fact remains that we need to address the per capita consumption of electricity in this country in a way that enables us to see efficiency as something that is mined and drilled routinely. You know, as we mine for coal, as we drill for oil, we need to see that mining and drilling, for efficiency's sake, can produce great savings. It means the avoided cost of having to build additional plants. It means a clean outcome. It means less of a carbon footprint as we go forward with an investment in energy efficiency.

So all of this is at our fingertips. All of this great potential is here to allow us to create clean jobs. In so doing, we will strengthen our economy; we will provide certainty for our businesses in this country, and we will be able to address the pollution that is part and parcel to the residential, business and housing sections of this country--those sectors that all can be benefiting from energy thinking, that is of a nuance of sorts, that breaks from these traditional patterns and from the glutinous dependency.

So this evening, as we move forward in this hour of discussion, it is great to have colleagues here who will be talking about some of the opportunities that we have as energy consumers.

The fact remains that, for far too long, I believe we have invested in prototypes. We have invested in those new orders of thinking, but we have not done enough to stretch that budgeting to enable that prototype to be developed more fully and then to be entered into in the manufacturing sector.

When we think of the great potential, there are super opportunities for us to think in magnanimous terms, to think with a sense of vision that expresses our boldness for creating jobs not yet on the radar screen. When we develop green-collar workforces out there, when we develop that array of workers that will join the traditional assignments through white- and blue-collar job opportunities, we will now be able to advance a new order of job creation of a green-collar variety. That new addition to the workforce out there will save those traditional white- and blue-collar jobs through the nuances that the green-collar job opportunities will bring.

I saw again, through the work done at NYSERDA, where we were able to implement programs for training construction majors, for instance, in the new, cutting-edge technologies for solar and PV installation, making certain that those arrays are incorporated into the certification programs and matriculation programs at a local community college in the State of New York.

Hudson Valley Community College would train these green-collar workers and then would also reach out to other campuses and would enable them to develop that workforce that we will need as a society as we retrofit with this new order of thinking of efficiency, of conservation, of new technologies--emerging technologies--and of efficiency standards that will be enhanced so that we can go forward with new opportunities that this country can prosper by.

When we deal with the green collar job development, we're going to look at situations within the framework of this new thinking that will allow us to reach into the earlier grades, to allow students to think of the potential of a career path enabling us to develop with centers like BOCES and with trades, occupational efforts with apprenticeship programs, with the opportunities to go forward with community colleges, again developing their course work to comply with the growing needs of a green collar workforce and to offer those innovative opportunities into the college setting, into graduate studies. All of this, the array from trades on over to engineers, inventors and innovators, will all be required to be part of that process that provides that new thinking that will enable us to go forward in a way that will strengthen our economy and clean our environment and create opportunity.

The opportunities that befall us as a country are many, and knowing that in this process, it will draw down that dependency on fossil-based fuels knowing that we have precious little time to go forward, to clean up an environment that is impacted by some of the severe measurements that we see out there today.

That reminds us of a plan that we had in cleaning up acid rain that was part of the 1990s era, where through the efforts of the then- President, President Bush, we moved forward and fought acid rain successfully by having a focus and a plan and cutting back on situations that made polluters pay. But we're talking today of having polluters pay for their consequential damage to

the environment, we want to make certain that we benefit Americans, middle-class Americans with tax credits that will come from those who are polluting.

So it's encouraging clean companies, it's encouraging American- produced power, and it's providing tax credits to families, and it's investing resources from a clean-energy jobs programming that will invest in the new ideas that are being developed as we speak. But it's the sort of impetus that can be provided, the sort of incentive that is created that will really spur this sort of economic recovery that will make for a strong response.

I am reminded of a project that we had conducted while I was at the State Assembly in the State of New York as energy chair. We had reached out to energy service companies, we had reached out to academia, we had reached out to the farm bureau and worked with demonstration projects through local dairy farms and working through the auspices of NYSERDA, the State energy research and development authority, we were able to put together a review, an audit of those dairy farms, and take a situation where they were dealing with a perishable product and making certain that a highly regulated arena, as it should be, producing a basic nutritional need for this country that had to deal with the ebbs and flows of not only how they conducted business but dealing with energy cycles that they couldn't escape simply because of the forces of mother nature. With all of that being the dynamics of their day-to-day operation, we were able to work within that context to create energy efficiency opportunities that came through the guidance of groups at Cornell and Farm Bureau and the local utility and NYSERDA where we retrofitted to those dairy farms the sorts of demands for energy that dealt with pumping and cooling processes and put together a plan, a strategy, that really developed a very sound outcome--a pleasant surprise to those who participated in the demonstration project. In fact, it became so successful as a demonstration project that we advanced this notion to some 70 farms in the State of New York that prospered from this sort of activity, of auditing the farms and putting efficiency into play.

We also saw successful programs that came about with business incorporated into the energy-efficiency opportunities. And it reminds us that if we are going to compete, if we're going to ask our American businesses to compete in a global marketplace, then we need to advance every bit of opportunity of doing it in smart fashion, doing it in a way that is clever, that is causing a stronger outcome, a more progressive outcome simply by the incorporation of a highly intellectual energy plan, a comprehensive energy plan that looks at cutting demand.

For too often we have reached to a supply situation as we were looking at energy solutions. We were developing more supply. We were content with using, consuming a lot of energy resources when, in fact, we should have moved forward with opportunities that allowed us to address the demand side of the equation.

Looking at that consumption factor, looking at the efficiency, looking at conservation were the clever strategies that were dictated simply by the dynamics of the given solution today.

So as we go forward, we see these opportunities to advance a plan that is encouraged by our President as he wants us to grow smart with our energy usage. He wants us to reach to innovation and a clever strategy using our creative genius to put together a source of investment in research and development, to grow those prototypes of the future, to further develop them and then move to the manufacturing of these commodities here in this country--domestic production of all sorts of nuances--making certain that we move forward not only in the energy generation world but in the energy transmission and distribution area giving commercial consumers the opportunity to work within the context of smart metering, making certain that they can have these smart meters to control their destiny so that they can see firsthand the amount that's being consumed and when to be on-peak and off-peak in given situations; to be able to have a transmission system that responds to weaknesses that were so highly visible in August of 2003 where we witnessed a huge collapse in the system, the delivery system, that started as far west as Ohio and moved into New York and New England and the mid-Atlantic States and into southeast Canada. That was a huge bit of blackout for consumers in that given bit of geography that stood as a glaring example of vulnerability, of a weakness in our system.

We need to go forward and advance the investments in a very wise and clever way that will enable us to strengthen that generation aspect of electricity, strengthen the transmission and distribution components, and to go forward with a commitment to efficiency and conservation. And looking at renewable opportunities. Taking advantage of so many opportunities that mother nature provides and where the President has called for an investment where we embrace our wind, our sun, our Earth to be able to make certain that we use that in a benign way to grow the energy response that we require that will be clean, that will be innovative, and that will draw down our energy dependence in a way that allows us to prosper with bolder outcomes.

