Martin Heinrich

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. President, in the midst of the current crisis there have been some who have questioned the relevance of the Federal Government to our overall economy. Some have even called the current shutdown just a slimdown. But in my home State of New Mexico, there is no question that this government shutdown has been irresponsible, it has been reckless, and it has been absolutely devastating to our economy. New Mexico serves the Nation in many ways, through our national labs and our military bases, with Federal lands and monuments that host Americans from every corner of the Nation. As a result, Federal dollars in 2010 were nearly 36 percent of our State's gross domestic product. This figure includes veterans' benefits, Social Security, and student financial aid. Federal dollars go toward grants to help fund State and local health care, transportation, education, and housing. Many of us who have served as either city councilors or mayors, legislators or Governors realize the role Federal passthrough dollars play in keeping our States and municipalities solvent. In New Mexico, Federal contracts are also critical for our small business community. Defense purchases account for almost two-thirds of total procurement spending. We are home to nearly 27,000 Federal workers--workers who want to go back to work, workers who just want to do their job. Sandia National Laboratories and Los Alamos National Laboratory employ an additional 18,000 New Mexicans as contractors, and the U.S. Department of Energy's Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Carlsbad employs 1,000 more. That is out of 2 million people. So it is an understatement to say that shutting down the Federal Government strikes at the heart of my State's economy. Between sequestration furloughs, the shutdown, and the current impasse over averting a catastrophic default on the Nation's's debt, hard-working, middle-class families across New Mexico are the ones who are saddled with uncertainty and hardship. These manufactured crises have very real consequences for these families. Since the shutdown began, I have heard time and again from constituents who are paying the price for this reckless debacle. They say they feel like the collateral damage in the ongoing ideological battles in Washington, DC. Hard-working civil servants dedicated to their jobs and their country have been sent home without pay, while many others have to work through the shutdown without a paycheck. Yesterday I spoke with a Rio Rancho resident named Chad Didier, a former marine who is now an air traffic controller in Albuquerque. During the shutdown he has been reporting to work every day to help keep our airspace safe, but he does not know when he will start getting a paycheck again. This comes on the heels of forgoing pay earlier this year due to sequestration. As the father of four young children and the sole breadwinner in his family, he is worried about making rent next month and making his car payments on time. He is frustrated because he is doing everything he has been asked of him, everything he is supposed to do to take care of his family, to serve his country, but he feels his government has failed him. Last week, because of the shutdown, the National Nuclear Security Administration ordered that Los Alamos and Sandia National Labs should be ready to shut down by October 21. Katy Korkos with the Los Alamos Chamber of Commerce told the Los Alamos Monitor that the impact of the shutdown at LANL could hit subcontractors twice as hard as other entities because they will never be able to recover the income they are currently losing. EnergySolutions, a subcontractor that processes and ships transuranic waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Carlsbad, has already had to lay off 154 workers. The general manager at a department store in Los Alamos was quoted in the newspaper as saying: ``Anytime the lab sneezes, we catch cold.'' In southern New Mexico, Crysta Quintero told the Las Cruces Sun-News that she was immediately worried for her 3-year-old son after hearing about the Federal Government shutdown. That is because she relies on the Federal WIC Program to supply a prescription baby formula for her son who has a disability. Unfortunately, Crysta is not alone. Tens of thousands of women and children in New Mexico who receive assistance from this program every month could be left without vital nutritional support if the shutdown continues to drag on. What is also at stake is the incredible work being done at New Mexico's colleges and universities. These first-rate research institutions rely heavily on Federal grants to fund staff, training, and projects, including clinical trials for cancer treatment. I am told those trials--and years of hard work--will have to pause or even stop if the government stays closed. Scientists will see their salaries reduced, and research students who want to dedicate their lives to finding the next cure will have to wait even longer just to earn their degree. Because of the shutdown, important job-creating investments in small business--the very engine of our economy--are delayed. On average, over $300,000 in Federal loans are approved for small businesses in New Mexico each and every day--but not today. Because of this reckless and irresponsible shutdown, those small businesses are not getting the loans to grow their business. They are not hiring new workers. New Mexico is home to many of the Nation's most treasured public conservation lands, including national parks such as Carlsbad Caverns, BLM monuments such as the newly created Rio Grande del Norte, and national forests such as the Gila and Carson that are unstaffed during the fall hunting seasons. More than 4,000 men and women work on these public lands, and they are being forced to stay home. Andrew Graves is an entomologist with the U.S. Forest Service in