Fred Upton

Mr. UPTON

Mr. UPTON. Mr. Chair, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Stearns).

Mr. UPTON. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Kentucky, (Mr. Whitfield), the chairman of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee. Announcement by the Chair

Mr. UPTON. I yield the gentleman an additional 1 minute.

Mr. UPTON. I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentleman from Georgia.

Mr. UPTON. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 30 seconds. I would just say that although it's true that DOE has $34 billion in loan guarantee authority remaining, DOE is actually capped at $22 billion for nuclear projects, so the argument that this act creates a loophole that would allow up to $100 billion in new nuclear projects is simply not right, and the projects that are in the application pipeline--remember those remain in the pipeline through December of last year--they are not limited to nuclear. In fact, there are only six active nuclear-related applications in that queue. The other 40-plus include solar, biomass, wind, a whole number of things. I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Burgess).

Mr. UPTON. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to a member of the committee, the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Gardner).

Mr. UPTON. Mr. Chair, may I inquire how much time is remaining on both sides?

Mr. UPTON. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 6213.

Mr. UPTON. I yield the gentleman 2 additional minutes.

Mr. UPTON. Mr. Chairman, before I yield to the Chairman of the Oversight Subcommittee, let me yield myself 1\1/2\ minutes just to respond. While it's true that the program was signed into law by President Bush in '05, I would note that the Bush administration did not issue a single loan guarantee, in large part because it struggled to identify any company whose energy products were both meritorious and yet unable to secure private financing. So, further, Bush's OMB actually reviewed this project, the Solyndra loan guarantee application, but it rejected it in January of 2009 in the waning days because of the concerns over the long-term viability of the project. Now, this administration would go ahead with over $15 billion in loan guarantees through 2011. Solyndra, Abound Solar, Beacon Power, they've all gone bankrupt. And I'm afraid this is just the tip of the iceberg, which was why we moved ahead with this legislation. Without our action, without the action of our committee, there was strong belief, in fact, that this administration was going to go ahead yet with hundreds of millions of dollars more for Solyndra. That's not the answer to this thing. That's not how to save it. Our role at Energy and Commerce, we had a very aggressive chairman, Cliff Stearns, the chairman of the Oversight Investigation Subcommittee. He led the investigation. He identified the many faults, and now we've come back with corrective legislation to make sure that it doesn't happen again. That's our role. With that, I yield 5 minutes to gentleman from Florida (Mr. Stearns), the very able chairman of the Oversight Investigation Subcommittee.

Mr. UPTON. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, I care about America's energy future, and I certainly care about America's fiscal future as well. For those two reasons, I would urge every one of us here to vote ``yes'' on the No More Solyndras Act. On the energy front, I continue to advocate concrete measures towards achieving North American energy independence. That includes approving the Keystone XL pipeline, it includes increasing conventional and renewable energy production from Federal lands, and eliminating unnecessary EPA red tape on coal and other fossil fuels. These and other pro-energy measures are part of the all-of-the-above energy agenda that has been championed by the Energy and Commerce Committee here in the House. But support for this agenda also requires us to pull the plug on existing programs that simply aren't working. And the Department of Energy's title XVII loan guarantee program is simply not advancing the ball on an all-of-the-above energy goal. The No More Solyndras Act, this bill, phases out this costly, ineffective and, frankly, very mismanaged program. Our extensive investigation of Solyndra uncovered a story worse than anyone could have imagined. It is amazing to me that the administration gave a half-billion dollar loan guarantee to a company that its own experts predicted would fail, a company so dysfunctional that it burned through this giant handout and went bankrupt in 2 years. Even worse, when it became clear to the administration that Solyndra was in trouble, it chose to double down on the risky bet, gambling even more taxpayer dollars with a desperate loan restructuring instead of trying to cut its losses and move on. Solyndra is the most visible but far from the only example of title XVII failures. In fact, it is hard to point to a single loan guarantee success under this program. Developing new energy sources and technologies is an important part of our all-of-the-above approach, but it is clear that this loan guarantee program is ineffective at best, and counterproductive at worst. Further, I'm stunned by the cavalier manner in which the administration squandered all of these taxpayer dollars, yet says it has no regrets, no apologies about its handling of the program and continues to declare it an ``enormous success.'' If the administration can't learn anything about irresponsible spending from Solyndra, is it any wonder that we are running still a trillion-dollar annual deficit and just saw the national debt eclipse the $16 trillion figure. Burning money is one source of energy that the country doesn't need. That's why this bill prevents any costly repeats of Solyndra by prohibiting any new loan guarantees and subjecting pending ones to very stringent safeguards. What's most disturbing about this unprecedented spending is that it is not necessary to secure a brighter future. The private sector is more than willing to step in and provide the necessary cash and energy if only we would let them. What we need is a Keystone economy, not a Solyndra economy. What we need is a privately funded investment, not taxpayer-funded boondoggles. The goal of the North American energy independence plan certainly is in reach, as well as millions of new jobs that would certainly go with it, but we aren't going to get there through title XVII Department of Energy loan guarantees--no, we're not. This investigation uncovered a problem, and now we have a thoughtful bill to fix it so that it cannot happen again. The next step is for the House to pass this bill and hopefully get the Senate to take it up as well. We need to pass the No More Solyndras Act. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. UPTON. Mr. Chairman, I would like to include in the Record an exchange of letters between the Energy and Commerce Committee, and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. House of Representatives, Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, Washington, DC, September 10, 2012. Hon. Fred Upton, Chairman, Committee on Energy and Commerce, Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC. Dear Chairman Upton: I am writing to you regarding H.R. 6213, the No More Solyndras Act. This legislation was referred initially to both the Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. H.R. 6213 was marked up by the Committee on Energy and Commerce on July 31, 2012. I recognize and appreciate your desire to bring this legislation before the House of Representatives in an expeditious manner, and accordingly, I will waive further consideration of this bill in Committee. This, of course, being conditional on our mutual understanding that language negotiated with the Science, Space, and Technology Committee will be included in this or any similar legislation considered on the House floor. However, agreeing to waive consideration of this bill should not be construed as waiving, reducing, or affecting the jurisdiction of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. Additionally, the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology expressly reserves its authority to seek the appointment of conferees during any House-Senate conference that may be convened on this, or any similar legislation. I ask for your commitment to support any request by the Committee for conferees on H.R. 6213 as well as any similar or related legislation. I ask that a copy of this letter and your response be included in the report on H.R. 6213 and also be placed in the Congressional Record during consideration of the bill on the House floor. I look forward to working with you as we prepare to pass this important legislation. Sincerely, Ralph M. Hall, Chairman, Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. Enclosure.