As we move forward, I would encourage us to cleverly look at the plans that have been advanced by the leadership of this House, the discussion that is made of growing a green energy economy, the ideals embraced by the President and his administration for this innovation economy that reaches to the American brain trust, that sees us with our science and tech potential to be ready and willing to go forward and provide for the nuances that will usher in a new era of energy thinking. That is what the opportunity for clean energy jobs is all about.

It's a clean energy jobs agenda that finds us producing jobs, developing jobs, retaining jobs, growing jobs in this country, avoiding the opportunities to ship overseas these jobs that have far too often escaped our American economy. And then for saving money for our families, our businesses, individuals in this country through efficiency opportunities, and ending that addiction, that gluttonous addiction to foreign oil, fossil fuels, that really do not enable us to think in the kind of boldness and the sense of vision that is required today.

Mr. Speaker, I thank you for the time to be here this evening and share these opportunities with you, to share the thinking that I believe can help us grow as a Nation and respond to the crisis that we see, the crisis with the energy situation, the crisis with our environment, the crisis with our economy. It can address a multitude of needs out there by embracing this sort of cleverness of thinking and advancing policies that are progressive and investing resources that will really strengthen us as a people, as a Nation, and certainly as a world.

Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

The motion was agreed to; accordingly (at 10 o'clock and 21 minutes p.m.), the House adjourned until tomorrow, Thursday, April 30, 2009, at 10 a.m.

Mr. Speaker, tragically on March 5 of 2009, one of Schoharie County's citizens from my congressional district, Jason Rivenburg, pulled his truck into an abandoned gas station frequently used by truckers in South Carolina as a rest stop, and was then and there violently and senselessly shot and murdered, robbed for a meager $7. At the time of his death, Jason was a mere 12 miles from his destination but was unable to make his delivery because he was too early.

Jason Rivenburg was 35 years old, leaving behind his wife, Hope, and son,

Josh. They had just moved into a new home. As if that stress was not enough, shortly after his death, Jason's widow delivered two healthy twins, a boy named Hezekiah, after his grandfather, and a girl named Logan.

Rivenburg's death sparked outrage and an outpouring of support for the family across our country. Truckers and family members are demanding that the government do more to protect truckers who risk their lives following rules that require that they pull over and rest after a certain amount of driving time.

There are few resources telling truck drivers, who are often unfamiliar with a local area, where a safe place to rest might be. Moreover, there are few safe places to rest in the first place.

Mr. Speaker, we must do more to support these incredibly important men and women. Moving our freight and goods is essential to keeping this country and our economy progressing. We must ensure that as we demand mandatory stops and on-time delivery that we provide adequate support systems for our Nation's truck drivers.

Mr. Speaker, I ask that my colleagues support the life and memory of a truly hardworking American man and support Jason's Law, which I am sponsoring.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize National Healthy Schools Day, which is being celebrated around the country today.

National Healthy Schools Day recognizes the importance of having a clean and healthy indoor environment in our Nation's schools. And today I introduced a House resolution officially recognizing National Healthy Schools Day.

Some 54 million children spend their days in our Nation's schools, half of which have problems with indoor air quality. Children are more vulnerable than adults to environmental hazards in their schools because of their developing immune systems and small bodies.

Poor indoor environmental quality has been linked to asthma and other illnesses in children. With one out of every 13 children suffering from asthma--the number one cause of missed school days--it is very important that we address this issue. Healthy and high-performance schools are the answer to this problem. They reduce indoor environmental hazards and are energy efficient.

I was proud to work with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority to develop New York State's High Performance Schools guidelines, and I am proud to recognize National Healthy Schools Day.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 247) expressing support for designation of March 22, 2009, as ``National Rehabilitation Counselors Appreciation Day''.

Mr. Speaker, I request 5 legislative days during which Members may revise and extend and insert extraneous material on House Resolution 247 into the Record.

I yield myself as much time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 247 to designate March 22, 2009, as ``National Rehabilitation Counselors Appreciation Day.''

Across our great country, qualified rehabilitation counselors work to empower people with disabilities to access employment, education and community opportunities and independent living. According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are approximately 141,000 rehabilitation counselors in our United States. We are extremely grateful for their commitment to providing professional service and support that is rendered to people with disabilities in a variety of settings, including State and local agencies, medical facilities, educational programs, and community businesses.

As the number of veterans with disabilities increases and people with disabilities struggle to obtain employment in these tough economic times, the need for quality rehabilitation counseling does, in fact, continue to grow. According to the National Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate of persons with a disability in February of this year was 14 percent compared to 8.7 percent for persons with no disabilities. Of even greater concern, only 23 percent of people with disabilities are currently in our labor force compared to over 70 percent of the general population. These are alarming statistics.

Qualified rehabilitation counselors are an important part of the solution as they provide services critical to improving employment outcomes for people with disabilities. We appreciate their hard work and the determination of these professionals. Various professional organizations, including the National Rehabilitation Association, the National Council on Rehabilitation Education, and the Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation, advocate for up-to-date education, training and professional standards for rehabilitation counselors, and because of these national organizations' persistent efforts, the quality of rehabilitation services has dramatically improved and expanded.

On March 22 of 1983, Martha Walker, president of the National Council on Rehabilitation Education, testified before the Subcommittee on Select Education for the House of Representatives expressing the necessity for rehabilitation counselors to be well-qualified. Ms. Walker's hard work led to the enactment of requirements to ensure that rehabilitation counselors have proper training and credentials so that people with disabilities receive quality rehabilitation service.

Let Congress designate March 22 as National Rehabilitation Counselors Day. This holiday can honor the dedicated rehabilitation counselors and professional organizations that work tirelessly to provide quality rehabilitation support.

I want to thank, particularly, Representative Skelton for his outstanding leadership on this issue in bringing this important resolution forward. I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to recognize the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Skelton) who we praised in our earlier comments for bringing this awareness of the value of our rehabilitation counselors to the attention of the House, and we applaud him for his efforts, and we recognize him for 5 minutes.

Mr. Speaker, the resolution before the House is one of great worth, obviously recognizing the important role that rehabilitation counselors play in the lives of individuals with disabilities. They open doorways, they absolutely enhance the quality of life, and coax the professionalism from those who, amongst us, are in the ranks of the disabled with an awful lot of contribution to be made to society. The rehabilitation counselor is a partner in that effort.

So I ask that, again, we move forward and recognize this and support this resolution.

I yield back my time.

Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 336) supporting the goals and ideals of National Library Week.

Mr. Speaker, I request 5 legislative days during which Members may revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous materials on House Resolution 336 into the Record.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 336, which encourages all Americans to take advantage of the numerous resources libraries make available.

All across the country, libraries have developed communities by bringing people of all nationalities, ages and socioeconomic levels together to enjoy the pleasures of literature, media and new technology. Libraries foster national discourse on intellectual freedom and provide informational equity across our great Nation.

Not only do libraries provide free resources, but they preserve historical artifacts and information highlighting societal achievements. Today, we have over 123 libraries nationwide playing a vital role in creating vibrant, energized communities. For example, the Big Read is a national reading program designed to revitalize the role of reading in America, and 208 communities participate in the Big Read program nationwide. American libraries play a central role fostering community participation.

