Vernon Ehlers

Mr. EHLERS

Mr. EHLERS. I am happy to yield to the gentleman from Missouri.

Mr. EHLERS. Mr. Speaker, I hope you will be kind on the time allotted, because I want to take a few moments to recognize a very special person who has worked in this Chamber for some time, who has graced this Chamber and has helped us a great deal, and she will soon be leaving, and that is Ms. Anne Holcombe, who is seated at the front desk.

Mr. EHLERS. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, I want to thank all three of the speakers, the gentleman from California (Mr. Dreier), the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), and the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Skelton) for their eloquent comments. Frankly, they stole my speech, and there is not much I can add to it other than to say, on behalf of all of those who use this Chamber and rely on you as well as the broader American public who sees your work constantly on the screen of their computer or in the journal, the Congressional Record, I want to thank all of you for your hard service here. I wish you well. God bless you wherever you go.

Mr. EHLERS. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, I want to add my congratulations to all three of them and especially my heartfelt thanks. I have always made a point of trying to get to know the individuals who work in the front of this Chamber, who keep very long hours and transcribe everything we do and keep good order out of it. I am delighted that both of the reporters who are leaving us are here present so we can thank both Cindy and Vicky as well. I hope you spell your names properly as you transcribe this. They work tirelessly. They are going on to other things and other lands. I cannot imagine why Vicky, who is moving to Fort Collins, Colorado; and Anne, who is moving to North Carolina, if you are going to leave Washington to find a better place, I can understand that; but I would certainly recommend Grand Rapids, Michigan, especially this time of year. So come up there and stop in and see us. Cindy will be leaving for the private sector. She will remain in this area, and we hope we see her around here occasionally. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you to all of you. Congratulations. God bless you in your future endeavors and employment.

Mr. EHLERS. I yield to the gentleman from Maryland.

Mr. EHLERS

Mr. EHLERS. Mr. Speaker, today I'm introducing H.R. 2275, along with my colleague and neighbor from Michigan, Congressman Barcia. This bill deals with a very important problem: ensuring that voting technologies are accurate, secure, reliable and easy to use. Last November, as the world placed Florida under a microscope to scrutinize its election, we saw just how vulnerable our nation's voting systems are to error. And in the months since, we've discovered that the problems that plagued Florida are rampant among many other states, but went unnoticed because the elections in those states were not nearly as close as in Florida. In the months since last November, we've also had the chance to explore solutions to the problem. We've discovered that we need to develop updated standards for voting systems to make sure that they perform reliably on election day. Updated standards can ensure that voting machines are accurate in tallying the ballots voter cast. And they can help reduce voter error by improving the usability of new voting technologies. And more importantly, as our voting systems begin to rely increasingly on computers to record, count and archive ballots and to transmit elections results over computer networks, we need standards to ensure that these systems meet the highest standards for computer security, so we can prevent hidden voter fraud by clever computer hackers. The Ehlers-Barcia bill addresses each of these concerns. It directs the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the nation's foremost experts on technology, computer security, and technical standards, to help develop updated standards to ensure the usability, accuracy, integrity, and security of our country's voting systems. NIST is the federal agency with the technical expertise needed to help create the technical standards necessary to improve our nation's voting systems. NIST is a tremendous technical resource that we must enlist to help solve this problem. It has a strong record of working cooperatively with diverse groups to develop standards by consensus. These groups would certainly include state and local elections officials, among others. Mr. Speaker, this is a complex problem, with complex solutions. I am proud to introduce this bipartisan bill today with my colleagues from Michigan because I believe it is an important part of the solution. I urge my colleagues to support the Ehlers-Barcia bill and work together with us to pass this important legislation.

Mr. EHLERS

Mr. EHLERS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on H.R. 2216, and that the chairman of the Committee on Appropriations also may insert tabular data and other extraneous material.

