Paul Tonko

Mr. TONKO

Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. TONKO. I yield back my time.

Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, the resolution before the House is one of great worth, obviously recognizing the important role that rehabilitation counselors play in the lives of individuals with disabilities. They open doorways, they absolutely enhance the quality of life, and coax the professionalism from those who, amongst us, are in the ranks of the disabled with an awful lot of contribution to be made to society. The rehabilitation counselor is a partner in that effort. So I ask that, again, we move forward and recognize this and support this resolution.

Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 247) expressing support for designation of March 22, 2009, as ``National Rehabilitation Counselors Appreciation Day''.

Mr. TONKO. I yield myself as much time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 247 to designate March 22, 2009, as ``National Rehabilitation Counselors Appreciation Day.'' Across our great country, qualified rehabilitation counselors work to empower people with disabilities to access employment, education and community opportunities and independent living. According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are approximately 141,000 rehabilitation counselors in our United States. We are extremely grateful for their commitment to providing professional service and support that is rendered to people with disabilities in a variety of settings, including State and local agencies, medical facilities, educational programs, and community businesses. As the number of veterans with disabilities increases and people with disabilities struggle to obtain employment in these tough economic times, the need for quality rehabilitation counseling does, in fact, continue to grow. According to the National Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate of persons with a disability in February of this year was 14 percent compared to 8.7 percent for persons with no disabilities. Of even greater concern, only 23 percent of people with disabilities are currently in our labor force compared to over 70 percent of the general population. These are alarming statistics. Qualified rehabilitation counselors are an important part of the solution as they provide services critical to improving employment outcomes for people with disabilities. We appreciate their hard work and the determination of these professionals. Various professional organizations, including the National Rehabilitation Association, the National Council on Rehabilitation Education, and the Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation, advocate for up-to-date education, training and professional standards for rehabilitation counselors, and because of these national organizations' persistent efforts, the quality of rehabilitation services has dramatically improved and expanded. On March 22 of 1983, Martha Walker, president of the National Council on Rehabilitation Education, testified before the Subcommittee on Select Education for the House of Representatives expressing the necessity for rehabilitation counselors to be well-qualified. Ms. Walker's hard work led to the enactment of requirements to ensure that rehabilitation counselors have proper training and credentials so that people with disabilities receive quality rehabilitation service. Let Congress designate March 22 as National Rehabilitation Counselors Day. This holiday can honor the dedicated rehabilitation counselors and professional organizations that work tirelessly to provide quality rehabilitation support. I want to thank, particularly, Representative Skelton for his outstanding leadership on this issue in bringing this important resolution forward. I urge my colleagues to support this resolution. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, I request 5 legislative days during which Members may revise and extend and insert extraneous material on House Resolution 247 into the Record.

Mr. TONKO

Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, I request 5 legislative days during which Members may revise and extend and insert extraneous material on H.R. 1824 into the Record.

Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1824. The bill will expand the important work of Best Buddies to empower people with disabilities and put an end to their social isolation. Best Buddies International is the only national organization focused on improving the lives of individuals with intellectual disabilities through a one-to-one friendship with peers. People with intellectual disabilities are often excluded from society because of their differences. Sadly, the social isolation of children with disabilities is well-documented by researchers. However, over the last 20 years, Best Buddies has proven something that most of us take for granted, that lasting, meaningful friendships are the key to a better life. But friendships for people with intellectual disabilities do not always come easily. Over the past 50 years, while this population has gained many civil rights, attitudinal barriers and stereotypes persist. This is something Best Buddies is changing. Since 1989, Best Buddies has worked with 1,300 middle school, high school, and college campuses. Best Buddies volunteers annually contribute services to the community that equate to more than $17 million. Federal assistance is critical to help Best Buddies expand their efforts to all of our 50 States. Bullying continues to be a problem in our schools for many children. A 2005 study found that a Best Buddy relationship is associated with lower frequencies of peer victimization, better adaptive behavior, and fewer psychological problems for youth. Clearly, a friend is a powerful thing. Through one-to-one matches with peers without disabilities, as well as support of e-mail friendships, citizen programs for adults, and a jobs program that promotes integration into the workplace, Best Buddies expects to impact over 500,000 people by the year 2010. H.R. 1824 will allow Best Buddies to continue this important work through increased participation and public awareness. It simply authorizes the Secretary of Education to support Best Buddies to increase the participation of people with intellectual disabilities in social relationships and other aspects of community life. Best Buddies envisions a world where people with intellectual disabilities are so successfully integrated into our schools, our workplaces, and our general communities that their current efforts and services will grow unnecessary. I share that vision. Mr. Speaker, once again, I express my full support for H.R. 1824, and I urge my colleagues to support this measure. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TONKO

