Michael Arcuri

Mr. ARCURI

Mr. ARCURI. Madam Speaker, Americans are paying the price for President Bush's lack of an energy policy. It's this lack of a policy that has produced record prices for consumers and record profits for Big Oil. This President has the authority to send oil into the American market by opening the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, an action that would put oil on the market in 13 days and would provide relief at the pump immediately. But instead of providing American drivers with relief from $4-a- gallon gas, the administration has decided instead to give their friends in Big Oil one last gift before they leave office. The President's action to lift the offshore drilling moratorium will do nothing to lower prices at the pump now. In fact, his own Energy Information Administration says opening up new areas for drilling won't lower gas prices for 20 years, and even then by only a couple of pennies. Madam Speaker, deploying some oil from the Reserve would increase the supply of oil and help bring down the cost of gasoline. With so many Americans struggling in today's economy, it's time President Bush stands up for consumers and taps into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Mr. ARCURI

Mr. ARCURI. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 1344 provides for consideration of H.R. 3999, the National Highway Bridge Reconstruction and Inspection Act of 2008 under a structured rule. The rule provides one hour of general debate controlled by the Committee on Transportation. The rule makes in order 11 of the amendments that were submitted to the Rules Committee. I would like to thank Chairman Oberstar for his leadership in addressing the critical needs of bridges on our Federal highway system. I know that this issue is especially close to home for him, and my other colleagues from Minnesota, because of the tragedy that occurred when the I-35 bridge collapsed in Minneapolis last summer. The staggering truth is that one-fourth of all bridges nationwide are deficient. Half of all of the bridges in use were constructed in the 1960s. It is projected that motorist traffic will double in the next 30 years. In the same time, freight traffic in the U.S. will likely grow 92 percent in order to accommodate forecasted increases in American economic output. Growing demand for the movement of goods and services will place an unprecedented strain on our aging system. Our communities need the resources to ensure that our families and friends don't have to worry about their safety during their morning commute to work, quick trip to the grocery store, or the drive to drop their children off at school. We owe it to the American public to regain their trust in the safety of our bridges and highways. Mr. Speaker, the legislation this rule provides for consideration will go a long way to regain that trust from the American people. The legislation authorizes an additional $1 billion for bridge repair and replacement, and setting inspection standards for such bridges. It ensures that funds are concentrated on the most pressing bridge safety concerns by mandating that priority bridges be inspected annually and all other bridges biennially. I would also like to take a moment to acknowledge the work of my Republican colleague from Texas (Mr. Conaway) and thank him for the opportunity to work with him and the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Sutton) on an amendment that we will offer here today related to the rusting and corrosion damage to bridges. Our amendment expresses the sense of Congress that States should prepare corrosion mitigation and prevention plans when planning the construction of new bridges or the rehabilitation of existing bridges. Our amendment calls attention to a serious problem: many of our Nation's bridges are simply rusting away because of corrosion. Many of our bridges have surpassed their initial life expectancy, yet we rely on them to support another 20, 30, 40 years of travel. Corrosion is a significant factor in determining the useful life of a bridge. Without preventative measures, water penetrates and corrodes the steel rebar that reinforces our bridges, causing it to swell and fracture the concrete from the inside out. Weather and salt--especially in the northeast, where we must salt our roads in the winter--cause steel beams to rust and undermine the integrity of the whole structure. But corrosion can be reduced by using widely available technology and construction methods if they are incorporated into the engineering and design phase of the bridge project. Prevention measures range from simple steps like selecting more resistant building materials, or using coated rebar in concrete structures, to complex methods that cause electrical reactions in water to prevent rust from forming. This sounds complicated, but the same technology is commonly used by the shipbuilding industry to prevent corrosion. It is much easier and more cost effective to prevent or limit corrosion and rust at the beginning of a project. Corrosion prevention and mitigation plans can cost as little as a few thousand dollars to prepare during the design phase of a bridge project, but they can save municipalities hundreds of millions of dollars down the road in replacement and repair costs; delaying the need for maintenance by a factor of years. Having these plans up front can extend the life of the bridge, thereby saving both lives and millions of dollars in unnecessary repairs. I am hopeful that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will support the Conaway-Arcuri-Sutton amendment later today. Mr. Speaker, we cannot pass up this opportunity. We rely on bridges too much for everyday activities. Thanks to Chairman Oberstar and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, we can rest a little easier knowing that this legislation will make the bridges on our national highway system much safer. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ARCURI. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous materials into the Record.