Mr. EHLERS

Mr. EHLERS. Mr. Speaker, this evening, several of us want to address an extremely important topic, and that topic is energy. Energy is normally not a high-priority issue for most members of the public, and, in fact, for many Members of this Congress. Nevertheless, it is one of the most important issues that we deal with, and that becomes apparent every time we have a shortage of energy. Prices rise and then we have a major economic impact. Mr. Speaker, in fact, energy is so important that the last three recessions that this country has experienced have followed immediately upon shortages of energy and an increase in energy prices, and there is some concern that that might happen if we do not correct the current energy shortage. There are many aspects to discuss regarding energy, and tonight we will be joined by the gentlewoman from West Virginia (Mrs. Capito) and the gentlewoman from New Mexico (Mrs. Wilson). Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from West Virginia (Mrs. Capito).

Mr. EHLERS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from West Virginia (Mrs. Capito) for her comments; and obviously, she is referring principally to the sources of coal in West Virginia I assume, and one of the big problems, of course, is clean coal technology. We have to recognize, although coal has some drawbacks, it also is the largest supply of fossil fuels we have in this country by far; and in fact, that is true worldwide as well. If we do not do the research and develop clean methods of burning coal or using it in other ways, we are going to be behind the 8-ball fairly soon, because the supplies of oil and natural gas are much shorter; and, furthermore, natural gas is useful for so many other purposes, particularly as a feedstock in the petrochemical industry; and coal is, by far, the better source of energy than natural gas. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the comments of the gentlewoman and thank her for taking the time to join us in this Special Order. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from New Mexico (Mrs. Wilson).

