Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 100th anniversary of Alamosa County, Colorado. In these fast-paced times, we often overlook the foundations of America--small towns with hard- working people.

Since 1913, Alamosa has been a model of American values, with a proud heritage of honest, hard work, perseverance and community. As the legend goes, Alamosa, originally intended as a rail center for the Rio Grande Railroad, was built from the ground up practically over-night. Industrious from the outset, the citizens of Alamosa built the town with bricks forged from local clay and fired in the city's own kiln.

It's this spirit of industry that drives Alamosa County's 9,000 residents today. It provides opportunities for the next generation to grow and prosper at Adams State College and Trinidad State College, in one of Colorado's most diverse landscapes that boasts the Great Sand Dunes National Park and the Alamosa National Wildlife Refuge.

Mr. Speaker, it is an honor to recognize the 100th anniversary of Alamosa County and pay tribute to the people, past and present, who have built this community and continue to embody hard work and dedication, values which have made our country strong.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize President Gerald R. Ford's humanitarian involvement in Operation Babylift.

On April 5th, 1975, President Ford launched Operation Babylift, an initiative that rescued over 3,000 orphans from war-torn Vietnam. Throughout the Vietnam War, these children witnessed the destruction of their villages and saw their families torn apart. Thanks to the efforts of President Ford, those children were given the opportunity for a bright future.

This year marks what would have been President Ford's 100th birthday. During his presidency Ford faced many challenges under extraordinary circumstances, and through them worked tirelessly on behalf of the American people with the hope of peace in his heart.

During a time of great uncertainty and fear, President Ford restored faith in humanity as he made the call to commence Operation Babylift, sending 30 cargo aircrafts to transport over 3,000 Vietnamese orphans out of war-torn Vietnam.

Mr. Speaker, it is an honor to recognize President Gerald R. Ford and his efforts that saved the lives of thousands of children.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the Pueblo Veterans Ritual Team of Pueblo, Colorado. Pueblo Veterans Ritual Team, founded in 1984, is a Veteran Service Organization dedicated to providing military honors to veterans.

As one of the oldest Veterans Ritual Teams in the country, the Pueblo Veterans Ritual Team assists over two hundred of our nation's service families every year. The group is comprised of former service men and women who continue to serve the community by providing military funeral services for many of the area's fallen heroes. Pueblo Veterans Ritual Team supports disabled veterans, widows, and orphans of deceased veterans by comforting the families after the loss, entertaining service members while in the hospital, and providing any other assistance needed. Through their continual service in the community they have an immense impact as public ambassadors for veterans and the Armed Forces.

The community of Pueblo, as the Home of Heroes, is in debt to the Pueblo Veterans Ritual Team for their service in supporting the veteran community. Mr. Speaker, it is an honor to recognize Pueblo Veterans Ritual Team for their devotion to honoring America's heroes as well as their service to our nation.

Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chairman, as I stand here, wildfires are burning in my district and in the State of Colorado. The bark beetle epidemic, rampant drought, intense weather occurrences, and deteriorating forest health have increased the propensity for devastating wildfires throughout the Western United States.

According to the National Interagency Fire Center, last year, more than 9.3 million acres of land burned. That is an area that is approximately the size of Rhode Island, Delaware, the District of Columbia, and Massachusetts combined. These fires tragically claimed 13 lives, destroyed more than 2,000 homes, and led to hundreds of millions of dollars in damages. Nearly 400,000 acres burned in Colorado, alone, with the tragic loss of six lives.

The status quo of addressing a problem when it's too late is no longer good enough. The status quo has given us decades of declining forest health. The status quo has given us years of increasingly catastrophic wildfires. The status quo has put people, communities, and ecosystems at risk. We must do more.

Forests are vital for the Western United States. They provide limitless environmental and economic benefits when healthy. It's our responsibility to be able to preserve this incredible natural resource and do all that we can to be able to restore forest health. And we also need to be able to prevent future loss of life and property to catastrophic wildfire.