Albuquerque. Specifically, Andrew is in a program called Forest Health Protection that works across agency lines providing expertise and assistance to Federal and tribal land managers, foresters throughout New Mexico so they can deal with outbreaks of disease or insect infestations. Andrew says they have already canceled or postponed meetings and training because of the shutdown. Each day the government remains closed, thousands of people who planned to visit our national parks and our wildlife refuges will be turned away. That does not just hurt the government. Restaurants and hotels, tire shops, and grocery stores feel this pain in towns such as Socorro, Taos, Grants, Alamogordo, and Las Cruces. Because of the shutdown, the Bureau of Land Management has stopped processing energy leases on Federal land. A lengthy delay in the permitting process will not only take its toll on New Mexico's oil and gas industry but also on the revenues generated for New Mexico's public schools. The 8,000 New Mexican children enrolled in Head Start are feeling the impact of the shutdown on top of the cuts sequestration has already imposed on that critical program. The shutdown also endangers the benefits that we owe over 170,000 veterans in New Mexico, people who served this country with distinction. The VA will run out of money to pay mandatory benefits by the end of October if we do not act. Americans are fed up. Other debates in recent years have been just as heated, just as partisan, but this crisis is far more dangerous for our country. The American people--my constituents in New Mexico--want their Federal Government to function again. The Federal workers in my State want to go back to work. Our constituents want us to move past the gridlock and actually govern. They want economic security and to be able to take care of their families. It is time to reopen the government, it is time to take the threat of default off the table, and it is time to stop playing games with the livelihoods of hard-working Americans. I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. HEINRICH. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. President, we are here today with our government doors shuttered because of a failure to understand basic civics. Frankly, this ``my way or the highway'' brinkmanship has been building so long here in Washington that I would not be surprised if the American people say ``a pox on both your houses, Republican and Democratic.'' Why are we in this fix? How did we get here? Sometimes when you are lost in the woods, it helps to retrace your footsteps so you can find the way back out. We are here because some of our colleagues have forgotten their middle school civics lesson. They have forgotten the ``I'm Just a Bill'' episode of ``Schoolhouse Rock'' that some of the folks in the seventies and eighties remember that reminds us all that to pass a bill or repeal a bill, you have to meet certain tests. You need a majority of the House of Representatives. You need a majority in the Senate. If someone is going to filibuster, you need 60 votes. And you need the signature and the support of the President. We are here because my colleagues who want to repeal the Affordable Care Act do not have a majority of the Senate. They certainly do not control the White House despite waging an entire election over the health care law. Since they cannot repeal the health care law the way we all learned about in middle school, they decided to try something new. They have taken the government hostage. They have said: If you do not give us what we want, we are going to close down the Federal Government. Can you imagine what it would look like if Democrats employed this kind of reckless and irresponsible tactic? What if we said: Unless you raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, we are not going to pass a spending bill. Remember in 2009 when our party tried to pass a cap-and- trade bill? We did not have the votes to overcome the filibuster in the Senate, so I guess the lesson here is that we should have refused to fund the government until Republicans relented and passed a cap-and- trade bill. Can you imagine. That is not how our democracy works, it is not what our Founders envisioned, and it is not compromise. It is extortion. It is our job to pass a spending bill every year. We can fight about how big that bill is. We can fight about how small that bill is going to be. But constitutional duty is not optional. Some are saying there needs to be further compromise on the spending bill, but it is clear that sometimes the Republican House does not know when to declare a victory. They actually got the spending levels they asked for. In the interests of keeping the government open, the Senate accepted House spending levels, sequester levels, in our funding resolution. I do not like those spending levels. Most Democrats do not support those spending levels. But we are not willing to risk the entire economy or well-being of our constituents just to get our way. The bottom line is this: It is time to reopen the government--no strings attached, no policy riders, and no more hostage-taking, just a clean funding bill that stops hurting our public servants, our communities, and our economy, a clean funding resolution that keeps the lights on while we negotiate over a long-term budget. The Senate had the votes to pass such a bill, and we did. The House also has the votes to pass a clean funding bill, but Speaker Boehner will not bring it to the floor. He will not put it up for a vote because the most extreme Members of his caucus want to play hostage politics instead. It is time to end this. It is time to drop the hostage politics and simply pass the one plan that has the votes to pass both Chambers--a clean funding bill. Speaker Boehner, let them vote. Let your Members vote their conscience on a clean funding resolution. It is your duty, Mr. Speaker. Just let them vote. That is all we ask. I yield.

