Dave Hobson

Mr. HOBSON

Mr. HOBSON. Mr. Chairman, will the gentlewoman yield?

Mr. HOBSON. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman, and I agree with the gentleman's comments. Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Chairman, I rise to protest the drastic and devastating cuts to the Appalachian Regional Commission (``ARC'') in the House of Representatives' Energy and Water Appropriations bill, on which we will vote today. The ARC provides vital infrastructure investments in a historically distressed area of the country that spans 13 states including all of West Virginia, my home State. The cuts in the Energy and Water Appropriations will slash the ARC budget by over 50 percent from its fiscal year 2002 levels. The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, of which I am a senior member, had authorized $88 million for this vital program, but the bill only provides for $33 million in ARC funding. Simply put, this bill seeks to gut a worthwhile program upon which so many people across so many states depend. I understand that Senator Robert Byrd, that great West Virginian and one of the most distinguished public servants in American history, has managed to fund the ARC at its current level in the Senate's Energy and Water Appropriations. His efforts are greatly appreciated, and I applaud him both personally and professionally for what he has done for the ARC and therefore for West Virginia. Were it not for Senator Byrd's efforts, I would have to oppose the House Energy and Water Appropriations bill outright. In the 1960s, President Johnson carried out a promise to help raise the Appalachian region out of its crushing poverty when he formed the Appalachian Regional Commission. For over 30 years, the ARC has provided for development and jobs throughout 410 counties across a 200,000 square mile region. Although the Appalachian region is dramatically improved because of this effort, there remains more work to be done to fulfill the promise made. Mr. Chairman, some have questioned the value of the ARC. In response, I would like to note a few examples of the good work the ARC has done most recently in southern West Virginia: The ARC provided the Prichard, WV Public Service District with a $100,000 grant to construct a wastewater collection and treatment system that will provide water to 225 customers and create 148 jobs in Wayne County, WV. A $1 million grant to the Glen White/Trap Hill Public Service District in Raleigh County, WV, will fund construction of a three water storage tanks and replace some existing water lines while extending service to surrounding communities that had to rely on underground wells. In Boone County, WV, a $680,000 grant from the ARC is being used to extend waterlines to Julian, WV. The ARC also has provided the West Virginia Access Center for Higher Education in Bluefield, WV, a $75,000 grant to help increase the number of high school students who go on to attend college. Now, I don't think the people who live in Prichard, Glen White, Julian, and Bluefield will claim that the ARC has a questionable track record. Mr. Chairman, Senator Byrd is the sponsor of a Senate bill to complete construction of the Appalachian Development Highway System. I proudly note that I am the sponsor of the House version of the same bill, H.R. 2381, which is cosponsored by my fellow West Virginian and close friend, Alan Mollohan, and that stalwart ARC supporter from Ohio, my friend Ted Strickland. I urge my colleagues to remember the ARC as a worthwhile program that has benefited many lives and continues to do so.

Mr. HOBSON. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that all debate on this amendment and all amendments thereto be limited to 20 minutes with the time to be equally divided between the proponent of the amendment and a Member opposed.

Mr. HOBSON. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Gibbons) and the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Porter). I understand the concerns of the Members from Nevada. We have tried to do the right thing for Nevada in this bill by directing the Secretary to select rail as the preferred mode of transportation within Nevada and by directing the Secretary to select a rail route that avoids Las Vegas. Further, we have restored the external oversight funding for the State of Nevada and the affected counties, and we have provided $30 million in impact assistance funding for the affected Nevada counties. Nevertheless, I understand the sensitivity on the issue of this early acceptance. I commit that we will drop the report dealing with early acceptance when we get to conference, and I will direct the Secretary to apply the $4 million to improving the security of the containers used to store spent fuel at reactor sites.

Mr. HOBSON. Mr. Chairman, I reserve a point of order against the amendment.

Mr. HOBSON. Mr. Chairman, I would like to also say thank you to the gentleman from Louisiana for his courtesies that he extended to us in working out a couple of things we had. And I did not get a chance to, but I also want to thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Boehlert), the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young) of Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Tom Davis), and all the other chairmen we worked with to get this bill to the floor today. I think everybody has been very reasonable in working together, because there were some jurisdictional things, but we all understood what we were trying to do, and I very much appreciate the gentleman's comments and the cooperation not only of the gentleman himself, but the staffs of each of the Members I mentioned in working with our staff to work this out.