Mr. UPTON

Mr. UPTON. Mr. Chairman, at this point, I will yield 3 minutes to the chairman of the Science Committee, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hall).

Mr. UPTON. Mr. Chairman, I'd just remind my friend from California that the Department of Justice tells us that there is still an active criminal investigation as to the Solyndra matter. I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Pompeo), a member of the committee.

Mr. UPTON. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Duncan).

Mr. UPTON. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlelady, my good friend from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx).

Mr. UPTON. We have two speakers that are here, and we've got a couple that are in the queue that may or may not make it.

Mr. UPTON. Mr. Speaker, I claim the time in opposition to the motion to recommit.

Mr. UPTON. Mr. Chairman, I yield the balance of the time that I control to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Stearns).

Mr. UPTON. I will be brief. I would just note that the projects contemplated under title XVII aren't your usual run-of-the-mill, brick and mortar construction projects. Usually, they are advanced energy projects that require highly specialized equipment, complex components, and they aren't always available domestically. Extending the wind tax credit will be, in fact, part of the larger debate that the House will have as we look at all of the expiring tax provisions, and I certainly look for Mr. Markey's support as we look to extend all of those later on, particularly for his good folks in the State of Massachusetts. This has been a very long and extensive investigation, and I will tell you that Cliff Stearns, the chairman of our Oversight Subcommittee, has done a very good job as we have tried to get to the very bottom of this mess. It is our job--that of every one of us here-- to look wherever we can to find fraud and abuse and mismanagement in any Federal program, to identify it, and then come back and fix it so that it cannot happen again. No more Solyndras. That's what this bill does. It is a credit to the investigatory team and to Mr. Stearns' leadership. We need to defeat this motion to recommit and pass the bill. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. UPTON. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Latham).

Mr. UPTON. Mr. Chairman, I might just say we are prepared to close. If the gentleman from California is going to be the final speaker and is prepared to close, we can get to the amendments.

Mr. UPTON. How much time do I have remaining on this side?

Mr. UPTON

Mr. UPTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Chet Walker of Benton Harbor, Michigan, who was elected to both the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on September 7, 2012. Mr. Walker began his career as the star of Benton Harbor High School's basketball team, leading the school to the Class A Boys' state finals in 1958. He then matriculated to Bradley College in Peoria, Illinois, where he became the school's all-time top scorer and rebounder, and was a two-time unanimous First Team All-America pick. Mr. Walker led the Bradley Braves to victory in the 1960 National Invitation Tournament and finished his college career with an outstanding 69-14 win-loss record. His success as a college athlete caught the attention of the NBA, and after graduation Mr. Walker was drafted by the Syracuse Nationals in the second round. Mr. Walker continued in his tradition of success, and was named to the first ever NBA All-Rookie Team. The rest of his professional basketball career proved to be exceptional: over the span of his 13 years, Mr. Walker scored 18,831 points and grabbed 7,314 rebounds, had a free throw percentage of 79.6, was a seven-time All- Star, and won the 1967 NBA championship with what is considered by many today to be the greatest basketball team of all time. Mr. Speaker, I am honored to recognize Mr. Walker's achievements and am glad that he is being properly respected for his contributions by the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame and the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Chet Walker is one of the greatest to ever play the game and we are so proud in southwest Michigan.

Mr. UPTON

Mr. UPTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the Berrien Community Foundation's 60th anniversary of providing invaluable financial support to southwest Michigan. It is with great pleasure that I congratulate the Berrien Community Foundation after six decades of impeccable service to our community. Founded in 1952 by William Vawter and many conscientious business men and women, the Foundation has, been committed to finding innovative ways to invest charitable dollars to help residents of Berrien County. From grants to scholarships, the Berrien County Community Foundation has been working to educate our young people and prepare them to enter the workforce. Without that assistance, many students would not have the academic prospects they do today. The Berrien Community Foundation represents the very best our district has to offer. Philanthropic individuals who desire to help deserving individuals reach their goals and meet their dreams are able to do so in a financially responsible way by collaborating with the Foundation. I have been very impressed by the Foundation's creative approach to making dollars go far to help individuals who just need a little help in moving forward with their aspirations. I continue to marvel at their dedication and good will and hope their work continues for many years to come. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to again recognize the achievements and irreplaceable contributions the Foundation has provided to my district and look forward to their continuing efforts to make Berrien County a better place to live and work.