Mr. TONKO. Obviously, a number of opportunities, and I thank you again, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, Representative Blumenauer, for putting this forum together this evening. But I think immediately of opportunities to work with our business community with manufacturing, retrofitting it with energy-efficiency outcomes. That enables us to see that as a microcosm of activity that when engaged in full efforts, can really repower America in a way that produces jobs, cuts energy costs, and produces wonderful savings to our environment, and certainly to those manufacturers out there in businesses that struggle in this economy. I look at situations that the price tag for doing nothing means that we lose a market share to places like China, like Germany, like Korea. Doing nothing means losing jobs, energy, green collar jobs to those same nations. Doing nothing means continuing to be taxed in a way that sends money to Venezuela and the Mid East. But when you ask for a specific example, one that comes to mind also is retrofitting of the dairy industry in the State of New York. That was done through the auspices of NyCerta, the State Energy Research and Development Authority, while I was still at the New York State Assembly chairing the energy committee. We worked in tandem with the local utility, with National Grid. We worked with Cornell University with its efforts to retrofit that dairy sector with energy efficiency seen as the fuel of choice out there. Working with the energy service companies, working with a group of policymakers from within the State Assembly. All of that working in a team spirited way that had, as demonstration projects, two dairy farms. And without even adjusting the rate for the power that they utilize, they had achieved immense savings simply through reducing demand. And then that demonstration project with two farms was further extrapolated over 70 participants, all of whom had seen the same sorts of positive results, reducing demand severely. This is where we're at. We're at a cutting knowledge of opportunity. We're looking at embracing technology in a way that can allow us to practically produce change. That is about job creation. It's about consumer behavior adjustment. It's about the boldness of leadership. It's allowing us to develop the blueprints, the greenprints for tomorrow. And we have the capacity today. There are tons of practical examples. Even at NyCerta. A demonstration project with kinetic hydropower where the turbulence of the East River alongside Manhattan was producing power that was used in that given region. And there are theories suggesting that some 1,100 megawatts' worth of power statewide could be the result in New York State alone. Think of it: if we multiply that over the many States of this country; think of it if we make the investments that are asked of us here by doing this program in a way that caps the amount of pollution out there, rewards the good behavior and creates the resources to implement the science and technology that is within our grasp today. There is great potential here. Great job creation, great savings of energy, which is a precious commodity, and the ability to do an American-produced agenda--American-produced power to grow and retain American jobs in a way that creates a new segment of employment out there: employees who are green collar workers. Great potential for the country.

Mr. TONKO. I appreciate the gentleman from Oregon, and he obviously has an outstanding voice speaking to what is the smart approach to the future of this country and certainly to the impact that we can make on American households and on American businesses. The country faces, undeniably, economic energy and certainly climate crises, and this is a time for a plan of action. I believe that as we have just heard, there are these opportunities that are shelf ready, available to American consumers, to American businesses today. There are emerging technologies as we speak. This requires an immense investment. And if there is a strategy that has been promoted here by the President that has been advanced by the Speaker of this House, Nancy Pelosi, and endorsed by the leadership, it's to move forward in a way that is intellectually honest, looking at the factors out there that exist. The human elements that are causing an impact through global warming, through climate change that are growing the carbon footprint. The President knows that the down payment of the Recovery Act was just the beginning of the story. He knows that in order to resolve the many crises facing this country, including, primarily, an economic crisis, we need to be smart about our plan of action. He knows that it will require an investment, an investment through R&D, of research and development that will enable us to produce savings. And we hear an awful lot of talk about a tax being imposed. The tax that is imposed is coming through billions of dollars, hundreds of billions of dollars paid by American companies, by American consumers, by households, that is going to places like the Middle East and Venezuela, paying for fossil-based fuels that are polluting our environment, that are driving downward, through these crises, the American economy. We have an option out there, and that option is to be smart, to go forward with American-produced power, done through American jobs, to save and grow American jobs. That is a good and clever strategy. We can do this by embracing the intellectual capacity of this great Nation, shelf-ready opportunities of which I am quite familiar. Certainly, when I was over at the Energy Research and Development Authority in New York State, I witnessed firsthand how policies and programs were implemented by that authority that is nationally inspected, and it was through the retrofits that we had done with the farming community, with the business community, with households, through building efforts, that we were able to achieve immense savings. These savings are dollars and benefits to the consuming public. They are job creating in terms of dynamics. When we look at the renewable standards, the renewable energy standards that are part of the package to respond to the energy crises of this country, we are talking about the creation of some 300,000 jobs. When we look at the energy efficiency resource standards, we are looking at some 220,000 jobs. When we look at the economic savings of the energy jobs creation, the green-collar job creation, we are talking about a savings of some of $100 billion. In the area of energy efficiency, a savings of $170 billion. So these are real dollars. They are savings. What I think our friends who are speaking so vociferously against this proposal do not comprehend, that savings and cleanup of our environment are benefits that are immeasurable at this point in time, and this economy requires that sort of investment, that sort of policy creation.