Mr. HOBSON. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. HOBSON. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. HOBSON. Mr. Chairman, I understand the concerns of the gentleman from Washington, and I agree that we should not be placing low-level radioactive waste into unlined trenches; and it should not take the Department of Energy several years to figure that out. I will work with the gentleman and with the Assistant Secretary, Jesse Roberson, at DOE to resolve this expeditiously. If we cannot get satisfaction from DOE, then we will address this in conference, and our conference is a little while off; but I do not disagree with the gentleman.

Mr. HOBSON. Mr. Chairman, I reserve a point of order against the gentleman's amendment.

Mr. HOBSON. Make sure you keep poking at us as we get towards conference.

Mr. HOBSON. Mr. Chairman, I know the gentleman wants to explain his amendment, but I am advised that the Committee on Energy and Commerce has passed similar language to this about three times. If that is correct, then I am willing to accept the amendment on its face. If there is a problem, we will have to work it out in conference at some point; but in an effort to expedite the process here on the floor, I am willing to accept the amendment at this point if the ranking member has no objection.

Mr. HOBSON. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. HOBSON. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. HOBSON. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HOBSON. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young), the chairman of the full committee.

Mr. HOBSON. That is correct. The Federal Government signed an agreement with the utility companies to dispose of this nuclear material by 1998 at the Yucca Mountain repository in Nevada. Unfortunately, Yucca Mountain is not scheduled to open until 2010.

Mr. HOBSON. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Rogers).

Mr. HOBSON. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. HOBSON. Mr. Chairman, first I might say this colloquy is a little more structured than the one we had that everybody thought was a dog and pony show in committee. We did not plan it there, but we have decided to do it again.

Mr. HOBSON. Mr. Chairman, if the gentleman will yield further, I believe there are 103 nuclear power stations in the United States. At those installations, less than half the spent fuel is held within the reactor wall in giant water-cooled pools.

Mr. HOBSON

Mr. HOBSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and commemorate the life of Anthony ``Tony'' Celebrezze, Jr., a widely respected long-time civil servant and Ohio political leader who unexpectedly passed away on the Fourth of July. Anthony Celebrezze, Jr. was the oldest of three children and only son of five-term Cleveland Mayor Anthony J. Celebrezze, Sr. Tony graduated in 1963 from the U.S. Naval Academy. He served 5 years on active duty and earned the Navy Commendation Medal. For many years thereafter, he served as a captain in the U.S. Naval Reserve. He went on to earn a master's degree in 1966 from George Washington University and a law degree in 1973 from Cleveland State University. Tony Celebrezze was first elected as a state senator in 1974 to represent Cleveland. He became Secretary of State in 1978, Ohio Attorney General in 1983 and ran for governor against George Voinovich in 1990. After leaving elected office, he worked as a lawyer and remained active in Ohio politics. As Ohio's Attorney General, Celebrezze negotiated a landmark court judgment against the U.S. Energy Department, giving the state the right to regulate nuclear and chemical waste at the Feeds Materials Production Center in Fernald, near Cincinnati. Tony also brought the first criminal prosecutions under Ohio's hazardous-waste laws, expanded consumer protection and helped bring the DARE program to Ohio. My first close personal experiences with Tony date from this period. As the chairman of the Ohio State Senate Committee on Health, Human Services and the Aging, I worked with Tony to investigate an out-of- state firm that was involved in questionable business activities with some of our state agencies. Tony did not see this as a partisan issue, and was a solid partner is seeing that those who were violating the law were held accountable. Tony was always driven by a desire to do the right thing. As Ohio's chief law enforcement officer, he took his position seriously and carried out his duties in a professional, fair and non-partisan fashion. He was a true gentleman and Ohio is a better place because of his years of service. Tony and I also shared a common bond in our long association with Rotary International. He was an active member of the board of directors of the Rotary Club of Columbus, and I always appreciated the opportunity to visit that club since I was almost guaranteed to run into Tony. In addition to Rotary, Tony had a lifelong love of cars and auto racing. He participated in the Legends racing league where cars are five-eighths scale, fiberglass replicas of 1930s and 1940s NASCAR cars. Celebrezze's car was No. 63, marking the year he graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy. Unfortunately, Tony went before his time, but in the years that he had he made a difference in the lives of thousands of people. I was always proud to be able to call him a friend, and I honor his many contributions to the people of the State of Ohio.

