Mark Udall

Mr. UDALL of Colorado

Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. President, I listened intently to my friend from Alabama. I have had the opportunity when I have presided to listen to him share his point of view with the Senate. As always, he is articulate and passionate. Before I make two unanimous consent requests, I wish to make some brief remarks. I see a number of colleagues on the Senate floor. I heard the comments about the time in which the Judiciary Committee is considering these nominees. And there are numbers and there are numbers, but the number that stands out to me, as I mentioned earlier, is we have 100 judicial vacancies, which the Senator from Alabama acknowledged. Forty-two of those are considered judicial emergencies by the bodies that oversee and monitor the judiciary. The Senate has confirmed 24 nominees so far this year and 36 total since President Obama was elected. Those are historic lows. That is the fewest number of judges confirmed in 50 years. We may have accelerated the process by which nominees are considered, but we have not accelerated the process by which they are confirmed so they can serve on a circuit court or a district court. The Senator talked about a nominee who was in limbo for 8 years, and I heard the passion with which he thinks that was a wrong. But two wrongs do not make a right. We need to get our courts fully staffed with jurists who want to serve. I heard piety mentioned. The eight of my colleagues who came to talk about filling the district and circuit courts--I did not hear a lot of piety; I heard a need and a desire to fill the courts so citizens' rights can be maintained and justice can be delivered, whether it is in criminal or civil settings. Finally, with all due respect to my friend from Alabama, I will wait until we hopefully have a debate on the floor about Bill Martinez to tell all the 99 Senators what a marvelous candidate he is and what a strong member of the bench he would be. We will set that debate aside until I hope, I say to Senator Sessions, we actually can discuss the Bill Martinez confirmation on the floor. Unanimous Consent Requests--Executive Calendar In that spirit, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session to consider en bloc the following nominations on the Executive Calendar: No. 891, Goodwin Liu, to be a U.S. circuit judge for the Ninth Circuit; and No. 933, Robert Chatigny, to be a U.S. circuit judge for the Second Circuit. I ask unanimous consent that those nominations be debated concurrently for a total of 4 hours, with the time equally divided and controlled between Senators Leahy and Sessions or their designees; that upon use or yielding back of time, the Senate then proceed to vote on the confirmation of the nominations in the order listed; that upon confirmation, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate resume legislative session.

Mr. UDALL of Colorado. The concerns of the Senator from Alabama are his, and they are most likely shared by others. The point I am trying to make is, let's bring nominees to the floor, have that debate, fully consider their records, and then have an up-or-down vote. Mr. President, moving to my last unanimous consent request, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session to consider en bloc the following nominations on the Executive Calendar: No. 892, Raymond Lohier, to be U.S. circuit judge for the Second Circuit of New York; and No. 934, Scott Matheson, to be U.S. circuit judge for the Tenth Circuit; that the nominations be debated concurrently for a total of 4 hours, with the time equally divided and controlled between Senators Leahy and Sessions or their designees; that upon the use or yielding back of time, the Senate then proceed to vote on confirmation of the nominations in the order listed; that upon confirmation, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate then resume legislative session.

Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session to consider en bloc the following nominations on the Executive Calendar: No. 696, Louis Butler, to be a U.S. District Judge for the Western District of Wisconsin; No. 697, Edward Chen, to be a U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of California; No. 703, Benita Pearson, to be a U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Ohio; No. 948, John J. McConnell, to be a U.S. District Judge for the District of Rhode Island; that the nominations be debated concurrently for a total of 4 hours, with the time equally divided and controlled between Senators Leahy and Sessions or their designees; that upon the use or yielding back of time, the Senate then proceed to vote on confirmation of the nominations in the order listed; that upon confirmation, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate then resume legislative session.

Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. President, I will continue to ask my friend from Alabama to consider joining with me in approving these unanimous consent requests. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session and consider en bloc the following nominations on the Executive Calendar: No. 883, Michelle Childs, to be a U.S. District Judge, South Carolina; No. 884, Richard Gergel, to be a U.S. District Judge, South Carolina; No. 885, Catherine Eagles, to be a U.S. District Judge, Middle District of North Carolina; No. 886, Kimberly Mueller, Eastern District of California; No. 893, Leonard Stark, to be a U.S. District Judge, District of Delaware; No. 917, John Gibney, to be a U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia; No. 935, James Bredar, to be a U.S. District Judge, District of Maryland; No. 936, Ellen Hollander, to be a U.S. District Judge, District of Maryland; No. 937, Susan Nelson, to be a U.S. District Judge, District of Minnesota; that the nominations be confirmed en bloc and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table en bloc; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate then resume legislative session. Before the Chair entertains the request, let me indicate that all of the above nominees were reported unanimously or on a voice vote in the Judiciary Committee.

Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. President, I believe over the last hour and a half the Senate has heard from almost one-tenth of the body. Nine Senators have come to the floor to talk about a litany of great nominees for district court positions all over our country. The viewers have heard and our colleagues have heard the importance of passing these nominees through the process so we can deliver justice to our citizens in all the ways that our courts operate. In that spirit, therefore, I have a series of unanimous consent requests that I wish to make at this time. Unanimous-Consent Requests--Executive Calendar Mr. President, as in executive session, I ask unanimous consent that at a time to be determined by the majority leader, following consultation with the Republican leader, the Senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nomination on the Executive Calendar: Calendar No. 813, William Martinez, to be a U.S. district court judge for the district of Colorado; that the nomination be debated for up to 3 hours with time equally divided and controlled between Senators Leahy and Sessions or their designees; that upon the use or yielding back of time, the Senate proceed to a vote on the confirmation of the nomination; that upon confirmation, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate resume legislative session.

Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. President, it is disappointing that we can't get unanimous consent for an up-or-down vote on the Martinez vote. I wish to make clear to all the Coloradans who watched the proceedings today that I attempted to bring up this nomination for a vote, along with my colleague, Senator Bennet, but the minority party, as you have heard, has objected. It is a shame. I will not give up. I will continue to work in every way possible with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to confirm this important and impressive list of nominees. I shared Bill Martinez's story earlier with the full Senate. It is a quintessential American story, and Bill Martinez deserves to serve on our district court in Colorado. Mr. President, let me move to this unanimous consent request: I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session to consider en bloc the following nominations on the Executive Calendar: No. 656, Albert Diaz, U.S. circuit judge for the Fourth Circuit, and No. 657, James Wynn, to be a U.S. circuit judge for the Fourth Circuit; that the nominations be confirmed en bloc, and the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table en bloc; that upon confirmation, the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate then resume legislation. Before the Chair rules, let me indicate that the Diaz nomination was reported on a 19-to-0 vote. The Wynn nomination was reported with a vote of 18 to 1.

Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. President, I look forward to working with the Senator from Alabama and the Senator from Vermont to move all of these worthy nominations to the floor. I appreciate the conversation we have had. I yield the floor.

Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. UDALL of Colorado

Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Environment and Public Works be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 28, 2010, at 2:30 p.m. in room 406 of the Dirksen Office Building.

Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate, on July 28, 2010, at 2:30 p.m., in room SD-226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing entitled ``Nominations.''

Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 28, 2010, at 2:30 p.m.

Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Ad Hoc Subcommittee on State, Local, and Private Sector Preparedness and Integration and the Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Disaster Recovery of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 28, 2010, at 3 p.m. to conduct a hearing entitled, ``Flood Preparedness and Mitigation: Map Modernization, Levee Inspection, and Levee Repairs.''

Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate, on July 28, 2010, at 10 a.m., in room SD-226 of the Dirksen Senate Office building, to conduct a hearing entitled ``Oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.''

Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 28, 2010, at 10 a.m.

Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Rules and Administration be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 28, 2010, at 10:30 a.m., to conduct a hearing entitled ``Examining the Filibuster: Legislative Proposals to Change Senate Procedures.''

Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 28, 2010, at 10 a.m.

Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 28, 2010.

Mr. UDALL of Colorado

Mr. UDALL of Colorado. I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business.

Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. President, are we in morning business?

Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. President, I will speak to the bill we are considering. I rise today because I know we need to throw a lifeline to small businesses by increasing their access to credit. They have bills to pay, payroll checks to issue, and accounts payable mounting as they try to drive economic development. I supported the $30 billion lending increase this past week--I think the Presiding Officer did as well-- because we know we have to do all we can to get small business cranked up in our country. I supported it with the understanding that if we were going to finance $30 billion from the banking sector, the very least we could do as well would be to increase lending without costing taxpayers a dime. I wish to speak specifically to a piece of legislation I introduced, and I introduced it in amendment format as well, with bipartisan support. This amendment would get government out of the way so that credit unions could increase their small business loan portfolios. Right now, credit unions are making small business loans, but there is an arbitrary cap on the size and how many loans they can actually issue. In every single State--in Illinois, Colorado, California, and North Carolina--there are credit unions that have money and are ready to responsibly lend more money, but the Federal Government is standing in the way. I, for one, am not ready to say to all businesses that they have to close their doors because of a Federal cap on loans. In an economy such as the one we now face, we have to change that situation. We all know that when small businesses expand and grow, that will be critical to pulling us out of this recession. In the last 15 years, small businesses have generated two-thirds of all the new jobs created in the United States, and they currently employ more than half of all Americans in the workforce. As I travel across Colorado--as I know the Senator from Illinois travels across Illinois--and I visit with small businesspeople, they continually ask me: Where is the lending? I thought the banks were supposed to start lending again. Despite remaining profitable, small businesses have been unable to secure the loans they need to make investments in inventory, expand, and ultimately hire new workers. That is, again, why I introduced this bipartisan amendment to allow credit unions to ramp up small business lending without costing taxpayers a dime. I wish to say that again. We are not costing taxpayers a dime to put these changes into current law. Let me speak to current law. Under current statute, credit unions are required to limit their small business lending to 12.25 percent of their credit union's total assets. But credit unions have run up against that cap, and the only thing keeping them from jump-starting our economy is an outmoded, antigrowth law which I have referenced. After we introduced our bill last year, we heard from inside-the- beltway banking representatives who said increasing credit union loans to small businesses wasn't going to be safe or sound. Now, I suspect they were more concerned about others making loans than they were about safety and soundness. We all know in this Chamber that banks and credit unions regularly snipe at each other. It is almost like the Hatfields and the McCoys. But in the end, this isn't a bank or credit union issue; this is a small business issue. So in coming to this updated, bipartisan compromise, I have spoken to the Senate Banking Committee, the Treasury Department, and even the credit unions' own regulator, the National Credit Union Administration. They have all agreed to support our compromise that will safely and soundly increase small business lending by the credit union sector without costing Americans a dime. Best of all, most important of all, this legislation could lead to large-scale job creation in my home State of Colorado and around our country. The amendment takes the most well capitalized, the most experienced, and best run credit unions that have run up against this lending cap I have mentioned and allows them to meet the rising demand for small business loans. When they meet those conditions, their regulator will then allow that small business lending cap to slowly increase from the current 12.25 percent to a maximum of 27.5 percent of total assets. We know these credit unions are the most prudent financial institutions around, and nobody can argue that allowing them to throw a lifeline to small business is irresponsible. So this amendment is a sound, surefire way to grow our economy by increasing credit unions' ability to lend to small businesses. Again, I wish to remind my colleagues that this is at no cost to the taxpayers--no cost to our taxpayers. The National Credit Union Association estimates that these sensible reforms would increase credit union lending to small businesses by $10 billion within the first year of enactment, with an increase of nearly $200 million in my home State of Colorado. This is just an example. This new access to credit is estimated to create over 100,000 new jobs nationwide. It sounds to me like a probusiness, projobs policy that we all can agree we need. The National Small Business Association and even the National Association of Realtors have gotten behind our efforts, and they are urging us to pass this important provision. Everybody here--I look around the Chamber, and I see my friend from Oklahoma--knows what shape our economy is in today. Small businesses continue to struggle to access credit as large banks have significantly cut back on Main Street lending. We have all met business owners who have experienced this credit squeeze. If we are going to finance $30 billion to increase lending, which I do support, we should at least take this small step and help small businesses at no cost to taxpayers. So as I close, I wish to urge my colleagues to avoid the infighting that would have us believe this is about banks or credit unions because it is truly about our small business sector. We can't turn away entrepreneurs in this economic climate. We want to create jobs and begin new businesses, especially because of our politics here in Washington. I know there is not a single Senator who wants to look a small business owner in the eye who hasn't been able to get a loan because of an arbitrary government cap on small business lending. So let's unlock credit markets in Colorado and throughout the country. This amendment could be an important part of that effort. I wish to work with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to quickly pass this amendment and allow our Nation's small businesses to again set our country on a path toward job growth and prosperity in the future. Mr. President, I thank my colleagues for their attention, and I yield the floor.