I urge this body to be able to join with me and my colleague, Congressman Polis of Colorado, in taking a step to be able to prevent these tragedies. For far too long we've been working to stop fires once they start and mitigate damage once it has already occurred. As the old saying goes, ``an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.'' That is what this amendment is about: getting ahead of this problem by investing greater resources toward prevention so that we can take a more proactive approach to restoring our forests to a healthy, natural state.

Representative Polis and I have introduced this amendment to direct $7,655,000 to FEMA's National Pre-Disaster Mitigation Fund, a program uniquely suited to be able to assist in our effort to be able to reduce the occurrence of wildfire, as it would provide funds aimed at mitigating conditions that lead to these fires.

Despite the need for proactive programs such as this in the wake of increased occurrences of extreme weather events, including wildfire, the National Pre-Disaster Mitigation Fund is facing a reduction of nearly $2.5 million this year. Considering the value of this program and the term saving it generates through prevention of destructive fires, I believe there are more

appropriate areas within the Federal Government where it can realize budget savings.

Our amendment is offset by decreasing the same amount of funding in the Automation Modernization account of the Department of Homeland Security, which received an increase of $7,655,000 this year for its IT modernization, despite concerns with transparency of spending within the agency. I share the concerns expressed there.

Senator Coburn's Wastebook provided some troubling findings about wasteful spending within DHS, including the fact that this agency has spent over $35 billion of taxpayers' money in the last 10 years. In fiscal year '10, DHS spent $6.5 billion on IT spending alone. In 2013, DHS planned to spend $4 billion on 68 major IT programs. A third of these programs cost about $1 billion and were identified by the Government Accountability Office as containing waste and not meeting specified commitments.

Besides being replete with wasteful government spending, many programs at DHS have been found to be overlapping, unnecessary, or lacking in transparency. Until these concerns are addressed, I do not believe we should be providing additional resources for these programs at DHS. Instead, we could better use that $7,655,000 to take steps towards proactively reducing the occurrence of devastating wildfires by redirecting those funds to the National Pre-Disaster Mitigation Fund.

I urge my colleagues to support this important amendment and safeguard our forests.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chairman, I rise today with an amendment that cuts $4 million from the Transportation Security Administration and provides these resources for small and rural airports, airports that have had important passenger screening devices removed as a result of the Federal Aviation Administration Modernization Act.

Passengers in rural airports in my district, including Yampa Valley, Montrose, Gunnison, Durango, they've all been impacted by unnecessary delays and intrusions because of the removal of security screening devices that were sent to larger airports.

In the interest of protecting passenger privacy, the FAA Modernization Reform Act of 2012 required the use of Automated Target Recognition scanners, or ``Gumby scanners,'' at all airports by June 1 of 2012. While the intent of Congress was admirable and protecting the privacy of passengers should be a priority, TSA's interpretation and implementation of the law has caused numerous problems for passengers traveling from small and rural airports throughout the country.

One of TSA's manufacturers who provided equipment for passenger screening could not comply with the changes in the law and provide new equipment. As a result, TSA decided to remove 174 of these noncompliant machines throughout the country. Rather than waiting for funding for new machines or finding alternative ways to be able to fix this problem, TSA made the arbitrary decision of taking compliant scanners from small and rural airports throughout the country and giving them to larger airports that lost their noncompliant scanners.

One alternative could have been the cost-effective private-Federal alternative screening model that was put forth by then-House Transportation Chairman John Mica that would have saved billions of dollars and not compromised security at small and rural airports.

TSA's implication that security checkpoints at small and rural airports are somehow less critical is inaccurate. Once passengers clear screening at small and rural airports, they typically do not receive additional screening for connecting flights at any other potentially larger airports.

