Jean Schmidt

Mrs. SCHMIDT

Mrs. SCHMIDT. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the One Hundred Year Anniversary of Ohio National Financial Services. On this day one century ago, Ohio National began operating in its original home on Fourth Street in downtown Cincinnati. Their first policy was issued in October a year later. Today, Ohio National continues a proud tradition as a community leader. In celebration of this century of service to our community, Ohio National is partnering with Habitat for Humanity to build 10 houses over the next five years--one house for each decade of their commitment to Cincinnati. Madam Speaker, please join me in recognizing Ohio National Financial Services 100th Anniversary and in wishing them continued success in the future.

Mrs. SCHMIDT

Mrs. SCHMIDT. Mr. Speaker, I rise this morning to recognize the 150th anniversary of my childhood parish, St. Columban Roman Catholic Church of Loveland, Ohio. In 1859, Father John Baptist O'Donoghue, of St. Andrew's Parish in Milford, and 10 families worked together to raise enough money to purchase an old, one-room schoolhouse from the Village of Loveland on Broadway Avenue. Like many budding parishes, the original rectory did not meet the needs of the local Catholic community for very long. In 1893, St. Columban built their second house of worship on that site. A few years later, the first school was built. This church will always hold a special place in my heart because my home was built from its bricks. As the parish was celebrating its 100th anniversary, St. Columban was, once again, forced to expand to a new church at a different site. I was in attendance that day 50 years ago when Archbishop Karl J. Alter dedicated the new school building which housed the church in the cafeteria. Rapid growth twice required separate additions to be built to house the church. In 2002, the church finally moved out of the school and into its own building. Each year, I have the privilege to host the St. Columban eighth-grade students to the Capitol. I am honored to be their Congresswoman and tour guide. Mr. Speaker, I ask you to join me in celebrating St. Columban's 150th anniversary and in wishing them continued success. God bless them. God bless the United States of America.