Mr. ARCURI

Mr. ARCURI. I thank my friend for yielding. Although it has been a couple of years since I was 30-something, I appreciate your yielding me some time. Thank you for being here tonight and for talking about some reasonable positions that we're taking with respect to energy in this country. It's sad. I've been here for the past couple of hours, listening to my colleagues and to my friends from the other side of the aisle who were talking about their perception of what Congress is doing. It's sad because it's a real revisionist sort of perception because they see it from a perspective that, frankly, just isn't the case. When they say that nothing is being done, frankly, I don't know what they're talking about or what they're seeing, because there are a number of things being done. They may not be the things that they would like to see done, but clearly, a number of steps have been taken, and I think they are steps that are practical and smart and wise. One of the things that troubles me is that the only thing we hear from the other side of the aisle is drill, drill, drill. All they ever talk about is drill, and that presumes that we are going to be drilling for oil and that we are going to be reliant upon oil. You know, that's what put us in the situation we're in now--the reliance upon a finite resource that is not going to last forever. They want to continue to drill, and it's important. I was just reading an article, and it talks about how important it is to drill. I support drilling. I think we should drill. There are 68 million acres that are available to drill on, and we should be drilling on them. We should be drilling in Alaska on the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. That's why they call it the ``petroleum reserve,'' because there's petroleum there. We can be drilling there. We should be drilling there. The oil companies can do it. Why aren't they doing it? Well, if their companies are making the biggest profits in the history of their business, why would they do anything differently? That's why we have backed legislation that says ``use it or lose it.'' It's the same thing that we do for the coal companies. If they have reserves, if they have leases on the properties, they should very well be drilling on them. You know, recently, I spoke to a group of teenagers, high school students, in an organization called Boys State, in New York State. There were about 600 young boys, and I was speaking to them, and I was talking to them about how important it will be in the future for energy policy to be focused on not just finite resources but on the future. It's interesting because, when you talk to young people about the future, when you talk to young people about renewables, when you talk to young people about geothermal, about wind power, about solar power, and about cellulosic ethanol, they get it. It occurred to me that our generation got it back in the '70s. When everybody was talking about the energy crisis back in the '70s, we got it. We understood exactly what needed to be done. Only it wasn't done, and the last generation passed the problem on to us. Now it is our responsibility to do something, not to pass it on, not to just drill, drill, drill, drill, and then in 10 years or in 15 years have our children and our grandchildren have to deal with the very same problems that we're dealing with today. We need to have a responsible, reasonable energy policy. That's the difference between what our side of the aisle is developing and what the other side of the aisle is developing. They're not developing an energy policy. Drill, drill, drill is not an energy policy. You cannot drill your way to energy independence. All you can do is become more dependent. I'm a former D.A., and it's a lot like being addicted to drugs. When you see drug dealers, people who are addicted to drugs, all they want are more and more drugs. We can not be addicted to oil. We can't just constantly look for more and more oil. That is part of the solution, but it is only a part of the solution. It's also the renewables. It's natural gas. It's geothermal. It is cellulosic ethanol. It's biofuels. That is the future. That is what our country should be looking at. That's real energy policy. That's the futuristic kind of energy policy that I want to pass on to my children so that my children don't have to be saddled with the same problems that our generation is saddled with. Those are the kinds of things that we should be doing, as any good parent would do. I heard my colleagues a little earlier talking about natural gas reserves. I'm fortunate to represent an area in Upstate New York that actually has one of the largest shale deposits of natural gas, the Marcellus Shale Deposit, which extends from northern Pennsylvania into southern New York and into eastern Ohio. There, the Federal Government doesn't control or own any of that land. That's privately owned by farmers, by individuals, and we're starting to see some oil companies leasing small amounts of that property. Well, there's no governmental regulation here. There's no difficulty in terms of getting leases. If the energy companies want to come out and get the leases, they can do it. It is available to them. So, when we hear these arguments that Congress is putting some kinds of limitations on the ability of energy companies to drill, that just isn't the case. That isn't factual. What we need to develop in this country is a real long-term energy policy that deals not only with the short term but with the middle term and with the long term. There are a couple of other points that I think are very important that I would just like to touch on. Recently, we passed a piece of legislation that required the President to stop buying into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. That was critically important. Additionally, we need to do a little more. Perhaps we need to have the President release some of the petroleum that is in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. You know, it's there for a reason. It's there for an emergency. I would say there is an emergency that we're in today. And perhaps that's the kind of thing that the President should be looking at now. Additionally, in Congress we've taken some intermediate steps like we reappropriated the Amtrak bill. That's critical. We've passed legislation that provides for rural mass transit. In a time when energy prices are high, people are going to rely more upon mass transit. That is the kind of strategy that we need, a full-scale energy strategy that deals not just with drilling, that deals not just with nuclear, that deals not just with renewables, but across the board. So I think that is clearly what the Democratic majority is working towards. It's working towards trying to move America off our addiction to finite resources like gas and oil and move it into something that makes more sense for our future, for our children, and for our grandchildren. I would like to thank the gentleman very much for yielding the time to me.