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Madam President, I wish to commend my colleagues Senators Shaheen and Portman for their work to bring this legislation to the floor. I commend as well Chairman Wyden and Ranking Member Murkowski for their leadership in the energy committee. Fully half of the energy we use in this great country is wasted. That is a fact we can no longer afford to ignore. Each one of us is able to make changes in our daily lives to increase our energy efficiency. There is no kilowatt hour, no Btu more valuable than the ones we do not actually use in the first place. But it is clear that we are going to have to do a lot more than turn the lights out when we leave home to be a leader in the world in this field. As the largest energy consumer in the United States, I think the Federal Government has not only an obligation but also an opportunity to lead by example when it comes to energy performance. We know that buildings are the largest energy consumers in the United States today. Accounting for over 40 percent of our use, they offer the greatest opportunities for energy savings. Over the summer I had the opportunity and the privilege of joining the Department of Energy in presenting the Brackish Groundwater National Desalination Research Facility--that is a mouthful, I know. It is an important research facility in New Mexico, in my home State. We presented them with a Better Buildings Award on behalf of the DOE. The Federal Energy Management Program designed those awards, the Better Buildings Awards, to encourage significant reductions in energy usage in Federal buildings all across the country--reductions that go above and beyond the current codes and mandates that exist. What the team at the desalinization research facility accomplished was nothing short of truly impressive and an example of what is possible with legislation such as this and in the field of energy efficiency. They were able to save approximately 300,000 kilowatt-hours per year--an annual savings of $42,000. That is a remarkable 53.6 percent of their former energy footprint at a time when that research facility was actually increasing the amount of research going on. They did this through thoughtful analysis, by implementing both active and passive energy conservation techniques, and with a capital investment of literally less than $800. For $800 and some engineering expertise, this research facility was able to save the taxpayers over $40,000 last year--$40,000 next year, $40,000 the year after that and into the future. That is a window into why this kind of legislation is so important and why we ought to be able to find common ground when it comes to energy efficiency. I would also like to touch on another area of rapid energy innovation that is relevant to this legislation--the lighting sector. Lighting consumes 22 percent of the electricity that is generated in this country. That is $50 billion per year for consumers across the United States. In Albuquerque, Sandia National Laboratories is accelerating advances in what is called solid state light, or SSL, which is a rapidly evolving technology with the potential to reduce energy consumption in lighting by a factor of three to six times. My colleagues may have seen some of the new solid-state lights if they have been to Home Depot or Lowe's or their locally owned hardware store. These light bulbs are so efficient that when I was installing a couple in my son's bedroom a few weeks ago, I could literally put my hand on the light bulb because they make such good use of the energy they use. Sandia has worked in solid-state lighting for a long time and their SSL Science Center is exploring new energy conversion techniques in tailored photonic structures. Drawing on their long history of research and development in this area--and, frankly, working closely with both university and private sector partners--they are working to understand the mechanisms and the defects in SSL semiconductor materials so they can make these already incredibly efficient light bulbs even more efficient. Sandia is also investigating the basic conversion of electricity to light using radically new designs that can take these things even further--things such as luminescent nanowires, quantum dots, and even hybrid architectures that may be the bright light bulb of the future. This is progress driven by basic research and science--the kinds of investments that, frankly, have made our country great and made our economy so strong. The Shaheen-Portman bill will spur the use of energy efficiency technologies such as these, where all of us live and work and, in turn, will lower utility bills for consumers and save money for taxpayers. Furthermore, this bipartisan bill will strengthen U.S. competitiveness by stimulating significant private sector research and development investments in manufacturing innovation and productivity. Investing in energy efficiency is one of the fastest as well as the most cost-effective ways we can grow our economy. It is estimated that this measure alone--just this piece of legislation--would help create 136,000 new jobs by 2025 and, by 2030, the bill would net an annual savings of over $13 billion--billion with a ``B''--for consumers, and lower CO2 emissions and other air pollutants by the equivalent of taking over 20 million cars off the road. My home State of New Mexico is already capitalizing on a highly diversified but rapidly transforming energy sector. It stands to benefit from leveraging investments and efficiency projects and native technologies. Through American ingenuity we can slow the effects of climate change and unleash the full potential of cleaner homegrown energy, creating a stable and healthier nation for future generations of Americans. So instead of transforming this debate about what is fundamentally supposed to be a debate about energy efficiency into another tired battle over ObamaCare, I urge my colleagues to embrace the fact that this bill truly represents the culmination of years of bipartisan work to craft a smart, effective energy bill with a good chance of actually becoming law. I know when I go home--and I have spoken to many of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle who say the same--one of the complaints we hear the most right now is: Why can't you guys just get something done? Why can't you work together on something? This is an opportunity to show we can still legislate, we can come together on the things we agree on, even while agreeing to disagree on many other issues. Again, I thank Senator Shaheen and Senator Portman for working so tirelessly on this bill, I thank the chair and ranking member of the energy committee for making it a priority, and I thank all of the Senators who serve on that committee for working together on both sides of the aisle to see this move forward. I hope as a Senate we will seize this opportunity. I yield the floor.

