[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5338 Introduced in House (IH)]








109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5338

To prohibit the use of amounts in a Members' Representational Allowance 
      to provide any vehicle which does not use alternative fuels.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 10, 2006

 Mr. Cleaver introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                   Committee on House Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To prohibit the use of amounts in a Members' Representational Allowance 
      to provide any vehicle which does not use alternative fuels.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Congress Leads by Example through 
Alt-fuel Resources Act'' or the ``CLEAR Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The national average price of a gallon of gasoline has 
        doubled in the past 3 years.
            (2) The need to end the Nation's dependency on foreign oil 
        is a vital component of homeland security.
            (3) The world's supply of oil is limited and unstable, and 
        therefore the need to develop new energy technologies is 
        pressing.
            (4) Alternative sources of energy such as ethanol, 
        hydrogen, and electricity have been proven effective and 
        efficient in powering passenger vehicles.
            (5) There have been several pieces of legislation 
        introduced in the House of Representatives to address the 
        growing problem of high gas prices and the need to utilize 
        alternative sources of energy.
            (6) Members of Congress should follow their own example of 
        setting forth legislation that encourages the use of 
        alternatively fueled vehicles.
            (7) In 2005 the total cost of automobile leases for Members 
        of Congress surpassed $1 million, and a collective switch to 
        alternative fuel vehicles, hybrid vehicles, or vehicles powered 
        by bio-fuels could potentially save American taxpayers 
        thousands of dollars annually.
            (8) The General Services Administration has already 
        purchased over 68,000 alternative fueled vehicles for the use 
        of Federal customers, more than any other organization in the 
        United States.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITING USE OF MEMBERS' REPRESENTATIONAL ALLOWANCE FOR 
              VEHICLES NOT USING ALTERNATIVE FUELS.

    (a) Prohibition.--No portion of a Members' Representational 
Allowance may be used to provide any individual with a vehicle, 
including providing an individual with a vehicle under a long-term 
lease, which is not an alternative fuel vehicle.
    (b) Alternative Fuel Vehicles Described.--
            (1) In general.--In this section, an ``alternative fuel 
        vehicle'' means any of the following:
                    (A) A vehicle treated as an alternative fuels 
                vehicle by the Administrator of General Services under 
                standards established by the Administrator.
                    (B) Any other vehicle powered by alternative fuel 
                or synthetic fuel.
                    (C) Any other vehicle powered in whole or in part 
                by--
                            (i) flexible-fuel operating systems;
                            (ii) bio-fuel operating systems;
                            (iii) electrical operating systems; or
                            (iv) hybrid-electrical operating systems.
            (2) Other definitions.--In paragraph (1)--
                    (A) the term ``alternative fuel'' has the meaning 
                given such term in section 301(2) of the Energy Policy 
                Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 13211(2));
                    (B) the term ``bio-fuel'' means any fuel containing 
                any organic matter that is available on a renewable or 
                recurring basis, including agricultural crops and 
                trees, wood and wood wastes and residues, plants 
                (including aquatic plants), grasses, residues, fibers, 
                animal wastes, municipal wastes, and other waste 
                materials; and
                    (C) the term ``synthetic fuel'' means any fuel 
                obtained from coal or from natural gas, or derived from 
                resources such as oil shale, tar sand, or waste 
                plastics.
    (c) Effective Date.--Subsection (a) shall apply with respect to the 
Members' Representational Allowance for fiscal year 2007 and each 
succeeding fiscal year.
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