Mr. ARCURI

Mr. ARCURI. Madam Speaker, I rise today in recognition of Mr. Francis A. Leone, Sr., a former resident of my congressional district in Upstate New York, and his remarkable record of service as a WorId War II and Korean war veteran. It is always a pleasure to recognize the service and sacrifices made by our military veterans, and Mr. Leone is no exception. In 1940, at the age of 19, Mr. Leone enlisted as a private in the Army National Guard. He was assigned to Company M 10th Infantry 27th Division. Stationed for basic and advanced infantry training in Fort McClellen, Alabama, he quickly moved up the ranks and was promoted to corporal. In 1942, his unit was dispatched to the Pacific Theatre of WorId War II. Throughout the next 3 years, Mr. Leone saw combat in Eneiwetok, Saipan, and Okinawa. During this period he was promoted to the rank of staff sergeant, where he was honorably discharged at the end of World War II. Mr. Leone demonstrated his deep patriotism again in 1946, when he reenlisted in the New York Army Guard Truck Company. There he held the rank of first sergeant and was assigned as chief of small arms repair. In January 1950, he was appointed warrant officer junior grade, as a small arms and ordnance supply officer and joined the 132nd Ordnance Company stationed at Fort Pickett, Virginia. Later that year his unit was recalled to active Federal service for the Korean war. In May 1952, Mr. Leone and his unit were transferred to Germany where he served with the 93rd Light Aviation Maintenance Company. He was promoted to the rank of chief warrant officer. Mr. Leone served the remainder of the war and following years in various assignments within maintenance. On May 30, 1981, at the age of 60, he was honorably discharged. During Mr. Leone's time of service he received 17 awards and medals including the Bronze Star, the Army Commendation, and a Combat Infantry Badge, among others. However, his time in the military had a cost. During World War II, Mr. Leone spent 5 long years without seeing his family and loved ones, 3 of those years in combat. Madam Speaker, Mr. Leone's dedication to this Nation and its citizens is to be commended. His service should be an inspiration to us all. Thank you, Mr. Leone, for your hard work and tremendous personal sacrifices for our Nation.