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. President, today I wish to recognize David J. Hayes, who stepped down on June 28, 2013, from his position as Deputy Secretary of the Department of the Interior, and I ask consent that the following remarks about him and his service be printed in the Record.

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. President, fixing our broken immigration system is an urgent priority. As the son of an immigrant myself, I understand how important this is for families across the country and in my home State of New Mexico. I know how hard immigrants work in this country, how much they believe in America, and how much they are willing to give back to this Nation. New Mexico's remarkable spirit is rooted in our diversity, our history, and our culture, which has always been enriched by our immigrant communities and family members. At the same time, the laws that govern our country's immigration system are antiquated and ineffective. I am encouraged that we are finally making progress toward a solution and finding some common ground on this critical issue. We need a solution that includes a visa system that meets the needs of our economy, a tough but fair path to earned citizenship for the estimated 11 million people in our country who are undocumented and a plan that ensures the security of our borders. Our broken immigration system does not match the realities of our Nation's economy. The H-2A program makes it difficult for farmers to hire the workers they need. The H-1B program sends some of our most talented students back to their countries of origin, where they find themselves competing against American jobs rather than helping to create American jobs. The labor pool, comprised of millions of undocumented workers, allows for worker exploitation and low wages. We must ensure that our laws enable our companies to retain the highly skilled foreign graduates of our universities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, the STEM field, in order to harness their skills, their creative activity, and their entrepreneurial spirit to create jobs in America. A commitment to reform our country's immigration system also requires a commitment to our students. As a strong supporter of the DREAM Act, I am glad this legislation acknowledges that students should be treated differently. I wish to especially thank Senator Durbin for his work seeing this through to the end. Thousands of students across the country will gain more education and training, which translates into better and higher paying jobs. All these extra wages will circulate through the economy, spurring economic growth and new job creation. I have met many DREAMers in New Mexico, and they are incredibly bright, hardworking, and, frankly, most of them don't know how to be anything but an American. DREAMers represent much of what is best about our Nation--hard work, motivation, and a willingness to serve this country in uniform. I believe it is time to make the DREAM Act a reality. Finally, those of us who represent border communities understand there are a number of challenges they face that are unique. We have made great advances in border security in recent years. Illegal border crossing apprehensions are at historically low levels and have fallen in New Mexico by more than 90 percent since their peak back in 2005. We have more agents, more technology and infrastructure devoted to our border than ever before. Our challenge moving forward is to continue to ensure our Nation's safety while balancing the need of our border communities to thrive and benefit from their unique binational culture and economy. The mission of Customs and Border Protection is to both safeguard our Nation's borders and facilitate lawful international trade and commerce. However, in the Paso del Norte region, which includes both west Texas and southern New Mexico, not all of our ports of entry are operating at full capacity. The high volume of commercial vehicles attempting to cross at the El Paso port makes it extremely difficult for CBP to efficiently service all the would-be crossers while also maintaining security. My amendment to extend the hours of operation at the nearby Santa Teresa Port of Entry will lead to more efficient trade between the United States and Mexico, will help to grow our economy, create new jobs, and invest in border security efforts at our Nation's ports. On the subject of increased commerce and the Paso del Norte region, I want to thank Secretary Napolitano for doing her part. Earlier this month she announced a plan to extend the border commercial zone in southern New Mexico. This initiative was spearheaded by former Senator Jeff Bingaman at the Federal level, and it received bipartisan unanimous support back at home in the New Mexico State Legislature. Increasing the number of visitors traveling to the region will help U.S. businesses, local economies, and bring in more tax revenue. New Mexicans are eager for a solution. DREAM Act students deserve a solution, and, frankly, our economy requires a solution. With this in mind, I will continue to work with my colleagues to ensure we achieve accountable immigration reform that works for New Mexico and for our Nation. Este es el ano. Mr. President, I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. President, I would like to take a few minutes to also speak about the nomination of Kenneth Gonzales to be a Federal district judge for the District of New Mexico. Ken, as he is known back home to many of us, is truly a standout nominee. I wish I could take credit for his nomination, but that credit belongs to our former U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman and to our senior Senator Tom Udall. But I want to thank both of them for putting forward such a great candidate for this position, and I am very pleased to be here today to support him. Ken has a long and distinguished record of public service, including more than a decade of service in our military. Ken has served as the U.S. attorney for New Mexico since April 2010. His elevation to lead that office followed more than a decade of service there as an assistant U.S. attorney. I would like to highlight at least one of his many accomplishments that I find particularly important. I think Ken's efforts as U.S. attorney demonstrate not only his character and his intellect but the dedication that he has to serving his home State and making it a better place for all our residents. Much of New Mexico is Indian Country for which the U.S. attorney has the responsibility to prosecute criminal activity. Ken has taken the initiative to reorganize and focus the U.S. attorney's resources to more effectively combat the higher-than-average rates of violent crime, sexual assault, and sexual abuse that have plagued Indian Country. This includes creating the first Indian Country Crime Section within any U.S. Attorney Office. This section includes a team of lawyers responsible