The amendment will assist with reducing unnecessary delay for passengers at small and rural airports by providing funding to be able to speed up the replacement of security equipment removed by the TSA. It is important to note that the funds being redirected from TSA toward improving passenger screening at small airports come from its administrative budget and, as such, do not impact passenger security.

There are numerous concerns with transparency and waste in the TSA budget, including a recent agreement by the TSA to purchase $50 million worth of new uniforms that are unnecessary, wasting approximately $212 million each year on the inefficient SPOT program and billions on the Transportation Worker Identification Credential program. I believe that these resources could be better used to more efficiently screen passengers at small airports, strengthen security, prevent delays and unavoidable intrusions.

I encourage my colleagues to join me in support of this commonsense amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Offered by: Mr. Tipton

Amendment No. 15: Page 9, line 17, after the dollar amount,

insert ``(decreased by $7,655,000)''.

Page 49, line 19, after the dollar amount, insert

``(increased by $7,655,000)''.

I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chairman, I rise today with an amendment to reduce wasteful spending by the Department of Veterans Affairs on conferences and use the money to be able to assist the VA backlog of processing disability claims for veterans. Two-thirds of all veterans who file disability claims with the VA must wait longer than 125 days to be able to receive their benefits. I have seen this firsthand from constituents in my district. People have contacted my office in sheer exasperation by the lack of response and endless delays by the VA in processing their claims.

This isn't a statistic we're talking about. This is literally peoples' lives. Many of the veterans on the backlog are in desperate need of care, care that has been delayed by needless lag of bureaucratic backlogs in the Department of Veterans Affairs. This is deplorable, Mr. Chairman. The VA backlog has grown by over 2,000 percent over the last 4 years, despite an increase in the budget of more than the 20 percent. As of March 28 of this year, the VA reported that there are over 606,007 backlogged claims and 865,989 total claims. Nearly 900,000 veterans who have sacrificed for our country are not getting their benefits. They're not getting the care that they need. Our veterans deserve better.

Despite the inability of the VA to be able to process claims in a timely manner, the agency continues to waste money on unnecessary conferences. In September of 2012, the VA Office of the Inspector General released a report highlighting abuses by the VA at conferences. That report included numerous troubling findings. According to the report, the VA spent more than $6.1 million on two human resource conferences in Orlando, and nearly $100,000 on unnecessary promotional items like bags, pins, and water bottles. In addition to these, the report included information on many more instances of waste, fraud, and abuse at the VA.

Following the release of the OIG report, Congressman Jeff Miller, chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, stated ``it can be reasonably concluded that 10 to 15 percent of VA's conference spending is wasteful, amounting to $10 to $15 million a year, at the least.'' I wholeheartedly agree with Chairman Miller. That is why today I'm proposing this amendment to target $10 million in wasteful spending on conferences from the Secretary's $403 million budget and reprioritize these funds to be able to assist with addressing the VA backlog.

It's time that the VA focus their efforts on serving our veterans and processing their claims in a reasonable amount of time--not in 125 days or more. The VA must reduce the backlog, and it won't get it done by wasting time and taxpayer dollars at conferences. It's time that the benefits work for our veterans rather than our veterans having to be able to work for their benefits.

I urge my colleagues to be able to support this commonsense amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the Business Incubator Center of Grand Junction, Colorado. Founded in 1987, the Business Incubator Center is a private non-profit organization with the sole mission of fostering economic growth and entrepreneurial spirit in Western Colorado. Earlier this year, the Business Incubator Center was named ``Incubator of the Year'' by the National Business Incubation Association for the second time in its 25 year history.

Working with both start-up and established businesses in the Grand Junction area, the Business Incubator Center has played a significant role in building and maintaining thousands of businesses. Over the past 25 years, the Business Incubator Center has helped launch more than 575 businesses in the community, which have gone on to generate more than $156 million in revenue, and create more than 10,000 jobs. The impact the Business Incubator Center has had on the community is immeasurable.

