Richard Pombo

Mr. POMBO

Mr. POMBO. I yield to the gentleman from Louisiana.

Mr. POMBO. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition.

Mr. POMBO. Mr. Chairman, I yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from Wyoming (Mrs. Cubin).

Mr. POMBO. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. John).

Mr. POMBO. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I had had one additional request for time, but I will conclude by thanking my fellow chairman who worked so hard on this legislation, the ranking members who worked in a cooperative manner to bring this bill to the floor. We have labored for many years to produce a balanced energy policy for this country, and I believe that this bill represents that. It is not everything I wanted. It is not everything that the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Tauzin) wanted, nor is it everything that the ranking members wanted; but I do believe that it is a good compromise. It is a balanced approach, a balanced energy policy for the future. I urge my colleagues to support our energy policy for the future on the final passage.

Mr. POMBO. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. POMBO

Mr. POMBO. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the remaining time. In conclusion, I would just say that, unfortunately, the choice that a number of my colleagues have offered is a false choice. What they have put up is we either can have energy production for today, or we can protect our environment. I believe that is a false choice. I believe that we can take care of today's energy needs. We can develop the energy needs of the future, and we can protect our environment in the process. Stripping out all of the oil and gas provisions in the bill, stripping out all of the coal provisions in the bill, stripping ANWR out of the bill, taking away all of our current production, the increase in our current production that we need today is not a responsible energy policy. We agree on the future. We agree on the need for wind and solar and fuel cell technology. That we agree on, but we also have to agree on what we need today. This was a bipartisan vote coming out of committee. I urge my colleagues to support it here on the floor today. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. POMBO. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Wyoming (Mrs. Cubin).

Mr. POMBO. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Gibbons), the vice-chairman of the committee. (Mr. GIBBONS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. POMBO. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 3 minutes. Mr. Chairman, we have a number of challenges when it comes to developing a balanced energy policy for the future of our country. First of all, we have to look at the future, and all of us can talk about where we want to go in terms of our future energy needs and how those needs are going to be met. We can talk about wind power and solar power, about fuel cell technology and all of the new things that are coming on line, and the technology that is being developed; and I think that is great. I think we all know that one day that is how we will solve the energy challenges that we have as a country. But we also have to look at the needs of today and what we are currently using and what we are dependent on and how we meet those challenges. The solutions that we come up with in this bill identify both of those, needs and challenges. We have sections in the bill that deal with alternative energy and our future needs and how we are going to put money into research and technology, and the Committee on Science has done a great job with that and the Committee on Energy and Commerce has done a great job with that. In our committees, the Committee on Resources, we also addressed those alternative energy needs, and that is extremely important; but when we look at our needs of today and how we are going to meet those needs, we have to look at increasing production in this country to take away the demands on foreign energy and the reliance we have on countries like Iraq and others for bringing that energy into this country. Part of that is increasing production on public lands. The ANWR is part of that, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and out of that 19- million-acre refuge, we are proposing that we take a very small part of that to help solve our Nation's needs. I think as we look towards how we put together a balanced energy policy, this bill accomplishes that. Now, I know that we went through years in writing this bill. We went through hearing after hearing. We had mark-ups. We had amendments. We had more than a dozen amendments at the committee level, and many of those amendments came from my friends in the minority and several of them we accepted. And as we tried to put that bill together, we reached what was largely a bipartisan consensus on moving our titles of the bill. It passed out of committee with a 32-14 bipartisan vote coming out of the committee. There was general consensus amongst the members on the committee that this was the right way to approach all of our problems. That does not mean that we all agree on everything, that all of us got everything we wanted. But what it means is that it was a compromise, and it is a bill that we can all be proud of; and I urge my colleagues to support the bill. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. POMBO. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Montana (Mr. Rehberg). (Mr. REHBERG asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. POMBO

Mr. POMBO. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young), whose district ANWR is in.

Mr. POMBO. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the remaining time. This is a difficult amendment. It really is because much of what my colleagues on the left have to say about ANWR I agree with. It is a unique, beautiful area that should be preserved. I absolutely agree with them, and I do not think that that should be part of the debate. When we look at the north slope of Alaska, an area that is nearly the size of California, nearly 100 million acres and we take ANWR out of that, it is an area that is nearly 20 million acres, about the size of South Carolina. What we are proposing is that we take a very small portion of that 100 million acres, the 20 million that is ANWR, 2,000 acres that would be set aside. I have been up to the Arctic, and the gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller) is right. He has been in the summer and he has been there in the winter, and so have I; and I can tell my colleagues that it is a fascinating place. In the summer it is fascinating, and in the winter it is darn cold; but it is just as fascinating. I, quite frankly, love it up there. I think it is a beautiful place that deserves the protection of this House and of this Congress. If this amendment were to protect 18,998,000 acres of ANWR, we would have no debate. If this amendment said that we were going to turn most of it into a wilderness area that would be preserved forever, we would have no debate because what my colleague is doing is he is presenting a false choice. He is telling us in this House and he is telling everybody in America we have to choose between a healthy economy and a healthy environment; we cannot have both. He is setting up a false choice. I urge my colleagues to reject this amendment, to reject his false choice and support the underlying bill.