Mrs. SCHMIDT

Mrs. SCHMIDT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to continue to ask the question, where are the jobs? Well, I can tell you where they're not. They're not in my district in southern Ohio because I just got an announcement on Monday night that really shocked me and made my blood boil. I found out that the Department of Energy was going to strip away thousands of jobs in my district. Now, I just want to give you a little background. Ohio is one of those States that has high unemployment. We're the seventh highest in the Nation. But when you look at my district, what you see is I've got really high unemployment in my district. In fact, two of my counties, Pike and Adams, have over 15 percent unemployment. Scioto County has almost 13 percent unemployment. Much higher than the national average, even higher than our State average of 11.2 percent. So we really need jobs. We need them badly. And what has occurred to me is that I think there must be a disconnect with the administration and the President. Let me go back and explain what's going on. I have a facility in my district in Pike County, the county that has 15\1/2\ percent unemployment, called the American Centrifuge Plant, and this represents a very early use of commercial--use of new technology that would significantly reduce emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gasses. The United States Enrichment Corporation, called USEC, is deploying American Centrifuge technology to provide the dependable, long-term, U.S.-owned and developed nuclear fuel production capability needed to support the country's nuclear power plants, nuclear submarines, and a robust nuclear deterrent. Mr. Speaker, we have dozens of nuclear power plants in this country that all require nuclear fuel. And we have a Navy who, as I speak, is sailing in every ocean across the globe. And we have weapons of mass destruction that will become a useless deterrent without fresh tritium. Without the American Centrifuge Plant, in 5 years' time, we will have no ability in the United States to enrich uranium to keep our lights on, our ships at sea, or a deterrent potential. In 5 years, we will be forced to purchase uranium from foreign suppliers as we do with most of our oil. I don't want to depend on foreigners for this kind of product. The American Centrifuge Plant holds great promise. Unfortunately, in order to meet this promise, USEC needed a loan guarantee from the Federal Government. Now, I want to repeat that. It needed a loan guarantee from the Federal Government. You see, USEC has already invested $1.5 billion and has offered another billion dollars of corporate support. It did this with the expectation that the Department of Energy would make available a $2 billion loan guarantee needed to finance the full-scale deployment of the American Centrifuge Plants. Now, I want to refer to this chart here. Why were they so confident in that? Well, you see on September 2, 2008, when President Obama was running for election, he wrote a letter to our Governor, Ted Strickland. This is the full letter so you can see it. I'm not taking it out of context. He said, Under my administration, energy programs that promote safe and environmentally sound technologies and are domestically produced, such as the enrichment facility in Ohio, will have my full support. I will work with the Department of Energy to help make loan guarantees available for this and other advanced energy programs that reduce carbon emissions and break the tie to high-cost and foreign-energy sources. This is what this letter said. So you understand that USEC was very, very confident that they were going to get that loan guarantee. But instead, on Monday night, the Department of Energy really pulled the rug out from all of us. I got a phone call asking me to call the White House, and I learned Monday night that the Department of Energy was going to withdraw its promise and they were actually asking USEC to withdraw its application and to try it again in 18 months. I was actually told on the phone that if they did that, then the Department of Energy would give them $45 million, $30 million, and another $15 million if they would rescind this. And that kind of shocked me. The next day it also shocked the folks at USEC because, you see, they had this letter that the President had given to our Governor, Ted Strickland, that said those loan guarantees would be given. Mr. Speaker, the American Centrifuge Plant currently supports more than 5,700 jobs and will help create 2,300 more within a year of commencement of the loan-guarantee funding. That's 2,300 additional jobs to my district. Now, because the Department of Energy has contradicted a promise that our President made in September of last year to our Governor and to those men and women in this area of the State, those jobs are in jeopardy. And I was on the phone with one of my constituents earlier today. Pink slips are being given out at the USEC plant. The Department of Energy has told the media the reasons for their denial were threefold: the cost subsidy estimate, a new requirement for another $300 million of capital, and the questions of technology. Well, the first question offered by the DOE is a little laughable. It turns out that the government isn't really backing these loans. Instead, the Department of Energy is charging a risk-of-failure fee to each of the folks that agrees to back the loans. These fees are pulled together to eliminate any risk to the taxpayers that actually have been given a loan guarantee. They determined that the fee for this loan would be $800 million on a $2 billion loan. So USEC is supposed to come up with $800 million on a $2 billion loan. I don't know about you, but in my neck of the woods, we call that like loan sharking. The second reason for denying the guarantee is a new need to set aside an additional 300 million for contingencies. Well, I can think where you and I see that that is headed. After the risk premium is paid, apparently USEC still has to come up with more money to make the Department of Energy feel more comfortable about giving these loans. But the last question, I think, is the most surprising, because the last reason is one where they say they have got technical questions, and this is the one that is the most absurd of all, because, quite frankly, this technology is out there. France is using it, England is using it. Would it surprise you to know, Mr. Speaker, that Iran is using it? But what I found most disturbing is that the Department of Energy hired a technology expert, as required by law, and they went through the technology and wrote a long report, and in fact the guy ran back to give it to the Department of Energy on Tuesday. That was the day after the Department of Energy made their decision. They made that decision on Monday night. They made it without any regard for the report they were relying on for this very important project. It is not just a project, Mr. Speaker, that continues to help the folks in my district. And it is important to me, because, Mr. Speaker, this is my district, and these are my folks and these are my friends. I have become friends with these people. This is the part of my community that doesn't have a lot of job opportunities, and they welcomed this job opportunity. They embraced it. And I believe that the President believes in this project, as he stated on September 2, 2008. But I think there must be some sort of disconnect with the Department of Energy. There is a chart here, and I would like to go through the chart a little bit again so we can clearly understand what is going on. The issue: credit subsidy cost estimated by the DOE to be $800 million. Well, let me be a little clearer. The estimate was never provided in writing. The methods of calculation were never disclosed or explained. An $800 million subsidy cost is not reasonable. I think it is outrageous, given USEC's fully collateralized $1 billion parent guarantee, standard credit, and, yes, yield exposures of $24 million to $74 million based on credit ratings of C to BB-minus and assets recoveries of only 20 to 30 percent of the cost. The DOE calculation clearly ignores the value of $1.5 billion invested by USEC to date and another billion of non-project collateral offered by USEC, consisting primarily of natural and enriched uranium inventories. The second issue, an additional need for $300 million of additional capital. USEC offered a legally binding capital commitment, which DOE agreed met statutory and regulatory requirements. USEC's fully collateralized $1 billion parent guarantee designed to permit loan to commerce while USEC raised additional equity while fully protecting the taxpayers. USEC's financial adviser stated that with the loan guarantee, $100 million to $150 million of capital could be raised in the public market. USEC has commenced discussions with strategic suppliers to obtain vendor financing for the balance. And the final, the technical readiness of American Centrifuge Technology. The DOE LGPO concluded that ACT was not ready to move to commercial scale operations prior to receiving the independent engineer's written assessment. The independent engineer had only been working for 12 days when DOE acted. DOE was scheduled to review the classified independent engineer report on July 28, and the DOE representative traveled to Tennessee to do so, unaware of the LGPO's decision the night before. American Centrifuge is based on technology which DOE initially developed in the 1970s and the 1980s and subsequently operated it for 10 years. USEC-approved centrifuges have been operating in the Lead Cascade for over 225,000 hours. The DOE has acknowledged that USEC met the milestone under the 2002 agreement between DOE and USEC, which requires obtaining satisfactory reliability and performance data from Lead Cascade operations, the last requirement to be met besides obtaining financing prior to commencing commercial plant construction and operations. Mr. Speaker, I don't understand what is going on here, I don't think that this body understands what is going on here, and I am not even sure that the President even understands what is going on here with the Department of Energy. But I am very confused. More than that, I am very outraged because I believe that we have to have energy independence, but we also have to have security for this Nation. Energy independence depends upon a variety of sources of energy, including nuclear power, but you have to have the stuff to make that nuclear power. In 5 years, we will no longer be the people that are producing the stuff that it takes to make that nuclear power. That is why this project is so important, not just for the 2,000 jobs that will be lost. Mr. Space, can you join me here today? One of the other folks that is affected is my very good friend from a district right across from me, Zack Space. Zack, I just laid out what has gone on with the Department of Energy. I have laid out the fact that our President promised that the Department of Energy would give out these loans to Governor Strickland on September 2. I have laid out what I think is a disconnect between the Department of Energy and our President, because I just truly believe the President wants to make good on this promise. I have laid out the impact it has to your community and my community in southern Ohio and also to our security across the Nation. So, whatever you would like to add, I welcome you to the discussion.