Mr. EHLERS. Mr. Speaker, it is a delight to yield the gentlewoman the time. I appreciate her very well-said comments. Picking up on a few items that the gentlewoman mentioned, she mentioned that price caps would not be a good answer. I would like to emphasize that. If we impose a cap on the price of energy, we are simply encouraging people to buy more energy and waste it because the price is so low they can afford to waste it. That furthermore discourages the production of more energy because if the price is capped, a company cannot make money producing more energy. So price caps are doubly a bad idea. They discourage production and encourage waste and make the problem worse. I also appreciate the gentlewoman's comments about efficiency, and the comment about the refrigerator reminds me of an incident. I remember when my wife and I first married and we lived in apartments, and then we moved into an unfurnished house and had to buy a refrigerator. We shopped around and looked at many models and narrowed it down to two different models, one for $250 and one which cost $500. Remember this was roughly 1962. So then I did an analysis of the energy use of the two refrigerators, and I said we have to buy the $500 one. That seems strange, why should you buy the $500 one when you can get an identical one for $250. The difference was efficiency of operation. I calculated if we kept the refrigerator 12 years, we would more than pay for the extra $250 we bought and anything beyond that would be an added benefit. In fact, we kept the refrigerator over 23 years. So we essentially got it free compared to the other one given the purchase price and the energy use of the other one. That is a calculation that not too many Americans are able to make because not all Americans are physicists, as I am, but it was easy to do and that illustrates the importance of labeling energy efficiency. And I think it would be important to have labels which indicate what the pay-back period is for buying a particular model. Another item which the gentlewoman mentioned is the issue of foreign oil. I remember the so-called energy crisis of 1973 when we had long gasoline lines, cars lined up for blocks waiting to get gasoline. I remember those days very, very well. At that time we were horrified when the Nation realized that roughly 35 to 40 percent of our oil consumption was imported from abroad, and that these foreign companies were able to Shanghai us literally by saying we are going to cut production in order to raise our prices, and we ran out of oil. We thought that was terrible. We went into energy conservation mode. We did a lot of good things. We did greater production of energy and so forth. But we have short memories. It was not too many years when we forgot that, and now we are at a situation where we are importing a minimum of 55 percent of our oil from other countries, and it continues to climb. Furthermore, it is no longer an option really to increase our production the way we did in 1973 because we have used so much of our own resources. At this point only 2 or 3 percent of the known reserves of the world are in our country, and the rest is all foreign oil. So we cannot simply rush out and increase our production because we have used most of the cheap oil in this country. It would be a great cost to produce a good share of our oil from within this country, barring other technical developments. Therefore, we will continue to be at the mercy of foreign oil unless we develop alternative sources of energy, unless we improve the efficiency of using our energy. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman for her comments and emphasize those few points because I think they are really extremely important. Getting back to what I said at the very beginning of this hour, energy is far more important than most people think it is. Part of that I believe is that energy is intangible to us. We cannot see it. We cannot touch it. We cannot feel it. We cannot taste it. The only tangible evidence is the price at the gas pump or the utility bill at the end of the month. That is when we get concerned. But if energy were only purple, if only we could see energy and we could see what happens in our house where energy would be oozing through the walls and the walls of the house would look purplish, and we could see it streaming out around the windows that are not sealed and we would have this copious amount of purple coming at us. Or we would see the small car with a small amount of purple, and the SUV would go by with a purple cloud so bad we could not even see the vehicle. If we could see the intrinsic qualities of energy and see when it was being wasted, I think we would change our habits considerably. Unfortunately, we do not have that advantage, so we have to try to educate ourselves about energy and try to make the best possible uses of energy. There are a lot of ways that we save energy, in terms of buildings, insulation, reducing infiltration of outside air. Improved lighting has a surprising large effect. Light bulbs are only a hundred watts, that is not very much, but in 1974 when I decided to change the lighting in our house and I put fluorescent lights and fluorescent bulbs in every fixture that was used frequently, and I was surprised by the energy saved. When I sealed the house with insulation, we saved over a third in our energy bills for our house, our natural gas bills. So there is a lot that can be done. In industry, improving efficiency of electric motors. New electric motors are much more efficient. Also, by using appropriate controls adjusted to the load, we can improve our efficiency and use of electrical energy. We can also, with automobiles, consider making better use of the diesel engine. I owned two diesel vehicles in the 1980s, and I found them wonderful. The most wonderful part was driving 800 miles between gasoline stops. They are very efficient and operate well. There are fuel cells on the horizon, and this relates to the whole hydrogen economy. If we can manage to produce hydrogen cheaply enough and transport it, and we develop fuel cells, that will be an advantage. Hybrid automobiles are also a good answer. So there are many things that we can do to improve energy efficiency and use less energy. We also have to worry about the pollution effects of energy use as well, and we have tried very hard in this country to clean up our air. We have succeeded to a great extent. We have far less pollution from automobiles than we did in my youth. And a few years back when my daughter was a missionary in Costa Rico with her husband, we were amazed by the pollution there. It made me appreciate more what we have done in this country. Even so, we still have problem with nitrogen oxides of various sorts getting into the air. And as long as we have sulfur in the fuel, we are going to continue to have problems with sulfur dioxide getting into the air, which of course when it combines with water vapor makes sulfuric acid and leads to what is commonly called acid rain. Those are pollutants we must clean up and will eventually clean up, either through other means of propulsion, such as fuel cells, or some other way. In addition to that, we have copious production of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas. In addition to that, because we are using a lot of natural