There is also the National Book Festival sponsored by our very own Library of Congress. Representatives from State libraries gather at the Nation's Capital to promote reading and literacy in all of our 50 States. Last September, the 8th annual National Book Festival was a huge success. Hundreds of people gathered to promote reading to children, including professional athletes, actors, and famous writers, authors and poets.

The Library of Congress is also a great resource for the public. As the largest library in the world, the Library of Congress holds more than 120 million items on approximately 530 miles of book shelves. The collections include more than 18 million books, 2.5 million recordings, 12 million photographs, 4.5 million maps and 54 million manuscripts. The massive resource provided by this library to this country is indeed a bit of invaluable information.

National Library Week continues to commend librarians who help the public to interpret the information they need to live, to learn, and to navigate their way in today's challenging and complicated economy.

By providing free educational opportunities and a safe place for lifelong learning, libraries and librarians help people achieve the American Dream. With that said, ultimately libraries help people explore curiosities and make sense of this complex world.

I do want to thank Representative Ehlers for his leadership and bringing this important resolution forward.

Again, I want to extend my gratitude toward libraries for their important work in our communities. I ask my colleagues to support this important resolution.

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

I again want to thank Mr. Ehlers for the inspiration to pay tribute to the libraries across this country. They are, indeed, very valuable components of the education infrastructure in this country. They obviously provide tremendous opportunity to individuals throughout this country without any sort of prejudice.

I am reminded of the powerful library in my hometown of Amsterdam, New York, and the wonderful countywide system that is part of Schenectady County, with several sites within their library structure.

And so it is, indeed, very appropriate that we recognize the contribution that libraries, and more specifically, librarians, make to our society and the development of the intellectual capacity and character of our society.

With that, I encourage passage of the resolution.

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1824) to provide assistance to Best Buddies to support the expansion and development of mentoring programs, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I request 5 legislative days during which Members may revise and extend and insert extraneous material on H.R. 1824 into the Record.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1824. The bill will expand the important work of Best Buddies to empower people with disabilities and put an end to their social isolation.

Best Buddies International is the only national organization focused on improving the lives of individuals with intellectual disabilities through a one-to-one friendship with peers.

People with intellectual disabilities are often excluded from society because of their differences. Sadly, the social isolation of children with disabilities is well-documented by researchers. However, over the last 20 years, Best Buddies has proven something that most of us take for granted, that lasting, meaningful friendships are the key to a better life.

But friendships for people with intellectual disabilities do not always come easily. Over the past 50 years, while this population has gained many civil rights, attitudinal barriers and stereotypes persist. This is something Best Buddies is changing. Since 1989, Best Buddies has worked with 1,300 middle school, high school, and college campuses. Best Buddies volunteers annually contribute services to the community that equate to more than $17 million. Federal assistance is critical to help Best Buddies expand their efforts to all of our 50 States.

Bullying continues to be a problem in our schools for many children. A 2005 study found that a Best Buddy relationship is associated with lower frequencies of peer victimization, better adaptive behavior, and fewer psychological problems for youth. Clearly, a friend is a powerful thing.

Through one-to-one matches with peers without disabilities, as well as support of e-mail friendships, citizen programs for adults, and a jobs program that promotes integration into the workplace, Best Buddies expects to impact over 500,000 people by the year 2010.

H.R. 1824 will allow Best Buddies to continue this important work through increased participation and public awareness. It simply authorizes the Secretary of Education to support Best Buddies to increase the participation of people with intellectual disabilities in social relationships and other aspects of community life.

Best Buddies envisions a world where people with intellectual disabilities are so successfully integrated into our schools, our workplaces, and our general communities that their current efforts and services will grow unnecessary. I share that vision.

Mr. Speaker, once again, I express my full support for H.R. 1824, and I urge my colleagues to support this measure.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Maryland, Majority Leader Hoyer of the House, whose long-standing commitment to people with disabilities is well- documented. And I have to also make mention that when it comes to a buddy system for incoming freshmen, helping us to navigate on behalf of our constituents, there is a real friend in Majority Leader Hoyer.

Mr. Speaker, we have no other Representatives from the majority that choose to speak on the measure, so I would ask if the gentleman from Michigan has others to speak.

Mr. Speaker, the House resolution concerning Best Buddies is an outstanding opportunity for us to reinforce the efforts made by Best Buddies as they move towards the mission of integrating individuals with intellectual disabilities into society, into community in the most successful measure. And so for those reasons I would strongly urge support for this resolution.

I yield back the balance of my time.

I appreciate the gentleman from Oregon, and he obviously has an outstanding voice speaking to what is the smart approach to the future of this country and certainly to the impact that we can make on American households and on American businesses.

The country faces, undeniably, economic energy and certainly climate crises, and this is a time for a plan of action.

I believe that as we have just heard, there are these opportunities that are shelf ready, available to American consumers, to American businesses today. There are emerging technologies as we speak. This requires an immense investment.

And if there is a strategy that has been promoted here by the President that has been advanced by the Speaker of this House, Nancy Pelosi, and endorsed by the leadership, it's to move forward in a way that is intellectually honest, looking at the factors out there that exist. The human elements that are causing an impact through global warming, through climate change that are growing the carbon footprint.

The President knows that the down payment of the Recovery Act was just the beginning of the story. He knows that in order to resolve the many crises facing this country, including, primarily, an economic crisis, we need to be smart about our plan of action. He knows that it will require an investment, an investment through R&D, of research and development that will enable us to produce savings.

And we hear an awful lot of talk about a tax being imposed. The tax that is imposed is coming through billions of dollars, hundreds of billions of dollars paid by American companies, by American consumers, by households, that is going to places like the Middle East and Venezuela, paying for fossil-based fuels that are polluting our environment, that are driving downward, through these crises, the American economy.

We have an option out there, and that option is to be smart, to go forward with American-produced power, done through American jobs, to save and grow American jobs. That is a good and clever strategy. We can do this by embracing the intellectual capacity of this great Nation, shelf-ready opportunities of which I am quite familiar.

Certainly, when I was over at the Energy Research and Development Authority in New York State, I witnessed firsthand how policies and programs were implemented by that authority that is nationally inspected, and it was through the retrofits that we had done with the farming community, with the business community, with households, through building efforts, that we were able to achieve immense savings.

These savings are dollars and benefits to the consuming public. They are job creating in terms of dynamics. When we look at the renewable standards, the renewable energy standards that are part of the package to respond to the energy crises of this country, we are talking about the creation of some 300,000 jobs.

When we look at the energy efficiency resource standards, we are looking at some 220,000 jobs. When we look at the economic savings of the energy jobs creation, the green-collar job creation, we are talking about a savings of some of $100 billion. In the area of energy efficiency, a savings of $170 billion. So these are real dollars. They are savings.

What I think our friends who are speaking so vociferously against this proposal do not comprehend, that savings and cleanup of our environment are benefits that are immeasurable at this point in time, and this economy requires that sort of investment, that sort of policy creation.

Obviously, a number of opportunities, and I thank you again, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, Representative Blumenauer, for putting this forum together this evening.