Mrs. SCHMIDT. Take as much time as you want, Zack. It is fine with me.

Mrs. SCHMIDT. May I ask you to engage in a little conversation on this. I think it is very important, Mr. Speaker, to note that Mr. Space and I, while our districts do connect, we are from different sides of the aisle, and yet I find oftentimes there is as much agreement on both sides of the aisle, far from the rancorous debate that occurs on some of the issues that folks might hear. This is an issue that is very important to not just me, but to Zack Space as well, because we understand Appalachia. We understand the needs of this community and how when you lose a job in this community, it is so hard to get it back. It is not like other communities, where when you lose one, in time it can be replaced. When you lose one in this part of the world, it doesn't get replaced. Do you agree, Zack?

Mrs. SCHMIDT. Mr. Space, I have been reminded that we are on the House floor, and my apologies that I didn't refer to you as Congressman Space or Mr. Space and talked to you as we do off the floor in a friendly tone. So now I will refer to you as Mr. Space. But you and I agree on this. I think, Mr. Space, you will also agree about the importance of this not just to our community, but to the Nation. We need to have uranium enrichment in order to develop nuclear energy in order to keep our lights on in this country. And I don't think you and I want to rely on getting this product from a foreign nation. We rely too much on getting our oil from foreign governments. We don't want to rely on foreign governments for this, which is so important to keeping our lights on, to our Navy, to our ability to keep the bad guys out of the United States.

Mrs. SCHMIDT. I totally agree with my good colleague and friend from Ohio. The time is now. I remember the seventies. I remember standing in line--because I was the even day, and my friends were the odd day--to get gasoline. We can't do that again. You and I have seen the price of gasoline last summer be twice the price that it is this summer. Thank heavens it's lower, but we can't afford the opportunity for them to put the squeeze on us and on our economy. While this isn't going to remove our dependence on foreign oil, this project is going to remove our dependence on using oil for things that we don't need to use it for. That's why we need a total comprehensive energy policy. It has to include nuclear, and we have to have not just the technology but the stuff that it takes to make that technology happen. All I can say is, this project, the American Centrifuge Plant, is producing the uranium enrichment that we need; and if we don't allow this project to go forward, in 5 years you and I are going to be standing here screaming at the well because we're going to be beholden to France or England or another country for this uranium enrichment that we so sorely need right now. I am so thankful that you are joining me in this fight. I don't know what we can do besides calling the Department of Energy, maybe asking our friends to call the Department of Energy, maybe asking our friends to call the President. I don't know what else you and I can do. But I'm going to fight until we can fight no more, and then I am going to continue on.