gas and we continue to drill wells, there is leakage of methane which is 100 times more of a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. That is leading to potential major changes in our global climate. Mr. Speaker, I do not like to talk about global warming because the real issue is global climate change. That means much more than just warming. It means dramatic changes in rainfall. Some areas that have much rainfall now might become deserts, deserts might become fertile areas, depending on changing patterns. And it also has an effect on violent weather. These are issues we have to consider. With our copious use of fossil fuels, these are going to become major effects. I think we have only begun to see the effects of improved means of producing energy. We are so used to our current model we think that is the only way. But I predict because of the difficulties in California, we are going to see a boom in what is called micropower, where small power units are purchased, perhaps sometimes in homes, more frequently perhaps in businesses, especially in manufacturing plants. The Silicon Valley, which is famous for the work they have done in semiconductor chips, has had some disastrous occurrences of power outages in California. Just shutting the power off for 1 minute at a major plant like that costs them $1 million. If the electricity is off much longer than that, of course, the cost increases. So I suspect many of them will turn to smaller power units, which are kept right in the factory and are totally dependable. If they ever do fail, generally the power lines would still be operating and you could use them as a backup. We have to also develop many different alternative forms of energy. I could name many that are available. I expect that within a few years, with increases of electricity prices, we will be putting solar shingles on houses, photovoltaic shingles that will provide electricity, perhaps initially crude electricity that would be good only for heating the water and providing heat for the home, perhaps air conditioning; but eventually with proper electronics, it can be sophisticated power and supply all the energy needs of the house. Everyone, of course, says, What happens when the sun goes away? Well, then you need energy storage devices. Batteries are one form of that; but if you want to, you can get a little more sophisticated. You could electrolyze water into hydrogen and oxygen; when you need energy, you combine them again in a fuel cell, and that would provide electricity for the house, so you could be totally independent of the power grid. These are all things that might be considered in the future. I always like to, when looking at our energy sources, characterize them in terms of personal finances, because I think you can look at it that way. When we consider our personal finances, first of all we have income from a job, a profession, whatever we have. In addition to that, many of us have savings accounts, where we keep some money for emergencies. And some are fortunate enough to have an inheritance. We have exactly the same situation with energy. We have income, the solar energy which streams onto our planet. The amount that streams on the earth is so immense that the amount contained in all the fossil fuels of the earth is less than a couple of weeks of solar radiation. The problem is that it is so diffuse, it is hard to use. But nevertheless we can develop means of using that. That is our only income, of energy, solar energy. That is the only energy coming into our planet. In addition to that, we have a savings account. That is the fossil fuels, the oil, natural gas, coal. Those are stored fossil fuels, stored solar energy. They were created from solar energy that came into the earth for a very long time. It formed in plants. The plants then eventually decayed and formed the organic by-products that give us oil, natural gas, and coal. So we have a savings account. That is the fossil fuel that is in the earth. And then we have what you might call an inheritance. Geothermal energy, for example, the heat that is in the earth and has been there since its creation gradually radiating into space, but there is an immense amount there yet. The core of our planet is molten iron, obviously very warm. So geothermal energy, we can consider an inheritance. We acquired it when we were placed on this planet. Another inheritance is nuclear energy, because that also was present at the creation of the earth, continues to release heat constantly, in fact contributes much of the heat of geothermal. So nuclear energy we can also consider an inheritance. I think the rule of thumb that we have in our life, as far as our finances are concerned, that we try to live within our income, when necessary we will dip into our savings or our inheritance, is also a good rule to follow in energy use. I think it would be absolutely criminal if we were in a generation or two to burn up all the fossil fuels on this planet without thinking about what our children and grandchildren are going to do. Now, I do think it is permissible to use a good share of the fossil fuels if we use that energy to develop new sources of energy, to make better use of nuclear energy, of geothermal energy and other sources that we might develop or invent. That is fine, because we are leaving our children and our grandchildren another way of using energy. But we have to always keep that in mind and be very careful of the use of the resources we have. Two very important factors to remember about energy: number one, energy is a unique resource. It is our only nonrecyclable resource on this planet. Once you use it, it is gone. It is not like iron, copper, other materials that can be recycled over and over. Once you use energy, it is gone. Energy is our only nonrecyclable resource. The other major factor is energy is our most basic natural resource because without it you cannot use any of the other resources. You cannot use iron if you do not have energy because to use iron, you have to first dig the ore out of the ground, that takes energy; you have to transport it to a mill, that takes energy; you have to smelt it, that takes energy; you have to roll it, that takes energy; then transport it to a factory which takes energy; and then fabricate it, which takes energy. And then use more energy to transport the finished product to the consumer. Every step of the way requires energy. If you do not have sufficient energy, you cannot use any of the other resources on the earth. I think we have spent a lot of time talking about some of the basic nature of energy here and some of the problems we have to face. But I think it is very important to keep all of these factors in mind as we attempt to solve the energy shortages we have. I think the energy resource problem we have is not one that we can solve with a magic stroke of legislation or we can solve through new development; but it is something that is going to involve millions of individual efforts by millions, and in fact billions, of people on this planet to make it come true. The government cannot conserve energy for everyone. We all have to do it. We have to use energy resources wisely. It is not just up to the government. It is up to the people of this planet to do it. I yield to the gentlewoman from New Mexico for additional comments.