But I think immediately of opportunities to work with our business community with manufacturing, retrofitting it with energy-efficiency outcomes. That enables us to see that as a microcosm of activity that when engaged in full efforts, can really repower America in a way that produces jobs, cuts energy costs, and produces wonderful savings to our environment, and certainly to those manufacturers out there in businesses that struggle in this economy.

I look at situations that the price tag for doing nothing means that we lose a market share to places like China, like Germany, like Korea. Doing nothing means losing jobs, energy, green collar jobs to those same nations. Doing nothing means continuing to be taxed in a way that sends money to Venezuela and the Mid East.

But when you ask for a specific example, one that comes to mind also is retrofitting of the dairy industry in the State of New York. That was done through the auspices of NyCerta, the State Energy Research and Development Authority, while I was still at the New York State Assembly chairing the energy committee. We worked in tandem with the local utility, with National Grid. We worked with Cornell University with its efforts to retrofit that dairy sector with energy efficiency seen as the fuel of choice out there. Working with the energy service companies, working with a group of policymakers from within the State Assembly. All of that working in a team spirited way that had, as demonstration projects, two dairy farms. And without even adjusting the rate for the power that they utilize, they had achieved immense savings simply through reducing demand.

And then that demonstration project with two farms was further extrapolated over 70 participants, all of whom had seen the same sorts of positive results, reducing demand severely.

This is where we're at. We're at a cutting knowledge of opportunity. We're looking at embracing technology in a way that can allow us to practically produce change. That is about job creation. It's about consumer behavior adjustment. It's about the boldness of leadership. It's allowing us to develop the blueprints, the greenprints for tomorrow. And we have the capacity today. There are tons of practical examples.

Even at NyCerta. A demonstration project with kinetic hydropower where the turbulence of the East River alongside Manhattan was producing power that was used in that given region. And there are theories suggesting that some 1,100 megawatts' worth of power statewide could be the result in New York State alone. Think of it: if we multiply that over the many States of this country; think of it if we make the investments that are asked of us here by doing this program in a way that caps the amount of pollution out there, rewards the good behavior and creates the resources to implement the science and technology that is within our grasp today.

There is great potential here. Great job creation, great savings of energy, which is a precious commodity, and the ability to do an American-produced agenda--American-produced power to grow and retain American jobs in a way that creates a new segment of employment out there: employees who are green collar workers. Great potential for the country.

Madam Chair, I rise today to express my support for a budget that will help improve our economy and institute a plan to reduce the deficit in the long term. My hope is that this House will pass a budget that provides for a reduction of the deficit of over 50 percent by the year 2013 by cutting ineffective programs and reforming government contracting and defense purchasing.

In addition, we need a budget that finally addresses health care reform, which will reduce the single largest portion of our Federal budget. In addition, critical reforms and investments in energy will increase our energy independence, which will protect our economy and improve our national security.

We must not forget how we got here. It was during the prior administration, the Bush administration, and the Republicans in control of Congress that squandered a record surplus inherited by this House through irresponsible spending and tax cuts. Those solutions were more of the same. But the American people are demanding a new direction, and this budget must represent the reforms that we need. America spoke clearly this past November with a resounding voice. They called for action. They called for a change in the course of the direction of this country. They called for growing our economy. They called for addressing the budget deficit. They called for creating jobs.

This budget that we can vote on, presented by the President, will allow us to address those four major points. I stand in defense of that budget and ask that this House approve that given budget that will be before us later today.

Thank you, Congressman Inslee. I appreciate your leadership in regard to the environment and the energy and what that means to this Nation's economy and certainly to job growth.

I think to summarize where we can be with this innovation economy is to speak to American energy produced by American jobs. That, in and of itself, is a powerful statement, knowing that we can grow our energy security, we can spark an innovation economy driven by a greening up of our energy policy, and reduce our dependency on the foreign imports of oil and petroleum from some of the most troubled spots in the world. And I believe that, as we do that, not only do we address our energy security, but we address our national security. It becomes an issue that allows us to better deal with international relations and to avoid the sort of involvement that we have had in the Middle East. So I think it is an important issue well beyond energy and job creation; it is also an international affairs issue, as we grow our international security, our national security.

The fact that American energy can produce American jobs that then provides a benefit in many ways to the American families from coast to coast is an important factor. Economists have estimated that well over one-half of the growth of our Nation's GDP was in relation to the development and adoption of new technologies, of emerging technologies. That was done on average with a 3 percent investment in R&D, 3 percent of our GDP. Think of what happens when we enhance that number, when we go well beyond the 3 percent investment in R&D. We should expect, rightfully, that then that produces a tremendous impact on our GDP, on the growth of our GDP.

The President has said, I believe correctly, in a very visionally sense that this struggling economy that we are working to improve now, a struggling economy which he inherited as President, can be improved if we provide assistance and reforms to our health care arena and to our energy arena. That produces jobs, that produces a response to the needs of the American society in a way that is cutting edge, state-of-

the-art. And as we grow that greening up of our energy supply, as we produce here locally in the USA rather than relying on foreign importation, we are then going to then strengthen the outcome because we are going to embrace the intellectual capacity of this Nation. We are going to take those R&D situations. Where there are success stories, we will deploy them to the commercial sector.

We have today shelf-ready technology that can assist in so many ways that speak to energy efficiency, that speak to job production, that speak to a much better use of resources, that provides for a favorable response to reducing that carbon footprint.

Absolutely. And I think that that sort of vision that was shared with the public back in the early 1960s by President Kennedy is the sort of sequence here that we have with President Obama, where he is expressing to the Nation: We can do better than we are doing today. I believe that totally.

I am optimistic about growing out of this energy situation in a very powerful way, in a very expressive way that allows us to put an American stamp on this.

I represent Schenectady, New York. They are the city that lights and hauls the world. They earned that reputation because of the inventions and innovation that came out of that city through names like Edison and Steinmetz that determined our energy future over a century ago, and then manufacturing that took place in that city and in that Mohawk Valley region was all about invention and innovation. We saw what happened when they built the locomotives that hauls, again, the world. All of this is part of a spark of invention that drove an economy for decades.

We are at that same juncture now. As we have hit rock bottom with this economy it challenges us. We are facing a crises, but out of that can come opportunity.

Here is the opportunity. When you talk, Congressman, about the geothermal and solar and PV and all of those aspects, let me throw another one out there, kinetic hydropower.

When I was at NYSERDA, which was my workplace before entering Congress, we were involved with a kinetic hydropower project on the East River along the island of Manhattan. We were in demonstration project addressing this situation, and it is forecasted that we can produce as much as 1,000 megawatts of power through kinetic hydro, which is similar to a wind turbine but beneath the turbulent waters of the East River.

There are so many ways to deal with the environment in a benign way to produce energy. Over 8,300 megawatts in this country of wind power are existing today. We can do far better in the solar, wind, geothermal, kinetic hydro areas, and many other ideas that can transform how we produce energy, and produce energy that creates American jobs.

That is what this is about, American energy producing American jobs, speaking to the needs of American families and American business.