In both 1996 and 2013, BIC was chosen by the National Business Incubation Association as America's top incubator, well deserved honors for this vital organization that has led to the creation of so many jobs. The success of the Business Incubator Center's model has sparked innovation and fostered prosperity for thousands of Coloradans. Mr. Speaker, it is an honor to recognize The Business Incubator Center of Grand Junction, Colorado for its commitment to the economic development of Western Colorado.

Mr. Speaker, I would like today to be able to begin with a quote:

We are tired of waiting, and we believe the time has come

to make the final decision on one of the most important

projects to unlock the energy future for this country, the

Keystone XL pipeline.

Mr. Speaker, this quote is not from an energy titan. It comes from Sean McGarvey of the AFL-CIO.

The time has come for America and North America to be able to seek and achieve energy self-sufficiency. This is part of the solution. Americans are tired of not planning for the future. We need to unleash that potential to be able to put our people back to work. The time has come. The time is now. Let's get America back to work. Let's create energy security right here on this continent.

Mr. Speaker, there are probably very few issues that touch Americans, families, our States, and small businesses more personally than health care.

This House has dealt numerous times with addressing the Affordable Care Act. But when we talk about it on that very personal level--of a mom taking a sick child down to visit the doctor, to a senior citizen who's counting on that hospital being able to be there, to be able to deliver the care that they need--we need to recognize that the overarching view that Washington typically performs when passing a bill and delivering it to the American people, that it has very real consequences, very real impacts.

In my district in rural Colorado--and in fact throughout rural America--there is a looming health care crisis that is just on the horizon. That ability to be able to go to the doctor, to be able to have a hospital that's going to be there to be able to provide the service that's necessary--they're feeling that real impact right now at home.

We've had a lot of discussion about that big, overarching bill: the IPAB boards that are going to be making the medical choices for our senior citizens--indeed for all Americans--rather than that choice being made between the doctor and the patient; about the State mandates that are coming through; the Medicare payment cuts; higher health costs; the budget that is now going to be estimated at $1.76 trillion in costs over a 10-year period, and rising, on a struggling American economy, on struggling families and small businesses; the 150 new boards that are being established; the better than 12,000 pages of new regulations that our hospitals, our doctors, and our families are going to have to be dealing with; and the short form, to simply be able to fill out and be able to apply for the Affordable Care Act, 21 pages just to be able to get insurance.

We need, Mr. Speaker, to be talking about those real impacts, not from the 30,000-foot view, but on the ground at home.

I recently went to Delta Memorial Hospital in my district, a small community hospital that's proud of their service. In fact, they've had multiple surveys that went through and rated their service among the best. They are now being challenged by the Affordable Care Act in terms of that health care delivery.

They have a program called the Recovery Audit Contracts conducted by individual companies that don't even have to have health care background, but they're going back in and reassessing costs. And they're having to pay back money now, money that they simply do not have.

We're seeing reimbursements to doctors drop at Delta Memorial Hospital, making it harder for the physicians to be able to deliver that service.

These are small hospitals. They don't have big HR departments; they're there for the health of the community. But they are seeing real challenges in being able to continue. In fact, in many of our rural hospitals, they're beginning to wonder if they're going to be able to continue to deliver that service.

I've talked to doctors in Delta, Montrose, Grand Junction, Pueblo, throughout my entire district, who are frustrated that they are now seeing their reimbursements--money that they need to have to be able to conduct their business--being cut by the Federal Government, the Federal Government determining what the value of that service is going to be and saying you can afford it. That's not real life.

What we are seeing now are senior citizens who just became senior citizens by the virtue of a birthday over the last few months, they cannot find a doctor who is willing to take Medicare, simply because they can no longer afford it.

We have a system, Mr. Speaker, that completely forgot the original premise that every American, I believe, can agree on. We need to have real reform, but we need to go back to that initial premise of affordability and accessibility. The Affordable Care Act fails on both levels.