Mr. HOBSON

Mr. HOBSON. 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. 2754 and that I may include tabular and extraneous material.

Mr. HOBSON

Mr. HOBSON. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that it be in order at any time for the Speaker, as though pursuant to clause 2(b) of rule XVIII, to declare the House resolved into the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union for consideration of the bill (H.R. 2754) making appropriations for energy and water development for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2004, and for other purposes, which shall proceed according to the following order: The first reading of the bill shall be dispensed with. All points of order against consideration of the bill are waived. General debate shall be confined to the bill and shall not exceed 1 hour equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on Appropriations. After general debate the bill shall be considered for amendment under the 5-minute rule. The amendment I have placed at the desk shall be considered as adopted in the House and in the Committee of the Whole. Points of order against provisions in the bill, as amended, for failure to comply with clause 2 of rule XXI are waived except for section 310. During consideration of the bill for further amendment, the Chairman of the Committee of the Whole may accord priority in recognition on the basis of whether the Member offering an amendment has caused it to be printed in the portion of the Congressional Record designated for that purpose in clause 8 of rule XVIII. Amendments so printed shall be considered as read. At the conclusion of consideration of the bill for amendment, the Committee shall rise and report the bill, as amended, to the House with such further amendments as may have been adopted. The previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and amendments thereto to final passage without intervening motion except one motion to recommit with or without instructions. And I ask unanimous consent that the amendment that I have placed at the desk be considered as read.

Mr. HOBSON

Mr. HOBSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise in reaction to my colleague and friend, the gentleman from North Carolina's public objection to Dayton, Ohio being known as the birthplace of aviation. No one disputes the fact that Kittyhawk in North Carolina was the site of the first successful controlled power flight in history. However, Dayton, Ohio's claim to be the birthplace of aviation is based upon much more than just the first limited flight. As a new historical work on the lives of the Wright brothers states, ``The four short flights in North Carolina showed that their math was close enough; Heavier than air flight was possible. The practicality of the Wright Flyer was achieved in 1904 and 1905 in a little-known place of great consequence, Huffman Prairie, an 85-acre cow pasture 10 miles east of Dayton. Huffman Prairie Flying Field, which is in the Seventh Congressional District, which just happens to be my district, is located on the grounds of Wright Patterson Air Force Base. The flying field, which is undergoing a restoration to its 1905 appearance, has recently been opened to the general public, complete with a new interpretive center so visitors can understand the importance of the early flight testing and aircraft development that occurred there. Even the press at the time did not grasp the significance of what had occurred at Kitty Hawk. It took several years of additional flights, I might say at Huffman Prairie, before the public finally acknowledged that the Wright brothers had invented a workable aircraft. If the Wright Brothers had not continued their history-altering work in Ohio, it is quite possible that the North Carolina exploits would have been lost in history. As I have said before, North Carolina can always claim the location of the first flight by the Wright brothers, but it is their hometown that saw the laborious construction and endless testing that was required to allow it to take to the sky and mature as a reliable form of transportation that we all now enjoy. North Carolina has the sand dunes where the first flight occurred, but Dayton, Ohio has the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park, encompassing the Wright Cycle Shop, Huffman Prairie Flying Field, the John W. Berry, Sr. Wright Brothers Aviation Center, and the Paul Laurence Dunbar State Memorial. Dayton also has the National Aviation Hall of Fame, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, the U.S. Air Force Museum, and the final resting place of the Wright brothers. It is based upon all of these important sites and the local life experiences of the Wright brothers that Dayton should be known as the ``birthplace of aviation.'' As an Ohioan, I am proud to reside in the same State as the two Wright brothers whose invention changed the world; and more importantly, the fact that they were also in Ohio's Seventh Congressional District, which I now represent.