for pursuing felony offenses on tribal lands. The office is also collaborating with tribal prosecutors to investigate and prosecute domestic violence in more than 20 pueblos and tribes located throughout the State of New Mexico. This is just one example of Ken's work, but throughout his career Ken has shown a dedication to serving the people of New Mexico. It is the sum of all his efforts and accomplishments that make me believe he will make an outstanding addition to the Federal bench, and I am pleased that today we are at the final step toward getting him here. The process for getting to the Federal bench is a long road to travel. The Judiciary Committee's leadership from both sides of the aisle takes seriously its responsibility to ensure that every nominee is fit to serve. I want to say a special thanks to Senator Leahy and Senator Grassley for working together and with Senator Udall and myself to get Ken through this process. As the vetting process surely showed, Ken has the knowledge, temperament, and integrity to serve on the Federal bench. I have no doubt that he will distinguish himself there, as he has throughout his entire legal career. I strongly support his nomination, and I urge all of my colleagues to do the same. Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. I thank the Chair for the opportunity to address the Chamber today. Mr. President, I am a strong believer that innovation is what America does best, that boundless wonder and curiosity can lead to revolutionary discoveries, and that diligence and optimism can break down barriers. I am a believer that technology and, more importantly, the scientific method are how we can best meet many of our 21st-century challenges. And this is, indeed, a time of great challenge for our Nation. There is no question that it is easier to legislate in a time of peace and prosperity than in a time of economic recovery and global conflict. But Americans, Mr. President, are no strangers to adversity. Time and again we have shown our ingenuity and our perseverance. In fact, the very character of our Nation has been shaped by hard work and innovation. That is America's story. I am certain our capacity to deal with the challenges we face rests heavily on our ability to make policy that is driven by facts, by data, and, yes, by science. Historically, America has responded to challenges with transformative innovations--electricity, radio, television, transistors, silicon computer processors, and the rise of the modern distributed Internet. In my own State of New Mexico, we have built our economy around some of the greatest innovations of the modern era. New Mexico Tech, the University of New Mexico, and New Mexico State University offered advanced degrees in chemistry and engineering as early as the 1890s. After World War I, Kirtland, Holloman, and Cannon military bases in our State provided supreme training conditions for the new flight wing of the Army that would eventually be called the U.S. Air Force. During World War II, New Mexico was home to the Manhattan Project, which installed Los Alamos National Laboratory, White Sands Missile Range, and Sandia National Laboratories. Through the collaboration of its major defense and research installations, New Mexico has become the birthplace of technologies that have changed the world. Over time, our National Labs, our universities, and our defense installations have proven to be invaluable to research and development not only for our State but for the entire Nation. They led key research efforts during the space race and continue to develop modern defense and computer technology in the digital age, often partnering with private sector innovators such as Intel Corporation. As innovators in technology transfer, Sandia National Labs and Intel came together on the development of radiation-hardened microprocessors for space and defense applications. With the help of our State universities, New Mexico will continue to lead the way in low-carbon energy technology. The University of New Mexico Taos Campus is a prime example of the public and private sectors working together to employ cleaner energy. Their campus is home to one of the largest solar arrays in the State--a project that was successful thanks to a partnership with Los Alamos National Lab and Kit Carson Electric Cooperative. On the research front, Santa Fe Community College and New Mexico State University are developing algal biofuels as a source of liquid renewable energy. In addition to our universities benefiting from technology transfer, Los Alamos National Lab's Labstart Initiative is also promoting growth in the private sector. This program encourages future entrepreneurs to start businesses using technologies first developed within our National Labs. So far, the lab-to-market strategy has brought $20 million in revenue for the 19 companies that have started under this initiative. Today, the technology industry, both public and private, supports nearly 50,000 jobs in our small State at over 2,000 technology establishments throughout New Mexico. It is our history of innovation and new technology that drive New Mexico's economy and our contributions to this great Nation. As our country faces the challenges of bringing our economy back from a devastating recession and reversing the effects of climate change, we must embrace the challenge and lead the world in innovation and clean energy, using science as our guide to setting public policy. Yet during my time in Washington, too often I have seen scientific integrity undermined and scientific research politicized in an effort to advance ideological or even purely political agendas. I have watched as too many of us in elected office moved from being entitled to our own opinions--something which our democracy relies upon--to embracing the belief that somehow we are entitled to our own facts. None of us are entitled to our own facts. As someone who began my adult life studying engineering, I believe we must better use science as a guiding tool in our deliberations on how to set public policy. Whether for our national security, our energy independence, or our Nation's ability to compete in the global economy, our efforts and our solutions should be rooted in fact and driven by the best available science but also with a keen eye to the innovations that are transforming our Nation before our very eyes. By investing in education, in research, engineering, in our teachers, and in our professors, we will lead the world in scientific and technological innovation. Even in this challenging fiscal environment, we must make the investments that have paid dividends for our Nation time and time again. My own path to scientific inquiry began in the first grade. I had a teacher named Mrs. Taylor, who saw in me a thirst for knowledge and discovery. She fed that desire, even when it meant considerable extra work and planning a supplemental curriculum that wasn't part of her normal work