Mr. ARCURI

Mr. ARCURI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H. Res. 1259, to congratulate the Hamilton College Lady Continentals on their NCAA Division III women's lacrosse championship. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to stand here today and represent such a talented group of athletes in New York's 24th Congressional District. The Hamilton Continentals this year completed the best season in the college's 29-year women's lacrosse history, and are the first team at the college to ever reach the national semifinals in any NCAA championship. This truly phenomenal team has demonstrated passion and commitment to their sport, racking up an impressive 21-1 record this year and creating the longest winning streak in Division III women's lacrosse. This group of 20 athletes knows the true meaning of teamwork, while also proving that they are each formidable opponents on the field through their impressive individual records. Ten Hamilton players have garnered an amazing total of 11 All-America awards throughout their college careers. This year alone, four Continentals won All-America awards this year, six players were selected to the all-region team, and nine players were selected to the all-league team. Hamilton College, located in Clinton, NY, is a nationally-recognized liberal arts college that consistently ranks in the top 20 liberal arts institutions across the Nation. The college receives applications from around the country and around the world, contributing to a student body with diverse interests and talents with a great potential for achievement and innovation. Given the college's commitment and the dedication of their students, there is no doubt that it will continue its centuries-long tradition of excellence in scholastics and, now, athletics. The accomplishments of the Hamilton Lady Continentals cannot be applauded without commending the efforts of their coaching staff. Head Coach Patty Kloidt, and assistants Amanda Nobis and Mackay Rippey, have guided the Lady Continentals to victory this year. This nurturing and inspiring coaching team was named the 2008 Liberty League Coaching Staff of the Year, and Head Coach Patty Kloidt was recently named 2008 NCAA Division III Coach of the Year by the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association. On behalf of my colleagues in Washington and in my district, I wish to congratulate this team on their success and recognition. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues today to support this resolution congratulating the Hamilton College Lady Continentals women's lacrosse team, and to support them in their future endeavors as they continue to inspire athletes across the country.

Mr. ARCURI

Mr. ARCURI. I thank the gentleman. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 5975, to rename the post office in Waterville, New York in memory of Corporal John P. Sigsbee. Mr. Speaker, it is with both incredible pride and sadness that I address the House today to speak on this bill that pays tribute to the life and sacrifice of one of this Nation's fallen soldiers, U.S. Army Corporal John Sigsbee. On January 16, 2008, Corporal Sigsbee of Waterville, New York was killed in action 50 miles north of Baghdad during his second tour of duty in Iraq. The family he left behind while in the line of duty will soon receive his second Military Purple Heart on his behalf. Corporal Sigsbee was only 21 years old when his life was taken in service of our country. John Sigsbee graduated from Waterville Central School in 2004 and attended Mohawk Valley Community College. Upon completing his first year of college, John decided to join the U.S. Army to further finance his higher education and became wounded one month to the day during his first tour of duty in Iraq. John was sent home to recover at the Brooke Army Medical Center, where he was visited by Army personnel who awarded him for his bravery. These officers told John that he needed time to heal properly from the burns he suffered when his tank drove over two IEDs, and that he needed time to consider his decision to return to service. However, John replied, with his mother at his side, ``Give me one year and I'll be back.'' John did just that, and it was then that his mother started to know what ``sacrifice'' truly means. John went back and gave all that he had to give. In his mind, there was no question that his place was back with his fellow troops in Iraq to fulfill his responsibilities as a young American soldier. Corporal Sigsbee valiantly served as a member of the 32nd Cavalry Unit in the 101st Airborne Division, a dedicated young man who every day honored his responsibility to his country and his mission. Corporal Sigsbee's purpose and sacrifices will be remembered by the entire village of Waterville, county of Oneida and now, with passage of this bill, by the whole Nation. During calling hours and funeral arrangements for Corporal Sigsbee, his family and loved ones received an outpouring of gratitude and support by the village of Waterville. Over 2,000 citizens attended calling hours to pay their respects for this young American, and 300 members from local veterans' organizations came to the local high school as a show of strength and unity for their fellow soldier. Additionally, a 50-car procession escorted his body from the Griffiss Airfield to Saratoga National Cemetery where he was laid to rest. On that day, January 25, 2008, Corporal Sigsbee received a true hero's welcome from not only his family and friends, but from people who did not know him yet wanted to give their thanks, thanks to a man who paid the ultimate price for their safety and their freedom. The renaming of this post office may be considered by some as a simple act by Congress. But it will forever symbolize to the village of Waterville and the citizens of Oneida County, and to future generations, the deep appreciation that this legislative body has for this man's life and contributions, and for the actions of each and every member of our Armed Services. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues today to support this legislation renaming the Waterville, New York, Post Office after and in honor of Corporal John P. Sigsbee and to forever honor the life of this soldier, son, brother and American hero.

