John Olver

Mr. OLVER

Mr. OLVER. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Rodriguez), who is a member of the subcommittee.

Mr. OLVER. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey) for a colloquy.

Mr. OLVER. I thank the gentlewoman for bringing this matter to my attention. This is a good project. I support it, and I will be glad to work with the gentlewoman from California on this as it moves into the New Starts process.

Mr. OLVER. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Boren).

Mr. OLVER. Mr. Chairman, the gentleman from Oklahoma is correct. Section 164 of this bill allows that.

Mr. OLVER. I yield the gentleman 1 additional minute.

Mr. OLVER. I appreciate the gentleman's attention to this issue. I understand that the House authorizing committee is examining this in the context of their multiyear surface transportation reauthorization bill. In the meantime, I will be happy to work with the gentleman from Oklahoma to address this issue as we move forward in this process and conference this bill with the Senate.

Mr. OLVER. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee).

Mr. OLVER. I yield 15 seconds to the gentlewoman.

Mr. OLVER. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Berman) for a colloquy.

Mr. OLVER. I yield the gentleman 1 additional minute, and would the gentleman yield?

Mr. OLVER. I appreciate the remarks of the two gentlemen about the effects of airport noise on local communities and agree that the FAA has a responsibility to adequately and objectively weigh the concerns of those adversely impacted by nighttime takeoff and landings. While I can't comment as to the specifics of the Burbank and Van Nuys curfew studies, I agree that the Part 161 process must serve as a credible and objective avenue for evaluating the merits of noise and access restrictions.

Mr. OLVER. Could I inquire how much time there is available?

Mr. OLVER. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Braley) for the purposes of a colloquy.

Mr. OLVER. I yield myself 1 minute. I assure the gentleman from Iowa that we will work together with the Federal Rail Administration to implement the 2008 Authorization Act.

Mr. OLVER. I thank the gentleman from Iowa for his kindness and for his hard work and I certainly, again, join him in thanking the very fine staff who worked together very well in crafting this legislation. It is a good bill. I believe it is a bill that deserves the support of the vast majority of the Members of the Congress.

Mr. OLVER. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. OLVER. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. OLVER. Mr. Chairman, this is a good amendment that makes a handful of modest changes to the bill. It adds $250,000 for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to develop safety standards for the incorporation of alternative fuel technologies in vehicles. It increases the Federal Rail Administration's Railroad Research and Development account by $3 million, which will allow the FRA to perform multiple studies that were authorized in last year's rail safety bill. It provides $1 million for the Federal Aviation Administration to support commercial space activities. This amendment includes two provisions championed by Representative Cuellar from Texas and included in previous appropriations bills, one that requires the use of energy-efficient bulbs in Federal buildings; and the second, which precludes Federal employees from flying first class. Last, we have included a technical change to a provision that my ranking member, Mr. Latham, has championed in order to ensure that the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program can be implemented without Federal subsidy. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. OLVER. Could I inquire how much time there is remaining.

Mr. OLVER. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Cohen).

Mr. OLVER. Mr. Chairman, I believe this is a good amendment, and I would ask for its passage, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. OLVER. I rise to claim the time in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. OLVER. I rise in opposition to the amendment. The HOPE VI program was launched in 1992 to allow the replacement of affordable housing that had deteriorated and was determined to be uninhabitable. The annual appropriations for about 10 years after that point were $500 million per year or thereabouts. During that time, 25 to 30 applications were awarded each year, and some of those programs went forward very expeditiously and some of them did not move forward as expeditiously. But in at least the last 5 years, under the previous administration, each year the administration attempted to rescind the appropriation that had been made the previous year and then zero out the program for the year that we were appropriating for, attempting not just to cripple but to terminate the program. Congress refused, because many communities still had projects for the program, so we still had five or six projects per year, because the appropriation was for several years, at least 5 years, was frozen around $100 million or thereabouts per year. Now, it is my understanding, at least, that what are--typically programs and projects that had been afforded money under the program of HOPE VI took from 3 to 7 years and that would be used to complete. Some took longer. During the past year, we have been able to get the Department of Housing and Urban Development to spend special time, special effort, through technical assistance and working with the organizations that had the applications in, to go back and make certain that those that had been awarded in 2002 and 2003 were moving forward. They made some serious progress on that, but there is still need for this program. At this point I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank), who is the chairman of the Authorizing Committee, because so great is the need that the Authorizing Committee has been working on that.

Mr. OLVER. I reserve the balance of my time.