plan. She was the kind of teacher--and I hope some of you have had one--who would take the extra time to make sure a student hungry to read never ran out of new books to explore or that a student interested in fossils and dinosaurs had extra projects and materials to feed their interest. I can honestly say, if it weren't for Mrs. Taylor, my own life would have taken some very different turns. When we ensure that every student has a Mrs. Taylor, we ensure that our children will not just spend their afternoons playing on tablets and smart phones, but they will have the education to grow up designing and building the next generation of technology and devices. We should harness their natural intellectual curiosity to solve humankind's greatest challenges. From the classrooms of our elementary schools to the research labs of our universities, to the grounds of our National Laboratories and research institutes to the offices of venture capital firms and innovative tech startups, the frontiers of human knowledge can be boundless. If we harness it, we will continue to fuel our Nation's prosperity. No area of innovation and science will be more important in the coming years than our Nation's ability to tackle climate change and to lead the world in clean energy technology. America can and must become truly energy independent, and we must move from traditional carbon- intensive energy sources to ever-cleaner alternatives. Investing in cleaner energy will create quality jobs and protect our Nation from the serious economic and strategic risks associated with our reliance on foreign energy. I must take the opportunity to say how impressed I have been with the current bipartisan efforts to embrace energy efficiency. Whether your goal is job creation, economic vitality, saving consumers money, or lowering your carbon footprint, conservation is not only conservative, it is effective. Getting the most out of every unit of energy we use should be a concern for all of levels of government-- State, Federal, and local--and for community organizations as well. I have spent a lot of time traveling across my home State of New Mexico highlighting how innovation and investment in new energy technology can help create good jobs and grow our economy. New Mexico is home to innovators such as EMCORE Corporation, a leading provider of compound semiconductor-based components, which recently deployed a system that uses solar cells with a conversion efficiency of sunlight to electricity of 39 percent, a remarkable feat; Sapphire Energy in Columbus, NM, which is producing drop-in crude oil from algae, sunlight, and CO2; and, energy storage projects in Los Alamos and Albuquerque that are demonstrating smart-grid technology with solar PV storage fully integrated into a utility power grid. These are just a few examples. It is clear New Mexico is already capitalizing on a diversified but rapidly innovative energy sector. To help the Nation transition to cleaner sources of energy, I am supporting efforts to streamline permitting for renewable energy projects while still protecting access to our public lands for families and sportsmen to enjoy. Another key to further development of clean energy is to alleviate the bottlenecks in the electric power grid. New Mexico is an energy exporter, and I am working to spur substantial renewable energy development by adding the transmission capacity that will allow us to export clean energy to markets in Arizona and California. Through American ingenuity, we can unleash the full potential of cleaner homegrown energy and put Americans to work while we are at it. At the same time, we can, and we must, lead the world in addressing our climate crisis. Climate change is no longer theoretical. It is one of those stubborn facts that doesn't go away simply because we choose to ignore it. In New Mexico we are seeing bigger fires, drier summers, and less snowpack in the winter. And as I speak these words, too many of our high elevation forests are burning. With humidity levels lower and temperatures higher, we are dealing with fire behavior that is markedly more intense than we have seen in the past. Over the last 3 years alone, we have seen two of the largest fires in New Mexico's history. With elevated temperatures, studies at Los Alamos National Labs predict that three-quarters of our evergreen forests in New Mexico might be gone as early as 2050. At the same time we are experiencing our driest 2-year drought since recordkeeping started in the mid-19th century. Flows in the Rio Grande are less than 20 percent of normal. Since the first of the year, central New Mexico, where I live, has seen less than 1 inch of rain. This is a tragedy, and we must start taking active steps to reverse it. We owe that to our children. We owe that to the next generation. In 1961 President John F. Kennedy made a bold claim that an American would walk on the Moon by the end of the decade. Eight years later, Neil Armstrong did just that. Today we face a similarly audacious challenge when it comes to addressing climate change. We need to think big and we need to execute. We did that when President Kennedy said we would go to the Moon--and we made it happen as Americans. Climate change is our greatest future challenge, and we must commit to solving it within the decade. I am by nature an optimist. I have seen this great Nation defy the odds again and again. And, yes, I believe compromise and even bipartisanship are still possible. Our country is strong because of rigorous debate, but debate doesn't mean endless gridlock. Despite our differences, there are issues where both parties can come together and find common ground. Using science to rise to our Nation's challenges, whatever those may be, should be one of those areas. It is one I am committed to, and I look forward to working with my colleagues so our Nation and my home State of New Mexico can achieve the greatness and future all of our children deserve. Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor one of New Mexico's great leaders, New Mexico Speaker of the House Ben Lujan, who passed away Tuesday night after his battle with lung cancer. Speaker Lujan is the father of our colleague, and my friend, Congressman Ben Ray Lujan. First elected to the State legislature in 1974, Ben Lujan served as speaker of the house from 2001 until 2012. Throughout his tenure in the House, Speaker Lujan showed that he was a champion for working families, a tireless advocate for his constituents, and an absolute master of legislative strategy. At the beginning of this year, when Speaker Lujan spoke to the legislature of his battle with cancer, he encouraged everyone to make their time on Earth worthwhile and to ``make a difference for the children, our working families, and for the elderly.'' Speaker Lujan has inspired me and so many New Mexicans to do just that. Our good thoughts and prayers are with his wife Carmen, with Ben Ray, and with the rest of the Lujan family.