We are seeing right now, in my home State of Colorado, estimates for individual insurance policies this year are going to go up an estimated 23 percent or more. Small businesses, who are trying to provide group insurance, are seeing their costs going up this year estimated better than 17 percent.

Have we achieved more affordability, as was promised? We have not.

When we are talking about that accessibility issue, when that senior citizen in Delta, Colorado, walks into a doctor's office and is told that they aren't accepting any new patients, are we achieving that accessibility? We are not.

Mr. Speaker, we need to go back to that original premise, because so many small businesses right now that would like to be able to deliver that service are feeling the impact. I have a friend who owns several small Pizza Huts throughout the West, and she is dealing with those additional costs that are hurting her business and her ability to be able to deliver that real service for her employees.

We have a challenge in this country, Mr. Speaker, and it can and will be addressed if we will go back to that original premise of affordability and accessibility. The Affordable Care Act fails on both points.

Let's roll up our sleeves and get the job done for the American people.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Dale Sowards of Manassa, Colorado. Mr. Sowards passed away on March 29, 2013 at his home, he was 95. A native and lifelong resident of Western Colorado, Mr. Sowards' story is one of public service and community involvement that lives on as an inspiration to us all.

Born in Manassa on May 7, 1917, Mr. Sowards went on to receive a degree in Forestry and range Management from Colorado State University and on Christmas Eve of 1937, he married his high school sweetheart Orva Nielson. Following college, Mr. Sowards spent five years serving Colorado with the U.S. Forest Service. He went on the teach biology, chemistry, and agriculture in Manassa and later taught the farm training program at Adams State College.

Mr. Sowards' life in civil service began as a member of the Manassa school board, he later served the President of the Cumbres-La Manga Cattle Association and the Manassa Land and Irrigation Company for 16 years. Mr. Sowards went on to become County Commissioner and, in 1976, was chosen as the Most Outstanding Colorado Commissioner. That same year, he was elected President of the National Association of Counties' Western Region (NaCO). As a NaCO President, Mr. Sowards played a pivotal role in the passage of Payments-In-Lieu-of-Taxes, or PILT, legislation which compensates counties for the tax revenue lost by federal holdings of land. Counties use these funds for education, public safety, and infrastructure projects. In recognition of his efforts, NaCo's annual award for outstanding service of public lands bears his name.

Mr. Sowards was an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served as Superintendent of the Sunday school late in his life. He is survived by two children in Manassa, 10 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren. Mr. Speaker, it is an honor to recognize Mr. Dale Sowards for his lifelong dedication to the people of Western Colorado.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Mr. Daniel Newmyer of Center, Colorado. Mr. Newmyer is one of the many exceptional teachers in the great state of Colorado whose passion and dedication for his students make him a great example for educators everywhere and a strong community leader.

Mr. Newmyer graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder with a degree in Science Administration and went on to receive a Master's degree from Regis University in Education. In 2009, he joined the Center Consolidated School District to teach math and science at Center High School. Since becoming a teacher, Mr. Newmyer has strived to bring science and math to life for his students, always looking for new and exciting ways to inspire his students.

Mr. Newmyer has received numerous awards and recognitions for his innovation in the classroom, and his dedication as an educator. This year, the Astronauts Memorial Foundation, NASA, and the Space Foundation jointly presented him with the Alan Shepard Technology in Education Award and Mr. Newmyer was named the San Luis Valley Teacher of the Year. Because of Mr. Newmyer's efforts, Center High School has become one of the top STEM schools in the state of Colorado. He has worked to procure grants to allow his students to participate in local, state, and national science and engineering competitions. He has also pioneered a computer-based learning system that uses flight simulators to boost math scores.