Congressman Inslee, you mentioned agriculture. I will tell you that the State of New York through its SUNY operation, the State University of New York, has a number of ag and tech campuses. I can name one that I represent, Cobleskill, that is going through a transformational project of creating energy. There is a SUNY campus that is dealing with hybrid types of soy that they are developing so that it could be used in the biofuels system. Others are looking at beet produce that can be created in a way that will allow for ag diversification.

I represent many dairy farmers in my given area. We worked on a project when I was still in the New York State Assembly serving as energy chair, and we incorporated the services of NYSERDA, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, the local utility, Cornell University with its R&D efforts, and some ESCOs, energy services company, and the Farm Bureau. We worked together, and created energy efficiency programs that drove down energy demand at these dairy farms by anywhere from 30 to a 45 percent, and we started with two demonstrations and people were so favorably touched by that exercise, and then opened it up to 70 participants of different dairy farms that, again, realized a reduction in their bill, not by any change in the rate that was produced, but by the amount of energy they had consumed.

And you are dealing with a perishable product, one that is highly regulated. You have pumping and cooling processes that need to be addressed. They did this in an energy significant relief mannerism that produced a far better outcome for an industry that is stressed. We hear today about these dairy prices. We somehow as a society pride ourselves on eating cheap. Dairy farmers work 24/7. They need a fair price for their milk. But what we could do at that State level was reduce their cost of business, and we had done that, which I thought was tremendously powerful. The opportunity to invest in wasted energy projects on our various farms, of all sectors in this country, to deal with digesters.

You know, you talked about job creation and perhaps people seeing it as some sort of magic wand out there that is being waved. Let us just look over our shoulder at recent passed history just over the last century. What happened when we put our minds to work to R&D and innovation and invention? We went and produced an internal combustion engine, we went and developed electricity. That created unprecedented amounts of jobs in the manufacturing sector. And then, we put people to work on those manufacturing lines in the auto industry, and then put many people to work building dams, building power plants, and putting together our national grid system.

So we know what these jobs can look like. We know that when we invest in R&D, when we provide for our own American generation of power through American jobs, we can create a tremendous amount of economic recovery.

Thank you very much, Congressman Inslee, and thank you for your leadership.

You are very right in acknowledging the role that our new President is playing and his sense of vision that has been shared with the American public. It is that sort of boldness to take a golden opportunity and turn it green that this President has really embraced. He and his administration, Secretary Chu from the Department of Energy, and others are anxiously looking forward to creating that new era of energy generation for this country. And certainly Speaker Pelosi in our House and all of the leadership here and the respective chairs are fast at work, and the membership at large, because we know this is a great way for us to address this economic recovery that is so necessary.

Congressman Polis, you mentioned the hearing the other day chaired by Congressman Hinojosa who chairs the Subcommittee on Higher Education, looking at higher education and workforce opportunities. And you're right in that we create many jobs in that direct ripple that is caused by dropping the stone into the water here. That first ripple does speak to wind technicians and site operators, for instance, for wind turbine operations across the country. GE spoke to that at the hearing. But then it is all the other ancillary impacts that can be made in a way for our manufacturing sector, our agricultural sector and our service sector as we apply these funds to energy efficiency retrofits, as we work with various States to provide the resources that allows our manufacturing to be as smart and energy innovative as possible. Then when they are competing in that global marketplace, they will be winning the race because of doing it in a smarter and more energy- efficient way.

I think that is an important part here because there are many, many winners across the board as we move forward with these technologies. Looking at the inspiration that comes from the labs where we are developing some of these projects, it is important to indicate the success that has been driven by engineers, inventors and innovators. But this is also about reaching to the trades, making certain that our trades people are allowed to participate in this green-collar job growth so that as the white- and blue-collar traditional jobs now get in some ways transformed in certain sectors to green-collar job opportunities, we will have room for everyone from the skill set of the trades people over to the 2-year, 4-year graduate levels of the workforce that can really inspire this sort of innovation economy that holds great promise for an economic recovery.

It is interesting, because as we heard from a representative from a community college dealing with the greening up of jobs from Hudson County Community College in the capital region of New York, it is interesting to note that across this Nation, we are gifted with several campuses that are community colleges. And that has become in New York State the campus of choice. Because of the economics of the times, I believe a lot of people, if they have been displaced, are looking to train or retrain for other opportunities. And now with the growth of community colleges and the strengthening that they have been part of, they offer hands-on experience. So to watch some of the construction majors at Hudson Valley Community College being taught the state-of-the-art application of photovoltaic on solar array systems for rooftop application is a wonderful outcome. To witness that and know that there will be those individuals who can maintain, install and repair these systems and be part of that solution, because we need the human infrastructure to be developed so as to move into this energy revolution, as we look at our campuses, they hold great promise for this. In the State of New York, Hudson Valley has been working with NYSERDA, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, through resources, through a plan, through a sense of vision that is shared and then incorporated into the work that they do. They reach out and deal with some seven or eight different community college campuses. They then train those people that will be the trainers in their given campus community.

Just recently I had met with Fulton-Montgomery Community College, again in the congressional district that I represent. And they are talking about the nano sciences, the nanotechnology growth in the capital region of New York. They are going to train people to work in clean rooms. They are going to make certain that they have that gift to be able to be there in all sorts of capacities, at all levels, to make this work so that as people look to growing

incubator opportunity, they are going to need a workforce, as people not only deal with startups but grow those given businesses that are there today that are energy and technology related, they will require the workforce that is specifically trained and ready to go.

This is a package that comes together nicely with the vision that is shared by this President, with the leadership that he has executed and with the outstanding leadership here with Speaker Pelosi and our many chairs and our leadership of the House.

No. Not at all.

Absolutely.

Absolutely. And Representative Polis is right. We have reached over all of the sectors, from agriculture to service, to small business to larger business and manufacturing and then industry, all of these areas are benefited, as are our homes, because housing in this country is a big part of the looming issue out there of carbon footprint, of energy consumption, and certainly it's a great opportunity for us to reduce demand.

But let's also look at that transportation sector. In this effort to grow new opportunities, we are going to look at that transportation sector and provide for advanced battery manufacturing, taking, again, R&D experiences that are working today, and put them to use, not only in the transportation area, but in energy generation and energy storage. Some of our intermittent power, whether it be solar or wind, needs to be bolstered by the fact that we can store that power so that when we are at peak situations, it is then most useful, and we can create that battery storage issue.

I am convinced. We heard again about various efforts to improve battery operations out there. And the fact that $2 billion, as part of the Recovery Act and certainly, additional involvement in the Federal budget will allow us to, then, move forward with the batteries of the future, be they Lithium batteries, Lithium ion battery or others that are being developed that will now allow us to really transform the transportation sector.

You know, when gas prices were hitting the $4 and beyond mark, everyone was exploding with the need for us to do something about it. Well, this takes a plan, and it's not going to happen overnight. We were warned in the '70s to begin to do your greening up of energy policy. That didn't happen. So we need to move forward and make certain that this innovation comes in the boldness that it requires and deserves and certainly that the American public deserves.

So Representative Polis, I think our time is coming to a near end, so I will use that as my final statement, and then allow you to offer some comments.