Mr. TONKO

Mr. TONKO. Madam Chair, I rise today to express my support for a budget that will help improve our economy and institute a plan to reduce the deficit in the long term. My hope is that this House will pass a budget that provides for a reduction of the deficit of over 50 percent by the year 2013 by cutting ineffective programs and reforming government contracting and defense purchasing. In addition, we need a budget that finally addresses health care reform, which will reduce the single largest portion of our Federal budget. In addition, critical reforms and investments in energy will increase our energy independence, which will protect our economy and improve our national security. We must not forget how we got here. It was during the prior administration, the Bush administration, and the Republicans in control of Congress that squandered a record surplus inherited by this House through irresponsible spending and tax cuts. Those solutions were more of the same. But the American people are demanding a new direction, and this budget must represent the reforms that we need. America spoke clearly this past November with a resounding voice. They called for action. They called for a change in the course of the direction of this country. They called for growing our economy. They called for addressing the budget deficit. They called for creating jobs. This budget that we can vote on, presented by the President, will allow us to address those four major points. I stand in defense of that budget and ask that this House approve that given budget that will be before us later today.

Mr. TONKO

Mr. TONKO. Congressman Inslee, you mentioned agriculture. I will tell you that the State of New York through its SUNY operation, the State University of New York, has a number of ag and tech campuses. I can name one that I represent, Cobleskill, that is going through a transformational project of creating energy. There is a SUNY campus that is dealing with hybrid types of soy that they are developing so that it could be used in the biofuels system. Others are looking at beet produce that can be created in a way that will allow for ag diversification. I represent many dairy farmers in my given area. We worked on a project when I was still in the New York State Assembly serving as energy chair, and we incorporated the services of NYSERDA, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, the local utility, Cornell University with its R&D efforts, and some ESCOs, energy services company, and the Farm Bureau. We worked together, and created energy efficiency programs that drove down energy demand at these dairy farms by anywhere from 30 to a 45 percent, and we started with two demonstrations and people were so favorably touched by that exercise, and then opened it up to 70 participants of different dairy farms that, again, realized a reduction in their bill, not by any change in the rate that was produced, but by the amount of energy they had consumed. And you are dealing with a perishable product, one that is highly regulated. You have pumping and cooling processes that need to be addressed. They did this in an energy significant relief mannerism that produced a far better outcome for an industry that is stressed. We hear today about these dairy prices. We somehow as a society pride ourselves on eating cheap. Dairy farmers work 24/7. They need a fair price for their milk. But what we could do at that State level was reduce their cost of business, and we had done that, which I thought was tremendously powerful. The opportunity to invest in wasted energy projects on our various farms, of all sectors in this country, to deal with digesters. You know, you talked about job creation and perhaps people seeing it as some sort of magic wand out there that is being waved. Let us just look over our shoulder at recent passed history just over the last century. What happened when we put our minds to work to R&D and innovation and invention? We went and produced an internal combustion engine, we went and developed electricity. That created unprecedented amounts of jobs in the manufacturing sector. And then, we put people to work on those manufacturing lines in the auto industry, and then put many people to work building dams, building power plants, and putting together our national grid system. So we know what these jobs can look like. We know that when we invest in R&D, when we provide for our own American generation of power through American jobs, we can create a tremendous amount of economic recovery.