Mr. Newmyer is a perfect example of how technology can drive innovation in education. His creativity and hard work are an inspiration to teachers across the country. Mr. Speaker, it is an honor to recognize Daniel Newmyer for his dedication to his students and his outstanding accomplishments as an educator.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Clara Bancroft of Durango, Colorado. Clara is one of the exceptional stories to come out of our Nation's complex immigration system. An Argentine by birth, Clara chose to pursue a United States citizen residency and eventual citizenship. She did so entirely within the legal immigration system.

Born in Las Garcitas in the Chaco province of northern Argentina in 1967, Clara was the ninth of 13 children. Her parents were poor ranchers who often struggled to afford food, and her childhood home had no electricity. When Clara was only 8 years old, she had to leave school and become the sole caretaker for her grandmother. After the passing of her grandmother, she moved to Buenos Aires at the age of 16, where she worked as a nanny and returned to school. In 2001, while working as a receptionist at the BV Group, she met her soon-to-be husband, Paul Bancroft.

In February of 2002, Clara came to visit her future husband as a tourist under the U.S. visa waiver program. While she was in America, that program was unexpectedly ended with Argentina. Respecting U.S. immigration law, Mrs. Bancroft returned to her home country as she worked to be able to get her visa. While still navigating the immigration system, Mr. and Mrs. Bancroft were married in October of 2002, and after nearly a year of legal battles, Mrs. Bancroft returned to the United States and reunited with her husband in January of 2003.

Since coming to America, Mrs. Bancroft has learned English, and in 2008 the Bancrofts welcomed their son, Bill, into their family. On November 15, 2012, Clara took the oath of citizenship in the United States. She is a proud citizen and loves her adopted country.

Mr. Speaker, it is an honor to recognize Mrs. Clara Bancroft for overcoming adversity and achieving the American Dream by becoming a citizen of the United States of America.

I thank my colleague from Colorado for the time.

Mr. Speaker, we have a very simple question before us as Americans: When we're looking at young families struggling to be able to pay bills, senior citizens on fixed incomes wondering how they're going to be able to make that next payment to be able to heat their homes, or cool them as summer approaches, is it an appropriate time for this Nation to seek what Jimmy Carter, in this very Chamber in 1976, challenged this country to do--to be able to achieve energy sufficiency? The answer can only be ``yes.''

The time is now for this Nation to be able to act. We see Americans struggling to be able to pay those bills. We're seeing Americans right now that are worried about being able to hold on to their jobs. This is an opportunity to be able to put Americans back to work and to be able to achieve that true energy self-sufficiency in this Nation. And it can be all-of-the-above.

In this last year, we passed a bill that I presented, planning for America's energy future, that enumerated that all-of-the-above strategy--wind, solar, hydroelectric energy, as well as coal, gas, our natural resources, to be able to develop them right here in America, to put our people back to work, and to be able to create that energy certainty.

When we look at this worldscape in which we currently live, the threats that are there, it is appropriate for this Nation to truly achieve energy self-sufficiency.

Through the bill that we just passed through the House of Representatives that my colleague noted, in the State of Colorado, through the ditches, the pipelines that have been built by the Bureau of Reclamation, we can generate as much electricity just in the State of Colorado as the Glen Canyon dam with small hydroelectric units. It can be that all-of-the-above strategy, but we also need to increase the production of our traditional fuel sources as well.

The time is appropriate. We have the resources and we have the technology to be able to do that. The question yet to be answered is: Will we rise to be able to actually meet that challenge?

As Americans, let us be committed to developing American energy on American soil, to be able to create American jobs, put Americans back to work, and to be able to create our own energy certainty at this time. The future of this country, the future for our children rely on those commonsense solutions. We're going to be putting them forward in this House. We're calling the American people and the Senate and the President to join us in that effort.

Mr. Speaker, we've all heard the statement ``a day late and a dollar short.'' Well, the President is now 2 months late with his budget and billions of dollars short. It's clear, this President wants to balance the increase of government on the backs of the American people. He believes that government needs the resources more than hardworking Americans.