Mr. UDALL of Colorado

Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. President, today I am introducing, along with Senators Michael Bennet, Mark Begich, Bob Casey, and Jeanne Shaheen, legislation to support elementary school principals and help prepare America's children for a successful education. Our bill would provide grant funds to train elementary school principals on how best to bridge the gap between early childhood development programs and elementary school learning. Oftentimes for elementary school principals, the competing demands of running a school, without the proper training or experience, can crowd out successful partnerships with early childhood learning programs. This can lead to an assortment of educational approaches and, on a practical level, disjointed efforts to ensure students receive a continuum of learning. The aim of my bill is to provide elementary school principals with the ability to take research-based, early childhood development practices and incorporate those skills into their schools in order to better prepare our Nation's youth for success. As part of this effort, our House colleagues, Congressmen Altmire and Himes, will be introducing a companion version to this legislation in their chamber. As we all know, a child's education does not begin on that first day of kindergarten; rather, it begins much earlier in life as an infant's brain develops and cognitive skills are acquired through daily interaction with parents, grandparents, siblings, and other caregivers. As a parent, I remember firsthand the interactions I had with my two children during their infant years. When the time came, my wife and I knew that our children were prepared for pre-school, where they would acquire additional skills to further prepare them for their K-3 years. We wanted them to be ready to learn on day one. My story is similar to the stories of millions of American parents who do what they can to ensure their children are fully prepared for that first day of kindergarten. While there are many different early learning settings, whether through the Head Start or other programs, we can all agree that ensuring our children are school-ready is an admirable goal. As the research suggests, children who participate in early learning programs often perform better upon entering elementary school than their peers who do not. In order to build on that success and do right by our children by giving them the best chance to succeed when they begin kindergarten, our bill will help train principals on how to establish relationships with early childhood learning providers and collaborate to ensure they are on the same page when it comes to a child's development. Building this pathway and ensuring a close connection between these two critical educational settings, especially for principals early in their careers, is a common-sense way to build better learning environments for our children. Our legislation has the support of the National Association of Elementary School Principals and a host of early learning advocacy organizations. I urge my colleagues to support this important effort.