Mrs. SCHMIDT. I thank the gentleman. I just want to say, Mr. Speaker, that I believe we can work across the aisle. I have seen us work across the aisle on other issues. This one is a very, very important issue. I am not going to belabor this point too much longer, but only to say that if we don't act now and ask the Department of Energy to reverse its course, this isn't just something that's going to put a further blight on my district, my good colleague Mr. Space's district and the rest of Appalachia and Ohio, but this is going to really put a cloud across our economic security, our national security and our Nation. The Department of Energy can go back. They can look at the technical data, which they didn't do when they issued their decision. They can go back and look at what they're asking USEC to cough up and recognize what USEC has already put on the table. They can go back and understand that the President made this promise to our Governor on September 2. They can go back, and they can do the right thing because it's not just the right thing for my community, Mr. Space's community or Ohio. It's not just the right thing because our President made a pledge to our Governor. It's the right thing for our Nation. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mrs. SCHMIDT

Mrs. SCHMIDT. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mrs. SCHMIDT

Mrs. SCHMIDT. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the start of the 100th annual Pike County Fair. In the mid-nineteenth century, 89 farmers, including former Congressman John Van Meter, formed the Pike County Agricultural Society. Unfortunately, the demands of the Civil War caused the dissolution of the society. But, on March 21, 1907, forty-three subscribers--local farmers and businessmen, purchased the initial stock of the Pike County Fair Board. The first fair opened August 14th in conjunction with an opening on the Ohio Valley Racing Association circuit. The main attraction of the inaugural fair was harness racing. 10,000 people attended the three day fair. A harness racing track remains on the premises of the Pike County Fairgrounds, but races are now held a few days before the fair's opening. For three years, between 1954 and 1956, the fair did not occur due to a land lease disagreement. In 1957 the fair resumed after the signing of a new agreement and the construction of a new grandstand and horse barn. The Pike County Fair continues to be a great event for all of the citizens of Pike County. Children for over 100 years have gained valuable tools for a successful life in agriculture as a result of their participation in the Pike County Fair. Madam Speaker, I ask you to join me in congratulating the Pike County Fair Board for this momentous occasion and wish them continued success in the future.

Mrs. SCHMIDT

Mrs. SCHMIDT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask a simple question: Where are the jobs? My constituents along with folks from all over Ohio and the Nation want to know where are the jobs. In my home State of Ohio, unemployment has risen to more than 11 percent. We have the seventh highest in the Nation. Every single county in my district has unemployment equal to or higher than the national average, and Pike and Adams Counties have above 15 percent. Last night I was given even more devastating news: the Department of Energy has determined that it will not provide loan guarantees to construct the American Centrifuge Project in Piketon, Ohio. While campaigning last fall, then-candidate Obama pledged to support those loan guarantees. He wrote, ``Under my administration, energy programs that promote safe and environmentally sound technologies and are domestically produced, such as the enrichment facility in Ohio, will have my full support. I will work with the Department of Energy to help make loan guarantees available for this.'' I guess that promise is equivalent to the promise to save or create 3 million jobs. Mr. Speaker, I am asking you, Where are the jobs?

Mrs. SCHMIDT

Mrs. SCHMIDT. Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening to discuss Major League Baseball's possible reinstatement of Pete Rose. I was pleased to hear reports over the weekend that Commissioner Bud Selig is seriously considering ending the ban that has kept baseball's all-time hits leader from consideration for enshrinement in the Hall of Fame. Beginning in 1963 until his playing days ended in 1986, Pete Rose accumulated some of the most heralded baseball statistics known to the game. Most notably are his 4,256 career hits, a Major League record, one that may never be broken. Pete did not get this record without earning the nickname ``Charlie Hustle.'' It will always be hard to forget that September evening in 1985 when Rose belted his record-breaking hit into left-center off pitcher Eric Show of the San Diego Padres. Additionally, Rose won two World Series championships with the Cincinnati Reds in 1975 and 1976, a squad commonly known as the Big Red Machine, and also one with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1980. Even Pete Rose has admitted to making some serious mistakes in his life. Mr. Speaker, we are a country of second chances and of forgiveness. After 20 years of Major League Baseball banishment, Pete Rose deserves to have his second chance.

Mrs. SCHMIDT

Mrs. SCHMIDT. Mr. Chair, I rise today in strong support of the Pence amendment. Recent polls indicate that a majority of Americans are opposed to paying for abortions through their tax dollars. This amendment offered by Mr. Pence simply brings the Federal family planning funds in line with the sentiment of the majority of Americans. From 2007 to 2008, Planned Parenthood, our Nation's largest abortion provider, received almost $350 million of our American taxpayer dollars. The fiction that we try to create when we say that these funds are not directly going for abortion is disingenuous at best. I urge my colleagues to support the Pence amendment today and deny Title X funds for Planned Parenthood.