Mr. POMBO. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time. I find it quite interesting, in listening to the debate on this particular amendment, if ANWR is approved, if oil and gas exploration is approved, there will be a substantial amount of money that comes in in the form of royalties and bonuses to the Federal Government. I think all of us agree that there are ways that we would like to spend this money. The gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Peterson) came to me, and after discussing this in great detail, I agreed with this amendment because this is an energy bill. It is about a balanced energy policy for the future of this country. Part of that balance is in LIHEAP, and that is to provide for those who need the help. And the gentleman came to me and the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Hart) came to me and said, this is what we ought to be doing with the money. I think this is extremely important. But I also find it kind of ironic that those that represent the States that would benefit the most from LIHEAP have risen in opposition to this, because if this does go into effect and that money does come in, it is their constituents who stand to benefit the greatest from this amendment being in place. There are other places we could spend this money, and I would expect that they would rise in strong support of the gentleman from Pennsylvania's (Mr. Peterson) amendment because their constituents benefit much more than mine do. But because it is an energy bill, because it is a balanced approach for the future of energy policy in this country, I believe that it is the right thing to do. I support the gentleman's amendment. I urge my colleagues on the committee and my colleagues in the House to vote in favor of the Peterson-Hart amendment because it is the right thing to do at this time.

Mr. POMBO. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Barton) and then we will close. (Mr. BARTON of Texas asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. POMBO. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Montana (Mr. Rehberg). (Mr. REHBERG asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. POMBO. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Renzi).

Mr. POMBO. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me the time. The entire area of the north slope of Alaska is nearly 100 million acres. It is nearly the size of California. Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is nearly 20 million acres. What this amendment does, I think, is responsibly goes in and narrows the scope of what we are looking at in the underlying bill by setting aside 2,000 acres. The gentlewoman who just had the map down on the floor showed a map of it spread out, the 2,000 acres spread out, and I think it is quite amusing that it shows 28 airports on her map over that 2,000 acres. I will just say that I support the gentlewoman's amendment. I think this is a responsible way of dealing with oil exploration in the north slope of Alaska along the coastal plain. I think this is a responsible way of looking at our future in dealing with today's demands. I support the amendment, and I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the amendment.

Mr. POMBO. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Nunes), a new member of the committee.

Mr. POMBO. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Tauzin), the chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Mr. POMBO. Mr. Chairman, I rise to claim time in opposition.

Mr. POMBO

Mr. POMBO. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1368 designates the postal facility at 7555 Pacific Avenue in Stockton, California, as the Norman D. Shumway Post Office Building. I wish to thank the entire California delegation for their support of this legislation, as well as the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Tom Davis) for his committee's expeditious handling of the bill. Former Congressman Shumway's leadership reflected three major goals: first, to restore government back to the people; second, to build the people's confidence in government; and third, to make government accessible and effective for his constituents. Elected to Congress in 1978, Norm was overwhelmingly reelected to each succeeding congressional term until his retirement in January 1991. Norm was a man of the people who always made time for personal meetings at his home and in D.C. He was keenly aware of and committed to the needs of all of his constituents, whether they were children or seniors, farmers or businessmen, military or civilian. As the representative of a large farming district, Norm worked hard to promote policies enabling farmers to meet the demands of the domestic marketplace. He was a strong proponent of senior citizens as he brought several aging committee hearings to the district to address the needs of older Americans. Before and after his service in Congress, Norm worked diligently for the people of California on the San Joaquin Board of Supervisors, where he served as both chairman and vice chairman, and the Public Utilities Commission in California where he served as commissioner for 4 years. Naming the Pacific Avenue Post Office after Norm is a small tribute to the Congressman for his contributions to California and our Nation.

Mr. POMBO

Mr. POMBO. Madam Speaker, I would like to enter the following letter into the Record. March 24, 2003. Hon. Don Young, Chairman, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC. Dear Mr. Chairman: H.R. 961, a bill to promote Department of the Interior efforts to provide a scientific basis for the management of sediment and nutrient loss in the Upper Mississippi River Basin, and for other purposes, has been initially referred to the Committee on Resources. To allow this bill to be considered by the House of Representatives tomorrow, I ask that you forego a referral of the bill. Of course, by allowing this to occur, the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure does not waive its jurisdiction over H.R. 961 or any other similar matter. If a conference on H.R. 961 or a similar bill becomes necessary, I would support the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure's request to be named to the conference. Finally, this action should not be seen as precedent for any Committee on Resources bills which affect the Committee on Transportation and Infrastruction's jurisdiction. I would be pleased to enter this letter and your response in the Congressional Record during debate on this bill to document this agreement. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter, and I look forward to working with you and your staff on other matters of shared concern in the coming months. Sincerely, Richard W. Pombo, Chairman.

Mr. POMBO

Mr. POMBO. Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of the measure, and I yield back the balance of my time.