We put forward a budget to be able to protect our senior citizens, to be able to build for the future for our children. The real approach, when we're talking about balance, is to have a budget that truly balances.

This administration continues to grow government, continues to waste the hardworking dollars of the American taxpayer.

Let's stand up and put politics aside and stand up for the people of this country and put forward a budget that will truly put America back to work.

I thank Chairman Bishop for yielding.

When we're talking about job creation in this country, I think it's worthy to note I just traveled through the Third Congressional District of Colorado visiting with people from Pueblo to Alamosa, Durango, Cortez, Montrose, Craig, Hayden, and Steamboat. One of the greatest challenges that they face is regulations coming out of Washington when it comes to job creation.

The fact of the matter is we're spending $1.75 trillion per year for businesses to be able to comply with government mandates. Is it a sensible approach to be able to look at regulations that simply don't work and are inhibiting job creation and our ability to be able to achieve the most carbon-free, environmentally friendly legislation that we can have? That's hydropower. That is a sensible approach.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote in favor of House Resolution 140 and for an open discussion on how we're going to be able to work together to be able to promote clean, renewable hydropower development in rural America and create much-needed jobs in the process. At a time when our country needs to be able to focus on domestic energy production and job creation, hydropower can play a critical role in providing clean renewable energy while expanding job opportunities in some of our hardest hit rural communities.

Hydropower is the cheapest and cleanest source of electricity available through modern technology. It's the highest source of non- carbon-emitting energy in the world and accounts for approximately 75 percent of the United States' total renewable electricity generation, making it the leading renewable energy resource of power. Canal-based hydropower can produce up to 1,400 megawatts of power in Colorado alone. Let's put this in perspective. This is the equivalent of the power produced by the originally designed output of the Glen Canyon Dam, just out of Colorado, not including the rest of the western United States.

Increased conduit hydropower serves a number of purposes: it produces renewable and emissions-free energy that can be used to pump water or sell electricity to the grid; it can offset diesel-generated pumps; it can generate revenue for the hydropower developer to help pay for aging infrastructure costs and water/power facility modernization; and it can create local jobs and generate revenue for the Federal Government.

As it stands, Federal regulations hinder this development on Federal projects and subject job creators to unnecessary requirements which can render small hydropower projects economically unfeasible. For this reason, I introduced H.R. 678, the Bureau of Reclamation Small Conduit Hydropower Development and Rural Jobs Act. This legislation authorizes power development at the agency's conduits to clear up multi-agency confusion and duplicative processes and reduces the regulatory costs associated with hydropower development.

H.R. 678, as passed by the Natural Resources Committee with bipartisan support, would eliminate the requirement of duplicative and unnecessary environmental analyses for projects on manmade facilities which already underwent a full environmental review at the time of their construction or when undergoing rehabilitation. The bill covers small hydropower generators installed on manmade pipes, ditches, and canals; and the renewable energy development promoted by the bill in no way impacts the natural environment. By streamlining this process, we can finally make these small conduit hydropower projects financially feasible and unleash private investment in clean energy that will reduce costs for ratepayers and increase tax revenue for the Treasury while putting people back to work.

I understand that some of my friends on the other side have reservations about this provision; and as I have made clear in the past, I'm open to working with my colleagues to be able to address their concerns with the NEPA provision. However, failure to address the existing regulatory uncertainty would negate one of the primary purposes of the bill and would ensure that the renewable energy development envisioned by the bill remains in limbo. I'm optimistic that discussing this issue openly will allay any concerns Members may have and allow us

to be able to arrive at a solution which ensures the implementation of a statutory framework that streamlines the project approval process and reduces costs.

I'm proud to have the support of the Family Farm Alliance, the National Water Resources Association, and the American Public Power Association, among others. I think the broad support this bill has seen among those most directly impacted indicates how close we are to making this renewable energy development a reality. I look forward to an open discussion on the merits of the bill, which I believe will speak for themselves.