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. Speaker, on September 20, 2012, I unfortunately missed one vote, rollcall No. 588. If I had been present, I would have voted ``no'' on rollcall vote 588.

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. Speaker, on September 14, 2012, I unfortunately missed four votes, which included rollcall Nos. 581, 582, 583 and 584. If I had been present, I would have voted ``yes'' on rollcall vote 581. If I had been present, I would have voted ``yes'' on rollcall vote 582. If I had been present, I would have voted ``yes'' on rollcall vote 583. If I had been present, I would have voted ``no'' on rollcall vote 584.

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join my colleagues in celebrating New Mexico's centennial. We are proud to introduce a resolution honoring the 100 years since New Mexico became a State on January 6, 1912. Home to some of the earliest human settlements in North America, New Mexicans have spent this year celebrating our State's remarkable history, our tremendous cultural diversity, and our meaningful contributions to the Nation and the world. From the fertile Rio Grande Valley, to the vast Chihuahuan Desert, to the peaks of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, New Mexico's natural beauty is unsurpassed. From Pope to Geronimo, from Conrad Hilton to Jeff Bezos, from Nancy Lopez to Brian Urlacher, from Georgia O'Keefe to Rudolfo Anaya, from Dennis Chavez to Dolores Huerta, and from countless other New Mexicans, our impact on America's past, present, and future cannot be overstated. As we continue to celebrate our centennial year, I join with all New Mexicans in honoring our unique heritage and our bright future.

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. Speaker, on September 10, 2012, I unfortunately missed three votes, which included rollcall numbers 557, 558 and 559. If I had been present, I would have voted ``yes'' on rollcall vote 557. If I had been present, I would have voted ``yes'' on rollcall vote 558. If I had been present, I would have voted ``yes'' on rollcall vote 559.

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. Speaker, on July 31, 2012, I unfortunately missed three votes, which included rollcall Nos. 537, 538 and 539. If I had been present, I would have voted ``yes'' on rollcall vote 537. If I had been present, I would have voted ``yes'' on rollcall vote 538. If I had been present, I would have voted ``no'' on rollcall vote 539.