Mrs. SCHMIDT

Mrs. SCHMIDT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask a simple question: Where are the jobs? My constituents, along with those across Ohio and our Nation are asking: Where are those jobs? In my home State of Ohio, the unemployment rate has risen to 11.1 percent. We have the seventh-highest rate in the Nation. Every single county in my district is equal to or is higher than the national average, and Pike and Scioto Counties are actually above 15 percent, but that number is rather deceiving. Another large percentage of our population has either given up looking for work right now or has taken part-time or temporary work. People in Ohio and in my district are hurting. We need jobs and we need them now. Only $6 million of the Department of Transportation Recovery Act dollars have been spent so far in Ohio. The Recovery and Reinvestment Act was supposed to provide immediate stimulus to create new jobs. Where are those jobs? People are hurting. Five months later, there are no jobs. I'm asking: Where are the jobs?

Mrs. SCHMIDT

Mrs. SCHMIDT. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the ongoing negotiations between Greek Cypriot leader Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat. I commend their efforts to advance a peaceful resolution to the decades-old conflict in Cyprus, and I encourage the Obama administration, and others in the international community, to continue to support and facilitate these efforts. After decades of failed attempts to unite Cyprus, leaders Christofias and Talat reopened direct negotiations in September of 2008. They have made notable progress. Most recently, the two communities agreed to the opening of the Limnitis/Yesilirmak Gate. U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza, described this event as a ``concrete contribution to accelerating the efforts of the parties to find a solution.'' Confidence building measures such as the opening of the Limnitis/ Yesilirmak Gate are very important steps in the negotiating process. As physical barriers to reunification are removed, so to are the psychological divisions between the Cypriot communities. Deputy Assistant Secretary Bryza stated that ``We've never been at a point like this where the Cypriot people themselves, their leadership, have designed the ideas that are on the table, without any outside assistance.'' He expressed his confidence that a solution by the end of 2009 is possible. The international community must stand ready to assist both parties as this process moves forward. I am encouraged by the application of these confidence building measures taken by the Cypriot leaders as a means towards a permanent solution. I urge the Obama administration and the international community to do all it can to unify the island.

Mrs. SCHMIDT

Mrs. SCHMIDT. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor and celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission and, notably, the commander of that crew, Neil Armstrong, as the first person to set foot on the Moon. President John F. Kennedy told a joint session of Congress in 1961: ``I believe that this Nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth.'' That goal was achieved nearly 8 years later on July 20, 1969, by Ohio's own Neil Armstrong, along with Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins. Tonight I honor Neil and the men and women who worked tirelessly to make Apollo 11 a success. I, as a child, was mesmerized by Apollo 11's mission. I was one of the hundreds of millions who watched on television as Neil Armstrong took that historic step on the Moon. Landing on the Moon wasn't just an American event. It was a proud and historic event for all mankind. In the wake of this incredible accomplishment, Neil Armstrong has received many, many awards. Most notably, he received the highest award offered to U.S. civilians, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Neil has undertaken several endeavors since that walk on the Moon, and I am especially proud of one professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Cincinnati, my alma mater. I am extremely proud to call Neil one of my constituents. Madam Speaker, let me leave you with the quote that has become the core of our American history: ``That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.'' Thank you, Neil Armstrong, for taking that giant leap; and thank you to everyone who made Apollo 11 a success. Forty years later we ponder its magnitude.