Mr. UDALL of Colorado

Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. President, today I am introducing, along with Senators Michael Bennet, Mark Begich, Bob Casey, and Jeanne Shaheen, legislation to support elementary school principals and help prepare America's children for a successful education. Our bill would provide grant funds to train elementary school principals on how best to bridge the gap between early childhood development programs and elementary school learning. Oftentimes for elementary school principals, the competing demands of running a school, without the proper training or experience, can crowd out successful partnerships with early childhood learning programs. This can lead to an assortment of educational approaches and, on a practical level, disjointed efforts to ensure students receive a continuum of learning. The aim of my bill is to provide elementary school principals with the ability to take research-based, early childhood development practices and incorporate those skills into their schools in order to better prepare our Nation's youth for success. As part of this effort, our House colleagues, Congressmen Altmire and Himes, will be introducing a companion version to this legislation in their chamber. As we all know, a child's education does not begin on that first day of kindergarten; rather, it begins much earlier in life as an infant's brain develops and cognitive skills are acquired through daily interaction with parents, grandparents, siblings, and other caregivers. As a parent, I remember firsthand the interactions I had with my two children during their infant years. When the time came, my wife and I knew that our children were prepared for pre-school, where they would acquire additional skills to further prepare them for their K-3 years. We wanted them to be ready to learn on day one. My story is similar to the stories of millions of American parents who do what they can to ensure their children are fully prepared for that first day of kindergarten. While there are many different early learning settings, whether through the Head Start or other programs, we can all agree that ensuring our children are school-ready is an admirable goal. As the research suggests, children who participate in early learning programs often perform better upon entering elementary school than their peers who do not. In order to build on that success and do right by our children by giving them the best chance to succeed when they begin kindergarten, our bill will help train principals on how to establish relationships with early childhood learning providers and collaborate to ensure they are on the same page when it comes to a child's development. Building this pathway and ensuring a close connection between these two critical educational settings, especially for principals early in their careers, is a common-sense way to build better learning environments for our children. Our legislation has the support of the National Association of Elementary School Principals and a host of early learning advocacy organizations. I urge my colleagues to support this important effort.