Mr. EHLERS. That was an excellent summary of what we have been trying to convey this evening. I thank the gentlewoman from New Mexico for her comments.

Mr. EHLERS

Mr. EHLERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a man whose name is synonymous with higher education in Michigan and across the United States. After 32 years as president of Grand Valley State University, Arend Don Lubbers will retire later this month as the nation's longest- serving state university president. During his tenure, Grand Valley State University has grown from a small college with a few buildings on the main campus in Allendale to an established university with additional campuses in downtown Grand Rapids, Holland, Muskegon, Traverse City, and Petoskey. When President Lubbers began his presidency at GVSU in January 1969, he was a trailblazer, holding the distinction of being one of the youngest college presidents in the country at the time. Recognized by Life magazine in 1962 for his hard work and his willingness to try new ideas, Lubbers lived up to the billing by building Grand Valley into a university that now boasts more than 42,000 alumni and is recognized as a premier institution in education, research, and technology. Grand Valley has enjoyed considerable success because President Lubbers has implemented his vision of how to successfully lead a university. During his farewell address to the campus community in April, he outlined four characteristics of what is required to make a university successful. The four characteristics--ownership, power, commitment, and sense of mission--have been his plan from the very beginning. GVSU is truly a special place today because he acted on the plans and ideas he envisioned for himself and the university community. When classes resume for the 2001-2002 school year a new era will be underway at GVSU. It will mark the first time since the late 1960's that President Lubbers will be absent from welcoming faculty, staff, returning students, and new students to campus. Some thirty years later, the school year will begin without the man who has worked tirelessly to achieve his vision for higher education in West Michigan. Even though a new chapter will have begun, the legacy of President Lubbers will live on as Grant Valley State University continues to establish itself as a model for other institutions to follow. Mr. Speaker, I want to personally thank President Lubbers for his ideas, his commitment to people and education, for laying the foundation for faculty, staff, and students to build on in the future and for his personal friendship. His personable and approachable style will be greatly missed by those who have had the pleasure of working alongside and with him over the years. He's truly earned the right to miss the first day of classes this coming school year. Congratulations and best wishes to President Lubbers and his wife Nancy as they begin their new venture!

Mr. EHLERS

Mr. EHLERS. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H. Con. Res. 149.

