Ed Pastor

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, it is, indeed, a privilege to submit to the House for its consideration H.R. 3183, the Energy and Water Development Appropriations bill for fiscal year 2010. The Appropriations Committee approved this bill unanimously by a voice vote on July 8. This is a good bill that merits the support of the entire House. I thank all of the members of the Energy and Water Development Subcommittee for their help in bringing this bill to the floor today. This has been a challenging year with our extremely compressed schedule, and I appreciate our Members' attention and participation in this accelerated process. I particularly want to thank the ranking member--my dear friend, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Frelinghuysen)--for his extraordinary cooperation, insight and friendship. Mr. Chairman, this is a bipartisan bill that represents the fair and balanced treatment of competing priorities. This is the way our constituents expect their Representatives to work together, and I am proud of this bipartisan process. I also would like to thank the chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Mr. Obey, and the ranking member, Mr. Lewis, for their support. I was given this assignment 3 weeks ago, and without the great work of the subcommittee staff, we would not be here today. So, today, this afternoon, I want to thank the staff of the subcommittee: the Clerk, Taunja Berquam; Robert Sherman; Joseph Levin; James Windle; Casey Pearce; Rob Blair; and Kevin Jones. They worked many hours and through the weekends to get this bill today on the floor. I would also like to thank Richard Patrick, from my office, and Ms. Nancy Fox and Ms. Katie Hazlett of Mr. Frelinghuysen's office. I want to acknowledge our agency detailee, Lauren Minto from the Corps of Engineers, for her assistance, talent and knowledge in putting this bill and report together. These people have formed a great team, and without their work, we would not be here today. I have to thank them again because their support has been invaluable. Mr. Chairman, this bill provides funding to address critical issues that affect our Nation's security and prosperity--from Addressing high gas prices, our energy crisis and climate change to advancing science and innovation, to preventing nuclear proliferation, to encouraging effective project management, and to investing in our Nation's flood control and water infrastructure projects. The total funding for energy and water development in fiscal year 2010 is $33.3 billion. This funding amount is a decrease of $1.1 billion from the budget request, and it is roughly equal to the current fiscal year. While the bill is below the budget request, the primary reason for this difference is a Congressional Budget Office score of $1.5 billion for the Department of Energy's budget request for the Innovative Loan Guarantee Program. The bill provides $406 million above the budget request in program scope. This bill made a concerted effort to cut lower priority programs and to apply the cuts to higher priority efforts. These spending cuts include 18 activities, totaling $2.5 billion below the President's request. Given the wide-ranging scope of issues in this legislation that are critical to our Nation's well-being, I set forth the following priorities to ensure that our tax dollars will be spent wisely and effectively. These priorities include: addressing high gas prices, reducing our dependence on foreign oil, and confronting the energy crisis through increased investment in alternative, domestic transportation fuels and new vehicle technologies; addressing climate change with sound investments in carbon sequestration, low-emission energy technologies, and science research; modernizing the energy sector through the research and development of renewable energy sources, efficient energy technologies, and novel electric grid technologies; confronting the terrorist nuclear threat by increasing the protection of nuclear materials and accelerating the deployment of systems to detect such materials at border crossing points and ports; improving the security of our weapons by upgrading the protection of our facilities as well as improving the training and equipment of the Protective Force; insisting that the President submit to Congress a nuclear weapons strategy and a nuclear complex transformation plan before Congress will consider funding a new nuclear warhead; investing in dam safety, flood protection, hydropower modernization and infrastructure that is essential to waterborne commerce on our coasts, rivers and inland lakes, which is essential to the safety of our citizens and our economy; and saving taxpayer dollars by improving management of agency programs, especially at the Department of Energy. This bill provides adequate funds to meet the priority needs of the House. It funds the most worthwhile projects and programs near requested levels, and it reduces some programs that are less valuable or less urgent. I urge my colleagues of the House to support it. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. This amendment provides funding for several important programs within the bill. On behalf of Messrs. Arcuri, Michaud, Hodes, Welch and Ms. Pingree, $2.5 million for the Northern Border Regional Commission to address economic challenges in border counties from Maine to New York. On behalf of Mr. Klein of Florida, $1.8 million for the Corps of Engineers to help address the chronic backlog of regulatory permit applications. And on behalf of Mr. Israel, Mr. Larson of Connecticut, Mr. Dent, Mr. Massa, Mr. Inglis, $45 million for energy efficiency, renewable energy. On behalf of Mr. Cuellar of Texas, the amendment prohibits funds in this bill from being used to purchase lightbulbs unless they the energy star or Federal energy management program designation. Also, this manager's amendment has an amendment for Mr. Kissell which does not create any new programs or it follows the current language, and the amendment prohibits funds in the bill from being used to purchase passenger vehicles unless they're purchased from Ford, GM or Chrysler. The amendment decreases funding for Corps of Engineers' programs and expenses by $10.8 million; the Department of Energy departmental administration by $30 million; the office of electricity by $15 million; and other defense activities by $.25 million. I reserve my time, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. I just want to inform the gentleman that we support his amendment.

