[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 7 (Wednesday, February 2, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: February 2, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                 FEDERAL ENERGY RESEARCH PRIORITIES ACT

                                 ______


                           HON. MIKE KREIDLER

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 2, 1994

  Mr. KREIDLER. Mr. Speaker, the American people have sent the message 
loudly and clearly that the Federal Government must dramatically change 
its spending habits. In the year that I've been here, we have done a 
lot to change, but there is plenty more to be done.
  Reinventing and reforming our Government requires that we examine our 
Nation's needs and allocate the resources that best meet them. One area 
that needs such review is the Department of Energy's research system. 
Hundreds of facilities in the United States are involved in 
multibillion-dollar research programs, and our energy priorities have 
changed in recent years.
  Many DOE research activities were originally aimed at meeting cold 
war needs for nuclear weapons. Just as the end of the cold war has led 
to a review of our military priorities, we must undertake a similar 
review of our Nation's research needs to reflect our changing world. 
Our policy must reflect the new challenges we face, like global climate 
change, and the new solutions we are developing, like conservation and 
renewable energy to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.
  Today I am introducing legislation to require the Secretary of Energy 
to undertake such a review. The Federal Energy Research Priorities Act 
creates a commission, modeled after the Military Base Closure 
Commission, to conduct a thorough and extensive evaluation of the 
Department of Energy's facilities and research priorities. The 
Commission will make recommendations on how to reconfigure and close 
some Department of Energy facilities, and it will identify existing 
facilities or combinations of facilities best suited to work on 
national priorities. Its recommendations must be implemented unless 
Congress votes to reject them.
  The goal of this Commission is not only to build a more energy-secure 
future for our Nation, but to do so in the most efficient and cost-
effectiveway. Under this legislation, the final reconfiguration of the 
DoE research system must result in at least a 25 percent reduction in 
facilities spending. Those savings could add up to several billion 
dollars, depending on the scope of the evaluation.
  A similar proposal was included in last year's Penny-Kasich amendment 
to H.R. 3400, the Government Reinvention and Rescission bill. I agree 
with my colleagues that our Government's current financial situation 
requires a thorough review of the Department of Energy's research 
program. Requiring a 25 percent reduction in the DOE budget for 
research-related facilities will force us to make the tough but 
necessary decisions about our Nation's true energy priorities.
  The American people are insisting that we root out waste and abuse in 
our Government, and the Department of Energy must join in this effort. 
We must identify those programs with too much overhead and 
administrative costs and too little actual research. This bill would 
allow the Commission, working with the Secretary, to consider those 
factors when suggesting facilities for closure and reconfigurations.
  Some may argue that we can't cut unnecessary spending because too 
many members of Congress have facilities in their districts. That's why 
the Department of Energy Facilities Closure and Reconfiguring 
Commission is based on the model of the Military Base Closure 
Commission. Congress can intervene only to reject the entire plan, 
rather than just one piece of it.
  This legislation will save taxpayers billions of dollars and better 
focus our Nation's research efforts. I urge my colleagues to support 
it.

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