Mr. TONKO. Absolutely. And I think that that sort of vision that was shared with the public back in the early 1960s by President Kennedy is the sort of sequence here that we have with President Obama, where he is expressing to the Nation: We can do better than we are doing today. I believe that totally. I am optimistic about growing out of this energy situation in a very powerful way, in a very expressive way that allows us to put an American stamp on this. I represent Schenectady, New York. They are the city that lights and hauls the world. They earned that reputation because of the inventions and innovation that came out of that city through names like Edison and Steinmetz that determined our energy future over a century ago, and then manufacturing that took place in that city and in that Mohawk Valley region was all about invention and innovation. We saw what happened when they built the locomotives that hauls, again, the world. All of this is part of a spark of invention that drove an economy for decades. We are at that same juncture now. As we have hit rock bottom with this economy it challenges us. We are facing a crises, but out of that can come opportunity. Here is the opportunity. When you talk, Congressman, about the geothermal and solar and PV and all of those aspects, let me throw another one out there, kinetic hydropower. When I was at NYSERDA, which was my workplace before entering Congress, we were involved with a kinetic hydropower project on the East River along the island of Manhattan. We were in demonstration project addressing this situation, and it is forecasted that we can produce as much as 1,000 megawatts of power through kinetic hydro, which is similar to a wind turbine but beneath the turbulent waters of the East River. There are so many ways to deal with the environment in a benign way to produce energy. Over 8,300 megawatts in this country of wind power are existing today. We can do far better in the solar, wind, geothermal, kinetic hydro areas, and many other ideas that can transform how we produce energy, and produce energy that creates American jobs. That is what this is about, American energy producing American jobs, speaking to the needs of American families and American business.

Mr. TONKO. It is interesting, because as we heard from a representative from a community college dealing with the greening up of jobs from Hudson County Community College in the capital region of New York, it is interesting to note that across this Nation, we are gifted with several campuses that are community colleges. And that has become in New York State the campus of choice. Because of the economics of the times, I believe a lot of people, if they have been displaced, are looking to train or retrain for other opportunities. And now with the growth of community colleges and the strengthening that they have been part of, they offer hands-on experience. So to watch some of the construction majors at Hudson Valley Community College being taught the state-of-the-art application of photovoltaic on solar array systems for rooftop application is a wonderful outcome. To witness that and know that there will be those individuals who can maintain, install and repair these systems and be part of that solution, because we need the human infrastructure to be developed so as to move into this energy revolution, as we look at our campuses, they hold great promise for this. In the State of New York, Hudson Valley has been working with NYSERDA, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, through resources, through a plan, through a sense of vision that is shared and then incorporated into the work that they do. They reach out and deal with some seven or eight different community college campuses. They then train those people that will be the trainers in their given campus community. Just recently I had met with Fulton-Montgomery Community College, again in the congressional district that I represent. And they are talking about the nano sciences, the nanotechnology growth in the capital region of New York. They are going to train people to work in clean rooms. They are going to make certain that they have that gift to be able to be there in all sorts of capacities, at all levels, to make this work so that as people look to growing incubator opportunity, they are going to need a workforce, as people not only deal with startups but grow those given businesses that are there today that are energy and technology related, they will require the workforce that is specifically trained and ready to go. This is a package that comes together nicely with the vision that is shared by this President, with the leadership that he has executed and with the outstanding leadership here with Speaker Pelosi and our many chairs and our leadership of the House.

Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, we thank you for the time allotted here this evening, and we most appreciate your courtesy.