Mr. ARCURI

Mr. ARCURI. I thank the gentleman from Michigan for yielding. Mr. Speaker, traveling across my district, there is one thing I hear about again and again, and that is gas prices. Whether it is at the grocery store or at the gas pumps, Americans are feeling the crunch. Skyrocketing gas prices are hitting hardworking families across my upstate New York district and across the country. Today, we will take one more step to bring down gas prices by cracking down on price gouging by big oil companies. The Energy Price Gouging Prevention Act would provide relief for consumers by giving the Federal Trade Commission the authority to investigate and punish companies that artificially inflate the price of energy. The largest oil companies have seen record profits and record paychecks for their CEOs, while middle-class families struggle just to fill up their tank. It is time to hold them accountable. Under this bill, the Justice Department could impose criminal penalties of up to $150 million on corporations and jail sentences of up to 10 years to crack down on wholesale and retail companies charging unconscionable and excessive prices. Penalties from price gougers would go to the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, LIHEAP, to help families with heating and air conditioning bills. Already this Congress has fought to increase domestic oil supply and hold OPEC and speculators accountable for price manipulations. We have invested in new alternative energy sources that will decrease our dependency on finite fossil fuels and create good-paying jobs in places like Upstate New York. Mr. Speaker, we owe it to our constituents and to our children and grandchildren to do everything we can to bring down outrageous gas prices, put our economy back on track and make sure that this country is on a new path to energy independence and success.

Mr. ARCURI

Mr. ARCURI. Mr. Speaker, the American people are looking to Washington for help in reducing prices at the pump. They don't really have a lot of interest in pointing fingers; they just want us to act in a bipartisan fashion to bring these record prices down. But of course that hasn't stopped the oil company executives from pointing fingers, and of course that is what they do. That is all they can do. Anything but let the American people see where the real fault is, with the oil companies. Last month, nonetheless, Congress acted in a strong bipartisan fashion to pressure the administration to temporarily suspend the filling of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve which experts agree will help drive down gasoline prices. This bipartisan House also overrode the Presidential veto on the new farm bill that makes an historic commitment to more affordable home-grown American biofuel and increased the oversight of commodity futures in order to detect and prevent market manipulation of energy prices. Mr. Speaker, as this House prepares to debate more energy legislation this week, I hope we can work together to provide some relief at the pump.

Mr. ARCURI

Mr. ARCURI. Madam Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 1285 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. ARCURI. Madam Speaker, as I said earlier, we have come a long way over the last few months. We can all agree that the world changed on September 11, 2001. Our Nation faces new threats on new fronts. What we're doing here today is proof that we can come together, Republicans and Democrats, to provide our Nation's Intelligence Community with the necessary tools to fight terrorism while protecting civil liberties of Americans. Again, I commend Majority Leader Hoyer, Minority Leader Blunt, Chairman Reyes and Conyers, and many others who were able to go beyond the partisanship that too often consumes this Chamber and deliver a sensible FISA bill that we can be proud of. I urge a ``yes'' vote on the previous question and on the rule.