Mr. EHLERS

Mr. EHLERS. Madam Speaker, I would like to say a few words about the energy issues that face this country. I believe that energy is one of the most misunderstood topics in this Nation, and I believe that is largely because energy is so hard to describe and define. Most of us do not know what it is. We cannot see it, we cannot feel it, we cannot touch it, we cannot weigh it. When you were a little kid, your mother never sent you to the store for a bottle of energy. You cannot buy energy that way. Yet, somehow we know what it is, because we talk about it when we get up in the morning, saying ``Oh, we do not have much energy;'' or, ``Oh, we really have a lot of energy today;'' we are raring to go. And that is a pretty good perception of what energy actually is. I happen to be a physicist, and energy in physics is defined as the ability to do work. So that fits our everyday conception of energy, the ability to do work. Now, in today's society, we depend a lot on energy to do our work. We use energy constantly in transportation, in the workplace, in so many different ways, and it is extremely important. So often we forget the importance of energy, because we are so used to it. But if you look at the major historical revolutions, the nonmilitary revolutions, you will find that the first major revolution, the agriculture revolution, occurred when people, for the first time began using labor other than their own, namely the labor of animals. The agriculture revolution did not succeed until people began using animals for plowing, for milling, and for other works of labor. The second major revolution, the industrial revolution, took place when, for the first time, we began using non-human energy and non- animal energy, but instead used mechanical energy and heat energy, and that has led to the world we enjoy today, with its many different sources of energy, used for many, many different purposes. But we tend to take energy for granted and do not realize its importance until there is a shortage, particularly when prices go up, because when the prices go up, it affects the economy. Energy is so vital to our economy that whenever we have a shortage of energy and prices go up, the economy is affected dramatically. It is no coincidence that the last three major recessions we have had in this country have followed on the heels of energy shortages. Now, what is energy? I said you cannot feel it, touch it, handle it. As a physicist, I understand what energy is, but it is hard to explain it to a lay person, and for that reason sometimes I wish that energy were purple. If it were purple, we could see it, we could understand it. If we could drive up to our homes and see purple energy leaking out from around the windows during the winter and we would see purple oozing through the walls, we would recognize we are wasting money, because we have not insulated the house well enough or sealed the windows well enough. Or suppose we are driving down the highway: if we see a little car going by with just a little bit of purple around it, and then see an SUV going by with just clouds of purple around it, we would immediately recognize that one uses far less energy than another. That is the type of awareness we have to build in the people of this country. Let me relate that to one specific State. We all know that California is having tremendous energy problems. There are many reasons for it and many possible solutions, but I can tell you that the fastest, cheapest solution of all is energy conservation and energy efficiency. That can be implemented quickly. It can be used to solve the crisis, it can be used to reduce demand and drive the prices down in California, and certainly put the State on a better keel. I hope that California pursues it, and I hope that our Federal government helps them pursue that alternative. Now, there is so much more I could say about this, and I plan to do a 1 hour speech on this later on. But I wanted to give this introductory speech at this point, outlining some of the characteristics of energy, how important it is to our Nation and our economy, and how totally dependent we are on it. It is an issue that we must deal with. We must deal with it intelligently, using every possible means; not just energy conservation and energy efficiency, although I think they are extremely important, but also looking at alternative sources of energy and more wisely using the resources we have now. The answer is not simply drilling holes in the ground, the answer is not simply insulating houses, but looking at every aspect of our use of energy and saying how can we use it better, how can we use it more efficiently, how can we really accomplish something worthwhile in our energy use, without depleting our natural resources. One last comment about energy. There are two very important aspects you must remember about energy. First, energy is our most basic natural resource, because without energy, we cannot use any of our other basic resources. We cannot use iron, steel, copper and so forth, without digging it out of the ground and forming it and fabricating it. All of this requires energy. The second important point about energy is that it is the only non- renewable resource. Once you use it, it is gone. We can renew all our other resources; that one we cannot. So let us be certain to use energy right and not waste it.

Mr. EHLERS

Mr. EHLERS. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on House Administration be discharged from further consideration of the resolution (H. Res. 148) electing Members to serve on the Joint Committee on Printing and the Joint Committee of Congress on the Library, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. EHLERS