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the chairman of the Appropriations Committee, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey).

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. First of all, I apologize to the ranking member in that it was my understanding that the manager's amendment had been shown to him and had sought his approval, but if they had not, my deepest apologies because I think it's important that this bill, along with the manager's amendment, continue to be bipartisan. I yield 30 seconds to Mr. Massa.

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. Mr. Chairman, I yield back my time.

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. Mr. Chairman, the committee finds merit in this authorized Pier 36 removal and we ask our colleagues to object to and refuse the amendment as offered. With that, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. I rise in opposition to the amendment and claim the time in opposition.

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. Actually, this pier is somewhere. It's in San Francisco. Pier 36. I bring to the gentleman that this removal--in the 2007 WRDA bill, the funds were authorized so that the Corps would begin removing the deteriorated Pier 36, which is located in the San Francisco waterfront. This pier was built in 1908-1909, and it was built of reinforced concrete for the use as a freight ferry facility. The pier was originally 721 feet long and 201 feet wide. The outer wood portions of the pier, after 70 years of being in the elements, have deteriorated. Recently, further deterioration has caused the pier to be closed and it has been secured with fencing to prevent entry. The deteriorating sections of decking and wooden support pieces continue to rot, break, and float into the bay, which represents a potential hazard to navigation in the adjacent Federal Channel. In addition, Pier 36 was constructed using creosote-soaked pilings, which contain a class of chemical compounds known to affect the viability of fish spawning. Use of creosote-treated wood is now prohibited in new construction in the San Francisco Bay. So, the removal of Pier 36, which was authorized in the WRDA bill 2007, is needed to ensure that the continued deterioration, the piles that would fall into the water, would not cause a threat to navigation and the chemicals that they were treated with would be eliminated as an environmental hazard. With that, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. I thank the gentleman for yielding. I will just inform Mr. Rothman that we are against the amendment and support the gentleman's earmark.

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. Well, I would tell my dear friend from Arizona, and he is a dear friend, that this year we, our colleagues, at least those from Arizona, that requested congressional direct earmarks in this bill are part of that 24 percent and are very happy to belong to it. So, we will continue to work with Mr. Flake and other Members of Congress. I yield back my time.

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. I thank the gentleman for bringing this important issue to us. You have made a case that the administration request for $22 million for the continuous electron beam accelerator facility is merited. You have my personal commitment to work with you and Mr. Wittman going forward to see that this project receives the funding it needs and deserves.

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. I would like to thank the gentleman from Washington for drawing the subcommittee's attention to this very serious issue. He has been a dedicated advocate for the people of the Ninth District of Washington and the surrounding areas. We will work with the gentleman to ensure that the Seattle district of the Corps is responsive to the needs of the cities and people along the lower Green and Puyallup Rivers and that adequate resources are available to repair the Howard Hanson Dam. So we look forward to working with you.

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. Mr. Chairman, this is a good amendment and I would ask the House Members to support it. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. Mr. Chairman, for the fifth time I will object.

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. Mr. Chairman, I object.

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. Mr. Chairman, I object.

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. So we look forward to working with you and Mr. Carnahan because it's an idea that obviously will expand, will grow, and we want to make sure that the committee, the subcommittee has the opportunity to work with the Secretary to see its development. So we look forward to working with you.

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. Mr. Chairman, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from New York, a member of the Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee, Mr. Israel.

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. I claim the time in opposition.

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. Before I get into the substance of Fort Mason Center, what I would like to announce is there was concern expressed regarding the manager's amendment, especially as it related to the vehicle purchase as outlined in that manager's amendment. I am committing to work with all Members to address that their concerns will be addressed in conference. The gentleman from Arizona is right: we have a congressionally directed mark in this bill that will assist the Fort Mason Center to continue its best practices in its development. He is correct: since this base was basically closed down, this area has been developing to assist the people of San Francisco and the surrounding areas as a center for culture, education and recreation. It is located on the northwest side of San Francisco and includes a number of buildings and piers, and it leases space to 24 nonprofit organizations. The gentleman from Arizona is correct: this is an earmark that continues the development of the center. The attempt of this earmark is to specifically incorporate sustainable design and construction strategies consistent with LEED silver certification in the likelihood it will be better than that certification. The continued development of the center will now include more and extensive use of solar and wind energy and will serve as a model for sustainable practices within a historically sensitive context. And so with that, I would request a ``no'' to the amendment. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. This amendment was taken up by the Rules Committee, and I don't have the authority to change or to modify it. So, rather than get into the debate, I thought it was in proper form to object.

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. Mr. Chairman, I will inform our colleagues that the committee is opposed to the amendment.

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 3183.