Mr. ARCURI. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, House Resolution 1285 provides for consideration of H.R. 6304, the FISA Amendments Act of 2008. The rule provides 1 hour of debate equally divided among and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on the Judiciary and the chairman and ranking minority member on the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Madam Speaker, we have come a long way on the crucial issue of intelligence gathering. First, I must commend our majority leader, Mr. Hoyer, for his commitment and dedication to reaching a sensible, bipartisan and bicameral agreement on FISA. Ensuring that we provide our Nation's intelligence community with the necessary tools and resources to prevent a future terrorist attack on our Nation must transcend partisan politics, and doing it in a way that protects the rights guaranteed to law-abiding Americans under this Constitution. Clearly, thanks to the hard work of Mr. Hoyer, Minority Whip Blunt, Chairman Reyes and many others, we will continue to work to protect the American people today. Bringing this FISA agreement to the floor is the result of months of long and thoughtful deliberation between the House and Senate, Democrats and Republicans, and the White House. What we're doing today is proof that we in the House should not have to just settle on the will of the Senate. It's proof that we can achieve a bipartisan, bicameral agreement on how our Nation gathers its intelligence. This type of bipartisanship is precisely what the American people expect of us. Today we're not voting on the Senate version of the bill, instead we have the opportunity to vote in favor of a sensible, bipartisan FISA bill that will help protect our Nation from terrorism, while protecting the civil liberties we, as Americans, hold dear. I also admit that I don't think the FISA agreement is perfect, but seldom should we expect an opportunity to vote in favor of legislation that every Member of this Chamber believes to be perfect. Effective legislation demands bipartisan consensus. And an example of such bipartisan consensus is the issue of immunity for telecom companies. The civil liberty protection provision in this agreement finally removes the shackles for our telecom companies to tell their side of the story. No longer can the administration step in and assert the ``State Secrets Privilege'' and deny telecom companies and the plaintiff seeking to protect his or her Constitutional rights the opportunity to make their case in front of a judge. As a former district attorney, I for one couldn't agree more that if the intelligence community goes to a telecom company with adequate authorization and says, we need communication records for person X because he or she is believed to be a terrorist, the telecom company deserves to be afforded that protection. Unfortunately, under the old system we would never know if adequate authorization and substantial evidence, for that matter, ever existed. Thanks to this bipartisan agreement, we now will. Madam Speaker, we have come a long way over the last few months. We can all agree that the world changed on September 11, 2001. Our Nation faces new threats on new fronts. What we are doing here today is proof that we can come together, Republicans and Democrats, to provide our Nation's intelligence community with the necessary tools to face and fight those threats, while protecting the civil liberties of Americans, and ensuring that the rights guaranteed under the Constitution are not mere words but, rather, solemn ideas that our Nation holds dear. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ARCURI. Madam Speaker, for purposes of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Hastings). All time yielded during consideration of the rule is for debate only. General Leave

Mr. ARCURI. I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous materials into the Record.

Mr. ARCURI. Madam Speaker, I'd just like to read a quote today from The Washington Post on the FISA legislation that we are considering today. The article is entitled ``A Better Surveillance Law.'' I just want to read one excerpt from it: ``Congress shows it still knows how to reach a compromise in the national interest. Congressional leaders in both parties should be commended for drafting legislation that brings the country's surveillance laws into the 21st century, while protecting civil liberties and preserving important national security prerogatives.'' Madam Speaker, it's this type of bipartisanship that I think the American people expect out of Congress. And I believe that, as my colleague from Washington just said, this bill is not perfect. But it is the kind of compromise that people expect from their congressional leaders in a way that protects us, and, at the very same time, ensures that the civil liberties guaranteed under the Constitution, again, are not just mere words but rather strong ideals that we preserve. So, again, I strongly urge my colleagues to support this rule. With that, I would reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ARCURI. Madam Speaker, we're waiting on several speakers who aren't here yet. But if the gentleman is ready to close, we are prepared to close as well.