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. Speaker, this week, Washington plays host to the International AIDS Conference, a conference that brings together activists, scientists, and people living with HIV to mourn those millions who have been lost to that disease around this world but also to celebrate some very real progress made against that disease. HIV is no longer a death sentence for those who are diagnosed. That's a very large accomplishment that the U.S. Government can claim some credit for through research at NIH, CDC, small things like the fact that the city of Washington can be host because the President's administration lifted the travel ban on people with HIV. Mr. Speaker, there is also something for us to learn. The Bush administration--which I didn't always agree with--also can take enormous credit for PEPFAR, a program which saved millions of lives in Africa and Asia and which earned us the respect and the love of people around this planet. We should learn from that, to work together to end this disease, to make sure that those with it are treated and that we prevent it and ultimately end it. That should be our goal.

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Madam Chair, on June 21, 2012, I unfortunately missed one vote, rollcall Number 392. If I had been present, I would have cast the following vote on this amendment to H.R. 4480, Strategic Energy Production Act: Rollcall vote 392 (Hastings Amendment): ``no.'' (By unanimous consent, Ms. Wasserman Schultz was allowed to speak out of order.) Women's Congressional Softball

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. Speaker, I unfortunately missed nine votes today, which including rollcall votes 306, 307, 308, 309, 310, 311, 312, 313 and 314. If I had been present, I would have cast the following votes on amendments to H.R. 5325, Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2013: Rollcall vote 306 (Scalise Amendment): ``yea.'' Rollcall vote 307 (King Amendment): ``no.'' Rollcall vote 308 (Moran Amendment): ``yea.'' Rollcall vote 309 (Hultgren Amendment): ``no.'' Rollcall vote 310 (Chaffetz Amendment): ``no.'' Rollcall vote 311 (McClintock Amendment No. 6): ``no.'' Rollcall vote 312 (Kaptur Amendment): ``yea.'' Rollcall vote 313 (Tonko Amendment): ``no.'' Rollcall vote 314 (Hahn Amendment): ``yea.''

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. Speaker, I unfortunately missed three votes today, which included rollcall votes 297, 298 and 299. If I had been present, I would have voted against rollcall vote 297, the Previous Question on the Rule providing for consideration of H.R. 5743, H.R. 5854, H.R. 5325, and H.R. 5855. If I had been present, I would have voted against rollcall vote 298, H. Res. 667--Rule providing for consideration of four bills--H.R. 5743--Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013, H.R. 5854--Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2013, H.R. 5325--Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2013, and H.R. 5855--Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2013. Lastly, I would have voted against rollcall vote 299, Representative Franks' (AZ 2) bill, H.R. 3541.

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. Speaker, I unfortunately missed four votes today, which included rollcall votes 315, 316, 317 and 318. If I had been present, I would have cast the following votes on amendments to H.R. 5325, Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2013: rollcall vote 315 (McClintock Amendment #3): ``yea,'' rollcall vote 316 (Hirono Amendment): ``yea,'' rollcall vote 317 (McClintock Amendment #5): ``no,'' rollcall vote 318 (Matheson Amendment): ``yea.''

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. Speaker, I unfortunately missed three votes the afternoon of May 31, 2012, which included rollcall votes 294, 295 and 296. If I had been present, I would have voted in favor of rollcall vote 294, Representative Upton's (MI 6) bill, H.R. 5651. If I had been present, I would have voted in favor of rollcall vote 295, Representative Turner's (OH 3) bill, H.R. 4201. Lastly, I would have voted in favor of rollcall vote 296, Representative Cuellar's (TX 28) bill, H.R. 915.

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. Speaker, I unfortunately missed four votes the afternoon of May 10, 2012, which included rollcall votes 246, 247, 248 and 249. If I had been present, I would have voted in favor of rollcall vote 246, the Democratic Motion to Recommit H.R. 5652. If I had been present, I would have voted against rollcall vote 247, Representative Ryan's (WI 1) bill, H.R. 5652. If I had been present, I would have voted in favor of rollcall vote 248, the Democratic Motion to Recommit H.R. 5326. Lastly, I would have voted against rollcall vote 249, Representative Wolf's (VA 10) bill, H.R. 5326.

Mr. HEINRICH

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

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. (Mr. HEINRICH asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.) Mr. Speaker, this legislation allows the city of Mesquite, Nevada, to continue acquiring certain lands from the Federal Government for its commercial airport. Under the original 1986 legislation, some receipts from the sale of Federal lands would be retained to fund habitat improvements along the Virgin River within Clark County. As amended, H.R. 2745 directs the proceeds from the land sales to the Treasury, thus leaving the habitat work unfunded. While the conservation work is important and deserves funding, we do not object to this legislation. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3874 conveys cemeteries currently on Forest Service lands to communities in South Dakota. These local communities already manage and maintain these cemeteries, and the legislation requires that these lands continue to be used for cemetery purposes. We have no objections to this legislation, and with that, I yield back the balance of my time.