[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 106 (Tuesday, June 27, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1329]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


         AMENDMENT TO THE ENERGY AND WATER APPROPRIATIONS BILL

                                 ______


                         HON. MICHAEL P. FORBES

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 27, 1995
  Mr. FORBES. Mr. Speaker, as per the request of the Rules Committee, I 
am submitting an amendment to the Energy and Water Development 
Appropriations bill for preprinting in the Record.
  Mr. Speaker, my amendment is quite simple, it would simply add $100 
million to the energy supply, research, and development activities 
account in the bill and offset the increase with a corresponding cut in 
the Department of Energy departmental administration account. Mr. 
Speaker, my amendment is intended to restore funding to a couple of 
valuable research and development programs while making further cuts in 
the DOE bureaucracy.
  The first program is the Energy Research Laboratory Technology 
Transfer Program which was funded at $57 million last year and 
unfortunately has been zeroed out in this bill. This program is a 
highly important tool for developing our industrial technological base 
for the future. Lab Tech Transfer programs around the country provide 
industry with access to the incredible R&D resources and capabilities 
of our national laboratories. Every year, thousands of scientists from 
U.S. companies perform experiments in collaboration with scientists at 
our national labs. Through this program, technologies developed at our 
national labs become resources that permit U.S. industry to introduce 
new state-of-the-art products and to enhance its competitive position 
in domestic and international markets.
  The Lab Tech Transfer Program also funds cooperative research and 
development agreements, or CRADA's, with small- and medium-sized 
companies around the country. Currently, there are CRADA's in such 
important fields as advanced materials, advanced computing, 
biotechnology, nuclear medicine, and others. For each of these CRADA's, 
industry more than matches the amount of funds contributed by our 
national labs. Mr. Speaker, I believe that this kind of collaborative 
partnership between industry and our national laboratories is necessary 
to the economic future of the country and is certainly a higher 
priority than the administration of the sprawling Department of Energy.
  The second general area that I think should be funded at a higher 
level is biological and environmental research; specifically 
oceanographic and carbon dioxide programs. These programs quantify the 
mechanisms and processes by which carbon dioxide is assimilated, 
transported and transformed in coastal oceans; study the flux of carbon 
dioxide between the oceans and the atmosphere and develop remote 
sensing equipment for measurement of carbon dioxide in the oceans.
  Mr. Speaker, while I am not convinced of the theory of global 
warming, it does seem to me that it is worth our while to find out its 
validity. This of course can only be done through more research and 
there is valuable work going on right now in the fields of 
oceanographic and carbon dioxide research. Again, I place a higher 
priority on this than the bureaucracy at DOE and I urge adoption of the 
amendment.


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