Mr. Speaker, we thank you for the time allotted here this evening, and we most appreciate your courtesy.

Thank you, Congressman Blumenauer. And it is with great interest that I join you because I listened to your commentary about the important factors associated with this transformation in our economy.

I think it is so important for us to focus on the fact that as we grow American power, as we grow energy sources that are American produced, we are creating American jobs for the benefit of American working families.

So this is a totally American agenda where we can grow that energy security and advance great opportunities in the workplace as we enhance our environment and provide for sounder energy policy.

You know, I am reminded that over the last 50 years, the major growth, over \1/2\ of the growth of our Nation's GDP, is related to developing and emerging technologies that were then adopted into all sorts of institutional outcomes.

That investment, that growth in our GDP, explained by emerging technologies only required a 3 percent, on average, investment in R&D; 3 percent of our GDP was invested in R&D. So when we think of that research and development opportunity at that mere 3-percent level, and to recognize that that meant well over \1/2\ of our growth in the Nation's GDP, that is a powerful statement. Imagine what happens when we are willing to invest a greater amount into R&D.

I am tremendously encouraged by the Obama administration because of its embracing the important role that science can play, treating science and technology as vibrant components in our comeback as an economy.

We also know that as we look at history, we can understand fully that it was technology and reform and transformation and innovation that produced the success stories here in this country. As we moved from an internal

combustion engine to the development of electricity, we created an unprecedented amount of jobs. As we developed the automobile, it created millions of manufacturing jobs. And certainly millions more were employed by building those power plants and dams and our Nation's electric grid.

So just as we moved into that era of job creation and job enhancement and technology advancements, think of the green-power revolution that can really transform how we address our economy. There can be no strong comeback without our investment in energy. And I think that's what this is about: American jobs producing American power for America's families.

Well, having come from NYSERDA--you mentioned my role in the New York State Assembly as energy chair for 15 years, but then I moved over to NYSERDA, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, where I served as president and CEO. I saw firsthand that research and development equaled economic recovery. It provided many, many opportunities to advance science and technology and create jobs from the trades on over to the inventor and innovator, the engineering groups that would design specific new products and then deploy them where they were success stories into the commercial sector.

I think that when we talk about these opportunities we're reminded of a report that came out in 2005 from National Academies and it was entitled, Rising Above the Gathering Storm. And let me just read the three basic categories that they thought were of the most meaningful path that America should follow: investment in basic research; innovation as the path to reducing our dependence on foreign oil; and improving science, technology, engineering, and math education.

Now, right there in a nutshell is a major impetus to a new era of job creation. We can bring about a much more vibrant outcome for the manufacturing sector simply by retrofitting new energy innovation to that workplace, providing for, if not cheaper, smarter outcomes, which then wins at the global marketplace.

I think that our manufacturing sector can grow great potential with an energy revolution, not only in the direct impact of jobs created in that arena, but the ripple effect that then circulates into and impacts into many of our sectors of the economy.

I looked at a project when I was still in the State Assembly to work with our dairy farms in upstate New York. They were impacted by prices that simply were very marginal. They did not give them much of a profit, if one at all, and we needed to, in New York State, look at ways to cut the costs of milk production for our dairy farmers.

I thought, well, they're dealing with a perishable product, they have energy costs that are sometimes difficult to manage because they can't deal with peak and off peak necessarily, with Mother Nature taking hold in their operations. And so we worked on energy retrofits with Cornell University, with NYSERDA, with the local utility, and with the farming community, with farm representatives, the farm bureau.

We came up with programs in a demonstration project that saved somewhere between 30 and 40, if not greater, percent in demand just in that setting of our dairy farm operation. We then moved to some 70 farms from the success of that demonstration, and all were very pleased with the outcome.

And without even adjusting the rate, as you had made mention just earlier, they paid much less for their bill because the demand was reduced significantly, and they're dealing again with a perishable product that has a heating and cooling process, that is a costly one in terms of energy consumption.

So here we created a much stronger outcome, and believe it or not, with that more comfortable setting, that because of some of the fan work that had been done to cool the barn and, again, regulate the energy consumption, you had a more comfortable setting for the herd, and production per cow was greater.

So all around it was a win-win-win situation, and we were utilizing a state-of-the-art, shelf-ready technology. Think of the many other applications that are out there looming that we can then advance through resources that come when we put together a system that checks the pollution impact on our environment and produces through that, resources that grow jobs, grow opportunities, grow discovery, grow innovation, grow demand reduction, and then move forward to creating this all-American agenda that impacts, finally, the American family in very positive measure.

And I hear you, Congressman Blumenauer. I think that in this country, beyond any other, with consumption per person, energy demand per person so high above the average, there is a greater bit of opportunity here than in any other world Nation that is a manufacturing leader in the world.

So we have with this gluttonous dependency on petroleum-based, fossil fuel-based economy of ours to move forward aggressively, and just a simple 1 or 2 or 5 percent reduction in demand is monumental coast to coast. And so this is about job creation in a way that grows significant jobs from all sectors. From the blue collar and white collar jobs of today, all can be transformed to some degree to a green collar work environment.

Just yesterday in Albany, New York, at the State Education Department, a subcommittee from the Science and Technology Committee of this House, headed by Chairman Hinojosa, went to Albany to conduct a hearing on improvements in the Workforce Investment Act. The reauthorization is before us as we speak. We're looking at how we can better improve that act and also bring about today's thinking on green collar opportunities, green collar opportunities in the energy world.

And part of the witness table included a representative from GE's wind division. They talked about the Federal Department of Energy's forecast of some 500,000 jobs in that industry that will require those who are site managers, site operational people, to those who are wind technicians to be able to learn the trades, learn the maintenance and retrofitting and installation opportunities and skills to bring about this revolution of sorts. There will be those, too, that are required to come up with the next generation of equipment that is, you know, today in the labs percolating in a way that is just, again, a revolution waiting to happen.

This is smart thinking. This is smart policy. These are progressive measures that then take this country into that world leading status.

You know, as a kid I remember the space race. I remember the Sputnik situation. We were competitive. We were going to beat Russia to the punch. We were going to make certain that we landed a person on the Moon. That came with a vision that was followed up with a sense of policy, that drove us with resource commitment. We have that same opportunity today, a golden opportunity made green in a way that will spark this innovation economy, that will transform a lot of the work opportunities out there and provide the bottom line benefits to American working families.

I think the middle class Americans who have just realized the largest investment in a tax cut in the Nation's history through the recent recovery act will now stand yet another chapter of gain here with this sort of thinking.

Absolutely. I think the strategy is one that will be produced in very thoughtful exchange here in the House and in the Senate and working with the administration.

I think the resources you talk about, the garnering of resources, these can be applied in so many measures. I saw from my days in the assembly as Energy Chair, to my time as NYSERDA president, a huge sea change in thinking from even the business community, where they came to NYSERDA looking for opportunities for energy efficiency installments into their operation. They were hard hit by some of these economic pressures.