Mr. EHLERS. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on House Administration be discharged from further consideration of the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 149) permitting the use of the Rotunda of the Capitol for a ceremony to present posthumously a gold medal on behalf of Congress to Charles M. Schulz, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. EHLERS. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) for yielding. Madam Speaker, this resolution commends Charles Schulz, better known as ``Sparky,'' creator of the Peanuts comic strip which ran for nearly 50 years, which continues to be appear in reruns, and is extremely popular with all ages in this country. The comic strip appears in 2,600 newspapers and 21 different languages. It is estimated that 350 million readers in 75 different countries read the strip. Mr. Schulz announced his retirement in December 1999, and he died shortly thereafter on February 12, 2000, in Santa Rosa, California. His death came just hours before his final Sunday strip ran. He personally drew the final strip, as he had every strip over the previous 5 decades, refusing to let anyone else draw the characters created, because, he said, ``The strip is me and I am the strip.'' In his farewell message printed in the strip, Schulz wrote, ``I have been grateful over the years for the loyalty of our editors and the wonderful support and love expressed to me by fans of the comic strip. Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, Lucy; how can I ever forget them?'' Well, we will never forget them either, and we are grateful to you, Charles Schulz, for enriching our lives with these wonderful characters. I would like to add a personal note as well. First of all, Mr. Schulz was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, a few years, in fact 12 years, before I was born in Edgerton, Minnesota. I spent the first 14 years of my life there. Neither of us, of course, knew of each other's existence at that time, but our paths crossed when I was a student at the University of California at Berkeley, and I met him. In fact, my first meeting was when he attended a Bible study that I was meeting with regularly, and he came to talk about his personal faith. He was a very devout believer and also, frankly, a rather good amateur theologian. He gave a very good explication of his faith and it was very inspiring to all of us there. He was a wonderful person in many different ways and part of the charm of his strip is that his characters also were amateur theologians and amateur philosophers. I find that very fascinating. In fact, it was so fascinating that a young seminary student in the 1970s wrote a book entitled, The Gospel According to Peanuts. It was a charming little book written on the basis of the strips. The author reproduced a number of the strips, performed exegesis, and explained the theology of the Peanuts group. He was a wonderful person. It was a loss for all of us that his life was cut short and we could not enjoy a fresh comic strip every day, Sunday, but the purpose of this resolution is to acknowledge all that he has done and to recognize his achievements by allowing the use of the Rotunda to present him a Congressional Gold Medal posthumously.

Mr. EHLERS

Mr. EHLERS. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that it be in order at any time on the legislative day of Wednesday, June 6, 2001, for the Speaker to entertain motions that the House suspend the rules relating to the following measures: H.R. 1000, H.R. 37, H.R. 640, H.R. 1661, H.R. 1209, H.R. 1914, and H. Con. Res. 150.

Mr. EHLERS

Mr. EHLERS. Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about the energy issue we have before us. Remember back in 1973, when we had long lines at gas pumps? People were very upset. We engaged in a desperate effort to reduce our energy consumption and to do a better job of using our resources, but once the crisis was over, we forgot about it. Today we are facing a similar situation. If we do not get control of it, once again we will have long gas lines and high prices. It is very important for us to remember a few things. Let me just speak as a physicist for a moment. Energy is hard to understand. It is intangible. We cannot see or touch it. But two important things we have to remember throughout this crisis. Number 1, energy is our most basic natural resource. Without energy, we cannot use any other natural resource. We cannot dig iron or copper out of the ground. We cannot smelt it or fabricate it unless we have energy. Energy is crucial to our economy. The second major point to remember is that energy is our only nonrecyclable resource. We must conserve energy. Once we use it, it is gone. We cannot consume all our resources and just assume the problem will go away.

Mr. EHLERS

Mr. EHLERS. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Ohio for yielding the time, and I thank him for his leadership. I look forward to continuing our work together, not only on this amendment, but also on the entire bill.

Mr. EHLERS. I yield to the gentleman from Ohio.

Mr. EHLERS. Mr. Chairman, reclaiming my time, I understand the gentleman supported making this amendment in order and that it was left out in the amendments that we are considering in this bill.