Mr. UDALL of Colorado

Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Madam President, I rise today to urge us here in the Senate to seize an opportunity that is critically important to our Nation's economic recovery and our long-term energy future by establishing a National Renewable Electricity Standard which is known in the industry as an RES. We will without a doubt spur a new clean energy economy. Many of my colleagues here in the Senate agree with me. My colleague from Kansas has been a leader on the need for a renewable electricity standard, and this week he has made a call to all of us to join him in promoting one. Let me also specifically thank Senator Dorgan from North Dakota and Senator Tom Udall from New Mexico for joining me to urge adoption of the strong Federal RES. Establishing energy security, perhaps above any other issue, will assure our Nation's future success. Quite simply, a 21st century clean energy policy is essential to our Nation's economic growth, it is essential to creating jobs now and into the future, and it is clearly the linchpin for our national security. The philosopher Santayana famously wrote, ``Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.'' If I can turn that saying on its head a little bit, I wish to review what happened in Colorado in the hopes that we can repeat it across our great country. Back in 2004, Colorado took a big step forward and embraced the emerging clean energy economy. In that year, I led a bipartisan ballot issue with Republican former Speaker of the Colorado House Lola Spradley in a campaign to convince the voters of Colorado to approve a State-based RES that would harness renewable resources such as the Sun, the wind, the heat that comes out of the Earth called geothermal. We barnstormed the State over and over again, the two of us, a Republican and a Democrat. We spoke to anybody who would listen to us. There was a lot of industry opposition to an RES, and there were dire predictions that it would cost consumers money and it would damage Colorado's economy. They were familiar arguments. I had heard them before, and I had witnessed defeat on this issue before. The Colorado legislature had voted against an RES four different times, including my bill back in 1997, to establish an RES when I was a member of the Colorado house. We could not convince elected officials to vote for an RES at the State house, and in our State senate. But Colorado voters understood the value and the promise of renewable energy. In the end, in that campaign in 2004, they approved what we called Amendment 347, and it established a target that 10 percent of Colorado's electricity would come from renewable energy resources by 2015. In so doing, we became the first State to create an RES by a voter- passed initiative. This clearly defined goal, this clean energy goal, inspired us Coloradans to rise to the challenge. In 3 years, we had given ourselves over 10 years to meet this challenge. We were on pace to meet that 10-percent RES goal. We were well ahead of schedule. Our legislatures saw this rapid success, and they decided to take the bull by the horns. They approved an increase to 20 percent by 2020, which was another aggressive but a reachable goal. By that time, Xcel Energy--I know the Presiding Officer and I talked earlier today about utilities and the important role they play in our States--Xcel Energy, which is a major Colorado utility that opposed the RES in 2004, fully supported this increase to 20 percent by 2020, because they saw that renewable energy sources can provide clean, cost-effective energy to their customers. By the way, it turned out it was good for business. Xcel is now the Nation's No. 1 provider of wind energy, and a leading proponent of a strong RES. But we were not done. Earlier this year the Colorado legislature approved and our Governor Bill Ritter signed a bill to increase the RES even further, 30 percent by 2020. That makes our standard, our RES, the second most aggressive one in the Nation, just behind California. I put up a chart here to show the viewers how many States have renewable electricity standards. I see the Presiding Officer's home State right there, down in the lower left corner. Over two-thirds of the States have an RES or renewable energy goal. I know if we here in Congress can act and start by thinking boldly and then act, and learn from the success of our State and all of the other States on this map, our Nation can position itself to take the lead in the new global clean energy economy. I know some still want to look backward instead of forward and continue to offer dire predictions that an RES would cost consumers, be too expensive, or kill jobs. But I have to tell you, in Colorado those predictions turned out simply to be false. In fact, the opposite was proven true. With an RES in place, our economy, our clean energy economy, sparked to life. We have had clean energy companies sprouting up all across our State, creating sustainable American jobs, jobs that cannot be outsourced. I want to share a couple of the examples with the Senate. SMA Solar, which is one of the world's lead producers of solar inverters, established manufacturing facilities in Colorado. Abound Solar, which is a successful thin-film solar company, spun out of Colorado State University, our land grant university, opened a manufacturing facility in Longmont, CO, creating hundreds of jobs in that community. This month, they announced they are going to expand their facility. Vestas, the world's largest manufacturer of wind turbines, has also taken root in our great State and has created over 1,000 highly skilled manufacturing jobs at its three Colorado factories since 2007. They recently announced a major hiring initiative to employ hundreds of additional workers at their three Colorado factories in the next 12 to 18 months. The good news as well is that the presence of a company such as Vestas, which is manufacturing, is that you then attract supply chain businesses. An example of such a business is Hexcel Corporation. They have established a manufacturing facility in Windsor, a nice Colorado town up in the northeastern part of our State. They produce carbon fiber and other components for Vestas right in our back yard. So as you can tell, these are clear examples of how an RES can create jobs and growth in our economy. In fact, if you look at the numbers in Colorado, we have created nearly 20,000 new jobs in my State since 2004 tied to this RES. Estimates about the solar energy requirement--that is a subset of amendment 37--have brought in nearly 1,500 jobs. So we are aggressively installing solar panels and producing electricity on the roofs of peoples' homes and businesses. These stories abound all over Colorado. In my mind, the question then becomes--it is an obvious one--how can we replicate the success that Colorado has had on our national level? It obviously helps to be blessed with the natural resources that we have in our State. All of our States are created differently with different resources. I know this particularly lands in front of my colleagues. My