Mr. TONKO. Thank you, Congressman Inslee. I appreciate your leadership in regard to the environment and the energy and what that means to this Nation's economy and certainly to job growth. I think to summarize where we can be with this innovation economy is to speak to American energy produced by American jobs. That, in and of itself, is a powerful statement, knowing that we can grow our energy security, we can spark an innovation economy driven by a greening up of our energy policy, and reduce our dependency on the foreign imports of oil and petroleum from some of the most troubled spots in the world. And I believe that, as we do that, not only do we address our energy security, but we address our national security. It becomes an issue that allows us to better deal with international relations and to avoid the sort of involvement that we have had in the Middle East. So I think it is an important issue well beyond energy and job creation; it is also an international affairs issue, as we grow our international security, our national security. The fact that American energy can produce American jobs that then provides a benefit in many ways to the American families from coast to coast is an important factor. Economists have estimated that well over one-half of the growth of our Nation's GDP was in relation to the development and adoption of new technologies, of emerging technologies. That was done on average with a 3 percent investment in R&D, 3 percent of our GDP. Think of what happens when we enhance that number, when we go well beyond the 3 percent investment in R&D. We should expect, rightfully, that then that produces a tremendous impact on our GDP, on the growth of our GDP. The President has said, I believe correctly, in a very visionally sense that this struggling economy that we are working to improve now, a struggling economy which he inherited as President, can be improved if we provide assistance and reforms to our health care arena and to our energy arena. That produces jobs, that produces a response to the needs of the American society in a way that is cutting edge, state-of- the-art. And as we grow that greening up of our energy supply, as we produce here locally in the USA rather than relying on foreign importation, we are then going to then strengthen the outcome because we are going to embrace the intellectual capacity of this Nation. We are going to take those R&D situations. Where there are success stories, we will deploy them to the commercial sector. We have today shelf-ready technology that can assist in so many ways that speak to energy efficiency, that speak to job production, that speak to a much better use of resources, that provides for a favorable response to reducing that carbon footprint.

Mr. TONKO. Absolutely. And Representative Polis is right. We have reached over all of the sectors, from agriculture to service, to small business to larger business and manufacturing and then industry, all of these areas are benefited, as are our homes, because housing in this country is a big part of the looming issue out there of carbon footprint, of energy consumption, and certainly it's a great opportunity for us to reduce demand. But let's also look at that transportation sector. In this effort to grow new opportunities, we are going to look at that transportation sector and provide for advanced battery manufacturing, taking, again, R&D experiences that are working today, and put them to use, not only in the transportation area, but in energy generation and energy storage. Some of our intermittent power, whether it be solar or wind, needs to be bolstered by the fact that we can store that power so that when we are at peak situations, it is then most useful, and we can create that battery storage issue. I am convinced. We heard again about various efforts to improve battery operations out there. And the fact that $2 billion, as part of the Recovery Act and certainly, additional involvement in the Federal budget will allow us to, then, move forward with the batteries of the future, be they Lithium batteries, Lithium ion battery or others that are being developed that will now allow us to really transform the transportation sector. You know, when gas prices were hitting the $4 and beyond mark, everyone was exploding with the need for us to do something about it. Well, this takes a plan, and it's not going to happen overnight. We were warned in the '70s to begin to do your greening up of energy policy. That didn't happen. So we need to move forward and make certain that this innovation comes in the boldness that it requires and deserves and certainly that the American public deserves. So Representative Polis, I think our time is coming to a near end, so I will use that as my final statement, and then allow you to offer some comments.

Mr. TONKO. Absolutely.

Mr. TONKO. No. Not at all.

Mr. TONKO. Thank you very much, Congressman Inslee, and thank you for your leadership. You are very right in acknowledging the role that our new President is playing and his sense of vision that has been shared with the American public. It is that sort of boldness to take a golden opportunity and turn it green that this President has really embraced. He and his administration, Secretary Chu from the Department of Energy, and others are anxiously looking forward to creating that new era of energy generation for this country. And certainly Speaker Pelosi in our House and all of the leadership here and the respective chairs are fast at work, and the membership at large, because we know this is a great way for us to address this economic recovery that is so necessary. Congressman Polis, you mentioned the hearing the other day chaired by Congressman Hinojosa who chairs the Subcommittee on Higher Education, looking at higher education and workforce opportunities. And you're right in that we create many jobs in that direct ripple that is caused by dropping the stone into the water here. That first ripple does speak to wind technicians and site operators, for instance, for wind turbine operations across the country. GE spoke to that at the hearing. But then it is all the other ancillary impacts that can be made in a way for our manufacturing sector, our agricultural sector and our service sector as we apply these funds to energy efficiency retrofits, as we work with various States to provide the resources that allows our manufacturing to be as smart and energy innovative as possible. Then when they are competing in that global marketplace, they will be winning the race because of doing it in a smarter and more energy- efficient way. I think that is an important part here because there are many, many winners across the board as we move forward with these technologies. Looking at the inspiration that comes from the labs where we are developing some of these projects, it is important to indicate the success that has been driven by engineers, inventors and innovators. But this is also about reaching to the trades, making certain that our trades people are allowed to participate in this green-collar job growth so that as the white- and blue-collar traditional jobs now get in some ways transformed in certain sectors to green-collar job opportunities, we will have room for everyone from the skill set of the trades people over to the 2-year, 4-year graduate levels of the workforce that can really inspire this sort of innovation economy that holds great promise for an economic recovery.