Mr. EHLERS. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding time to me. I also thank him for good service as the chairman of the committee on a very difficult bill. Mr. Chairman, I am not only thankful for his service, and that of the gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller), the ranking member, but I am also thankful that we have a good President who supports improving education, and supports it not just because it is a major campaign issue, but supports it from his heart. He also understands the appropriate Federal role, and his work on this reflects that. We need flexibility and accountability. We need respect for local and State rights and responsibilities. Again, I say that from my heart, because I have served in local, State, and Federal government. This bill provides that flexibility. It also provides that accountability. I urge this body to vote for that bill. Mr. Chairman, my interest in education extends back many years. I served for 22 years as a professor at the University of California at Berkeley and at Calvin College. My interest in this bill's particular aspect of education developed some 36 years ago when I became involved in working with teachers in elementary schools, trying to improve science education. This arose very naturally from my background as a scientist. I have taught National Science Foundation summer institutes for elementary school teachers. I have worked in schools with the teachers and the students. I believe I have a good understanding of the issue. I think it is extremely important that we improve our science education in this Nation, not just because I am a scientist, but because that is where the jobs of the future are. We currently have over 300,000 open jobs in this Nation for scientists, engineers, technicians, and those jobs are not being filled because we are not training the people. This bill will help to train our children so they will qualify for those jobs in the future. I think that is an extremely important aspect of the bill. But we do have to strengthen the bill a bit because, although the bill asks States to set standards for science, it does not require assessments of student's learning of science. We hope to take care of that problem in a colloquy which the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Boehner) and I will engage in in just a moment. The Senate has included science assessments in their bill. We had it in the original bill. It unfortunately is not in the current bill before us, but we are hoping through the colloquy to make sure that is in the bill when it reaches the House for consideration of the conference report. Let me also make one last comment about ``Leaving no child behind.'' I believe that it is very important to apply that principle to all those who have learning difficulties but are still learning-able. I am referring specifically to dyslexia, in which I have a deep interest because I have a grandchild who has dyslexia. This tie I am wearing today came from a private institution which offers training in dyslexia. My grandson is also in a private school which specializes in dyslexia. We are simply not doing the job in public education to take care of these students, and we must in the future. Mr. Chairman, I would like to enter into a colloquy with the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Boehner), chairman of the Committee on Education and the Workforce. As the gentleman from Ohio knows, I had filed an amendment to restore the science assessment provisions that were included in H.R. 1, as introduced, that would essentially mirror the science assessment language in the Senate bill. Specifically, my amendment would have required States to assess student performance in science by the 2007-2008 school year. A similar amendment was offered in the last Congress to H.R. 2, where it passed with a vote of 360-62.

Mr. EHLERS. Would the gentleman agree to include the science assessment amendment in the conference committee to H.R. 1?

Mr. EHLERS

Mr. EHLERS. Mr. Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I rise today to honor eight dedicated young women from West Michigan for receiving the Girl Scout Gold Award, the Girl Scout's highest honor. The award recognizes these outstanding young women for their accomplishments in leadership, community service, career planning and personal development. Obtaining the Girl Scout Gold Award involves an extensive commitment, and requires the recipients to earn four interest-project patches. The patches include the Career Exploration Pin, the Senior Girl Scout Leadership Award, the Senior Girl Scout Challenge, as well as designing and implementing a Girl Scout Gold Award project in cooperation with an adult Girl Scout volunteer. The honorees and a brief summary of their accomplishments for the Girl Scout Gold Award follow: Kyle Johnson, a senior at Zeeland School, created a web page for Zeeland Community Education; Noorain Khan, a Forest Hills Central junior, designed an Islamic Education Youth Director position; Tonya Leeuw, a freshman at Grand Valley State University, utilized her love of gardening by landscaping a portion of the front of the new Byron Community Ministries building; Lauren Magnifico, a junior at Grandville High School, organized the registration records of the Grandville Little League program; Kandace Heinz and Heidi Porter, juniors at Thornapple-Kellogg High School, designed a German cultural event booth for last year's Middleville Heritage Days, and Andrea Dinley, a senior at Byron Center High School, developed a program titled Colorguard Basic Mini-Camp and Video. Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to recognize the achievements of this select group of young women who have gone above and beyond the call of duty in their scouting duties. The hard work and determination they have exhibited during their pursuit of the Gold Award will serve as valuable lessons as they enter adulthood. I ask that my colleagues join me in applauding this special and dedicated group of young achievers.