Paul Tonko

Mr. TONKO

Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, as an engineer serving in the House, I want to commend Representative Shuler for his work on House Resolution 447, which recognizes the American Council of Engineering Companies for its 100 years of service. Obviously the impact made by engineers and related scientists on our society is profound. We need them to continue through their professionalism to lead us along the ways of discovery of creating new concepts and certainly designs that will lift us as a society. This Nation relies heavily on their professionalism and their services, and they will be those agents that transition this economy to an innovation economy. So I would ask that our colleagues strongly support House Resolution 447. Mr. Speaker, I yield back my time.

Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, I now yield 3 minutes to Representative Earl Blumenauer of the State of Oregon. He is an outspoken voice for energy and environment matters and understands the role of engineers in that entire process.

Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume. I rise today in support of House Resolution 447, recognizing the remarkable contributions of the American Council of Engineering Companies for its 100 years of service to the engineering industry and our Nation. I also want to thank the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Shuler) for introducing this resolution. The American Council of Engineering Companies is the oldest and largest business association representing America's engineering industry. It represents more than 5,000 engineering firms that employ more than 500,000 engineers, architects, land surveyors, scientists and others. Its members engage in a wide range of engineering work, including designing the infrastructure, energy and technological projects that contribute to our economy and our quality of life. The American Council of Engineering Companies traces its roots back to 1909, when a group of engineers in private practice established the American Institute of Consulting Engineers. Today, the American Council of Engineering Companies is a large federation of 51 State and regional councils representing a large section of America's engineering industry. I congratulate the American Council of Engineering Companies on its 100 years of service and urge passage of House Resolution 447. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on House Resolution 447, the resolution now under consideration.

Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 447) recognizing the remarkable contributions of the American Council of Engineering Companies for its 100 years of service to the engineering industry and the Nation.

Mr. TONKO

Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, I again commend Representative Sensenbrenner for his work on H.R. 445, which will speak to heavy duty hybrid vehicle research and development. The deployment of the improvements that we can make in that transportation sector will aid us tremendously in responding favorably to the environment and to our energy needs. For that purpose and many of the related energy and environment benefits that come from such research and development, I strongly urge our colleagues to support H.R. 445. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the remainder of my time.

Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to put before the House today H.R. 445 by Mr. Jim Sensenbrenner. The House passed a nearly identical bill, H.R. 6323, in the 110th Congress and, unfortunately, that is as far as the bill got. Hopefully we can get some movement on this measure this time around. By enhancing the Department of Energy's research program in heavy duty hybrid trucks, this bill draws much needed focus to a very critical component of the transportation sector, that being commercial trucks. We have repeatedly learned the hard way just how much the health of our economy can hinge on the commercial transportation sector. Costly fuel translates directly into higher prices for consumers since the large majority of products we consume or use, from food to building materials, are at some point transported by a medium to heavy duty truck. We must take measures to ensure that this remains a vibrant economic sector. The heavy truck sector also plays a role in our energy security and environmental health. Approximately one-fourth of the Nation's fuel use and the majority of transportation-based emissions can be attributed to heavy duty trucks. One large tractor-trailer rig uses as much fuel annually as 48 passenger vehicles. We can see how even small improvements in their efficiency can have a substantial impact. As with passenger vehicles, hybrid technologies hold the greatest promise for improving the fuel economy and emissions of commercial trucks, but considerable research and development is required to put these technologies on the road. While the technological requirements for hybrid trucks are very different, advances in this sector can benefit the domestic automotive sector as a whole by providing invaluable lessons learned in the designing and manufacturing of these systems. Mr. Sensenbrenner's bill represents a commonsense approach to chipping away at our energy challenge. I believe this is an important piece of legislation in the large and complex puzzle that is our transportation sector. And I urge my colleagues to support the measure. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TONKO. I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 445, the bill now under consideration.

Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 445) to establish a research, development, demonstration, and commercial application program to promote research of appropriate technologies for heavy duty plug-in hybrid vehicles, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. TONKO

Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, I would again like to commend Representative Ehlers for his outstanding work on this resolution, drawing our attention to a National Aerospace Day. It is no small feat to have seen the history of the aerospace arena grow in leaps and bounds over the last century, and certainly writing much of that history was America and Americans who have, through their investment, given great opportunities to careers, to jobs that have been developed in that arena of a high-tech capacity, and certainly that have provided great hope and inspiration to many. With all that being said, I would strongly encourage the Members of the House to support H. Con. Res. 167. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in strong support of H. Con. Res. 167, supporting the goals and ideals of National Aerospace Day. Since it opened in 1976, the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum has been the most popular museum in our Nation's Capital, with over 6 million visitors each year. This is indicative of our Nation's love of flight and the importance of flight to our country's well-being. In this museum, you can see the Wright Flyer, which was the world's first powered airplane. You can also see the X-1 that Chuck Yeager first powered past the speed of sound and the Apollo XI capsule that returned Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins from their remarkable trip to the Moon. These are truly great achievements, and they deserve their hallowed place in our Nation's history. The industry and individuals that support our aerospace endeavors also deserve our recognition, because they are the ones that make the great achievements in flight and space exploration possible. The aerospace industry directly employs over 800,000 people in the United States with high-paying and high-tech jobs. In addition, the industry supports more than 2 million jobs in related fields. The United States is the unquestioned leader in aerospace technology, and it is a leadership position made possible only through the dedication of the talented aerospace workforce. I want to thank Representative Ehlers for introducing this resolution to recognize the contributions of the aerospace industry to our country and urge my colleagues to support its passage. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on House Concurrent Resolution 167, the resolution now under consideration.

Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 167), supporting the goals and ideals of National Aerospace Day, and for other purposes.

Mr. TONKO

Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, as we continue to grow our dependency on wind power to meet this Nation's energy needs, it is important, critically important that we move forward aggressively with all efforts towards energy efficiency. This measure will do that. I strongly encourage our colleagues to support H.R. 3165. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I am pleased that today we are considering H.R. 3165, the Wind Energy Research and Development Act of 2009. The United States has enough wind energy resources to meet all of our electricity needs several times over, but experience over the last several years has shown that many significant technical issues remain before wind can serve as a major provider of base-load electricity. This bipartisan bill will establish a far more comprehensive research, development and demonstration program for wind technologies at the Department of Energy than currently exists. It is based on several recent assessments of the challenges that need to be overcome for wind power to reach its full potential in the United States and has been fully endorsed by the American Wind Energy Association. If enacted, H.R. 3165 would become the first law to set an authorization level for wind research and development since DOE's immediate predecessor, the Energy Research and Development Administration, was established in 1975. As we continue to develop a national energy strategy, this will provide crucial guidance for the Department in the years ahead. I would like to thank my colleagues on the Science and Technology Committee on both sides of the aisle for working with me to make this bill as strong as possible. In particular, I have great thanks for our chairman of the committee, who has made a stalwart effort in advancing our legislation. In addition to the two Democratic amendments offered, we approved all five Republican amendments offered by voice vote. Thus, the bill ensures geographic diversity, coordination across the Federal Government, and a merit-reviewed award process, among other important provisions. I ask my colleagues in the House to support H.R. 3165, and look forward to working with our counterparts in the Senate to get this to the President's desk as soon as possible. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 3165, the bill now under consideration.

Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3165) to provide for a program of wind energy research, development, and demonstration, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. TONKO

Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3435, the Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save (CARS) Program, or the ``Cash for Clunkers'' initiative. This additional $2 billion in funding will help promote automotive sales and protect our environment. In the past week, it is estimated that 250,000 cars were sold. On both sides of the aisle, people acknowledged the effectiveness of this initiative. I am proud to support its extension. I also ask for special consideration and clarification on an important part of this bill. As it currently stands, if one spouse owns the title to a ``clunker'' and the other spouse holds the registration, that couple is not eligible to participate in the program. I believe that consideration to married couples should be afforded more flexibility and that regardless of the registration/title configuration, those married couples should be able to participate. Finally, this is a very positive, bipartisan initiative to help our auto industry, to help consumers, to grow our economy, and to do it in an environmentally sound way.

Mr. TONKO

Mr. TONKO. Thank you for bringing us together, and it's great to develop this colloquy with our colleagues here in the House, but I can't help but wonder which of us would have the opportunity to serve in this House if we pledged at election time to make certain that we develop jobs in competing nations for developing green energy innovation? Which of us would serve here? Which of us would serve here if we pledged to send dollars to some of the most troubled spots in the world that find us defending freedom-loving nations against some of these forces around the globe? We would be rejected resoundingly by that electorate. Well, that's what's happening here. The agents of status quo are content to continue this effort to have other nations build the renewable resources out there. They would be content to have the American public send tons of their hard-earned dollars into the economies of the Mideast on which we rely for well over 60 percent of our oil supply. That is unacceptable. And we can do it cleaner, we can do it greener, we can do it through American resources that develop American jobs to respond to the energy crises around the world. We can become that go-to Nation that will be the exporter of energy intellect, energy innovation, energy ideas. Just like we won the race in the 1960s for the space race. We need to win this race. We don't have a choice to enter in. I think that choice has been made because there is a competitive edge already that's being developed with other nations out there. We need to go forward with an aggressive investment. The investment here is to combat a huge deficit that was inherited by this administration, by the Obama administration. It was driven high and it started with a surplus. They spent away that surplus. They drove us into a deficit situation, and now it is necessary for us to invest in an innovation economy that creates jobs.