Mr. ARCURI

Mr. ARCURI. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. ARCURI

Mr. ARCURI. Madam Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. ARCURI

Mr. ARCURI. Madam Speaker, people around America are talking about gas. That's all we hear. There is a difference, however. The people back home in upstate New York are talking about gas because they are frustrated with the high prices. Yet other people in this country are attempting to demagog this issue and to turn it into a political issue. We listen to the oil company executives say that we should drill, drill, drill. Drill our way to energy independence. Well, that's an impossibility. They say it as if we should believe what the oil company executives tell us, because, after all, they have always told us the truth in the past. That's just not the way it is. In fact, if you look at the facts, you will see that there are 68 million acres available for drilling in this country that oil companies have failed and refuse to drill upon. Yet they continue to talk about drill, drill, because they don't want the alternative. They don't want to talk about conservation, and they don't want to talk about alternative energy. This is useless, and it's divisive to America. We need to find solutions by working together, not pointing the finger and blaming others.

Mr. ARCURI

Mr. ARCURI. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that when the House adjourns today, it adjourn to meet at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow.

Mr. ARCURI

Mr. ARCURI. Madam Chair, NASA's accomplishments over the years have led to some of the greatest advances in human history. These scientific discoveries have led to everything from prolonging the average life span to improving the overall quality of life. NASA's research and exploration has also helped to unlock some of the greatest mysteries in the universe. The problem, however, is that too often the American public doesn't have an opportunity to fully experience NASA's accomplishments. It is when these accomplishments are transferred from the Federal sector to the private sector and the general public that the true benefits of what has been achieved can be realized. Clearly, we don't have the ability or the financial means to shuttle every American into space, but we can do a better job of bringing the space experience into televisions, computers, and classrooms around the world. The House Science and Technology Committee, under the leadership of Chairman Gordon and Ranking Member Hall and Chairman Udall, recognize that point. The underlying bill includes language directing the NASA administrator to develop a technology plan that will allow the general public to experience missions to the Moon, Mars and other destinations in our solar system. My amendment aims to take this effort and expand it in a way that leverages existing technology underway at our universities and high- tech businesses. Specifically, my amendment tasks NASA to examine the feasibility of entering into contracts with appropriate public-private sector and international partners to share images and video of space missions with the public. The amendment promotes good government by requiring NASA to engage in a transparent bidding process when awarding contracts as it sees fit. This new chapter in scientific discovery presents a valuable opportunity to engage public and private sectors in advancing NASA's mission for the 21st century. My upstate New York district is fast becoming a science and technology hub. We have an opening here to work together with colleges and universities, private research facilities, and small and large high-tech businesses to provide NASA with the tools it needs to better educate the public about space. I would like to highlight that this amendment is intended to provide NASA with an additional resource to meet its goals. This measure would authorize NASA to conduct its own feasibility study to determine if and how it can best use the talents of our independent innovators to support its new international exploration initiative. This requirement would grant NASA the flexibility it needs to create a plan that best fits the ideas of its new program. This amendment would also require all NASA contract decisions to be awarded following a fair and transparent bidding process. This amendment has the backing of the State University of New York, the New York State section of the American Physical Society, the American Association of Geographers and the Information Technology Association of America. I respectfully urge all of my colleagues to support this amendment and support the contributions that our public and private universities and businesses make to scientific and technological progress in this country. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ARCURI. I thank the gentleman for his comments. I would just point out what this amendment does is it attempts to get the private sector more engaged by promoting within NASA the push to transfer not from the public sector, not to just have this go from the public sector to the universities, but from the public sector to the private sector, to get the private sector more engaged and more involved in distributing the information. So that is slightly different than what I think the bill has because we do attempt to get the private sector more engaged. After all, that is probably the best way, by using the market system, to get the information out. Madam Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ARCURI

Mr. ARCURI. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. ARCURI. If what the gentleman from Florida says is true, I guess any pay-as-you-go is better than the no-pay-as-you-go that we had in the last Congress. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Matheson).

Mr. ARCURI. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.