Mrs. SCHMIDT

Mrs. SCHMIDT. Thank you, Dr. Fleming. I am actually not from New Jersey, but my husband was raised there. I'm from Ohio. And I'm very proud of that because I'm from the area where the right-to-life movement was actually born under the direction of Dr. Jack and Barbara Wilke. I'm also the Chair of the Congressional Women's Pro-Life Caucus, and I truly believe that our movement is at its best when we speak for those populations that are most vulnerable. We all believe that human life is sacred, and we are the female voices for the fight for life here in Congress. Our movement has made great strides in creating a culture of life. A recent Gallup poll shows that a majority of Americans do consider themselves pro-life. And a recent Zogby poll said that 69 percent of respondents support the Hyde amendment to prevent taxpayer dollars from funding abortions under Medicaid. Most Americans, I truly believe, feel that abortion should be rare and we should be looking for ways to reduce the number of abortions performed. Unfortunately, the massive health care bill that this House is considering seeks to take us in the opposite direction. Unless amended, this bill will mandate abortion coverage for nearly every insurance plan in America, because--as has been stated before and I'll state it again--if abortion mandates are not specifically excluded, the courts will rule that they must be included. The coming days and weeks are the most important, I believe, for the pro-life movement since Roe v. Wade. As our Congress, this body, takes up comprehensive health care reform, I believe we the pro-life group in this body must mobilize and ensure that our voices are heard so that our Nation's voices are heard. Because if we don't act, every American will be forced to pay for these services, whether through their premiums or taxes. Abortion rates have fallen over the last 30 years, but if we fail to act, I wholeheartedly believe we will see abortion rates skyrocket. Health care, you know, Dr. Fleming, and you know this all too well-- you took that oath--is about saving lives. It's about providing our help, our love, our compassion, our prayers to the young women who need it. Health care reform should be about finding ways to do that better, not mandating coverage that we all agree will not do that. We should be doing things to make abortion rare. After all, everyone, including that unborn child, deserves the right to life. Dr. Fleming, thank you so much for bringing this to the attention of this body and of the American people. You are a great American and hopefully you will save a life because of this action.

Mrs. SCHMIDT. Thank you very much.

Mrs. SCHMIDT

Mrs. SCHMIDT. Madam Speaker, pursuant to the Republican Leadership standards on earmarks, I am submitting the following information regarding an earmark I received as part of H.R. 3183, the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010: Requesting Member: Congresswoman Jean Schmidt Bill number: H.R. 3183 Account: Army Corps of Engineers, Construction General Requesting entity: City of Cincinnati/Cincinnati Park Board, 950 Eden Park Drive, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202; and Summary: $4.9 million provided for Ohio Riverfront, Cincinnati, OH, to continue construction of Phase I. Project authorization in PL 110- 114, Section 5116, (WRDA 2007). Funds will be used to continue construction of flood-tolerant, stabilized river bank that will become riverfront park linking Central Riverfront attractions to Downtown Cincinnati. Project is key to efforts to revitalize downtown Cincinnati.

Mrs. SCHMIDT

Mrs. SCHMIDT. I rise to bring attention to the lack of progress by the Department of Energy in processing loan guarantee applications, particularly with respect to USEC's long-pending loan guarantee application for its American Centrifuge Plant project. USEC filed its application with the Department of Energy for the loan guarantee nearly 1 year ago, yet its application still languishes. USEC has informed the Department of Energy that it needs, at minimum, a conditional commitment from the Department of Energy for a request for a loan guarantee by early August of 2009 or else USEC will begin to demobilize its project. I would like to now turn this over to my good colleague from Ohio (Mr. Ryan).

Mrs. SCHMIDT. I would like to now yield to Mr. Wamp from Tennessee.

Mrs. SCHMIDT. I just want to add that USEC also plays a critical role in our national defense and energy security. USEC's ACP project uses U.S.-owned and developed technology. Under U.S. law and international agreements, only uranium fuel that is of U.S. origin and produced using U.S. technology can be used to meet our defense needs. Our Nation's national security alone is enough of a reason for the Department of Energy to issue USEC a loan guarantee at reasonable terms and conditions. I just want to appreciate everyone's comments here. We are also talking about 8,000 good-paying jobs in Ohio, Tennessee, and other States. If we are serious about stimulating the economy, this is a great place, because these projects are truly ``shovel ready.'' The Department of Energy must finish its review and issue a conditional commitment with reasonable terms and conditions by the end of this month. If it doesn't, we can expect to see layoffs beginning in early August.

Mrs. SCHMIDT. I just wish to say that I would hope that we can get this resolved quickly, and ask if the gentleman from New Jersey has anything to add?

Mrs. SCHMIDT. I thank the gentleman for his comments.

Mrs. SCHMIDT

Mrs. SCHMIDT. Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the Anderson Lady Orange on winning Ohio's 2009 Division III Women's Lacrosse State Championship, for the second year in a row. In the past three seasons, the Lady Orange have a record of 44 and 11, including 15 wins this season. Led by Head Coach Paul Eldridge, Anderson defended their state title by defeating Bexley 9-8. Scoring in the championship game for the Lady Orange was Kate Shingleton--five goals, Shelby Smith--two goals, Caroline Eldridge, and Chelsea Ritter. Goalie Ashlee Heckard finished the game with five saves. Senior Kate Shingleton was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Offensive Player. Madam Speaker, please join me in congratulating these talented young women for their historic lacrosse season and wish them the best of luck in all their future endeavors. Go Lady Orange!