Mr. TONKO

Mr. TONKO. Let me tell you, part of my congressional district includes Schenectady, New York, dubbed ``the city that lights and hauls the world.'' They did locomotive manufacturing. We are a center of innovation, with names like Edison and Steinmetz. So that Greatest Generation was involved in the manufacturing end of that thought process, that seed that was planted, that invention that was sparked in Schenectady, and they were there manufacturing so that they could light and haul the world. So along that path of my district where the Erie Canal gave birth to an industrial revolution, where we inspired the westward movement, where this necklace of communities called mill towns emerged because of all of the centers of invention and products that were manufactured, this great generation knows what happens when you are at the front of the line where you are the leader in the world. And this is our chance to assume the leadership mantel of a new century of thinking. Just as we did over a century ago to create some of these ways to address energy needs, we are now at a new juncture that can, again, produce that passage that allows us to impact the entire world with the developments that we can inspire simply by committing resources, whoever it is as a nation, whatever nation assumes that leadership status--and someone will--they're going to control, I think, that global setting. And it should be the U.S. We as a country not only have the challenges placed before us in terms of a tough economy that now we are working to bring back, a tough job inherited by this President, but he is doing a very thoughtful, remarkable job with keen focus, and includes energy transformation as part of that comeback. Not only are we challenged, but we have that capacity, the intellectual capacity and the history of having been pioneers, people who have taken that leap of faith and who have seen science and all sorts of experimental procedures as a good thing. This administration, this House's leadership through Speaker Pelosi and the many chairs understand that we have that capacity, and they are leading us in the right direction. I am convinced.

Mr. TONKO. And I hear you, Congressman Blumenauer. I think that in this country, beyond any other, with consumption per person, energy demand per person so high above the average, there is a greater bit of opportunity here than in any other world Nation that is a manufacturing leader in the world. So we have with this gluttonous dependency on petroleum-based, fossil fuel-based economy of ours to move forward aggressively, and just a simple 1 or 2 or 5 percent reduction in demand is monumental coast to coast. And so this is about job creation in a way that grows significant jobs from all sectors. From the blue collar and white collar jobs of today, all can be transformed to some degree to a green collar work environment. Just yesterday in Albany, New York, at the State Education Department, a subcommittee from the Science and Technology Committee of this House, headed by Chairman Hinojosa, went to Albany to conduct a hearing on improvements in the Workforce Investment Act. The reauthorization is before us as we speak. We're looking at how we can better improve that act and also bring about today's thinking on green collar opportunities, green collar opportunities in the energy world. And part of the witness table included a representative from GE's wind division. They talked about the Federal Department of Energy's forecast of some 500,000 jobs in that industry that will require those who are site managers, site operational people, to those who are wind technicians to be able to learn the trades, learn the maintenance and retrofitting and installation opportunities and skills to bring about this revolution of sorts. There will be those, too, that are required to come up with the next generation of equipment that is, you know, today in the labs percolating in a way that is just, again, a revolution waiting to happen. This is smart thinking. This is smart policy. These are progressive measures that then take this country into that world leading status. You know, as a kid I remember the space race. I remember the Sputnik situation. We were competitive. We were going to beat Russia to the punch. We were going to make certain that we landed a person on the Moon. That came with a vision that was followed up with a sense of policy, that drove us with resource commitment. We have that same opportunity today, a golden opportunity made green in a way that will spark this innovation economy, that will transform a lot of the work opportunities out there and provide the bottom line benefits to American working families. I think the middle class Americans who have just realized the largest investment in a tax cut in the Nation's history through the recent recovery act will now stand yet another chapter of gain here with this sort of thinking.