When we think of it, it was an energy crisis that kind of drove this economic crisis. When gas prices were rising severely, when petroleum prices were rising severely, when the cost of running our factories and the cost of running our workplaces and the cost of maintaining our homes kept rising because of those fuel costs, then people came into an energy crunch. That drove this economic recession that has been so long and deep and now inherited by this administration as we now struggle with the Recovery Act to come forward with a solution.

Doing nothing would have meant what--500,000 to 600,000 job losses per month? So it took action--just like this will take action. As the President has said, energy reform is required for our economic recovery. Health care reform is required for our economic recovery.

So this opportunity for energy reform, where we retrofit our factories and provide for cheaper outcomes and more efficient government, in partnership with our private sector, making certain that we embrace our intellectual capacity, that is what this is all about.

I saw what we could do just in housing stock alone with efficiency measures that range from weatherization to home audits that produce all sorts of insulation requirements and those kinds of investments that, again, produce jobs in our neighborhoods.

I saw what NYSERDA was doing through Hudson Valley Community College, one of the large community colleges in the capital region of New York State. They partnered with NYSERDA. We set goals. We put programs together. We made certain resources were there and then went forward with training people that might be construction management majors at Hudson Valley Community College and learning state-of-the-art PV and solar application for rooftops.

Training the workforce of the future, taking people through various work incentive programs, through our PIC--our Private Industry Council, and making certain they were connected to the community college opportunity, training them at Hudson Valley as educators, then reaching out to other community colleges and creating that network of trainer doing the work with the future trainer. And all of them

then working with unemployed, underemployed, people transition that needed new skills developed that were highly skilled in the workforce, addressing our curricula in pre-K-12, addressing the opportunities for matriculation at our colleges and certification programs. All of this is very important to building the human infrastructure that then goes out there and becomes that green energy team in all of our neighborhoods, all of our States across the Nation, making certain that we spark that kind of job creation and dedication to a cause that has us reducing our demand, that then has us producing something other than a fossil-based economy, and generating situations of power and energy needs that do not pollute and add to our global warming situation and to our carbon footprint. All of that is a spectacular outcome that is achievable with the proper focus, laser-sharp focus, commitment to resources, and advancement in progressive policy.

Not only that, Congressman Blumenauer, I think with that intensity that you just shared with us, it tells me that that should push elected representatives here in the House and Senate to respond to their constituents in a way that is thoughtful and progressive because that is the message I believe is imparted by such polling results.

People know that we have precious little time to correct some of this. But they also know that there's a great outcome. I believe the youngest generations in today's society are going to compel us to think outside the barrel. I think they are going to push us and say it's time to think outside the barrel and do things appropriately.

I will give you an example. Again, at NYSERDA we got involved in a school project across the State at several schools. We would install solar systems at the school to, A, ease the burden on the property taxpayer; B, invest in the children's education so they could see firsthand what was happening and to inspire them; C, to inform the educator to take the teaching staff and allow them to incorporate into their classroom activities the discussion of renewables, of solar, of the opportunities to become independent--energy independent.

What a remarkably successful program. We need just to grow that. But, again, it's resources. States sometimes are confined or restricted. If we have a strong partnership with Federal Government, then we can do that multilayering of government to respond in a way that advances this stretched thinking to allow us again to measure in green terms what the future can be and to see that so many of these opportunities are on that shelf, ready to be applied, tells us that there's a great bit of opportunity out there looming--looming large.

And so I think that polling statistics and the data that are exchanged here tell us that there's a new day coming. As we invest in this coming budget, I believe you're going to see a commitment to a new world where we are that energy-secure Nation. And as we grow our energy security, I'm firmly convinced we grow our national security. Because our involvement, our dependency on the Middle East, for instance, for our supply of oil and petroleum finds us depending on some of the most troubled spots in the world that have unstable governments, that then control our destiny for what is a basic need out there--the energy to light and heat our homes, to power our manufacturing centers, and our workplaces.

When we are dependent in such huge measure on that sort of importation, it only causes great concern and challenges us to think in these bolder terms. And so I think we need to take that energy palette and paint it in bolder shades of green.

Let me tell you, part of my congressional district includes Schenectady, New York, dubbed ``the city that lights and hauls the world.'' They did locomotive manufacturing. We are a center of innovation, with names like Edison and Steinmetz.

So that Greatest Generation was involved in the manufacturing end of that thought process, that seed that was planted, that invention that was sparked in Schenectady, and they were there manufacturing so that they could light and haul the world.

So along that path of my district where the Erie Canal gave birth to an industrial revolution, where we inspired the westward movement, where this necklace of communities called mill towns emerged because of all of the centers of invention and products that were manufactured, this great generation knows what happens when you are at the front of the line where you are the leader in the world. And this is our chance to assume the leadership mantel of a new century of thinking. Just as we did over a century ago to create some of these ways to address energy needs, we are now at a new juncture that can, again, produce that passage that allows us to impact the entire world with the developments that we can inspire simply by committing resources, whoever it is as a nation, whatever nation assumes that leadership status--and someone will--they're going to control, I think, that global setting. And it should be the U.S.

We as a country not only have the challenges placed before us in terms of a tough economy that now we are working to bring back, a tough job inherited by this President, but he is doing a very thoughtful, remarkable job with keen focus, and includes energy transformation as part of that comeback.

Not only are we challenged, but we have that capacity, the intellectual capacity and the history of having been pioneers, people who have taken that leap of faith and who have seen science and all sorts of experimental procedures as a good thing.

This administration, this House's leadership through Speaker Pelosi and the many chairs understand that we have that capacity, and they are leading us in the right direction. I am convinced.

Well, I know you stand for progressive policies in Oregon, and you personify that very well. So it is a pleasure to work with you in this House, and we are going to go forward and have a very innovative budget.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The GIVE Act before us responds to President Obama's call to service for our Nation's volunteers to help move our country forward by launching a new era of service during these challenging economic times.

Certainly, there are many new corps established in this legislation; amongst them, Clean Energy as a corps. Those members will be able to work in their given communities providing valuable services that range from retrofitting housing for low-income households to improving their energy efficiency outcomes; to building energy-efficient housing in low-income communities; conducting energy audits for low-income households; and to installing renewable energy technologies, amongst other things.

This energy improvement will be an empowerment to the given communities. I am fortunate to have thriving programs in my Capital District region of New York State. Amongst them are the Self Advocacy Association of New York, conducted through the auspices of an organization in Schenectady. They deal with those of the developmental disability community that enable them to provide for self-advocacy for people with disabilities. Also, the Capital District RSVP, which places retired people in projects that address the needs of their community, where we have over 1,200 volunteers providing over 250,000 hours of service.

Mr. Chair, this is an exciting bit of legislation. It allows us to utilize volunteer power that has been a tradition with this Nation. It dispels loneliness and despair, it builds a sense of dignity and hope, and certainly, as they do that, they will deliver services, very valuable services, to the doorstep of their communities.

Let it be said that volunteers are the muscle of America.

Thank you, Congressman. I think it's absolutely important that we move forward with progressive policy in the energy area. I chaired the Energy Committee in the New York State Assembly for 15 years. And, you're right, went on to serve as president and CEO at NYSERDA, where we focused on renewables, efficiency, research and development. The investment that we saw was tremendously powerful to the economy and where we worked on several projects that really promoted efficiency and conservation measures.