colleagues from the South are tracking this issue very closely for that reason. They have concerns that their States do not have enough renewable energy resources to meet a national RES without electricity prices increasing. I wanted to share with my colleagues a report released this week by the Nicholas Institute at Duke University, which found that the South has more renewable resources than expected, and could reasonably receive 15 percent of its electricity from wind, biomass, and solar energy by 2020, and without an increase in electricity costs. I know this is one study. But as we have seen in Colorado, renewable resources are only one part of the equation. Once there is a market in place, and our utilities become familiar with renewable energy, meeting an RES becomes increasingly achievable. In fact, recent analysis indicates that wind, geothermal, and biomass are already cost competitive with traditional electricity production. The result, in many situations, is the costs across the country then are leveled. It affects each and every one of our utilities and therefore consumer rates. We can change how we generate and approach energy use to take full advantage of renewable energy resources in each of our States, and then we create new markets and business opportunities out of this clean energy focus, and that truly is a clean energy future. This is an enormous economic opportunity for us in the 21st century. The global demand for clean energy is growing by $1 trillion. That is almost a number I cannot get in my head, $1 trillion every year. The lesson to be learned from Colorado is that an effective RES, a real RES, can unleash the American entrepreneurial spirit. I believe it is our job in the Senate to pursue these sorts of forward-looking policies that will help America seize and lead this growing market. Again, I want to urge my colleagues to support the strongest possible RES in any energy legislation that is brought to the floor this year. I have alluded to the hesitation that some of my colleagues have felt about a robust RES. I saw that in Colorado firsthand for many years. It is tempting to dip your toe in the water when it comes to renewable energy. But make no mistake, we are in a race against foreign competitors, and we are being left behind. The Presiding Officer and I recently returned from China where we discussed clean energy issues with American businesses located there. And China, we found out, will soon be the owners of the largest wind and solar-powered facilities. They are pursuing renewable energy and clean energy technology so ambitiously, not because they necessarily want to save the planet, but because it makes good business and economic sense. This week, we heard that China's energy use has surpassed ours for the very first time. But I have to tell you, in my opinion from what I read and hear, they are taking more bold action to address their growing demand than we are. Then they also announced last week that they are considering plans to invest $738 billion over the next 10 years in clean energy development. That is nearly the entire size of our Recovery Act that we put in place last year in the United States. Just imagine, their economy is using a comparable amount of energy, but they take clean energy so seriously that they plan to invest a stimulus-size amount of money solely in renewables. I saw it firsthand. And to use a well-worn term, they are about ready to eat our lunch when it comes to clean energy. I do not want to miss this historic opportunity to implement a strong RES, so let me take a few more minutes to explain what standard I believe we must meet. I want to put a chart up here to show what different levels of percentages would mean for job creation. When you set a standard, you want to set it at a level you can be proud of and one that would spur innovation and the creativity to achieve it. Senator Tom Udall and I filed a bill last year in the Senate which had previously passed in the House, where we served, mandating an RES of 25 percent of renewable electricity by 2025. That is this side of the chart here. Senator Dorgan has recommended a similarly aggressive standard. Why is it important to aim for these ambitious levels? Well, looking again at the chart, if we were to invest wisely in a robust RES, a recent Navigant report estimates that the U.S. economy could add nearly 275,000 jobs. These are excellent paying jobs. They cannot be outsourced, and they support this concept of energy independence. I cannot think of a better deal than this for Americans. Make no mistake about it, our country must have an all-of-the-above energy policy. Conservation and energy efficiency efforts are the quickest way to reduce energy demand today. Nuclear energy and natural gas can and should fill a larger share of our energy portfolio as they both are cleaner fuels. In addition, we all know that America is going to be dependent on fossil fuels for years to come, so all of those have to be in our energy mix. We have to acknowledge those facts in order to embrace 21st century solutions. But when you look at the future demands for clean energy and economic opportunities ahead of us, renewable energy holds the greatest promise. The more homegrown renewable energy we can produce, the less money we need to spend buying oil from foreign nations that wish to do us harm or do not agree with our principles or values. I do not think anyone--I hope--I do think not anyone in this Chamber can argue with the proposition that we should be moving aggressively toward energy independence. As I begin to close, it is time we make a concerted national effort to reclaim our position at the front of the pack. Many of the technologies that the Chinese are utilizing, the Europeans are utilizing, and other nations around the world, we developed in the 1970s and 1980s. But we have got to get back to the front of the parade, where we harness the wind and the Sun and other renewable resources here in America and we put Americans to work developing, building, and leading the clean energy revolution. I urge and ask my colleagues to work with Senator Dorgan, Senator Udall of New Mexico, and me and the many others who have joined us in this effort to have a strong renewable electricity standard. With all humility, let's follow Colorado's successful example, and let's adopt a clean energy policy that drives innovation, inspires entrepreneurs, and delivers commonsense American solutions to meet our 21st century energy challenges. I want to close on a final note. I wanted to acknowledge that a wonderful young man, my energy fellow, Kelly Knutsen, who is in the Chamber right now, is leaving my office to join the office of Senator Reed of Rhode Island as a legislative assistant. I wish to thank him for his work in my office, especially for his help on several bills I introduced this year, including my SUN Act and my E-Know bill. Although we will miss him, I know Kelly will be a very strong asset for Senator Reed and Senator Reed's focus on energy policy as well. I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business.