Mr. TONKO. Absolutely. I think the strategy is one that will be produced in very thoughtful exchange here in the House and in the Senate and working with the administration. I think the resources you talk about, the garnering of resources, these can be applied in so many measures. I saw from my days in the assembly as Energy Chair, to my time as NYSERDA president, a huge sea change in thinking from even the business community, where they came to NYSERDA looking for opportunities for energy efficiency installments into their operation. They were hard hit by some of these economic pressures. When we think of it, it was an energy crisis that kind of drove this economic crisis. When gas prices were rising severely, when petroleum prices were rising severely, when the cost of running our factories and the cost of running our workplaces and the cost of maintaining our homes kept rising because of those fuel costs, then people came into an energy crunch. That drove this economic recession that has been so long and deep and now inherited by this administration as we now struggle with the Recovery Act to come forward with a solution. Doing nothing would have meant what--500,000 to 600,000 job losses per month? So it took action--just like this will take action. As the President has said, energy reform is required for our economic recovery. Health care reform is required for our economic recovery. So this opportunity for energy reform, where we retrofit our factories and provide for cheaper outcomes and more efficient government, in partnership with our private sector, making certain that we embrace our intellectual capacity, that is what this is all about. I saw what we could do just in housing stock alone with efficiency measures that range from weatherization to home audits that produce all sorts of insulation requirements and those kinds of investments that, again, produce jobs in our neighborhoods. I saw what NYSERDA was doing through Hudson Valley Community College, one of the large community colleges in the capital region of New York State. They partnered with NYSERDA. We set goals. We put programs together. We made certain resources were there and then went forward with training people that might be construction management majors at Hudson Valley Community College and learning state-of-the-art PV and solar application for rooftops. Training the workforce of the future, taking people through various work incentive programs, through our PIC--our Private Industry Council, and making certain they were connected to the community college opportunity, training them at Hudson Valley as educators, then reaching out to other community colleges and creating that network of trainer doing the work with the future trainer. And all of them then working with unemployed, underemployed, people transition that needed new skills developed that were highly skilled in the workforce, addressing our curricula in pre-K-12, addressing the opportunities for matriculation at our colleges and certification programs. All of this is very important to building the human infrastructure that then goes out there and becomes that green energy team in all of our neighborhoods, all of our States across the Nation, making certain that we spark that kind of job creation and dedication to a cause that has us reducing our demand, that then has us producing something other than a fossil-based economy, and generating situations of power and energy needs that do not pollute and add to our global warming situation and to our carbon footprint. All of that is a spectacular outcome that is achievable with the proper focus, laser-sharp focus, commitment to resources, and advancement in progressive policy.

Mr. TONKO. Not only that, Congressman Blumenauer, I think with that intensity that you just shared with us, it tells me that that should push elected representatives here in the House and Senate to respond to their constituents in a way that is thoughtful and progressive because that is the message I believe is imparted by such polling results. People know that we have precious little time to correct some of this. But they also know that there's a great outcome. I believe the youngest generations in today's society are going to compel us to think outside the barrel. I think they are going to push us and say it's time to think outside the barrel and do things appropriately. I will give you an example. Again, at NYSERDA we got involved in a school project across the State at several schools. We would install solar systems at the school to, A, ease the burden on the property taxpayer; B, invest in the children's education so they could see firsthand what was happening and to inspire them; C, to inform the educator to take the teaching staff and allow them to incorporate into their classroom activities the discussion of renewables, of solar, of the opportunities to become independent--energy independent. What a remarkably successful program. We need just to grow that. But, again, it's resources. States sometimes are confined or restricted. If we have a strong partnership with Federal Government, then we can do that multilayering of government to respond in a way that advances this stretched thinking to allow us again to measure in green terms what the future can be and to see that so many of these opportunities are on that shelf, ready to be applied, tells us that there's a great bit of opportunity out there looming--looming large. And so I think that polling statistics and the data that are exchanged here tell us that there's a new day coming. As we invest in this coming budget, I believe you're going to see a commitment to a new world where we are that energy-secure Nation. And as we grow our energy security, I'm firmly convinced we grow our national security. Because our involvement, our dependency on the Middle East, for instance, for our supply of oil and petroleum finds us depending on some of the most troubled spots in the world that have unstable governments, that then control our destiny for what is a basic need out there--the energy to light and heat our homes, to power our manufacturing centers, and our workplaces. When we are dependent in such huge measure on that sort of importation, it only causes great concern and challenges us to think in these bolder terms. And so I think we need to take that energy palette and paint it in bolder shades of green.

Mr. TONKO. Well, I know you stand for progressive policies in Oregon, and you personify that very well. So it is a pleasure to work with you in this House, and we are going to go forward and have a very innovative budget.