What I think is important to note here is that this President, this administration, has shared a vision with a laser-sharp focus and shared with a very direct boldness about the opportunity we have now as a Nation.

We have witnessed the last several years of conflicts in the Middle East, and so many believe that was over the commodity of oil. We know that that fossil-based dependency pollutes the environment and that we have an opportunity here to not only address our future and job creation, but our environment and greening up the outcomes, leaving not only this generation, but certainly those to follow much cleaner air to breathe and a stronger sense of environment-friendly policy.

Where I think the significance comes here is that we can grow our energy independence. We can strengthen that outcome by reducing what is a gluttonous dependency on fossil-based fuels, oftentimes imported and from some of the most troubled spots in the world that have unstable governments. And it's why we were drawn into a conflict, I think, because of our dependency on that area for our energy commodities.

While we can reduce that dependence on fossil-based fuels, we can strengthen our energy security, which is a good thing. It's a great bit of policy initiative that we should have pull us along this roadway of progressive politics as it relates to energy generation and energy usage.

We also, when we reduce that dependency and grow the energy security, we grow and strengthen our national security, which is an important factor in the international concepts. We are able to move forward in a way that I think promotes a much more stable national security outcome for our Nation and generations, again, to follow.

So, as we do this, I believe the investments we can make now by the policies that will build an investment in renewables, in shelf-ready opportunities to grow energy efficient outcomes, to retrofit our businesses, to retrofit our farms. We did projects through NYSERDA that spoke favorably, overwhelmingly favorably, to dairy farmers, who are dealing with perishable products, who are dealing with perishable produce, that were dealing with a very important bit of nature. They couldn't avoid at times the peak periods where they could perhaps avoid priciest power. They needed to have some sort of addressing of those situations.

What we were able to do is retrofit those dairy farms and allow for them to reduce their energy costs, which allows for them to feed this Nation in a more effective way.

So, also, as we create these opportunities through investment and research and development, we are growing significant jobs, tremendous jobs that will call upon the engineer out there, the inventor, the innovator, and we know that there's a great career ladder we can build there.

We are investing in the trades because the trading out and the retrofit of these systems, they will maintain, operate, and repair these situations so that, again, job creation galore here that can really allow us to breathe freer in terms of creating the energy that we need and how we use that energy.

What I also would make mention of is that R&D, research and development, should be seen as economic development. I believe that by investing in that sort of future, by creating the funds that will allow for a blueprint for our energy future, that allows us to take that intellectual capacity as a Nation, to take our brain power as Americans, and put it to work so that we can deploy these success stories into the commercial sector, where we can do cutting edge, where we already have ready opportunities, they need to be inserted into the outcomes here in the States, and we also can move forward with many, many new opportunities in this energy-driven, innovative economy that is so boldly expressed by this President and certainly by Speaker Pelosi and the leadership of this House.

So I see a great opportunity here for this Nation to respond favorably to the energy needs of this country, to do it much more independent of reliance on some of the most troubled spots in the world, and doing it in a way that creates significant career ladders for people across the strata of job opportunities, from trades on up to those who hold bachelor's and master's and doctorate degrees that can assist this Nation.

Certainly. As we struggle through these very difficult economic times, job creation, job retention is at the forefront of the work we do. We all talk about it every day. This is a good way that not only grows jobs but grows that energy independence and strengthens the energy outcome, and it does it in an environmentally friendly way.

So it's a powerful statement that we can make here as legislators.

Right, Congressman Blumenauer. I'm enthralled by the comment made by Congressman Inslee about the auto industry and the work that we can be doing on investing in new ideas and new concepts. Just in our recovery package that we did a few weeks ago was a major investment in advanced battery technology. That advanced battery technology can speak to not only transportation sectors in our economy, but to energy generation. And it may hold the secret to an awful lot of progress that we can make.

If we continue to invest in that R&D, I'm convinced we will have the automobile of the future. Also, when we look at some of these investments in R&D, they will incorporate other sectors of the economy like the ag economy, where you can diversify that ag economy to grow the produce that would be required to go forward with some of the fuels that we can create simply by using cellulosic formulas that include perhaps switch grass or soy products or whatever and go forward in a smart way that will look at the best outcomes that we can encourage by the government, based on energy required to create new energy, impacts on the ag, impact on environment, do those quantifiable studies and then determine what path to follow.

But we can do this with a great degree of skill and analysis that will move us into a new generation of thinking. But it takes the boldness, It takes that major step forward.

To your point about some of the opportunities with renewables, we are bringing in all aspects of opportunity from R&D from the highest technical sense on to the trades that will install these facilities and allow us to move forward with a smart grid to connect all of this, the smart metering concepts that we need to invest in so that we are using the power at the right time and making those consumer judgments that are in our best interests individually or household-wise and also collectively in a way that has the smartest energy consumers possible with the choices being placed before us and the job creation that is embraced by this sort of an agenda.

So I am really encouraged by the work that is being done in this House.

I know that in a caucus that we have created that deals with sustainable energy and environment outcomes, that is a powerful place to share these ideas and grow the synergy that will produce the policies that take us forward.

Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize the importance of the National School Breakfast Program and to express my support for the resolution by the gentlelady from Wisconsin that we passed this evening.

The 100 percent Federally funded school breakfast programs, particularly where breakfast is served in the classroom, have shown to increase student attentiveness, academic performance, and decrease tardiness and disciplinary referrals.

Classroom breakfast programs are important because they reduce the stigma of receiving free or reduced price breakfasts and increase participation in school breakfast programs. In my district, the Troy City School District has adopted a grab-and-go program where kids can get their breakfast right in their hallways and bring it into the classroom to eat with their peers. These schools, particularly School 2, 12 and 14, and the Carroll Hill School, have all seen their breakfast participation numbers rise to 50 to 60 percent of all students in their schools, where the average elsewhere in New York State is only 20 percent.

I hope that we can do around the country what Troy City School District has done in my congressional district. In these tough economic times, we need to ensure that more students are taking advantage of school breakfast programs, and breakfast in the

classroom has been shown to do just that.

Two and a third centuries ago, before our United States Capitol had even been imagined, the Founders were asking a question we hear in the District of Columbia to this day, and that is, how can we cut out a city from its home State and put it under the direct rule of Congress without violating the principles that the Revolutionary War fought to secure?

James Madison argued that there was only one way around that hypocrisy, ``to provide for the rights and the consent of the citizens inhabiting it.'' And further, its people ``will have had their voice in the election of the government which is to exercise authority over them.''

That was the intent of our Founders. Those were the conditions for this District to exist, but they have not been upheld. 233 years later, of all the world's democracies, there is only one national capital without full voting rights. Washington, D.C., this city full of monuments to democracy, holds that distinction. At last, that's on the verge of changing.

Soon this House will vote on a bill to give the District of Columbia a voting Member of the House of Representatives. I urge my colleagues in this Chamber to finally give the people of Washington, D.C. a vote in this great body.